To upgrade NV 8800GTX 768 or not...

Hi all,

I know there are various threads on upgrading graphics cards, but things move quickly, so what was true a few weeks ago may not be now...

I have an EVGA GeForce 8800GTX with 768MB RAM. Its plugged into an ABIT IP-35 Pro, with an E6600 (OC'd to 3Ghz) and 4GB RAM.

Currently I play CoH and COD4. CoH seems to benefit from more RAM and CPU than GPU, and COD4 doesn't pose any challenges to the GPU.

Anything newer however is more of a challenge. Is it worth upgrading the graphics card to any of the current midrange cards (GTX275 or HD4890) or holding off to the next crop of GPUs?

I'm looking for something that will give a noticeable kick in performance at 1680x1050, and stays quiet..

(If it helps, I'm running Windows XP...still...so will prolly be looking move to Windows 7 at some point).

Thanks...

I had a very similar situation, but am building a whole new box. The old 8800GT wasn't up to it and I went for the 4890 Vapor X. It is very quiet, quite cheap and will play everything at a noticably better rate at my res of 1920x1080.

If the new cards come out soon, there are no games to play on them. So I'm looking at a single card now, with a performance upgrade path by a choice to SLI, or a whole new card next year.

Unless power usage(wattage) is an issue then i wouldnt upgrade, that card is just a tad bit better than the 9800GTX (due to the ram/bus), so you have a capable card and no need to change until DX11 is out next year because then you can use the money saved and get a sweet ass card for same money(or less!). The only reason i upgraded my card was due to the power usage and while performing a bit better than the 9800GTX :P, if you were to upgrade id recommend getting a sapphire 4850 vapour x, low power and great performance ~£80.

Wait until the DX11 cards come out. The HD4890 will be an improvement though so if you can sell your old card it will not be a hugely costly upgrade. However I would be still tempted to wait until early next year though as the cards should get faster for a given price and you can always delay playing the games.

If you were one of the people who bought a 8800GTX or 8800 Ultra when it first came out it is amazing how long this card has lasted and deserves its place in graphics card history with the ATI 9700 pro!

The HD4890 will eat an 8800GTX, but by the same logic a next-gen card will probably (hopefully!) eat an HD4890. It's your call really, it's still going to be several months before we see next gen stuff, so if you're starting to find the 8800 insufficient, by all means upgrade. If you just fancied a little extra performance but you're not totally bothered, you may as well wait. The main problem you have with the 8800 is how vast its power consumption is. It was the first graphics card I remember to have a double power connector for a single GPU. The GTX275 is even worse in that regard, so quiet cooling is a little relative. The quietest card (or the easiest to make quiet) that will beat the 8800GTX by a noticeable margin is an HD4870, but it's not that much of an upgrade.

Thanks for all the feedback.

I guess like many MANY people on these forums, I know what I SHOULD do, and what I WANT to do...and I come to you folks to try and find a way of supporting what I WANT to do...!

Of course I want to upgrade! Who wouldn't? From an economic point of view, it makes sense to wait. I think the 8800GTX is a pretty capable card, but it is showing its age, and it bugs me!

Thanks for feedback though...food for thought.

Ultimately it's always your decision, we can't make you do anything. It's simply deciding whether you sit in the 'it'll do for now' camp or the 'i'm willing to upgrade now' camp. Like I said, it'll still be quite a sizeable wait for the next gen, so if you're getting impatient to upgrade for better performance go ahead. At 1680x1050 I shouldn't think you'd be faring that badly.

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Originally Posted by sammorris

Ultimately it's always your decision, we can't make you do anything. It's simply deciding whether you sit in the 'it'll do for now' camp or the 'i'm willing to upgrade now' camp. Like I said, it'll still be quite a sizeable wait for the next gen, so if you're getting impatient to upgrade for better performance go ahead. At 1680x1050 I shouldn't think you'd be faring that badly.

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Ah, thats my point. You don't need to MAKE me do anything, just validate my need (read : desire) to upgrade, and I can do so with impunity, knowing that The Forum said I should...:secret: :)

Tell you that you should eh? Well Should you?

You should buy two 4870x2's, that would be the sensible thing to do :)

It's what I did. I certainly don't regret it, but it does make you a little bit on the poor side afterwards :P

To the OP I would either look at getting an HD4890 or wait another 6 months more and get one of the newer 40nm cards from Nvidia or ATI. At least these will have DX11 and will last longer than any card currently.

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

To the OP I would either look at getting an HD4890 or wait another 6 months more and get one of the newer 40nm cards from Nvidia or ATI. At least these will have DX11 and will last longer than any card currently.

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Yeah thats pretty much what I was leaning toward, and they're very nicely priced at the moment too.

£140 - I would do it if I was in your situation, but as you might guess, I'm completely mad :P

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Originally Posted by sammorris

£140 - I would do it if I was in your situation, but as you might guess, I'm completely mad :P

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Aren't we all, in some way? Well I should get a few quid for the 8800GTX, so that will soften the blow.

Yes indeed. Rather sadly it won't be worth the £300+ they cost at first release, but I shouldn't think getting £50 or maybe even £60 for it would be too hard.