A Week To Step Up: EVGA 8800GTS to... GT?

[theoaf]

Hi guys

I bought an EVGA 8800GTS (320MB) a couple of months ago and my step up period is about to expire. Since then I believe the 8800GT has been released (and seems quite a bit better than the GTS). As I built my new PC a couple of months ago (and considered it "finished") I haven't been hanging around the board much recently so I've (already) lost touch a bit with the latest GPU developments.

Am I right in thinking the GT would be a good swap for my GTS?
Isn't there a new (as in new G9x chip rather than just overclocked/SSC) GTS about to come out?
If there IS a "new" new GTS am I likely to be able to step up to that or am I going to be too late? Will it be all that different/better than a GT anyway?

Or... should I not bother and stick with the GTS I have? Will 320MB be an issue in the future? Are there GTs with more RAM?

I have a 24" Dell monitor but so far have only really played Oblivion, Age of Empires 3 and the Bioshock demo. All seem to run happily (I know that two of the three are old anyway) but games like Crysis seem to be taking things to another level. That said I suppose no 8xxx GPU is likely to comfortably run Crysis at full res/quality anyway so perhaps I should stop worrying too much as there's currently no 9xxx card for me to "step up" to!

Any help/comments gratefully received.

Thanks

Oaf

PS I've sort of ignored the SSC GTS cards as they seem much less good value than the GT. Am I right?

[MSIC]

It's a fairly easy answer really.
Given that you have a 24" Dell, which will have a resolution of 1920 x 1200 (you can set it to less and scale it up, but that would be a waste);
Although the 320MB GTS has a great engine, the memory on that is a bit of a bottleneck in most modern games at that resolution.
The 512MB GT would be a useful upgrade from a memory point of view alone.
Factor in the power savings as well as general minor improvements in the GPU itself, and getting an 8800GT for little or no money (however their upgrade scheme works i dont know) is very worth it.

Edit: Additionally, the 'new' GTS appears to be a bit of improvement again, but i'd easily still go with the 512MB 8800GT, it's already gone down in graphics card history as one of the best price/performance monsters (along with arguably the Radeon 9700 and GeForce 4200)

[edp33]

<edit> MSIC beat me to the post!

When you say about to expire, how long do you have left? Rumours suggest that the G92 GTS will be released on the 3rd Dec or the 11th.

I would wait for that if you can, as you have a 24" monitor for high res gaming. If you don't have that long, the GT is quicker than the 320MB GTS and has 512MB ram.

Yep, I'd ignore the SSC GTS cards as benchmarks have shown they are about the same as a GT marginally better at higher res with AA turned on and cost alot more.

[this_is_gav]

When you say about to expire, how long do you have left? Rumours suggest that the G92 GTS will be released on the 3rd Dec or the 11th.

Looking at the title, I'd guess around a week.

You'll not get a GTS SSC in time. Grab the 8800GT while you can.

[edp33]

lol... that's what happens when I post without having a coffee in the morning!

[MSIC]

Just some additional reading, to evidence the above opinions:
Anadtech said
"We liked the value of the 8800 GTS 320, and we were impressed when NVIDIA decided to go that route, providing such a high performance card for so little money. Upping the ante even more this time around really caught us off guard."

Compare the 8800GT 512MB to the 8800 GTS 320MB here at Tech Report

[theoaf]

Hi guys

Thanks for your very swift and helpful answers. Seems I wasn't too far off the money then GT it is (I think I have about 6 days left.)

I'll try the step up thing today and see how it goes. What's the best way of getting my card to EVGA (in Germany I think)? And how quickly have people received their new cards from EVGA in the past?

Cheers

Oaf

[2Cold Scorpio]

By the way, as someone who's been checking eVGA's website nearly every day lately, have you all noticed *all* the 8800GT cards are on backorder? I don't think you'll be able to step-up to one before yoru week expires...

[theoaf]

By the way, as someone who's been checking eVGA's website nearly every day lately, have you all noticed *all* the 8800GT cards are on backorder? I don't think you'll be able to step-up to one before yoru week expires...

Hi

I believe that as long as you start the step-up before your time expires then you're OK (regardless of stock situation at time of step-up)... will have to see what EVGA say today though.

Cheers

Oaf

[Blitzen]

Rumours suggest that the G92 GTS will be released on the 3rd Dec or the 11th.

It is yep.
Step Up to the 8800GT is a waste imho and you should wait for the new 8800GTS. From the specs its going to give the GTX as good as it gets (if not better).

I believe that as long as you start the step-up before your time expires then you're OK (regardless of stock situation at time of step-up)...

Correct.

Keep looking at the EVGA website, they should have them there soon. When they do, request the step up to that. You may have to wait a few weeks for them to stock them as they usually only do step ups when there is stock over. As long as your step up is booked though it doesnt matter if it takes 2-3 months for you to get to the top of the queue as it is still live.

They send you an email when they are ready for you to ship your old card to them.

[theoaf]

It is yep.
Step Up to the 8800GT is a waste imho and you should wait for the new 8800GTS. From the specs its going to give the GTX as good as it gets (if not better).

Correct.

Keep looking at the EVGA website, they should have them there soon. When they do, request the step up to that. You may have to wait a few weeks for them to stock them as they usually only do step ups when there is stock over. As long as your step up is booked though it doesnt matter if it takes 2-3 months for you to get to the top of the queue as it is still live.

They send you an email when they are ready for you to ship your old card to them.

Thanks, that's interesting. As you say the new GTS does look like the way forward - I only had a quick look at the list of available cards that I could step up to last night and I don't think it had version/chip numbers so it's not clear what is/isn't available and whether they're new or "original" version. Pretty much everything seemed to be on backorder though (which possibly implies new rather than old?)

I'll post back to the board when I find out more.

[Blitzen]

<edit> MSIC beat me to the post!

When you say about to expire, how long do you have left? Rumours suggest that the G92 GTS will be released on the 3rd Dec or the 11th.

I would wait for that if you can, as you have a 24" monitor for high res gaming. If you don't have that long, the GT is quicker than the 320MB GTS and has 512MB ram.

Yep, I'd ignore the SSC GTS cards as benchmarks have shown they are about the same as a GT marginally better at higher res with AA turned on and cost alot more.

You are joking right?
The new GTS is a decent improvement on the GT and if all is true it will only be £40-50 more. Its specs will put it on a par and above the GTX which the GT certainly isnt.
They are also more than marginally better at higher res's with AA on. The GT will struggle at higher resolutions as does the GTX in some games.

Basically, if you want eye candy off and dont require high res get a GT.
If you have the extra half hundred quid (which is nothing when spend around the £170-200 mark) to spend then the new GTS's are definitely the way forward as they are clearly going to perform better.

This argument is so similar to the days of 9800pro and 9800xt.
The XT was the dog danglies but the pro ruled. Same is going to happen here i think.
The new GTS's will be extremely good but the lower card will rule the market (if they ever get around to actually producing any more).

[GSte]

I think he meant wait for the new GTS Blitzen, and don't bother with the old one. Bit disappointed they're refreshing them personally as I only shelled out for mine 6 months back

[edp33]

You are joking right?
The new GTS is a decent improvement on the GT and if all is true it will only be £40-50 more.

Hmmz, where did I say the 'new' GTS wasn't an improvement over the GT? I think the new GTS will cost a bit more than that, but will just have to wait and see.