Nvidia 8600gt?

[SOB]

I'm upgrading, and trying to keep costs reasonable enough that I can get the whole thing done next month.  Processor will be an E6420 (already purchased)... Will the 8600GT be enough for AH?  It'll be 256MB GDDR3, and I'll be running everything under Vista and the res will be 1680x1050.

Thanks!

[Fulmar]

It'll be nice to have DirectX 10 with a 8xxx series card, especially with Vista; however, the 8600's are not match for some of the higher end 'older' 7xxx series cards.  

Best bang for you buck is an 8800 GTS 320mb, can be snagged for about $250 after rebate.  If your main game is only Aces High, yours 8600 will be fine.  If you play other games, look at a 8800.  Your processor is more than enough.

My system is an E6400, 4gb DDr2, 2x250gb HD's in Raid 0, an 8800 GTS 640mb.  I run 4xAA and 4xAF at 1650x1050.  Max FPS I get if I turn Vsync off (I leave it on) is about 200.  On average 130+.

[Fulmar]

-> Insert Krusty's Reply on Bad Drivers for the 8XXX series here <-

[Krusty]

Actually Fulmar, I was going to say the only reason you should get an 8000 card is if it's got 320 or more MB or RAM. Anything less is a stripped down (POS?) card and you're better off jumping from Ge7950 to Ge8800GTs/x, nothing in between.

[SOB]

Originally posted by Fulmar
It'll be nice to have DirectX 10 with a 8xxx series card, especially with Vista; however, the 8600's are not match for some of the higher end 'older' 7xxx series cards.  

Best bang for you buck is an 8800 GTS 320mb, can be snagged for about $250 after rebate.  If your main game is only Aces High, yours 8600 will be fine.  If you play other games, look at a 8800.  Your processor is more than enough.

My system is an E6400, 4gb DDr2, 2x250gb HD's in Raid 0, an 8800 GTS 640mb.  I run 4xAA and 4xAF at 1650x1050.  Max FPS I get if I turn Vsync off (I leave it on) is about 200.  On average 130+.

AH is my main concern now, but I'm sure I'll be playing other FPS and RTS games in the future.  The board I'm buying supports SLI, so the plan is to buy another 6800GT in a couple of months.  Actually, this is what I'm looking at...

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188019
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130085
and 2 gigs of DDR2 800

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by SOB
AH is my main concern now, but I'm sure I'll be playing other FPS and RTS games in the future.  The board I'm buying supports SLI, so the plan is to buy another 6800GT in a couple of months.  Actually, this is what I'm looking at...

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16813188019
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814130085
and 2 gigs of DDR2 800

Krusty is right (for once ).  The 8600GT is a pretty crippled card.  The 8600 is a high number, and the higher the number the better the card (as a general rule of thumb).  So a 7950 is the top of the line 7xxx series cards and the 7600s are a good mid range, while the 7300s were low range.

However, with the 8xxx series, the 8600 is more like a low end card (a 7300 as example from above).

Tomshardware has Video Card charts that show you how well a card does in certain games compared to other cards.  Link available here:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html?modelx=33&model1=859&model2=854&chart=275

As an example, the 8600 GT achieves 43 FPS in Battlefield 2.  This is lower than a lot of the 'older' 7xxx cards.  A 8800 GTS 320mb gets 102.2 FPS.

Now I know you were talking about going SLI.  At first thought it sounds like a good idea.  2 cards = twice the performance.  Not quite.  2 8600GT's in SLI  would still not come close to a 8800 GTS 320mb.  I'm not entirely sure AH supports SLI.  Your power draw (from your power supply) would be greater as well.  1 8800 is more efficient than 2 8600s power wise.  So you would need an even larger PSU to support the SLI.

The 680SLI is not a bad board.  But I would look at the P35 chipset.  They are faster, newer, and are about the same price.

My recommendations.  If you want a Direct X 10 card.  Don't settle for less than a 8800 GTS 320mb.  If you don't care about Direct X 10, get a high end 7xxx card.  Like a 7900GS or a ATI 1950XT.

So remember.  2 Low End Cards != 1 High end card.

[SOB]

Well shoot, maybe I'll wait, and do some more research while I'm at it.  It just blows to have the CPU sit here taunting me, but I'm only playing AH at the moment, and my 2.4GHz P4/X800 will get my by for now.  Thanks for the advice, ya bastard.  

It wouldn't be too bad if I could pop for the stuff in October, but I'll be buying a plane ticket that month, coincidentally, to Eau Claire.  Well, Minneapolis, but EC will be my destination...most of my family lives in and around there.

[0thehero]

The 680SLI is not a bad board. But I would look at the P35 chipset. They are faster, newer, and are about the same price.

My recommendations. If you want a Direct X 10 card. Don't settle for less than a 8800 GTS 320mb. If you don't care about Direct X 10, get a high end 7xxx card. Like a 7900GS or a ATI 1950XT.

So remember. 2 Low End Cards != 1 High end card.

All true.

I just can't see the value in SLI when I can use a midrange card in the succeeding generation that will outperform a pair of high-end cards from the previous generation.

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by SOB
It wouldn't be too bad if I could pop for the stuff in October, but I'll be buying a plane ticket that month, coincidentally, to Eau Claire.  Well, Minneapolis, but EC will be my destination...most of my family lives in and around there.

You can fly in to Eau Claire to our HUGE airport.  I'll be here for another 6 months, while I finish my degree.

[eskimo2]

Tom's Hardware:
Best Gaming Cards for the Money: Aug. 2007

Best PCIe Card For Under $100
GeForce 7600 GS

Best PCIe Card For ~$115: Tie
GeForce 8600 GT
Radeon HD 2600 XT

Best PCIe Card For ~$140
Radeon X1950 PRO

Best PCIe Card For ~$170
Radeon X1950 XT

Best PCIe Card For ~$280
GeForce 8800 GTS (320MB version)

Best PCIe Card For ~$380: Tie
GeForce 8800 GTS (640MB version)
Radeon HD X2900 XT

Best PCIe Card For ~$510
GeForce 8800 GTX
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/08/06/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/

************************

I just bought the:

ASUS EAX1950PRO/HTDP/256M Radeon X1950PRO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
Exclusive powerful fansink module w/ one heatpipe embedded

at Newegg for $150
I fear heat in video cards; ASUS seems to have a good solution for it.

[SOB]

I've decided to go with the 8800GTS 320MB version.  If I'm feeling saucy and my bank account doesn't object, I may even go for the 640MB version.  Currently planning on buying MSI's Neo2-FR board and 2GB of the cheap but very well reviewed G-Skill DDR2 800 memory.  Of course, that's not for another two weeks, so it could change three more times before I pull the trigger.  

[eskimo2]

I was seriously eying the XFS version of that card.  Mwav had it for $287 with a $30 mail in rebate.  I just looked and they must have sold out on them in the last 24 hours.  $257 would be a pretty good deal.  I was way over budget anyway though, building a new system and all.

[Snubby]

dont do what I did and insted of buying 1 nice high end card, buy 2 slightly cheaper cards with the intent of using SLI

im running 2 GF 7900GTOs in SLI and the performance difference between running just one of them and running 2 in SLI is more or less between 5 and 15 percent depending on the game..

AH sees no visable performance increase, my framerate is always maxed at 60 (my refresh rate) be it with 1 card or 2...

when I do it all again im not even bothering with an SLI board..  

just a badass board and 1 mean card..  simple.. effective..

[Fulmar]

Originally posted by Snubby
when I do it all again im not even bothering with an SLI board..  
 

I use an SLI board but do not run SLI.  I liked the price at the time of my 650SLI as it was $100 cheaper than the 680's.  The performance for the price was exceptional and was the best board for my buck back in January.