Pointless getting 8800***!! What games?!

salami1212 · 22 Nov 2006 at 21:48

Well, at the moment there is no games which need the 8800*** cards to view them in full graphical glory. So im just saying why do people get them as they could have waited for a game like crysis to come out then get them for a fraction of the price.

Jokester · 22 Nov 2006 at 21:49

Depends on the resolution you play at.

Jokester

wolvotim · 22 Nov 2006 at 21:52

People will always buy the latest hardware and other people will always ask why when you can wait till it’s come down in price. But there will always be something better out when the original piece of hardware comes down in price. So it’s a bit of a pointless argument on both sides.

WesleyBurns · 22 Nov 2006 at 21:54

because it absolutely killed my 7950 GX2 hands down

TheGunslinger · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:01

why? because the single 8800 beats two cards in SLi thats why. And Its futureproof (if there is such a term in the pc hardware world)

...**shudder** I just said the words 'PC' and 'world' in the same sentance (spits on floor and turns round three times to eleviate the curse of that god forsaken shop)

kibble · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:02

It's not such a pointless argument. Not in this case anyway. The 8800 is the first in the next generation of not only graphics cards but with Vista and DX10 just around the corner, it's part of what could be considered a triumvirate of the next generation of PC gaming (the card, DX10, and the games). For it's power to be truly realised, it absolutely requires more components than just itself - not something which many cards in the last couple of years have been able to say. At the moment, we only have the card.

Reasons NOT to buy;
1.) No games to take advantage of the 8800's raw power.
2.) No drivers for VISTA, the OS which is designed for the 8800's DX10 capability.
3.) Price will come down by the time these are available.

Reasons to buy;
1.) Bragging rights - loadsamoney, mine's bigger than yours and so on...
2.) Play latest games at MAX settings, which you could do with a card nearly half the price.

bfar · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:10

Anyone who says "you don't need it" doesn't have one. Its faster, smoother, better looking, more consistent and offers more performance peace of mind than anything else out there, regardless of what resolution or games you play. when I buy a game I want to know for absolute certain that my rig will own it.

Its even more than that - when you want performance, you want hardware that offers more than just an average 60+ fps, you want it constant, so your minimum fps are right up there even when the going gets tough in games. And you want each frame looking its best.

Everyone has their own reasons. I game at 1280x960 4AA 4AF. I have a good CRT. When my 8800 arrives tomorrow, I'll be bumping up to 1600x1200 8AA 16AAF or more. I'll sell my 1900XT and get €200+ for it. When the new DX10 games arrive I'll play them with the new API immediately. On my next upgrade I can concentrate on memory/CPU, knowing my GFX card has a decent bit of life left in it.

salami1212 · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:15

bfar said:
Anyone who says "you don't need it" doesn't have one. Its faster, smoother, better looking, more consistent and offers more performance peace of mind than anything else out there, regardless of what resolution or games you play. when I buy a game I want to know for absolute certain that my rig will own it.

Its even more than that - when you want performance, you want hardware that offers more than just an average 60+ fps, you want it constant, so your minimum fps are right up there even when the going gets tough in games. And you want each frame looking its best.

i hope your on about the games looking better looking because if your not thennnn................ thats quite silly

Jokester · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:18

salami1212 said:
i hope your on about the games looking better looking because if your not thennnn................ thats quite silly

Well two aspects, the first, you can use more AA/AF because the card is substantially more powerful so you can make games better looking that way. Also the card produces a higher quality image compared to other cards, not all cards produce the same image at the same settings. It was something that Nvidia have always lagged behind ATI when it came to image quality, but now the 8800 has by all accounts surpassed them.

Jokester

wolvotim · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:21

kibble said:
It's not such a pointless argument. Not in this case anyway. The 8800 is the first in the next generation of not only graphics cards but with Vista and DX10 just around the corner, it's part of what could be considered a triumvirate of the next generation of PC gaming (the card, DX10, and the games). For it's power to be truly realised, it absolutely requires more components than just itself - not something which many cards in the last couple of years have been able to say. At the moment, we only have the card.

Reasons NOT to buy;
1.) No games to take advantage of the 8800's raw power.
2.) No drivers for VISTA, the OS which is designed for the 8800's DX10 capability.
3.) Price will come down by the time these are available.

Reasons to buy;
1.) Bragging rights - loadsamoney, mine's bigger than yours and so on...
2.) Play latest games at MAX settings, which you could do with a card nearly half the price.

I wasn’t saying the card was pointless (im buying one on Saturday). I was saying you get people who like to have the latest nicknacks and gadgets (like me) and you will get people who don’t understand paying a premium for the latest tech and settle for something that is just good rather than great. And these two types of people will always argue, which is pointless.

photoshop · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:28

wolvotim said:
I was saying you get people who like to have the latest nicknacks and gadgets (like me) and you will get people who don’t understand paying a premium for the latest tech and settle for something that is just good rather than great. And these two types of people will always argue, which is pointless.

true

Klo · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:28

wolvotim said:
I wasn’t saying the card was pointless (im buying one on Saturday). I was saying you get people who like to have the latest nicknacks and gadgets (like me) and you will get people who don’t understand paying a premium for the latest tech and settle for something that is just good rather than great. And these two types of people will always argue, which is pointless.

I agree. It is pointless to argue, as nobody will ever change their mind

(Can anyone notice the difference between 100fps and 150fps? I certainly couldn't!

)

bfar · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:29

salami1212 said:
i hope your on about the games looking better looking because if your not thennnn................ thats quite silly

Is it really? FEAR (albeit badly coded) benchmarks at 90% > 60 fps. Thats at 1280*960. Even then I find it irritating to play. Its the other 10% that kills it. There are other games that behave similarly, and over the next 3 months there'll be more that push things even harder. I want more and I can finance it without blinking - so I've upgraded accordingly. Thats my choice, no one elses.

easyrider · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:31

salami1212 said:
Well, at the moment there is no games which need the 8800*** cards to view them in full graphical glory. So im just saying why do people get them as they could have waited for a game like crysis to come out then get them for a fraction of the price.

Why does the sun come up?
Are stars you pinholes in the curtain of night?

You can say the same for anything really.

Whay do people spend 1000's on flash cars?

to go faster.

This is getting boring.

I dont need to wait for the price to drop.By the time it does there will be new cards coming out.

let me guess....

Can you afford one?
My guess is not or you wouldn't have posted as you would not see it as an issue.

Sime · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:33

I think both sides of the arguement are right, im getting a 8800GTS for xmas, not because im rich or wanting to brag about it. The reason im getting one is purely becuase i want the best possible GFX card thats avalible at the moment in my price range...I agree with people saying why have bought 2x GTX thats a little bit rediclous, getting a single GTX or GTS is fine, but again its people money if they want to spend a shed load on it then good on them, sure if i had the money i would do the same...Even though there are no games or apps for it does not mean its a waste of money at all...Just getting prepared for the future...You cant just go around saying "YOU CANT BUY THAT!" its personal preferance.

bfar · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:38

Sime said:
The reason im getting one is purely becuase i want the best possible GFX card thats avalible at the moment in my price range...

say no more

TheGunslinger · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:40

In the short time Ive been here, one thing is totally clear, the only people actually moaning and saying they are pointless are the one's who cant afford/dont have one.

Sime · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:42

TheGunslinger said:
In the short time Ive been here, one thing is totally clear, the only people actually moaning and saying they are pointless are the one's who cant afford/dont have one.

Yep your probably right there bud...

kibble · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:43

bfar said:
Its faster, smoother, better looking, more consistent and offers more performance peace of mind than anything else out there, regardless of what resolution or games you play.

Of course, if the rest of your system isn't a bottleneck, of course the 8800 is going to show an improvement on games, but it's not nearly being pushed to the limit. And it won't be for some months yet.

bfar said:
Its even more than that - when you want performance, you want hardware that offers more than just an average 60+ fps, you want it constant, so your minimum fps are right up there even when the going gets tough in games. And you want each frame looking its best.

And the 8800 is the ONLY guaranteed way to ensure all games out there at the moment run at 60+ FPS?? Well, I guess it's a future proofed purchasing choice if you've got a pretty ancient set-up, but any decent system will still eat up nearly every game out there. Besides, what SHOULD be considered is the cost vs improvement ratio. No-one seems to take that into account. It's not enough to just say you can bump the resolution up, get rid of a few jaggies and squeeze an extra 10fps out. It has to be worth it.

bfar said:
On my next upgrade I can concentrate on memory/CPU, knowing my GFX card has a decent bit of life left in it.

Errr... if you bought an 8800 in 2 months time for less money, you would still have plenty of life left in your card. Buying one now doesn't give you more longevity at the other end you know. If you want to spend £450 on a card, then in a few months that will get you a faster card and therefore more longevity. Of course, it's a vicious circle.

bfar said:
Anyone who says "you don't need it" doesn't have one.

Quite. Anyone who has spent £450+ on one of these cards is hardly going to turn around and say, "Nah, I don't need this after all." However, there are plenty of disgruntled people on these forums and elsewhere who are mightily frustrated that they can't use these cards in Vista or play any of the games that will really show what this card can do.

My only point really is that the good reasons to wait to buy one of these cards outnumber the ones that say you shouldn't. Unless you're loaded, in which case go nuts...

Rroff · 22 Nov 2006 at 22:45

WesleyBurns said:
because it absolutely killed my 7950 GX2 hands down

I think your GX2 was stuck in single card mode then... in most games my 7950GX2 is considerably faster than the 8800GTS and only slightly behind the GTX, the only time that changes is in shader intensive games and even there I've yet to see a game thats dramatically faster on an 8800 except oblivion.

note my GX2 is considerably overclocked... but based on the benchmarks it would still beat the GTS by a shade on stock clocks.

EDIT: Seems from looking at the specs (tho this could be CPU limited) the 8800 series are a bit faster than the GX2 at higher resolutions (beyond 1600x) as I play at 1440x I'm not really gonna complain.