8800GTS 320mb, where does it fit?

[LufbraDan23]

I recently built a budget gaming pc for under £200 and chose the 8800GTS for my GPU.

However, i really don't know much about it. It seems to be a bit of an oddity within the Geforce lineup.
I've scoured the web to get info on it but there isn't much, especially the one with 320mb. 3dMark doesnt even recognise it, thinks its a 640mb.

So i guess my questions are-

Where does it fit into the range? Is it higher than the GT and lower than the GTX? I'm assuming the next step up in Nvidia's range is the 9800GTX, right?

Is it actually any good? Vista experience ranks it as 5.9 but i know that doesnt mean much.

Have a look at my rig (in my signature) does everyone agree that it's my CPU not my GPU thats my bottleneck in Crysis?

And lastly (thanks for the patience!) i'm upgrading to a BFG GTX260 and a quad core, which would be the most noticable upgrade of the two?

Sorry for alot of questions, you're just all so damn knowledgeable!

 

[KillrBuckeye]

You will find useful information here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_8_Series

nVidia used the number "8800" for the names of two different series of GPUs, so it's rather confusing. Your card is from the first of those series, so if I'm not mistaken its performance should be somewhere between a 7900GT 256MB and the newer 8800GT 512MB.

 

[LufbraDan23]

wow, its actually worse than i thought it was. Thanks for that info. Strange naming system.

 

[freeagent]

wow, its actually worse than i thought it was. Thanks for that info. Strange naming system.

i used to have a gts320, i got it when it was worth 440 over here lol. it wasnt that bad, i liked it for the most part.. then i moved up to an 88gtx and my initial impression was, this is how a gpu should be lol. if you built a budget pc for that price then kudos man, you will def. get your moneys worth

 

[LufbraDan23]

i used to have a gts320, i got it when it was worth 440 over here lol. it wasnt that bad, i liked it for the most part.. then i moved up to an 88gtx and my initial impression was, this is how a gpu should be lol. if you built a budget pc for that price then kudos man, you will def. get your moneys worth

Thanks man, yeah it was a bit of a bargain. But the money is rolling in a bit now and i'm thinking of putting £160 towards a component, either a 9400 quad or a gtx260. Which do you think is most needed?

(£160 is like $250)

 

[jason4207]

Your system is pretty well rounded now. Either purchase will help, but the GTX260 gfx card will give you better performance in games right now.

OC the E5200 to reduce the CPU bottle-neck and you should be screaming.

 

[LufbraDan23]

Your system is pretty well rounded now. Either purchase will help, but the GTX260 gfx card will give you better performance in games right now.

OC the E5200 to reduce the CPU bottle-neck and you should be screaming.

Thanks, yeah i'm in the process of O/Cing to 3 GHZ which should help. If i can fit it in the mobo should i keep the 8800 on as a PhysX card?

Oh, and would you recommend getting a 650w PSU or will i be fine with my 500?

Thanks

 

[jason4207]

I tried using my 8800GTS-512 as a Physx card. All it did was create more heat. No performance increase. But, if you do have a game that can really take advantage of it (like Mirror's Edge) than it might be worth while at least while playing those games.

You really can't judge a PSU strictly by the wattage rating. Which model do you have? The Amp rating on the 12v rail(s) is much more important as well as the quality of the components and construction. Some high-end 500W models will blow away low-end 750W models. Plus, crappy PSUs can also take out your whole system if they go bad.