8800gt vs HD3850

[Dave77]

Hello,

Does graphics card choice depend on what resolution you are going to be running? I plan to run 1680x1050 and was looking at the 8800gt 512mb or HD3850. Also, what differences would I notice between the 256mb and 512mb 8800gt? CPU is a E2180.

Thanks,

Dave.

 

[willhub]

8800GT . 256mb WILL be a problem at 1680x1050 as the card will run out of graphics memory.

 

[J.D]

Higher resolutions enjoy 512mb. Cranking up AA and AF on a 256mb card at 1680x1050 would result in a less enjoyable experience than the 512mb card. The HD3850 is a great card until you apply some AA and that's when the GT will give you the performance benefit over the HD3850. If you don't plan to use AA at all then the cheaper card is the best bet.

 

[MoD_Callidus]

8800GT. I had a 3850 256mb and I game at 1680x1050 I had to lower some settings to get to a point I was happy with it. e.g UT3 has nice textures but they'll penalise a 256mb card. go for either a 3870 if cheap <£120 or go for the 8800gt

 

[gurusan]

if you can afford the 8800GT 512mb then definitely go for that. Otherwise go for the 3870 512mb, then the 3850 512mb...avoid 256mb cards at all costs

 

[Scougar]

Without sounding like I'm harping Gurusan says: it come down to cost. The 3850 512mb is a great card if your on a budget as I don't think anything else can really offer the performance and features it offers for how little it actually costs. It is essentially the same as the 3870, just based on a difference PCB and memory tech. The 3870, is basically just a posher, slightly faster version and probably cherry picked (speed binned) cores.

The 8800gt 512mb is substantially more than both cards (say £50-£90 more than a 3850 512mb might cost - depending on version). It is faster than the 3870 by a large margin on occasion, and is not to be sniffed at. It is the ultimate 'bang for buck' card, but it wasn't as cheap as it was expected to be, and the average consumer doesn't really want to spend more than £100.

If your spending £170+ cash, you may as well consider the 8800GTS 512MB for around £199 as well. Not much difference in it, except better cooler, quieter, and has a few more stream processors, plus normally a slightly higher core speed.

Matthew

 

[Bleek]

Exactly, not sure why an entry level budget gamers card is being compared with the 'benchmark' 8800GT?

If money is tight then go 3850 but don't expect high resolution gaming unless detail and AA are reduced or off.

 

[willhub]

£90 more than a 3850 512mb for the 8800GT 512mb? you can get em for like £30 more..

 

[Dave77]

My main concern was I did'nt want to get a higher end card that would require a better cpu than a E2180 to get the most out of it, hence the comparison with the 3850. It appears the 8800gt is the winner.

 

[gurusan]

well I would highly suggest overclocking the e2180 to at least 2.8ghz, preferably 3+ghz with any of the above cards.