Which 8800GT should I get?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Meithan

Daemon Poster
Messages
714
I've been wanting to upgrade my 7600GT to be able to play the newer games and boost performance with current ones, and after a little research I've realized an 8800GT is the way to go right now. After browsing Newegg a bit and reading some reviews/benchmarks, I've narrowed it down to 2 choices:

Gigabyte 8800GT 256MB OCed (700Mhz/1500Mhz) w/ Zalman cooler
Asus 8800GT 512MB stock (600Mhz/1800Mhz) w/ custom Asus cooler

So basically it's a 100Mhz core overclock plus a Zalman cooler vs 512MB of VRAM. Never seen that Asus cooler before, so I don't know if it's better than the "stock" coolers on most 8800s. I'll be playing games at my monitor's native 1440x900 resolution (equivalent to 1280x1024).

Edit: I've corrected the cards' memory speeds. Notice the 256MB version has a slower memory, even after overclock (stock memory speed for the 256MB version is 1400Mhz).
 
I would definitely not go for the 256, it will really struggle. Simple as that. Have a look here.

Above 1280, or at 1280 with AA, it can't handle it.
 
I have the 256mb version, and it plays all games fine at 1440x900. From benchmarks ive seen it performs the same at 1680x1050 and lower (unless aa is added) as the 512mb, then it drops in performance. For the res youre playing at, the 256mb is fine. Nice oc as well, highest ive got mine with the stock cooler is 650/850 from the standard 600/700.
 
I would definitely not go for the 256, it will really struggle. Simple as that. Have a look here.

Above 1280, or at 1280 with AA, it can't handle it.


Not you again, lol. I have the card, and it does not struggle. If you play at 1680, you dont need aa, and again you are refering to one game. I play cod4 with 4x aa/af and 1440x900 everything high and stay well above 50fps.
 
to the op: you would notice a nice performance boost if you clocked your processor to 400MHz FSB, you should be able to do it on stock volts.
 
Not you again, lol. I have the card, and it does not struggle. If you play at 1680, you dont need aa, and again you are refering to one game. I play cod4 with 4x aa/af and 1440x900 everything high and stay well above 50fps.

Lol, once a cynic, always a cynic.
 
Im agreeing with Ricanflow here. From the benchies that I have seen, at lower res, 256 to 512 makes a marginal difference, if at all.
 
Yeah my 320 is rubbish these days :p! Sorry I didn't mean to offend, it still is a very good card, I'd just say that given choice, I would pick the 512 over the 256, if only on the basis of that review.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom