First Attempt at New Gaming Rig ~ Please Advise

[Poizen22]

if you plan on buyign the upgrade get xp home it is the only version of xp that u can swith to any vista with out reformating xp pro u have to reformat for half of them dont kno wich ones precisly

 

[Bot2011]

$20-$30 bucks? It's like $50+ gap. an OC'd 320 will stomp a stock 640 as well, so you have to compare the same clocks.

Which clock speeds am I looking for? The core clock or the memory clock? Also, you said a 320mb OC'd would stomp a 640mb stock, can't a 640mb be OC'd (like a cpu) or is that something that we cannot control? I don't know much about clock speeds I guess I need futher information about this stuff.


Which of these cards would be best for gaming? And would it still be very good in a year or 2? I am a thrifty type person and I want the most bang for my buck so I'll defer to the experts on which card is best for my situation.


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PRICE: $329.99 (NO REBATE)

EVGA 320-P2-N817-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO ACS3 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 588 Mhz
DirectX: DirectX 10
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1840 MHz (effective)
Memory Interface: 320-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
Stream Processors: 96
TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO: No

Model #: 320-P2-N817-AR
Item #: N82E16814130040


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PRICE: $284.99 (AFTER REBATE)

EVGA 320-P2-N815-AR GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail

Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 576MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1700MHz(effective)
Memory Interface: 320-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
Stream Processors: 96
TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO: No

Model #: 320-P2-N815-AR
Item #: N82E16814130038

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PRICE: $319.99 (AFTER REBATE)

EVGA 640-P2-N821-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Last Month's Winner of Customer Choice Award - Video Cards

Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 500MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1600MHz(effective)
Memory Interface: 320-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
Stream Processors: 96
TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO: No

Model #: 640-P2-N821-AR
Item #: N82E16814130071

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PRICE: $349.99 (AFTER REBATE)

EVGA 640-P2-N825-AR GeForce 8800GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail

Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 576MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10
DVI: 2
Memory Clock: 1700MHz(effective)
Memory Interface: 320-bit
OpenGL: OpenGL 2.0
Stream Processors: 96
TV-Out: HDTV / S-Video Out
VIVO: No

Model #: 640-P2-N825-AR
Item #: N82E16814130080

 

[khan008]

If you wana save money on a GPU go for the new ati radeon ....blah blah blah, i cant remember its name but im sure you would know what its called. My friend has got one, but its the most power hungry thing ever, and it must be another reason for the worlds climate tempreature increasing, the thing is HOT! no wonder its got flames coming down the side of it.
________________________________________
My rig;
Motherboard: Asus Striker Extreme
Proccessor: Intel Core 2 Quad Extreme Edition QX6800
Memory: Corsair 4GB DDR2 Dominator (4 x 1GB)
GPU: 2x EVGA GeForce 8800 Ultra WaterCooled Sli
Hard Drive: 2x Seagate Barracuda 750GB + LaCie 2TB Raid Array External HDD
Optical: LiteOn 2x Blu ray Sata DVD Writer
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro 7.1
Cooling: Swiftech Apex Ultra+ Watercooling
Case: Thermaltake Tai-Chi SuperMidi Tower
PSU: Enermax Galaxy 1000W

 

[Ronnie]

wtf?
dont go for the new ati its **** and it costs more

 

[BennyV04988]

Which clock speeds am I looking for? The core clock or the memory clock? Also, you said a 320mb OC'd would stomp a 640mb stock, can't a 640mb be OC'd (like a cpu) or is that something that we cannot control? I don't know much about clock speeds I guess I need futher information about this stuff.

I'm saying a factory OC'd 320mb would beat a stock 640mb, and that's where the $20-$30 gaps are. You can OC both of them, but a pre-oc'd 320 will always beat a stock 640 pretty much.

If you look at 2 stock cards...the gap is $50+, and the performance diff is marginal. I'd say get an superclocked 320 GTS from eVGA, just like mine

 

[Sora]

But the regular and Superclocked will max out overclocks around the same speeds, so if the regular is cheaper just get it.

 

[kobe24]

get the regular 320 and o/c it, or the 640 if ur screen is bigger and o/c that

 

[Bot2011]

I went with the stock 640mb card. I will OC it and the CPU so I should be rocking. I figured since I was going to upgrade to either a 19 or 20in monitor it would be beneficial to just get the 640mb card now instead of later.

Additionally, I picked up 8 SATA cables. Would I need these or is it a waste of money because the retail MSI plat MoBo comes with enough SATA cables for my DVD RW and my 2 HDs.

 

[kobe24]

with that size screen ur gts will kill games lol

 

[b1gapl]

Additionally, I picked up 8 SATA cables. Would I need these or is it a waste of money because the retail MSI plat MoBo comes with enough SATA cables for my DVD RW and my 2 HDs.

I guess, it's sort of a waste. The motherboard, comes with enough SATA cables, already. You only have two SATA devices, three if your DVDRW is SATA.