G80 - is it worth getting?

Perfect_Chaos · 4 Nov 2006 at 03:16

right now i am on a 2 year old 6800 GT, and its held up well for the games ive been playing.

I was wondering if its time to upgrade now?, to be honest i was looking at ati's r600 next year to go with vista. is G80 fully dx10 compatible? im sure i remember reading that its not.. while r600 is, is this true?

another thing is games, i dont really see any coming out for the pc that are worth getting at the moment.. i see bioshock, crysis.. and the half life 2 episodes.

enough about that, how long would the card last.. how will it stand up to atis new card next year, and will my enermax 600W be alright to run it with?.. it doesnt have 2 PCI-E connectors but i understand i can use the 1 in the box that will come with it so i can plug it into a spare plug off my psu.

rodman · 4 Nov 2006 at 03:22

If you managed to get by on a 6800 (god bless you) for this long just wait to see what ATI has to offer and choose then. Yes you are correct in thinking there are no games due out till Q1 of 07 that will actually use DX10. For now the G80 is just the best DX9 card one can buy for the next 5 or 6 months.

Perfect_Chaos · 4 Nov 2006 at 03:59

Best DX9 card for now?

is it fully vista compatible & dx10 like r600?

and you didnt answer my question about my psu, would it be alright to run it?

no_1_dave · 4 Nov 2006 at 04:03

Yes its fully DX10 compatible
Yes your psu will easily handle it
Buy one, it'll fulfil all your needs apart from it doesnt have breasts

Perfect_Chaos · 4 Nov 2006 at 04:11

no_1_dave said:
Yes its fully DX10 compatible
Yes your psu will easily handle it
Buy one, it'll fulfil all your needs apart from it doesnt have breasts

lol nice way of putting it.

in all seriousness though will ATI own this card come next year? or will they still be pretty close?

rodman · 4 Nov 2006 at 05:23

will ATI own this card come next year? or will they still be pretty close?

Over the past few years (ever since the 6 series) ATI has been playing catch up and everytime they come out with a new card to go up against Nvidia's (already been out for awile) top card ATI does not really deliver. I guess they are due to beat Nvidia, but history says the R600 won't be much better if at all. As always ATI is 6 months behind...

Darg · 4 Nov 2006 at 07:10

Do yourself a favour and buy a much cheaper card that will still be able to handle every game out for the next year or more at full dx9 settings. You can find a very decent card for a third the price of a G80. Don't believe the ridiculous hype on these forums. It's simply not worth £500 when a card costing £250 can still run all games perfectly fine on the same settings. The only thing you'll be missing out on are some DX10 settings in the 2 or 3 games that will come out supporting DX10 next year.

Perfect_Chaos · 4 Nov 2006 at 07:20

Darg said:
Do yourself a favour and buy a much cheaper card that will still be able to handle every game out for the next year or more at full dx9 settings. You can find a very decent card for a third the price of a G80. Don't believe the ridiculous hype on these forums. It's simply not worth £500 when a card costing £250 can still run all games perfectly fine on the same settings. The only thing you'll be missing out on are some DX10 settings in the 2 or 3 games that will come out supporting DX10 next year.

That might be true, i am probably going to wait for the R600 card from ATI. That is probably a better option for DX10 games right?, not only that but the card should be a little faster than the G80 also.

shrek2 · 4 Nov 2006 at 07:29

Get it.

Perfect_Chaos · 4 Nov 2006 at 08:32

shrek2 said:
Get it.

still deciding..

cavemanoc · 4 Nov 2006 at 09:40

The problem with buying a GFX card now for stuff that will be available next year is that you are paying a huge premium for the 'latest' tech, that will have reduced by the time you actually get to use it - early adopters always pay a heafty price for their keeness!

I'd never pay more than £250 for a GFX card - (then £500 card of today is the £250 card of tomorrow and all that's happened is the tech has matured and the drivers work

)

Slap · 4 Nov 2006 at 09:44

cavemanoc said:
The problem with buying a GFX card now for stuff that will be available next year is that you are paying a huge premium for the 'latest' tech, that will have reduced by the time you actually get to use it - early adopters always pay a heafty price for their keeness!

I'd never pay more than £250 for a GFX card - (then £500 card of today is the £250 card of tomorrow and all that's happened is the tech has matured and the drivers work )

I think you have hit it on the head cavemanoc; it's all to easy to get caught up in the hype and that "must have it/need it now" frenzy...In saying all that, if I was loaded, I would buy it at a drop of a hat

Half a grand for a GPU is insane for the average joe.

oweneades · 4 Nov 2006 at 10:27

The G80 is only worth getting if you need / want to have the latest and greatest. (and have daft amounts of money to burn)

It will NOT offer anything new for some months it will only run the current crop of DX9 games faster.

I would also go as far as saying it is totally pointless for anyone running 1600x1200 or below as the current crop of DX9 cards are chewing through all the latest games with ease (apart from oblivion).

easyrider · 4 Nov 2006 at 10:42

After having a 6800 GT for a while I think investing your money in another DX9 card is maddness and a total waste of money.

Everyone is going on about the 500 quid 8800 GTX when the clearly the 8800 GTS will be closer to Gx2 pricing.

If you have the funds then get G80 it offers sli/xfire perfromance on a single card.

Ignore people who are saying its a waste.

If your card is not doing what it is now and you want to upgrade why waste the money on another DX 9 card?

The value of the DX 9 cards will plummit when DX 10 cards hit the market.Thats the nature of technology.

If your current card was a 7900 GTX or x1900 I would say wait a while.But as its not I would say invest in a DX 10 card that will have resale value.And play all the future Titles without issue

Rather than pouring good money after bad sepnding 200 + on a DX9 solution.

no_1_dave · 4 Nov 2006 at 11:18

Perfect_Chaos said:
That might be true, i am probably going to wait for the R600 card from ATI. That is probably a better option for DX10 games right?, not only that but the card should be a little faster than the G80 also.

The difference between the G80 & R600 will be about the same as between the 7900 GTX and the X1900 XT, its so close its down to personal preference. Some games will be better on G80, some will be better on R600. The fact is that G80 is out in a week not 5 months.

easyrider · 4 Nov 2006 at 11:29

no_1_dave said:
The difference between the G80 & R600 will be about the same as between the 7900 GTX and the X1900 XT, its so close its down to personal preference. Some games will be better on G80, some will be better on R600. The fact is that G80 is out in a week not 5 months.

Indeed

The Running Man · 4 Nov 2006 at 12:12

maybe wait for everyone to sell their 7900GT/X's and pick one up cheap?

testa12 · 4 Nov 2006 at 13:18

have to say, after skimming this thread that I wouldnt bother with the G80 at the £500 price tag.

OK it supports DX10, but we wont really see DX10 becoming pervasive until a good few months yet.

So if I could have a choice now, I might put £250 in the bank and save it for another upgrade in maybe 6 or 8 months time when Vista has settled in a bit. Go for something adequate to run all the current games you like to play or apps you run but a less expensive

LanceCrossfire · 4 Nov 2006 at 14:59

no_1_dave said:
The difference between the G80 & R600 will be about the same as between the 7900 GTX and the X1900 XT, its so close its down to personal preference. Some games will be better on G80, some will be better on R600. The fact is that G80 is out in a week not 5 months.

what the hell!!! id have to disagree... who knows what the r600 is going to be like, rumour has it that it will use 1024mb GDDR4 and a smaller process, also AMD are in the game now so god knows what theyve dropped into this gpu... but by that time nvidia might also have there refresher "8900" cards out with better driver support...

final statement...
until both next gen cards are out with there accompanying motherboards and chipsets, running dx10 benchmarks on vista, there is no way we can compare how these next gen cards are gonna work...
the benchmarks for the G80 running DX9 look good and will only improve with better driver support, but if your content with your current DX9 card then just wait...
like me my rig pee's all over anything @ 1680*1050 maxxed out, so why would i spend £350-500 on a new gpu knowing its gonna go down in price and have some serious competition come next year, not only that but i would see no real increase in performance in the games i play today.

LoadsaMoney · 4 Nov 2006 at 15:03

Darg said:
Do yourself a favour and buy a much cheaper card that will still be able to handle every game out for the next year or more at full dx9 settings. You can find a very decent card for a third the price of a G80. Don't believe the ridiculous hype on these forums. It's simply not worth £500 when a card costing £250 can still run all games perfectly fine on the same settings. The only thing you'll be missing out on are some DX10 settings in the 2 or 3 games that will come out supporting DX10 next year.

Haha you set them off again, you won't learn will you.