XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 M520 ...Vs... XFX GeForce 8800GTS

[The Cat]

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I’m in the process of building a new PC and have recently bought a “XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 M520” thinking this is gong to be a top card for a quite a while, then what do you no…..the “XFX GeForce 8800GTS” appears on the scene.

On the XFX web site they claim the new 8800’s are faster than the 7950 GX2 but the price of these new cards does not reflect this? My card is still about £40/£50 more than the 8800GTS (the GTX is well out of my league) the main difference that I can see is that the 8800 appears to have a built in “Physics Accelerator”.

This means that because NVIDIA have included this feature, the likes of “Ageia PhysX Accelerator cards” should drop in price as they try and keep in the market.

Will my card be on par with one of these new cards if I was to add a physics accelerator card as they become cheaper?....or will my card be able to keep up with one of these cards now?

P.S. they seem to be power hungry little sods. XFX recommend 600/700 w PSUs, whereas the 7950’s use two N-Vidia’s mobile GPU’s which can ramp down the power consumption if they’re not under much load. Also I don’t want to sound ungrateful or picky but I just need to get it right as I only get to build a new PC about every 5 years.



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[trojan698]

If you've had the card for less than 7 days, call up and return it under the distance selling act then buy an 8800GTS at pcworld (329.99) or GTX @ dabs.com (399.99)

[doddsy]

I agree with trojan, try returning your 7950 and go for an 8 series gpu. THe 600/700W PSU requirements seem a tad high. A single GTS needs about 400/450 and a gtx needs around 500.

[The Cat]

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Thanks for that, it’s about 3 weeks old now and never been out the box. I could try and sell it on e-bay?...Don’t know how much I could get for it?

So back to my question......Is this new 8800GTS better than my XFX 7950 GX2 M520 even if I was to add a physics accelerator card?


Please HELP!!! All opinions valued.




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[oralpain]

A physics accelerator card is only going to give a tangible benifit in a handful of games. Not worth it.

The 8800GTS is faster anyway you cut it.

No idea what you would get for it on ebay at this point.

[BlindMelon7]

Triple Post!!!!! Or not...bug?

Either card is overkill at the moment, as are physics cards. In the future an 8 series card would be better.

btw what is with the masive blue text?

[xolotl]

In built physics on the 8800 series? First I have heard, might be something to do with Nvidias physics but didn't that take two possibly three cards?

There was a rumour a while back that a small RAMDAC processor on the card could have been a physics processor, then it was discovered it was just a RAMDAC.

[marktait]

i am really good friends with someone who works for nVidia, i can even copy paste the email from him telling me that the 7950GX2 and GeForce 8800GTS are about even. Ex. 8800GTS performance is better in some games and the 7950GX2 is better in some games. but u should get the GeForce 8800GTS because it is DirectX 10 and Shader Model 4.0 while the GeForce 7950GX2 is DirectX 9 and Shader Model 3.0. i would go with the 8800GTS (i already have one) because u save money so u dont have to buy a PhysX card. and if u have some extra $$$ left over, buy a GeForce 8800GTX. also, make sure u have a good processor for this card. Ex. i had a Celeron 2.93GHz on a Radeon X800XT PE and i was getting 30FPS, when i upgraded to a P4 3.6GHz with HT i got 90FPS, so it all doesnt matter on ur video card, it matters on ur monitor, processor, mobo, ram, hard drives, cooling, etc.

[marktait]

sry for double post, but i actually went to the nVidia reality tour 2006 and won the 8800GTS. i was watching some demonstrations, and yes the GeForce 8 GPU can also do Physics without FPS loss. its made for u to save money and get great visual effects. something a few of my friends are doing is that they are selling their 7950GX2s and waiting for the 8900s or 8950GX2s to come out. so it all depends on how long u want to wait and how bad u need it.

[The Cat]

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BINGO that was the kind of post I’ve been waiting for…..…. Informative & slightly techy.

Thanks for that Marktait it looks like you’ve really gone out of your way. I have how ever got a few more questions.

..1.. Because I might not be able to sell my unused 7950 GX2 for a reasonable price and end up stuck with it. What if I added a physics card sometime in the future, would it be able to run (take advantage of) the new DirectX 10 and shader Model 4.0…..???

..2.. I have read on test that the 8800’s are performance linked to your CPU, and the high “3Dmark06” scores come from highly O/Clocked CPU’s. As I can only afford a Core 2 Duo E6400 at best, is it worth keeping the 7950 GX2 as they are not reliant on the CPU…..???
Take a look at this… theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35436 (c&p that into your browser, i can't post hyperlinks yet)

..3.. I’m considering this PSU “Corsair HX620 620 Watt” as it seems a really good PSU (even if it is a bit rare & pricey in the U.K.) do you think it will be enough……???
I am going to pair it with the “Antec P180” have any of you done this?….with success?



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[danroyle]

looked on ebay looks like your card would sell in the region of £250 maybe up to £300 at a push as its new and xfx

if you can get a gts at dabs for £320 and a physx card is £185 roughly then if you sold yours and got an 8800gts it would work out cheaper than buying a physx card at a later date

also a 6400 would be ok if you overclock it you dont have to run it at 3ghz or above it should be ok around 2.6-2.9 which is a nice easy overclock
also no your 7950gx2 wont be able to take advantage of dx10 even with a physx card

the psu would be enough for a 8800gts but may struggle with a gtx and that psu should go fine with the p180 it is a good case
hope this helps

[oralpain]

1. The physics capabilities of the 8xxx line and Physx are not the same. Neither will do anything to the pyhisics of games not designed for it, and currently very few (physx) to no (NVIDIA's Quantum Effects) commercial games have support for specialized physics acceleration. However, I think than NVIDIA DX10/Havok acceleration will endup with much broader support.

Adding a PhysX card will in no way change the level of DirectX acceleration capabilities of your card.

2. Performance can be limited by any CPU, if the rest of your system is fast enough. Like wise performance can be limited by any video card, if the card is what is struggling with current settings.

If you try running oblivion at 2560x1600 with HDR and 4x AA enabled simultaniously, you will be video card limited, even with an 8800GTX.

Generally though, the 8800s are the fastest cards currently available. This means that they are most likely to be CPU limited. Therefore, you should try to make sure the rest of your system is as fast as possible if you want to see the full potential of these cards. Honestly, the same holds true for all of the current upper end cards. A 7950GXT is probably extremely CPU limited, at anything but the highest settings, with what you currently have.

Any Core 2 Duo would be a nice upgrade from almost any other chip out atm, and overclocking one would likely give a very noticeable boost in performance.

3. Any of the Corsair PSUs would be more than sufficent for an 8800GTX or two 8800GTSes. I plan on getting one of the 520 watt models, and I will be running a well OCed Core 2 Duo setup, hopefully with SLI 8900s (when available). I do not anticipate any power problems. From everything I have seen, I would trust a 520w corsair more than many 700-850w psus.

[The Cat]

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Thanks for your help guys, I really do value and appreciate it. I did however have another question I forgot to ask.

I know that the GPU’s in the 7950 GX2’s can be used for Encoding (DVD/Video ect) is this feature accessible on the new 8800’s…….???



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[oralpain]

I haven't heard anything about any of these GPUs accelerating encoding, but all of the recent ones do assist with decoding.

Also, no need to use a giant font!

[marktait]

Make sure that the Power Supply has atleast 26A on the 12V. the 7950GX2 Performance is about equal to 8800GTS. the 7950GX2 is SM3.0 and can only be SM3.0. even though the 7950GX2 is DX9 it still will be able to play DX10 games but not to their full potential. if you cant sell the 7950GX2, its still a great card. the Core 2 Duo E6400 is plenty, that processor is really powerful. all graphics cards do depend on the performance of my processor (i once put a radeon X800XT on a Celeron and i was only getting 30 FPS until i got a new processor). first make sure that your motherboard can support the GeForce 8800 series and you can always overclock your processor (i have my E6600 running at 2.93GHz) the Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 is just an Overclocked E6600. your processor will easily overclock to 3GHz (make sure you have a good cooler) but the only thing is that you have only 2MB of Cache instead of 4MB (2MB is still really good). well enough about processors. i would recommend atleast 1GB of RAM, any Core 2 Duo, a GeForce 8800 compatibly mobo, and a PSU of atleast 600W and atleast 26A on the 12V (recommended by nVidia). if there is anything else i can help with, ill be monitoring the forums.

[marktait]

also you do need a well cooled case (there are rumors that the GeForce 8800s run loud if not well cooled.) if you decide on a 8800GTX make sure there is 32A on the 12V. (recommended by nVidia) my case is the XClio Twin Engine and it is cool and quiet (GPU- no more than 61*C ingame, CPU- no more than 37*C full load, Case- no more than 26*C ingame.)