[jimichunga]

so i just purchased a new desktop:

Intel® Core™2 Q9300 Quad-Core (6MB L2 cache,2.5GHz,1333FSB)
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs


and now i need a game ready graphics card. whats everyone running for which games? i want to be able to play games like Crysis seamlessly. i found a good deal on a GeForce 8800 GT Video Card PCIe 2.0 for $125 and the reviews look very favorable, but i was just curious as to if any WTers had any input regarding performance to price ratios or cards i may wait to buy in the near distant future.

anyone?

Going to run a single PCI-e card? I have the same cpu and an ASUS mobo, a P5N64-WSPro and a BFG 8800 GTSOC w/512mb.

The Nvidia 8800 is a good choice if you get a model that has 384 megs or Nice thing is most better GeForce 8800's have HDMI over DVI-D and HDMI connectors! This is great if you have a big screen or digital TV.

Crysis looks good on my 24" LCD. But it's AWESOME on the 52" Hitachi tv. And it runs full bore speeds.

Just one thing: HUGE HI QUALITY power supply!! It's a must to run these geforce cards correctly! Mine is a Thermaltake 750 watt with quad rails.

Poor power supplies cripple these power hungry GPU's and the quad cores.
The voltage drops and the vid card reduces it's rendering speed to compensate. Brand name PSU's are a must. Many gamers say to avoid Antec but I have had good luck with them.

Most GeForce cards are made from a Nvidia "stock design". The better brands customise them with better components, especially the caps. So they aren't all equal.

But even a lower cost 8800 with 384-512 onboard will run Crysis at full tilt. You already have the horsepower with the Q9300, so video is the bottleneck.

Enjoy your new puter!

[jimichunga]

Thanks for the heads up Senior Platy. I was up till 330 last night reading reviews and shit... finally ended up buying the 8800GT 512 mb gddr3; i basically perceived the consensus to be that this card is the best price to performance ratio on the market right now.

I also read further into my motherboard (foxconn G33m03) & power supply (LiteOn 375watt) and what i can do to upgrade/expand. Unfortunately the Dell mATX case is a bitch and has a proprietary PSU, which many after market psu's wont fit. Also, i read a bit that said the real i/o panel can't be removed, i'm assuming its riveted, in which case i'd just have to drill to upgrade the motherboard/chip set. The only reason i'd want to do this is to have 2 PCIe x16 slots for SLI integration, but i doubt i'd want to do that anytime in the distant future as the single 8800GT should run Crysis beautifully as stated by you and the reviews i read.

I'm pretty sure the card is dual DVI and not HDVI, but i don't really have a nice big screen to necessitate the HD. Is 24" a huge jump from 22"? I'm pretty set on getting dual 22" wides through pricewatch.com (roughly $216 ea new in box)

oh, and am i risking it running the 375watt? Fucking Dell.


thanks for the input!

J,

It still will do DVI-D, which means with it will still do digital monitors AND digital TV's.

Dell is Hell! Yes the I/O shield is riveted to the case. :-P

Good choice in cards! :) But the PSU may not last very long. Running a switching PSU over 70% of it's real capacity will kill the capacitors fast. But if that happens you could buy a nice case and PSU. Be glad you don't have the 300w that some 530's ship with.

Mobo's are dirt cheap. A Asrock SLI board is about 100, a ASUS about 115 at Fry's or newegg. And that's with 7.1 dolby digital.

Enjoy your card and stay outta Crysis! :slaugh:

[ingeniero]

bensbargains.net search for a 9xxx series geforce best performance to price ratio.

[jimichunga]

fuck Dell and their shitty 350w psu. now i have to upgrade since the 8800gt requires >400w.


goddammit i regret more each day not building my own machine... i guess i just felt intimidated.

[stanley]

I am not a gamer.

That said, I am a HiDef, HDMI kinda guy.... bluRay all the way...

jimichunga, everything I read says you are headed for trouble (well actually, disappointment) with your small power supply...

The two biggest things to consider when you add a video card these days are probably the power demands of the new high performance cards, (almost all of the high end cards now require at least ONE and sometimes TWO separate 12 volt power plugs, directly to the video card) (PCIe 6 or PCIe 6+2).... and with all that power comes the second HUGE issue..... HEAT if you add a high performance card to a computer case that cant handle the extra heat it will be a performance nightmare, locking up and skipping frames..... (Nvidia 8800 series cards DO use a lot of power, and they DO get HOT) but they ARE the current best bang for the buck....

I just built a couple boxes for a friend... Asus Rampage Formula mobo @ 1333FSB, 4gigs Corsair DDR2 @1066, Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 3.6.... EVGA GeForce 9800 GTX(G92) 512MB, WD VelociRaptor 300GB 10000 RPM SATA HD, all in an Antec 900 case... and I put a 750 watt PS with it (Corsair) running Vista Home Premium 32 bit... He got two identical boxes, one for himself and one for his wife.....

He is quite pleased.

I am currently spec'ing out a new box for myself....

Intel Q9550 processor @~3.4GHz on a Asus Rampage Formula @ 1333 FSB with 8gigs DDR2 at 1066, dual Diamond Viper ATI Radeon HD 3870 PCIE 512MB GDDR4 video cards in a crossfire setup....WD VelociRaptor 300gb 10000rpm HD running Vista Home premium 64bit.... I will probably use another Corsair 750watt PS but may use a 1000watt version....I have an extra Antec 900 case so I will probably use it... I do a bit of video encoding so the horsepower will be welcome....

but I may hold off a while, Intel prices should drop significantly in Q3 and I can wait till then for sure.....

[Daddy's Collective]

Ive seen amazing benchmarks with the new NVidia G200 series. Their processors are exponentially faster than the 8 series. The 9 Series (9800GTX) benches pretty good on specs similar to yours. The last rig I built used a nvdia 680i ultra sl with a qx9650 , 2 8800 gtx in sli, and it was a beast! its all about budget, Right now the best deal i can see on newegg is the 9800 or the G260

[Mindfury]

the 9800 is gr8 for the$ . I had a friend running 2 8800gtx in sli, he said crysis would bog with everything turned up. I am running a 7800GT(LOLOLOLOL) and get over 100 in cod4 with minimal settings. I plan to get a 9800 in the future when i can afford it.I have a friend running one getting over 200fps on cod4. ATI used to be good, not sure about their current stuff. Good luck in your search.
Peace

[Juba]

Originally Posted by jimichunga

so i just purchased a new desktop:

Intel® Core™2 Q9300 Quad-Core (6MB L2 cache,2.5GHz,1333FSB)
3GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs


and now i need a game ready graphics card. whats everyone running for which games? i want to be able to play games like Crysis seamlessly. i found a good deal on a GeForce 8800 GT Video Card PCIe 2.0 for $125 and the reviews look very favorable, but i was just curious as to if any WTers had any input regarding performance to price ratios or cards i may wait to buy in the near distant future.

anyone?

I have a GeForce 8800 GTS and I've had some issues with blue screen crashes. They are very rare and then they become more frequent. I don't think cooling is the issue because the fans are working OK and my system doesn't seem to be overheating. I think it's either a driver issue or an inadequate power supply. I switch the drivers and it works fine for a while, but then I start getting blue screens again. My power supply is 450 watts and you'd think that would be enough, but I'm thinking the next time my system crashes I should probably try a bigger power supply.

[jimichunga]

Originally Posted by Juba

I have a GeForce 8800 GTS and I've had some issues with blue screen crashes. They are very rare and then they become more frequent. I don't think cooling is the issue because the fans are working OK and my system doesn't seem to be overheating. I think it's either a driver issue or an inadequate power supply. I switch the drivers and it works fine for a while, but then I start getting blue screens again. My power supply is 450 watts and you'd think that would be enough, but I'm thinking the next time my system crashes I should probably try a bigger power supply.

Ya i had crashing issues with the Logisys 650w PSU i initially bought (still have it at at the moment while im waiting for the RMA). I'm not gunna fuck around anymore and go with a rock solid power supply... a 5xx watt CORSAIR.



as for graphics, my 8800Gt is running flawlessly. I was thinking about running SLI in the future, but the more and more i read i feel that its better to just kep getting a single bomb ass card rather than 2 decent ones. Besides, most MoBo's with 2x PCIe slots only run 8 lanes wide on one or both of the x16 slots.

In recent news, ATI has taken back the GPU crown from Nvidia with their 4870 X2