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Killed 7900GS; Replacement Suggestions Please

eddiew

eddiew

eddiew

Soldato
Joined
26 Jan 2007
Posts
2,541
Location
Leeds
Hi guys,

Well, I've been a numpty and damaged my lovely 7900GS while fitting an aftermarket cooler (generates artifacts even at stock speeds and below 50 degrees at load) :o

Now seeking the most budget-conscious replacement that isn't a downgrade, with an eye to keeping the system as quiet as possible (spends more time not gaming than gaming). Don't really play anything heavy, mostly just World of Warcraft (stop laughing please), which currently runs at 1920x1200, max details, 2x AA, a feat which I would be loathe to lose.

£100 is my guide price, £130 is really the most I want to lay out.

Been debating a 1950 Pro, or an 8600GT, but am basically overloaded by graphics card information every time I look, and can't work out which is better, and whether either are an improvement on the 7900GS I'm losing :( Everyone says the 8800GT is the no-brain medium-power graphics card of the month, but the £160 (assuming a quiet cooling model) cost is a bit of a kick right now. Would considering a 256 MB model for £30 less be silly?

Thanks for any advice!

Eddie
 
Yeah, going 256Mb is silly in this day in age. You can get a 512Mb 8800GT for within budget of £130

EDIT - £127.99 with free delivery to be exact!

EDIT #2 - If you want to stick to £100, buy a HD3850 Pro 512Mb. Got one myself, great cards for the price.
 
Last edited:
This at £102
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-081-PC&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416

This at £110
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-078-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=416

This at £118
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-067-BG&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=356

The 8800GT 512 at over £130...

Really it depends on your budget and performance requirements. If you want the same performance as before then thats around 8600GTS, however at £100 the HD3850 murders the 8600GTS.

Have fun with whatever you choose!
 
HD3850 512Mb - £105inc delivery
HD3870 512Mb - £120inc delivery
8800GT 512Mb - £135inc delivery

Increments of £15. Personally I think you'd be over the moon with a HD3850 especially as you don't game often and when you do, it's WoW.
 
smyth said:
Yeah the 9600 GT is meant to beat the 3850 by around 10-15% on most games, and is around 5% slower then the 3780 without any AA but slightly faster with AA.

It's also meant to overclock really well and have a fairly low power consumption.

(this is just from reading the tomshardware review)

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/21/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt/index.html
Click to expand...

Absolutely right! I love my 9600GT. I overclock it to 740/1850/1025(2050 effective) without sweating. Beats 3870 on most of the FPS games like LP, Crysis, Q4 and many many more. And you could expect better performances on future games because of its awesome shader power:) Here's the initial screenie:

9600GTA.jpg
 
so to hijack but i have a 7900GTX and i have seen a few artifacts appear now and then and i think mine might be heading out! so i was wondering if i would see a performance drop if i was to get an 9600 to replace it?
 
Blue Cypher said:
so to hijack but i have a 7900GTX and i have seen a few artifacts appear now and then and i think mine might be heading out! so i was wondering if i would see a performance drop if i was to get an 9600 to replace it?
Click to expand...

I think the 9600 GT should give you better performance, have a look on the tomshardware gfx charts and compare the 7900GTX to the 3850/3870 (since the 9600GT is not on there yet)
 
eddiew said:
Hi guys,

Well, I've been a numpty and damaged my lovely 7900GS while fitting an aftermarket cooler (generates artifacts even at stock speeds and below 50 degrees at load) :o

Now seeking the most budget-conscious replacement that isn't a downgrade, with an eye to keeping the system as quiet as possible (spends more time not gaming than gaming). Don't really play anything heavy, mostly just World of Warcraft (stop laughing please), which currently runs at 1920x1200, max details, 2x AA, a feat which I would be loathe to lose.

£100 is my guide price, £130 is really the most I want to lay out.

Been debating a 1950 Pro, or an 8600GT, but am basically overloaded by graphics card information every time I look, and can't work out which is better, and whether either are an improvement on the 7900GS I'm losing :( Everyone says the 8800GT is the no-brain medium-power graphics card of the month, but the £160 (assuming a quiet cooling model) cost is a bit of a kick right now. Would considering a 256 MB model for £30 less be silly?

Thanks for any advice!

Eddie
Click to expand...


You could try and sell the 7900GS on ebay, just state that it generates artifacts and you should still get a bit for it
 
smyth said:
I think the 9600 GT should give you better performance, have a look on the tomshardware gfx charts and compare the 7900GTX to the 3850/3870 (since the 9600GT is not on there yet)
Click to expand...

So i take it those graphics cards (3850/3870) are very familiar to the 9600 even on a nvidia chipset board? would be nice to have a performance increase :)
 
Wow, thanks for all the responses guys, plenty of food for thought :)

I find myself now torn between a 3850 Pro, and a 9600GT (neither of which were in my original line up). They seem to offer pretty much the same performance...

Can anyone advise on a particularly quiet running version of either these cards? Powercolor's 3850 looks pretty good, but I'm not quite sure I trust it to have dynamic fan speed and actually slow down in 2D (my old card did not, hence I was trying to fit a new cooler in the first place!)

Thanks!

Eddie
 
eddiew said:
Wow, thanks for all the responses guys, plenty of food for thought :)

I find myself now torn between a 3850 Pro, and a 9600GT (neither of which were in my original line up). They seem to offer pretty much the same performance...

Can anyone advise on a particularly quiet running version of either these cards? Powercolor's 3850 looks pretty good, but I'm not quite sure I trust it to have dynamic fan speed and actually slow down in 2D (my old card did not, hence I was trying to fit a new cooler in the first place!)

Thanks!

Eddie
Click to expand...

No, those powercolor cards with that fan do not slow down, they are actually quite loud.

You'd be better off with the OCUK value one, or one with a normal stock cooler tbh.
 
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