Looking to replace my 8800GTX

BillyDoyle · 13 Aug 2011 at 04:25

Hi all - I'm looking to replace my elderly 8800 GTX card. I was planning to hold out and save for a top of the line card sometime early next year, but the card has started to fail and crash my system on a regular basis so I need something I can afford within the next month or two, in the £100-£200 range, ideally closer to £100.

Ideally I want something that does Direct X 11, and gives a modest boost in performance over the 8800 gtx, as I don't want to replace it with a card which does direct X 11 but performs worse in other regards. Is such a thing possible, and if so what would you recommend?

Pickman · 13 Aug 2011 at 07:00

The 8800GTX was a wonderful card, but it is a little old now.

I switched out my 8800GTX just over a year ago for a GTX 470 and the difference was massive. Even with a GTX 460 you see a decent performance gain and the 460's can be snapped up at only just over 100 pounds new.

What res do you play at and how long are you hoping to keep this new card?

Marine-RX179 · 13 Aug 2011 at 08:53

What CPU are you using at the moment and any overclock?

The reason I'm asking this is if you use a modern more modern graphic card in an aged system (i.e. with an old and slow dual-core), the new graphic card is very likely to get bottlenecked.

BillyDoyle · 13 Aug 2011 at 10:07

Thanks for the replies folks. In answer to your questions, I usually play at 1920x1200 - I think that's right, away from my computer at the minute, and I've a dreadful memory for figures. I'm using a q6600 processor quad core processor, not overclocked, so 2.4ghz. With regards to how long it has to last, i'm undecided, but I'd say probably 12-18 months. I get rid of a financial commitment at the end of the year, and after that I should easily be able to put £100-£150 into my system, but at that point I'm inclined to think that it makes more sense to start saving for a whole new rig rather than doing piecemeal improvements.

So for the time being, I don't think I need anything too flash, and it's not that important to me to be able to play the latest games at max settings right now, just so long as they are playable if I crank down the settings, and it doesn't due on me before I've gotten the money together for whatever I decide to do later.

smit101 · 13 Aug 2011 at 10:28

Overclock that Q6600 mate

, which motherboard are you using?

Marine-RX179 · 13 Aug 2011 at 10:38

BillyDoyle said:
In answer to your questions, I usually play at 1920x1200 - I think that's right, away from my computer at the minute, and I've a dreadful memory for figures. I'm using a q6600 processor quad core processor, not overclocked, so 2.4ghz. With regards to how long it has to last, i'm undecided, but I'd say probably 12-18 months. I get rid of a financial commitment at the end of the year, and after that I should easily be able to put £100-£150 into my system, but at that point I'm inclined to think that it makes more sense to start saving for a whole new rig rather than doing piecemeal improvements.

You'd need to overclocked your Q6600 to at least 3.0GHz...this should be doable on almost any motherobard (I managed even on my previous crappy 650i nforce chipset board). If you got a good CPU cooler, and your motherboard is P35/P45 chipset, you should be ablve to push the overclock to 3.4GHz, or even 3.6GHz (but note that 3.6GHz do need high vcore to keep it stable, so it will higher power consumption and generate more heat, so you'd need a decent CPU cooler for that).

As for graphic card upgrade, if you are upgrading in a month or two, you'd best wait for AMD's next gen card, which are rumoured to be launched at Aug/Sep. It would be a bad idea to go 6950 2GB with next gen cards being so close to launch, and also that the £200 6950 2GB is not really hugely faster than some of the £100ish cards like the GTX460 1GB. The 6950 2GB is around around 20%~ faster than the GTX460 1GB and with the benefit of more VRAM, but it cost 100% more, so it might not be as great on the front of bang for bucks in comparison.

JediFragger · 13 Aug 2011 at 10:42

Try to stretch to a 470 (if your psu is decent), but a 460 1GB for 100-ish will do you proud :cool:

djxput · 13 Aug 2011 at 10:56

JediFragger said:
Try to stretch to a 470 (if your psu is decent), but a 460 1GB for 100-ish will do you proud

how does a 460 or 470 compare to a 6870? ... my suggestion would be a 6970 but not sure the cost/performance difference.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Aug 2011 at 11:03

djxput said:
how does a 460 or 470 compare to a 6870? ... my suggestion would be a 6970 but not sure the cost/performance difference.

GTX470 and 6870 are roughly on par with each other, and are around 12~15% faster than a GTX460 1GB. Now the biggest difference between the 6870 and GTX470 is the 6870 would be lower power consumption and cooler running, whereas the GTX470 would be higher power consumption and hotter running, but will have much more overclock headroom- overclocking the 6870 would roughly put it at 5870 speed or a little faster, whereas overclocking the GTX470 would put it at GTX480 speed or a little faster.

JediFragger · 13 Aug 2011 at 13:47

^^ What he said ^^

kissenger · 13 Aug 2011 at 13:50

I'm also looking to switch out. I'm running a 9800GTX though, which is a little newer than the 8800. Would it be worth me going for the GTX470, given that I probably won't be able to upgrade again as soon as BillyDoyle?

I'll probably need to stick with whatever I buy for about another two years, so if there are some new cards coming out it might be wise to wait. I don't know.

danoliver1 · 13 Aug 2011 at 14:34

Iam looking to upgrade my 8800gtx once battlefield 3 comes out, my thought is to wait and get a second hand 5850/6850/6870 when the newer cards come out.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Aug 2011 at 17:12

danoliver1 said:
Iam looking to upgrade my 8800gtx once battlefield 3 comes out, my thought is to wait and get a second hand 5850/6850/6870 when the newer cards come out.

GTX460 1GB would roughly be 80~100% faster than the 8800GTX/9800GTX. I used to be running at 1680 res on my 9800GTX+ 512MB, but when I upgraded my monitor to 1920 res, I upgraded to a 5850 (around 10% faster than the GTX460 1GB/6850). While my 5850 can overclock the core clock from 725MHz to 925MHz, what I find is that my 5850 would handle fine even without the max overclock for 1920 res 4xAA for the games I'm playing, so I just lower my overclock to 800~850MHz for lowering power consumption and temp.

If you guys wish to upgrade your graphic card, the first thing you should make sure is that your existing CPU wouldn't be a bottleneck for the new graphic card you are getting, and secondly would be to check if your existing PSU can handle you interested graphic card no problem.

coupe69 · 13 Aug 2011 at 17:51

Marine-RX179 said:
GTX470 and 6870 are roughly on par with each other, and are around 12~15% faster than a GTX460 1GB.

The 470 is a bit faster than the 6870, it's also got that little bit of extra vram which could help out later down the line. Granted the 6870 uses significantly less power and runs cooler.

I'd say the 6870 sits somewhere between the 460 1GB and the 470 tbh.

Check Anandtech comparison - link

BillyDoyle · 13 Aug 2011 at 20:17

Thanks for all the advice everyone. In answer to some further questions, I've got an ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard, with an 850w Corsair PSU and no fancy custom cooling.

Marine-RX179 · 13 Aug 2011 at 20:37

BillyDoyle said:
In answer to some further questions, I've got an ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard, with an 850w Corsair PSU and no fancy custom cooling.

Well, looks like you are not gonna have to worry about the heat, cause with that 650i nforce chipset realistically the highest stable overclock for Q6600 is only 3.0GHz...I had a 650i chipset board before I upgrade to the P5Q Deluxe, so I know (I've tried 3.1~3.2GHz but keep getting BSOD and crashes).

Tokin · 19 Aug 2011 at 13:29

Marine-RX179 said:
GTX470 and 6870 are roughly on par with each other, and are around 12~15% faster than a GTX460 1GB. Now the biggest difference between the 6870 and GTX470 is the 6870 would be lower power consumption and cooler running, whereas the GTX470 would be higher power consumption and hotter running, but will have much more overclock headroom- overclocking the 6870 would roughly put it at 5870 speed or a little faster, whereas overclocking the GTX470 would put it at GTX480 speed or a little faster.

+1

Donkeyfumbler · 19 Aug 2011 at 14:07

Marine-RX179 said:
Well, looks like you are not gonna have to worry about the heat, cause with that 650i nforce chipset realistically the highest stable overclock for Q6600 is only 3.0GHz...I had a 650i chipset board before I upgrade to the P5Q Deluxe, so I know (I've tried 3.1~3.2GHz but keep getting BSOD and crashes).

+1.

This was my set up before -P5ne-sli and a Q6600. Managed to get to 2.7 but no further. Bought a 560ti and the CPU was a big bottleneck, so I ended up doing a full upgrade and the difference was enormous.

Sad to say, but any GPU you buy will be hamstrung by your cpu/mobo combination.

BillyDoyle · 19 Aug 2011 at 17:04

Thanks for the advice everyone. Given the throttling issues, I think the best course of action seems to be to go for the cheapest 460, and put any money left over into the pot for future upgrades or a new system, and be prepared to crank settings down as far as necessary on newer game in the meantime. I'd be half tempted to go for a dirt cheap reconditioned 9800 as a temporary measure, and save even more money, but it seems mad to buy a card at and not get DX 11 compatibility.

Donkeyfumbler · 19 Aug 2011 at 17:17

I think that's the right choice. You will see some performance increase by going to the 460, but I suspect not all it could give you. I think you'll need to start saving for a new mobo/cpu/ram combo as the next upgrade.