Vista Dx10 equivalent to 7900gs ??

Banzai_Joe · 27 Dec 2007 at 20:21

Guys,

I'm building 2 new gamings rigs based on E2180's and Gigabite P35 DS3R's, and both will have vista home premium on them and 2Gb ram. I will also OC them to as near 3GHz as possible.
My existing rig (see my sig) dual boots with XP Pro and Vista HP.
What i'd like to know is:
is there a DX10 compatible card for Vista that will give me at least the same performance as the 7900gs does on XP Pro?
Resolution will be: 1400x900 on a 19" ws tft. As opposed to 1280x1024 on a 17" tft.
Games will be: UT3, BF2, BF2142, Crysis, CoD4 etc. (mainly shooters)

Thanks fo any input.

Rroff · 27 Dec 2007 at 20:24

8600GTS would give about the same performance as your current card but support DX10

Bare in mind tho you wouldn't have to add that much extra money to get an 8800GT which would be significantly faster... or optionally theres the ATI 3850pro which is the same price as the 8600GTS but quite a bit faster...

helmutcheese · 27 Dec 2007 at 20:25

Bang on, reviews put it as same or faster than a 7900GS.

Banzai_Joe · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:10

Oooh...ok, thanks guys.

Didn't think the 8600's where in the same league as the 7900's, unless the Dx10 version really flies.
Hmmm.... i see there is a 1024Mb version???? But it only has a 128-bit architecture. Surely that's quite restrictive?

My problem is, these pc's are for our two 14 year olds, and i've told them that if they want gaming rigs they need to put some money towards the gfx card. But they don't really earn money yet, so any cash they do put in will be long-time savings. I don't want to disappoint them if the card they get doesn't last lost in terms of keeping up with DX10 next-gen games.

What would you do in my situation. Comical answers are welcome, as long as you can tag on some serious advice

helmutcheese · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:13

Good enough for most games but not high end like the 8800's.

And most games are still DX9C anyhow, run F.E.A.R and its Expansions really well.

Deleted User 234324 · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:16

If you hold out for a bit Nvidia are apparently releasing the 8800 GS soon which will be replacing the 8600's.

Banzai_Joe · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:23

This confused the hell out of me. I thought there already was an 8800 GS?
Or is the GS the only model they'd NOT already released?
Are the new cards DX10.1? Is there any difference?
Oh, another thing. The pc's will be used for watching dvd's and freeview as well (via a tv tuner). I don't suppose the video card plays much of a part in that does it?
Dunno why i'm being so dumb.....must be xmas blues! :rolleyes:

SS-89 · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:30

Dx10 is not worth it at this point. If you were to get a 'DX10' card id say get a 3850 pro as they are relatively cheap and will outperform your 7900gs by a fair margin.

TheMorningStar · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:32

the 3850 shouldnt disapoint. its a stunning little performer compared to the 8600gts.

crysis wont really play well on high details/res though. but it doesnt with anything really.

you could also give yourself a free 10-20% boost in gfx performance by using xp instead of vista.

TheMorningStar · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:35

k.Jacko said:
This confused the hell out of me. I thought there already was an 8800 GS?
Or is the GS the only model they'd NOT already released?
Are the new cards DX10.1? Is there any difference?
Oh, another thing. The pc's will be used for watching dvd's and freeview as well (via a tv tuner). I don't suppose the video card plays much of a part in that does it?
Dunno why i'm being so dumb.....must be xmas blues!

no not really. back in the all in wonder days yeah.. any decent modern gfx card, high or low end, will display video fine.

helmutcheese · 27 Dec 2007 at 21:42

You aint buying the card for only DX10, you buying as fastest DX9C cards also.

Banzai_Joe · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:04

Don't the ATI cards sucks a lot more power and generate a lot more heat than then nvidia's?

Quite a few reviews suggest the 8600 is the one to buy at the moment. But which flavour is the best? GT, GTS etc etc?

zero-one · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:35

The old ATI cards were much or power hungry and ran far hotter.

The 3850 runs quite cool and doesn't need too much power.

RaiderX · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:41

get the 3850, its a lot faster than the 7900 GS and around the same price as the 8600

rG-tom · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:43

i've just moved from an 8600GT to an 8800GT, and if you can find one of the <£150 8800GT's id definitely reccomend that! absolutely MASSIVE difference in playability between the 2 cards, UT3 is now completely smooth @ 1600x1200 maxed out, where as it was slightly jerky at 1280x1024 with the 8600GT, with only medium settings.

willhub · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:45

I would not get a 256mb card for even 1440x900 res tbh.

512mb card which would mean 3870 unless you can find the 3850 512mb for cheap then its a good card and beast of an overclock when you up the volts.

Banzai_Joe · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:45

Yeah, just been checking up on the 3850's. It does seem like a good buy at around £110.

willhub · 2 Jan 2008 at 12:47

I would just get an 8800GT or wait a couple of weeks and see what happenes.

I see you put in an offer for an X1950Pro 512mb, it's not for your rig is it?

fraps · 2 Jan 2008 at 17:57

I would only consider the following DX10 cards now:

3850pro 512
3870 512
8800 GT 512
8800 GTS 512
8000 GTX

The 8600 GTS is a poor card for the money...I would only pay 50 quid for a 512mb version of it.

helmutcheese · 2 Jan 2008 at 18:21

Jamous said:
Would it make a difference if I'd found a card at £128 ?? Is it worth it now?

jaykay said:
Well yer its a good price for the 3870.

Jamous said:
That price is for an 8800 gt 512

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17822553

MSG him, and ask where he is getting that and buy that over any ATI.