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Geforce 8800 GTS Upgrade

nheather

nheather

nheather

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Joined
19 May 2004
Posts
1,037
Location
Horsham, West Sussex
What's a good (cost efficient) upgrade for a 8800 GTS (320MB)?

Rest of system

Intel E6750 Duo running at 2.8
2GB 1066 Ram
Windows XP

Not brand loyal, so doesn't have to be a nVidia.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
nvidia wise 8800GT/GTS 512mb versions from members market or 9800/250 new, ATI a 4850.

do you use it for gaming ?, if so what size monitor/res do you use.

also depends on what you think as cost effective, the nvidia 260 gtx's /ati 4870s are decent prices around know, just depends if you'll make use of them.
 
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Yep gaming is where I see the combination struggle (particularly ARMA II).

I run at 1280x1024 (the native res of my 19" monitor).

With my current rig I find ARMA II unplayable. I have the quality turned right down and even run at 1024x768 but it doesn't make a huge difference.

The two problems I see is

(i) Lots of tearing - I assume that is down to the low memory (320) on my card
(ii) Low FPS - you don't notice the problem when running around so much, it's when you come to shoot something and you realise that the gun sights are jerking around all over the place.

The 4850 would be well within budget - I'm looking for a noticeable improvment - would this provide it?

Cheers,

Nigel
 
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I recently replaced my 8800gts 320mb for a 4890 Vapor-x. The 4890 cost me the same price as the 8800gts did when that was new, which in my eyes is cost efficient :-)

I game at a higher resolution of 1680 x 1050 and had tried the ARMA II demo before and after upgrading.

Before upgrading, I had to lower settings to a level that I wasn't happy with and encountered the same sighting problem you describe due to fps. I didn't notice any tearing though.

Now, with the 4890, I can turn everything up and enjoy smooth frame rates. This card might be a bit of overkill for you unless you intend to replace your monitor. If you don't intend on upgrading your monitor during the lifetime of your replacement card, a 4850 may well suffice.

Found a couple of benchmarks for you to take a look at:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/ARMAII_gpu_performance/

http://www.pcgameshardware.com/aid,...chmarks-and-visual-quality-compared/Practice/

Edit - just realised you live only a couple of miles away from me!
 
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looking at the first link from mikey they recommend the 4870 512mb version, which you can get for around £100.

and as mentioned see how much more you can get out of your processor overclock wise, does it have a decent cooler on it ?
 
Cooling - it has a Arctic Freezer 7 Pro

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-017-AR

As for graphic cards how do the

4850 - 4870 - 4890 compare

Likewise where does the Geforce GTX 260 fit in the above.


For example I would be prepared to go to 4890 if it is a significant performance over the 4870. If it is only slight then I'd be best saving £50.

I'll look at the links above this evening - they're blocked at work.

Cheers,

Nigel
 
At your resolution the 4890 isn't worth the premium IMO.

The 260 is essentially the direct competition to the 4870. From what I have read, ARMA II works best with ATI cards rather than Nvidia and I think the 4870 currently has the 260 licked in terms of pricing.

The 4870 512mb version is probably all you will need and is the recommended card in the first link I posted, as mp has highlighted.

Seems everything is pointing towards the 4870 512mb :-)

You may have other considerations, such as power consumption, heat, noise, etc. In which case I think the 260 will steal some points back...
 
nheather said:
Yep gaming is where I see the combination struggle (particularly ARMA II).

I run at 1280x1024 (the native res of my 19" monitor).

With my current rig I find ARMA II unplayable. I have the quality turned right down and even run at 1024x768 but it doesn't make a huge difference.

The two problems I see is

(i) Lots of tearing - I assume that is down to the low memory (320) on my card
(ii) Low FPS - you don't notice the problem when running around so much, it's when you come to shoot something and you realise that the gun sights are jerking around all over the place.

The 4850 would be well within budget - I'm looking for a noticeable improvment - would this provide it?

Cheers,

Nigel
Click to expand...

Are you sure that the tearing isn't caused because you have got vertical sync disabled??

I know whenever I have disabled this setting for benchmarking, it caused loads of tearing in games...

Lots of my mates run their games with V Sync disabled, so that they get higher frame rates, but I personally can't play without V Sync as the tearing effect really distracts me, my eyes seem to be constantly drawn to them!!!

I would imagine that your GTS is struggling with a lot of the newer games that are around right now?

I don't have any personal experience with current ATI cards, but from what I have read, you should get a nice performance boost from the 4850 over your 8800..

Like mikeym has already said, something like a 4890 or GTX285 would be overkill for the res that you are gaming at, so you should either go for the HD4850, or a GTX260..

At that resolution you would probably be fine with a GTS250 tbh...
 
Like I mentioned in your other thread, I was in a very similar position a few months ago. I went for the 4870 1Gb, even though it's slight overkill for my 1440x900 res, but I wanted the extra memory in case I buy a monitor with a higher res. Dawn of War II is ultra smooth with everything on high, as is Crysis, though I haven't tried Arma II, I must admit.

Even a 4870 512mb should be plenty for what you game at, and the prices are nice. I think a 4890 is only about 10% more performance for a lot more wedge, so 4870 512mb gets my vote.

+1 about the tearing, I always have vsync on because tearing = evil
 
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