8800's, need quick response!

[Sam1990]

So, I'm going to go and return my 8800GTS 320MB that I bought for $299.99 because it costs $219.99 right now, so I thought I would just use that $300 to get like a 512MB one. But, I have no idea which one to choose from, so I need your help.

Also, I'm willing to add another $50 to that $300 to get a little better card. Here are some options that I'm looking at.

First I would like to know, to eliminate some options, should I stick with the "GTS" series or get a "GT" edition one?

Second, should I get one with DDR3 or GDDR3 or does it not make much of a difference?

GT DDR3

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427124&CatId=1839

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427121&CatId=1839

GT GDDR3

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3436163&CatId=1839

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427120&CatId=1839

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3485042&CatId=1839

GTS GDDR3

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3484816&CatId=1839

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3510513&CatId=1839

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3440321&CatId=1839

I have no idea why I'm asking about the GT's, because I know more than half of you are going to tell me to get the first GTS I listed because it's a GTS 640MB GDDR3 video card.

But, the main reason I'm asking about the GTS is, because although it has 640MB, I don't want to go out and buy it then feel like an idiot because it's a piece of crap. Why? Well, because I have no idea what the hell "KO" stands for.

I'm guessing I'll be better of with this one http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...513&CatId=1839 because it has the fastest clocks and the most stream processors out of all the GTS ones.

If you have more than 1 that you think I should get, please list them in order of importance, or which one's are better than the others because TigerDirect doesn't have all of the ones they have on their website.

[camper.]

Get the 8800GTS 512MB. All graphics cards use GDDR not DDR (which is used for system RAM), it's a slip-up in the description. The 8800GTS 512MB will outclass every single other card you have lined up and is comparable to an 8800GTX.

[Sam1990]

The G92 8800GTS right? Well, how do I know which one is the G92 and not the G80 or what ever?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3507889&CatId=1839

That one good?

Also wanted to ask, right now I have 2GB DDR2 667MHz Dual Channel RAM plus another 1GB DDR2 667MHz RAM.

Should I go and buy another 2GB DDR2 667MHz Dual Channel RAM and take out the 1GB stick or should I just purchase a 1GB DDR2 667MHz stick?

[camper.]

G92 GTSes only come in 512MB. 640MB and 320MB cards are the old G80.

The order of greatness, crappiest to best, would be GTS 320 < GTS 640 < GT 256 < GT 512 < GTS 512.


Just pop that additional 1GB of RAM in and it should be fine. It depends on your configuration. 4 512MB sticks now, you can yank out 1 and put the 1GB stick in. 2 1GB sticks now, you just add the next 1GB stick in.

On newer (P/G/X3 series and up) Intel motherboards, you can have any configuration and will get full dual channel speeds equal to the speed of the lowest stick and any segment of RAM that can be ran in dual channel (has a matching segment in the other channel) will do so. So with 3x512MB and 1x1GB, you would have 2.5GB running in dual channel and an extra 512MB running in single mode.

On an AMD chipset, I'm not too sure. Your best bet is to try. You want either Dual Channel Interleaved mode or Dual Channel Asymmetric (if you have 3 sticks of RAM equally sized). If it comes up as single channel, your only bet is to have all four slots matched up with exactly the right sizes. Some old AMD boards have issues running 4xRAM sticks so watch out.

[Sam1990]

Well, how do I check if I have single or dual channel running? But, if I have all 4 sticks with the same specifications, there shouldn't be a problem, right?

[Namakan]

I recommend this one

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427121&CatId=1839

Its the one i have and am entirely happy with it

the GTS G92 isn't that much faster for the price

[Sam1990]

Yah I was looking into that one. Well, I can't really say which one I can get or what not because TigerDirect doesn't have all of the in the store, so I'll just have to see which one they have and get the best one.

Thanks for the help everyone.

[camper.]

I recommend this one

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3427121&CatId=1839

Its the one i have and am entirely happy with it

the GTS G92 isn't that much faster for the price

Not at all, the GTS is a good 30% faster stock, and it has 15% more overclocking potential (as in 1MHz increase in core clock will result in 115% of the gain from the same clock increase on a GT). So raising the clocks will increase the gap even more.

Just because you bought it doesn't mean it's the holy grail, people need to really keep that in mind.



To check if you have single or dual channel mode running, you should be able to see it at the POST screen when starting your PC. And 4 sticks matched should give no problems at all.

[Minicoop503]

Not at all, the GTS is a good 30% faster stock, and it has 15% more overclocking potential (as in 1MHz increase in core clock will result in 115% of the gain from the same clock increase on a GT). So raising the clocks will increase the gap even more.

Just because you bought it doesn't mean it's the holy grail, people need to really keep that in mind.



To check if you have single or dual channel mode running, you should be able to see it at the POST screen when starting your PC. And 4 sticks matched should give no problems at all.

Hmm, I don't think its 30% faster. The tests I've seen show that the GTS is at most about 5-10 fps faster than the GT, which isn't that much for costing up to 100 dollars more.

[camper.]

Hmm, I don't think its 30% faster. The tests I've seen show that the GTS is at most about 5-10 fps faster than the GT, which isn't that much for costing up to 100 dollars more.

I'm talking about a direct comparison between the hardware, not the real world performance which depends completely on the games you play. Giving an FPS increase is meaningless unless you define what game that's used for. 10fps more in Crysis is a world of difference, 10fps more in BF2 is laughable.

And it costs just $40 more on the links he gave, hardly "100 dollars". I have no idea where you got $100 more because the price margins for all 8800 cards (except GTX) tend to overlap, the only way to pull $100 out of that would be to deliberately compare the cheapest GT to the most expensive GTS.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=4465746&CartID=done&nextloc=

In any case, where the GTS 512MB shines is high-res gaming or using loads of AA/AF. Comparing the two cards at low res with AA off yields marginal differences in performance. Take away the jaggies and the GTS 512MB outclasses it by far and it only gets better with overclocking. Where there is actually strain on the GPU, the G92 GTS does actually perform some 30% better. It all depends on the games you play.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=3175&p=4

[Minicoop503]

Ok, well the cheapest GT on newegg is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133205 : $260

The cheapest GTS is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143119 : $330

330-260 = 70 bucks. So, looking into the real world, the GTS is still a good amount more than the GT. 100 more isn't impossible when you get into the factory overclocced cards and all that.

Edit: And after looking at the comparison, they concluded that:

"The 8800 GTS 512 looks to be an average of 10% faster than the 8800 GT, is it worth the $50+ premium it'll command? Not really, the 512MB 8800 GT is still the sweet spot. Moving on..."

Where is this 30% coming from?

[Sam1990]

Well, I didn't get to exchange my card because stupid TigerDirect close to my house didn't have any 8800's, they'll be getting them possibly Sunday. So, I drove an hour away from my house to the TigerDirect in Naperville when I found out they don't accept exchanges from the Orland Park TigerDirect which really ticked me off.

Another sad issue was, when I called the one near my house (Orland Park) and asked when they will be getting the 8800GTS 512MB, he said they're going to be getting 8800 GT's possibly Sunday. So I asked again about the GTS and he said he "never heard" of a 512MB GTS, only the 320MB and 648MB versions.

So, that's kinda lame. My last option is to ask them if I can return mine for store credit or cash, if they only give me store credit see if I can use it at a different TigerDirect. If not, then I guess I'll have to buy a GT.

[camper.]

Ok, well the cheapest GT on newegg is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133205 : $260

The cheapest GTS is this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143119 : $330

330-260 = 70 bucks. So, looking into the real world, the GTS is still a good amount more than the GT. 100 more isn't impossible when you get into the factory overclocced cards and all that.

Edit: And after looking at the comparison, they concluded that:

"The 8800 GTS 512 looks to be an average of 10% faster than the 8800 GT, is it worth the $50+ premium it'll command? Not really, the 512MB 8800 GT is still the sweet spot. Moving on..."

Where is this 30% coming from?

The ratio of SPs and one of the reviews. I must have missed a 1 somewhere because it's 23% not 30% for the SPs. But the value lies in overclocking, more SPs = more power for the same increase, just like having a higher CPU multiplier. When we move over to higher resolutions or AA levels, the FPS gaps get higher than 30% and that's where all the high-end 8800s really excel. At low res and AA, the difference is just not noticeable.

In any case, considering it's in his price range, I don't see why the hell not. Better to have the additional power and maybe lament over the lost $50 than to buy a $300 card and notice 4 weeks later that you should have got the $350 one, simply because it would add just that much more. Maybe I'm biased here because the 8800GTS 320 is a buggy pile of **** that performs very well and very crappy at the same time and having the extra 320MB of RAM would be a world of difference.

[Eagle101]

get the XFX alpha dog ed. its the GTS based on the G92 architecture which is better than the GT and as said above comparable to the GTX. and get the 512MB version.

[Sam1990]

Well, I bought the XFX 8800GT XXX Alpha Dog edition w/ 512MB because that's the only one that TigerDirect had.

Thanks for the help everyone.

Edit:

So, what I forgot to ask was, when I went to TigerDirect they had two version of the card.

They had 'Version A' and 'Version 1.0', with the only different that I can notice is one of them had a slightly larger fan. Does anyone know any major differences?