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time to replace my 8800GTX

Odyssey

Odyssey

Odyssey

Associate
Joined
27 Jan 2009
Posts
57
Hey everyone, been out of the game for the summer as I've been out and about but now the bad weather has set in I'll be playing a lot more on my PC.

I'm looking to upgrade my gfx card which is an 8800GTX.

The rest of my system is [email protected], 8GB DDR2 @1000Mhz, and I play GTA4, MW1+2, Dirt1+2, BioShock etc etc @ 1920x1200.

Have a budget of about £300 tops, but am not sure if there are about to be a new line up of cards or not? Should I wait or are there any cards which are a good buy now?

Cheers
 
+1 on the 5850. I just got one myself to replace my 9800GTX+ and its brilliant. Playing Crisis at 1080P and 4xAA with everything on high no problems at all. I think you would find it a nice boost to your system.

Edit. spoke too soon Crysis is crashing on the final level :( (Solved the problem by switching my main display to the 9800GTX+ and was able to complete the game in slide show mode lol) The ATI 9.11 Beta driver must conflict with the final level of the game causing the Crysis.exe to stop responding.

Out of the games on your list GTA IV plays nice in 1080P with the details all on high, but with the shadows turned off. Don't know why, but it is still jumpy with shadows on and they don't even look that good.

I think there is a bug with the current ATI drivers with BioShock. Not tried any of the other games in your list. Personally I don't think its worth spending money on the GTX 285 2GB as the 5850 is cheaper assuming you can find one for sale. The 5850 is also the faster card.
 
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+1 on the 5850, new drivers 9.12 should give you some more performance boost too, supposedly they will unlock the true potential of the new 58xx cards.
 
Unless you plan on replaying Crysis, why not wait until 1Q10 when some decent DX11 games (BF:Bad Company 2) and Fermi will be out. Should be better supply and prices for ATi by then, and you will have the nVidia option.

With a bit of overclocking my 8800GTX is still going strong in the recent crop of games @1900x1200 high details - Borderlands, Dragon age, MW2 all run fine.
 
Zarf said:
With a bit of overclocking my 8800GTX is still going strong in the recent crop of games @1900x1200 high details - Borderlands, Dragon age, MW2 all run fine.
Click to expand...
I found that 1900x1200 at high details with AA finally began to make my old (overclocked) 8800GTX struggle. The 768mb of video ram might have had a little to do with that. The 8800GTX was/is a great card but another vote for the 5850 although unluckily for you it was possible to buy the 5870 for £300 on launch.
 
It's amazing how many 8800GT/GTX users there still are which is either a credit to the card or the lack of games development taking advantage of recent technology. My guess is the later.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
It's amazing how many 8800GT/GTX users there still are which is either a credit to the card or the lack of games development taking advantage of recent technology. My guess is the later.
Click to expand...

I think a lot of us (me included) were wanting to skip the current gen of cards (250/260/285/295), and wait for the next gen before upgrading if staying with Nvidia.
 
I agree.. I still have one myself. Each time I load a new game it plays just as well as it did 3 years ago. I was tempted by the new ATI 58* series but the games i'm playing will last me until well into Q1/10 and by then Fermi will be on the horizon.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
It's amazing how many 8800GT/GTX users there still are which is either a credit to the card or the lack of games development taking advantage of recent technology. My guess is the later.
Click to expand...

I've 2 x 8800 GTX in SLI, and still very happy with the performance. It's only because I'm building a new machine for Windows 7 that I'm looking to upgrade. I think 8800's are viable still as many games are now multiformat and are often console ports.

I'm now looking to upgrade as I'm building a new PC for W7. Got a 5870 on order, but could be waiting a while :(

I am thinking of cancelling the 5870 and waiting to the middle of the new year to upgrade to a DX11 card. So I am trying to work out what card would be a good idea to install into the new PC that would still be a reasonable upgrade from 2 x 8800GTX, but not cost the earth.
 
Admiral Huddy said:
It's amazing how many 8800GT/GTX users there still are which is either a credit to the card or the lack of games development taking advantage of recent technology. My guess is the later.
Click to expand...

It's a bit of both to be honest. The 8800GTX offered a huge leap in performance when released and was also quiet and reliable. For anyone who games at 1650x1080 or below, there's no compelling reason to upgrade from a GTX yet.

I'm still waiting for a game to be released that finally brings mine to its knees, although it is more likely to be a monitor upgrade which forces a change, as at higher res it does begin to show its age.
 
'So I am trying to work out what card would be a good idea to install into the new PC that would still be a reasonable upgrade from 2 x 8800GTX, but not cost the earth. '

Honestly, get a stop gap card or keep what you have, there's nothing of good value just now that can better what you have. I would wait and see if anything develops or if Ati finally get enough 5850\5870 cards out so that the price gouging stops.
 
To be fair I have to agree with the comments already said. I'm in a bit of a similar situation with my 8800 GTS. The ATI 4xxx series and Nvidia's 2xx series haven't really done a massive leap from the 8800 cards. It's only really noticeable with all the special eye candy options turned on. Again, even now the ATI 5xxx isn't that impressive to me either, I mean the real test will be how it copes with the new DX11 titles and compares to what Nvidia have to offer.

Until then, it's going to be a bit of gamble with any of the cards available to buy now - which is why I feel extremely cautious myself.
 
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