Hardware Can anyone recommend a good 8600 vid card..

[Cletebob]

Yes, I know the 8800 will blow away any 8600. But I am in school, jobless, have 3 kids, and living off my wifes income. Gimme some slack.

Now, I can only spend in the neigborhood of $100-$150 on my video card, but will be upgrading the rest of my PC too so it will still be a major improvement over what I have ATM. I have looked at Tigerdirect.com and newegg.com and they have some pretty good deals. I guess this is what I want from everyone:

1. Which models should I consider?
2. What sites you guys get good deals on?


Please, no flames such as "your'e wasting your money" or "my rig will blast yours to bits" as I am aware of this already. I just want to get the most for my money, and am looking for deals I may have missed.

 

[notnarb]

you're wasting your money, whats the point if my rig will just blast yours to bits?

 

[BoneMonkey]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127284

how about this ? comes with a free copy of WITCHER

 

[GexX2]

Get a Radeon 3850 then. Beats out the 8600GTS by around 20fps in almost every game.

~$170

HIS Radeon HD3850 256MB - $169 w/ Free headphones

Apollo Radeon HD3850 512MB - $174

(ON SECOND THOUGHT)

The 8800GS is here. Buy that.

XFX 8800GS - $159

 

[mojoex]

8800GS

GO

 

[ZeWarrior]

Get a Radeon 3850 then. Beats out the 8600GTS by around 20fps in almost every game.

~$170

HIS Radeon HD3850 256MB - $169 w/ Free headphones

 Apollo Radeon HD3850 512MB - $174Â

(ON SECOND THOUGHT)

The 8800GS is here. Buy that.

XFX 8800GS - $159

I suggest you do what this guy suggested. An 8800GS or an HD3850/3870 would really be the way to go. Better Price/Performance Value seems to go to the 8800GS though.

 

[Urza]

8800GS is finally out?

Hot damn. If I hadn't just ordered a new system with a GT I would be all over that.

 

[xJonny]

You could wait for the 9600GT though.

 

[Rhuarc]

8800GS is finally out?

Hot damn. If I hadn't just ordered a new system with a GT I would be all over that.

Isn't the GT a lot better than the GS though? In a lot of benchmarks the GT beats out the GTS and approaches the GTX, at least at reasonable resolutions (not 30 inch monitors! lol)

 

[theman69]

i made a mistake gettubg the 8600GT rfrom Xfx i suggest going with the radeon 3850 100%

 

[Urza]

8800GS is finally out?

Hot damn. If I hadn't just ordered a new system with a GT I would be all over that.


Isn't the GT a lot better than the GS though? In a lot of benchmarks the GT beats out the GTS and approaches the GTX, at least at reasonable resolutions (not 30 inch monitors! lol)

It is, but it'll cost you a good 50-70USD more than the GS.

 

[xJonny]

The GT only beats the GTS 320 and 640 sometimes

 

[Rhuarc]

The GT only beats the GTS 320 and 640 sometimes

I kind of figure though since the GT is cheaper than either of those that it would be an overall better deal than either of them. From some of the research I had done before I purchased (this was before the GS came out) reviewers were saying that the 8800GT had one of the best price to performance rations they had seen in a long time. I'm able to run Crysis on High at 1440x900 (obviously no AA or AF) without too many slowdowns, except in the middle of a big firefight.

I certainly can respect the fact that the extra 50-70 bucks may be more than someone wants to spend to go from the GS to the GT though.

 

[xJonny]

The new GTS 512mb is better than the 8800GT by a decent margin but that said, it is more expensive.

Well, it's not that new any more..

 

[Cletebob]

Ok, found a decent deal (I think) on a MSI 8800gts 320 OC . Also, this is on an SLI MB so later I can add another, like if hell freezes over according to my wife.

Thank you everyone for your opinions. I am getting this all from Newegg.com as they had the best deal on MOST of the parts with shipping and everything included, and they have great customer support. I know I may find better deals here and there, but I would rather order it all from 1 place so once it gets here, I have it all and am not waiting for multiple shipments. Below I am posting more detailed specs. Remember, I maxed my budget with this, so if you have suggestions, they need to cost less, not the whole "for only $20 more you can get...."!

MSI Platinum P6N SLI MB
G.Skill 2 GB DDR2 800 RAM
MSI 8800GTS 320MB OC (575 core and 1700 mem)
Core 2 Duo E6550
19" widescreen Hanns-G LCD DVI monitor
CoolerMaster eXtreme 500 watt power supply (will upgrade if I do SLI, and probably if I don't)
WD Caviar SATA II 160 GB HDD

Feel free to tell me what you think. But be nice.

 

[ZeWarrior]

Ok, found a decent deal (I think) on a MSI 8800gts 320 OC . Also, this is on an SLI MB so later I can add another, like if hell freezes over according to my wife.

Thank you everyone for your opinions. I am getting this all from Newegg.com as they had the best deal on MOST of the parts with shipping and everything included, and they have great customer support. I know I may find better deals here and there, but I would rather order it all from 1 place so once it gets here, I have it all and am not waiting for multiple shipments. Below I am posting more detailed specs. Remember, I maxed my budget with this, so if you have suggestions, they need to cost less, not the whole "for only $20 more you can get...."!Â

MSI Platinum P6N SLI MB
G.Skill 2 GB DDR2 800 RAM
MSI 8800GTS 320MB OC (575 core and 1700 mem)
Core 2 Duo E6550
19" widescreen Hanns-G LCD DVI monitor
CoolerMaster eXtreme 500 watt power supply (will upgrade if I do SLI, and probably if I don't)
WD Caviar SATA II 160 GB HDD

Feel free to tell me what you think. But be nice.Â

I wouldn't get the old G88 8800GTS. Go for a 256MB G92 8800GTS.

 

[Cletebob]

Ok, they didn't have the G92 GTS, but they had a G92 8800GS with 384 MB Ram. Other than that, the real difference was that the 8800 GTS has 320 bit DDR interface while the GS has 192. Which of these would you recommend? Keep in mind I will usually be running a 1440x900 or so resolution, so I don't need overkill, but would like to get the most I can.

 

[ZeWarrior]

Ok, they didn't have the G92 GTS, but they had a G92 8800GS with 384 MB Ram. Other than that, the real difference was that the 8800 GTS has 320 bit DDR interface while the GS has 192. Which of these would you recommend? Keep in mind I will usually be running a 1440x900 or so resolution, so I don't need overkill, but would like to get the most I can.

Only 1440x900? Definitely get the 8800GS 384MB. It makes a hell of a difference and is cheap as hell.

 

[Cletebob]

So even with the smaller memory interface, you think I will get better performance out of the GS?

Sorry to sound insecure about it all, but I don't get to upgrade often and want to make sure I don't screw up. LOL

 

[ZeWarrior]

So even with the smaller memory interface, you think I will get better performance out of the GS?

Sorry to sound insecure about it all, but I don't get to upgrade often and want to make sure I don't screw up. LOL

You'll get the same/ better at that res with the GS.