Longevity of 8000 Series

[Muse_Cubed]

I'm aiming to start my new build in March/April (it's been 4 years since my last project! I've been playing catch up in the last month to see what's going on in hardware land). I was hoping that the new series of cards from both nVidia and ATi would be rolling out or prepping. However, it's looking quite unlikely as it is.

My current card is an X800 Pro (AGP). I got it just under four years ago and it's served me incredibly well; and it handled top games very well for the best part of three years. I'm quite loathe to keep upgrading my graphics every 18 months (sentimental attachments, eh! ) especially if I keep having to replacing mid to top end cards which, ultimately, I'm not going to be able to do much with as the resale value drops like a stone. And with the 8000 series now a year old I'm most likely going to want a replacement sooner than I'd like. Unfortunately I can't really postpone building work (my PSU is going to give up sooner rather than later, I have a bit of RAM corruption and my case is getting ever hotter) and in any case it doesn't agree with molecular modelling calculations (especially when it comes to larger molecules) which I use quite frequently. Plus my current card is incompatible in any case so I don't have a stop gap solution.

So...would it be better to buy a GTX/Ultra and hope it lasts or buy a cheap stopgap until the 9 series is out? As well as molecular modelling I'm getting back into the PC gaming scene and I'll want to run games such as Crysis and Battle of Britain (successor to IL2) in good detail and ideally the card will last a decent amount of time (with room for overclocking when it starts lagging behind). My budget's quite flexible, I could just about accommodate the Ultra although it probably won't be worth it when all's said and done.

Cheers!

 

[James J]

If you wanna see crysis run smooth you will probably need a new 9xxx series nvidia card or one of these 3870x2's so personally id probably get a stopgap product if you needed the pc up and running before the release of one of these items.

 

[homi-sid-al]

best bet i think is the 8800gt,if im not mistaken the first of the 9 series is due in a couple of weeks the 9600 and again if im not mistaken its a pretty low end card but dont quote me on that,do you have agp or pci-e?if i remember correctly they did that card in both....EDIT...ahh just read again and noticed you have AGP.

 

[Muse_Cubed]

Well, my new build will be PCIe. It's a shame I can't squeeze 3-4 months more out of my X800 by using it as a stopgap. I'm leaning towards going for a stopgap solution...it just seems a bit wasteful, that's all.

 

[homi-sid-al]

Well, my new build will be PCIe. It's a shame I can't squeeze 3-4 months more out of my X800 by using it as a stopgap. I'm leaning towards going for a stopgap solution...it just seems a bit wasteful, that's all.

i know what your saying,not the greatest time to upgrade your gpu,look at it this way though you can buy a 8800 gt now and in months to come sell it on ebay for £100+ if you feel you need to (allthough i doubt very much you will with 8800gt) and put it towards a 9 series gpu,i sold my 8800gts 320meg for £115 a few weeks agotheres allways some sucker

 

[Quixote]

Got to be 3850/3870/8800gt at the moment. They'll play most things well for now. You could pay double for an ageing high-end card but you'd be better to save that £100 - £150 & spend it in a year, you'll be getting great performance for a good while.

 

[queamin]

I would wait until you about ready to upgrade and see what out or coming out

 

[homi-sid-al]

..

 

[Muse_Cubed]

Got to be 3850/3870/8800gt at the moment. They'll play most things well for now. You could pay double for an ageing high-end card but you'd be better to save that £100 - £150 & spend it in a year, you'll be getting great performance for a good while.

Hmm, still, £100 is a lot for a stopgap. What are the chances of the new series being out by April?

 

[Duff-Man]

Well, my new build will be PCIe. It's a shame I can't squeeze 3-4 months more out of my X800 by using it as a stopgap. I'm leaning towards going for a stopgap solution...it just seems a bit wasteful, that's all.

Not so much.

If you buy a solid mid-range card, it won't be worth much less second hand when you upgrade. Say £20 or £30 max. High end products devalue much faster than cheaper cards.

A 2900GT, for example, would probably still go for £40+ in 6 months.