Finally upgrading :) Which 8 to get? Im lost

[ryanmartini]

Well the rig is in the sig and I will be keeping it till next summer, but I have already upgraded the RAM t, and am looking for a video card, which I will probably keep for the next system for a while until something new comes out again.

I have narrowed it down the 8800 series, as I was waiting for ATi, but I am not prepared to spend 400$ + on a video card right now.

I know the 8800 series comes in the 320 and 640 varieties along with the ultra. I think my budget is aimed at the 320 or 640 series this time.

The monitors I use are a Viewsonic 19" LCD 1280 x 1024, and my 26" widescreen hdtv 1366 x 768, which I think is 720p in hdtv terms. I just got it as a gift for going into FSU this summer I also have a samsung syncmaster 17"crt which does some outrageous resolutions for a 17" monitor of any kind, I used to run 1600 x 1200 at 75 all day on it.

now with those monitors in mind, say the samsung and the hdtv, which card would be better suited for my needs?

If you could please when suggesting a model, a favorably priced store would be lovely [USA].

Thank You,

EvlNome

 

[rainless]

Basically the only choice, right now, is an 8800 GTS 640. These can be had for as little as $325 before rebate and $295 after rebate (and that is including shipping). There were deals a couple months ago where you could've gotten an 8800 GTS 320 for $215 after rebate and $259 before... but now you're looking at $299 before rebate... just $26 less than getting the 640 meg model, which you might as well have anyway if you're doing 1600x1200.

I recommend the EVGA model because of the lifetime warranty and the superiority complex.

 

[ryanmartini]

Basically the only choice, right now, is an 8800 GTS 640. These can be had for as little as $325 before rebate and $295 after rebate (and that is including shipping). There were deals a couple months ago where you could've gotten an 8800 GTS 320 for $215 after rebate and $259 before... but now you're looking at $299 before rebate... just $26 less than getting the 640 meg model, which you might as well have anyway if you're doing 1600x1200.

I recommend the EVGA model because of the lifetime warranty and the superiority complex.

Thanks for the response, well I thought video cards went down in price as time went on, not the other way around!

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it! Hopefully there will be more. Now I am seeing all these Intel C2D around and I want one, Im really trying to be frugal here, but it's not working

 

[nd4spdbh2]

what rainless said.... the 640mb is so close in price to the 320 its not worth buying the 320... just get a 8800gts 640 and be happy!

 

[rainless]

Of course if you're more of a BUDGET consumer (i.e. "you're broke"... like I was last year and am now after my recent video card purchase) you could get the 8600GTS. It's $200. While $26 difference between the 8800 640 and 320 isn't a big deal, $100 is. Only problem is I made roughly the same move last year and THIS year I'm buying a new video card.

So it's not actually cheaper in the end (except that the 8800s have gone down in price considerably... but if I had gotten a 1900XT I wouldn't need to upgrade til next year.).

But if you rarely play games, and you play a lot of video (the 8600 series has PureVideo, the 8800 series doesn't. Both support DX10) then the 8600GTS might be worth a look. I was going to get one before all these crazy sales.

 

[Hazaro]

Your CPU is going to bottleneck your GPU, but it'll still beat out a 7900GS and a C2D

Get eVGA 8800GTS 640Mb

 

[ryanmartini]

Of course if you're more of a BUDGET consumer (i.e. "you're broke"... like I was last year and am now after my recent video card purchase) you could get the 8600GTS. It's $200. While $26 difference between the 8800 640 and 320 isn't a big deal, $100 is. Only problem is I made roughly the same move last year and THIS year I'm buying a new video card.

So it's not actually cheaper in the end (except that the 8800s have gone down in price considerably... but if I had gotten a 1900XT I wouldn't need to upgrade til next year.).

But if you rarely play games, and you play a lot of video (the 8600 series has PureVideo, the 8800 series doesn't. Both support DX10) then the 8600GTS might be worth a look. I was going to get one before all these crazy sales.

Na, its not the matter of money, that is in good supply from graduation, however I am making it a point to put away $1,000 into savings and have some fun with the excess. I do think I am going to get the 8800gts 320 or 640, 640 is mighty tempting right now

Saw the Intel Conroe E2140 overclocks over at XS, now this is reaaaalllly tempting. *sigh*

 

[nd4spdbh2]

Na, its not the matter of money, that is in good supply from graduation, however I am making it a point to put away $1,000 into savings and have some fun with the excess. I do think I am going to get the 8800gts 320 or 640, 640 is mighty tempting right now

Saw the Intel Conroe E2140 overclocks over at XS, now this is reaaaalllly tempting. *sigh*

ya its lookin like the lil E2140's are doign good clocks... from 1.6 to 3ghz on stock volts... DAMN!