Really need gfx card advice...

[Goateh]

Hey Guys,

It's been a while since I've bought a new gfx card, after I got my 6600GT i kinda stopped paying attention to the whole gfx cards thing (stupid me) so I really have nfi what is good and what isn't now days, I've lost touch with it all....

I'm making the jump into PCI-E and need your advice, the cards listed below are the ones in my price range. I"m looking for good DX9 performance (if possible) and I can take or leave DX10 at the moment.

8600GS
8600GT
7900GS
7900GT (At a stretch, if it's that much better)

I would prefer to stay Nvidia if possible, unless the ATI offerings are that much better. Also I noticed they also have a 320MB 8800GTS (:confused:), which is around $100 more than the 7900GT is the performance really that good? Any suggestions would be helpful.

Cheers
:sn:

[pak]

I think the $100 would be well spent, but if you cant, the 7900gt will server you well.

--pak

[shirker]

If you want to play upcoming DX10 games at low to medium resolutions, the 8800gts 320mb would be well worth the purchase. If you don't want to get into those games as soon as they come out, I'd just make do with a cheap DX9 card like a 7900gs

[Goateh]

Ok, cool as. Are the 8600 series not really worth it?

[pak]

Ok, cool as. Are the 8600 series not really worth it?


I believe the 79xx cards out perform them.

--pak

[Goateh]

Oh ok, wicked. I was about to go and buy a 8600GT, lucky for me. :)

[shirker]

take a good long look at this chart here (http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/07/03/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/page7.html)

It kept me from downgrading from my current 6800GT to an 8500GT :-/

[AzAzEl656]

I have a 8600GT and I think it's great. Are you sure your processor isn't going to give you problems with a new card?

[WheaT]

It looks like hes upgrading his system, which prob means new processor. I mean the 6600 was an AGP card.....

[Goateh]

That is true, I am updating my system they did make the 6600 in PCI-E but I don't think that would fly with the system in my sig. So far it's lookling like the winer is the 7900GT, unless there is a reason to go for the 8600GT instead. :)

[SeasonalEclipse]

Id go with a 7600GT then upgrade to a DX10 card at christmas when prices drop on them. You DONT want to be stuck on a DX9 card when all the new games come to requirement. Which will happen sooner then you think.

[AzAzEl656]

It looks like hes upgrading his system, which prob means new processor. I mean the 6600 was an AGP card.....


Yeah.... uh... I'm too bright. By the looks of things...

The 8600GT is a good card but I'd suggest you get a 7XXX card for now and save some money for when the REAL dx10 games come so you can get a mid/high end dx10 card.

Edit: Almost exactly what SeasonalEclipse said

[Goateh]

Hrmm.. 7600GT you reckon? Thats around half the cost of a 7900GT in NZ. I don't really intend on updating my gfx card for a while yet, 7900 might do me for a while I'm thinking :)

[GerrFel]

I just bought an 8600GTS based on my observations of this chart - http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

[fel]

But those 8600 GT are 128bit mem, and the 7900 GS and GT are 256bit mem.
If you have the money, go for the 7900GT, im waiting right now a 7900GS. :)

[Goateh]

Awesome, thanks :)

[Vipasnipa]

Id go with a 7600GT then upgrade to a DX10 card at christmas when prices drop on them. You DONT want to be stuck on a DX9 card when all the new games come to requirement. Which will happen sooner then you think.

All the new games coming out this year (Crysis, Bioshock) and the foreseeable future (Fallout 3) will all have DX9 rendering paths. Look up the DX9 vs DX10 Crysis comparison video. DX9 still has plenty up its sleeve and looks damn good, so choosing a reasonably priced, high performance DX9 card like the 7900 will not get you "stuck."

DX10 being Vista-only is a transparent marketing move by MS to sell their newest OS, but game publishers know that Vista adoption is lagging, so rest assured that most PC games coming out at least one year from now will have fully-realized DX9 rendering. And when that time passes, Vista will be ironed out and ready to be as good a gaming platform as XP became, and you can get the latest DX10 shinies.

[Goateh]

The major reason I'm actually wanting to update at the moment would be bio-shock/crysis. Theres no way my current system will handle what I want to be able to play those games at, well, that and I wanted to update them anyway :)

[Matarael]

Thank God for this thread.

I haven't kept upto date with PC hardware stuff for the best part of 2 years and I'm just in the process of helping a friend build a new PC. I wasn't sure whether or not an 8600GT was worth it (his budget is tight, so an 8800GTS/X/U is out of the question).

Looks like I'll be getting him a 79xx card :) That being said, he's only going to get XP anyway, so I wouldn't have been able to make anything out of DX10 anyway (I think, unless something has happened which I don't know about, which is likely)