Quick bit of advice pls

[tommy trouble]

Hi all

Just a quicky for you. Due to ongoing problems i might be upgrading my gfx card, my pc is currently this:

Abit IP35 Pro
Q6600
4GIG geil ram 6400
BFG 8800GTX OC2

Now i'm not atall unhappy with the gfx card so i'm not NEEDING a mega improvement as such. But it might be fooked so might aswell get an upgrade at the same time.

What card spec would be the starting point of an upgrade? I don't understand what happened to all the 8800's? were they replaced with 9800's with the same spec?

 

[kylew]

The 8800s were pretty much replaced by the 9800s, the 9800s are just a refresh of the 8800s. If you're looking for a new card, what's your budget?

There's the 9800GTX which is the replacement of the 8800GTX for NV

And then you've got the HD 4850 from ATi. The 4850 is a bit faster than the 9800, especially at higher res with AA, and I think it's cheaper too.

They're around the £110-140 range

Then you've got the GTX260 from NV and the HD 4870 1GB from ATi, they're in the £200-240 price range.

You can get both of them for around £205 each though.

I'd recommend the HD 4870 over the GTX260 though, looking at the latest benchmarks, the 4870 edges out the GTX260.

They're pretty much the same price though, so it's down to how much you want to spend and what brand you want.

 

[tommy trouble]

Thanks for that, moct helpfull. I've always been an Nvidia man but am willing to change, i guess i'd be happy enough to pay £150-200 for an upgrade. Might have a good look into the 4870!

 

[kylew]

Have a look at this lot of benchmarks, http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2008/12/17/xmas-2008-graphics-performance-on-core-i7/1

Shows the current performance with the latest drivers.