Advice for Video Card - the battle between ATI and NVIDIA

Johny_B_Nasty · 02-04-2008, 06:55 PM

In the next 1-1,5 months I'd go for a new video card. Presently I own a Gainward Bliss GeForce 7600GT Silent 256MB GDDR2.

It served me quite well over the last couple of months. However with each new update Project Reality gets more resourcehungry. Now I tend to experience stuttering problems where there's much smoke (and I love smoke grenades

).

So I was looking around and it boils down to either GeForce 8800 GT or ATI 3850. These two chips aren't in the same league but that's also the problem:
I don't want to spend a fortune and I don't want to lose performence.

What's your precious opinion on these two platforms?

jOHNNYdOUBE · 02-04-2008, 07:08 PM

I bought the 3870. just keep it cool and its great. In summmer i am building a new pc and will run 2 of these. right now my processor is holding my card back.
current specs.
pent 4 with hyper thread
3.0 g 3.0ghz
3 gig of ocz ram
SB fata1ty pro with 64mb x-ram
ATI 3870 ddr4 512mb overclocked at 820mHz had it at 845 mhz once, needs cooling
vista ultimate/XP pro dual boot.
180 gb + 750 gb hard drives
I always used ati, i like their control panel and catalyst control suite.
ATI just a preference.
can run on all high, low dyn. lite, and shadows...2x 4x aa right now.

NickO · 02-04-2008, 07:23 PM

Im right now deciding whether I should go 3850 or 3870.. (Mainly how much money I am willing to spend)

If I could afford it I would probably get an 8800 but I would need a new power supply unit

SnipingCoward · 02-04-2008, 07:53 PM

no clue on the differences of each chipset but keep in mind that if you got an SLI compatible mobo you might as well just stick another 7600 in there - this might come in cheaper and get you the performance boost you need

you also need to watch out for bottlenecking - doesn't give you much if u buy an uber-gfx but the rest of the system can't keep up with it

ConscriptVirus · 02-04-2008, 09:41 PM

yeah watch out for ur bottleneck

mine is my CPU and upgrading my GPU wont help much

and from what i remember, nvidia makes betters drivers and updates more frequently

.Intense · 02-04-2008, 11:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickO

Im right now deciding whether I should go 3850 or 3870.. (Mainly how much money I am willing to spend)

If I could afford it I would probably get an 8800 but I would need a new power supply unit

I just bought 2 8600 GT XFX 512's for 110 each after rebates from NewEgg -- 70-100 FPS with 3GB RAM. I'm also only using 1 because I got alot of upgrades for my girlfriends PC. 1 8600 GT XFX in each PC.

Its a great mid range card and wont break your budget.

I will also add that the 8600's do not need additional power from the PSU -- They get all power through the system bus which makes this a GREAT card for you.

[R-DEV]Undies · 02-05-2008, 03:11 AM

Of the 3850 and 8800gt the 8800gt would win every time for me, priced a little higher but you know where the extra money went.

Johny_B_Nasty · 02-05-2008, 05:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NickO

If I could afford it I would probably get an 8800 but I would need a new power supply unit

That's also to be considered, presently I have a 350W PSU; that could get tight.

Johny_B_Nasty · 02-05-2008, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by UK_Hussar

Of the 3850 and 8800gt the 8800gt would win every time for me, priced a little higher but you know where the extra money went.

Yeah, it's often all about the money. But here I also must consider the fact that I run a socket 939 mobo. This is definetily a dead end street.

Johny_B_Nasty · 02-05-2008, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SnipingCoward

no clue on the differences of each chipset but keep in mind that if you got an SLI compatible mobo you might as well just stick another 7600 in there - this might come in cheaper and get you the performance boost you need

you also need to watch out for bottlenecking - doesn't give you much if u buy an uber-gfx but the rest of the system can't keep up with it

Well, since it's a passively cooled video card it unfortunately occupied also the second slot; the third being used by my precious sound card.
Also the video card itself is not that much cheaper right now; it comes for around € 50-60 used or new.

As for the bottleneck: do you think that my Athlon 64 3500+ (single core) could pose a problem?

02-04-2008, 06:55 PM	#1
Johny_B_Nasty Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Wacko Posts: 54	Advice for Video Card - the battle between ATI and NVIDIA In the next 1-1,5 months I'd go for a new video card. Presently I own a Gainward Bliss GeForce 7600GT Silent 256MB GDDR2. It served me quite well over the last couple of months. However with each new update Project Reality gets more resourcehungry. Now I tend to experience stuttering problems where there's much smoke (and I love smoke grenades ). So I was looking around and it boils down to either GeForce 8800 GT or ATI 3850. These two chips aren't in the same league but that's also the problem: I don't want to spend a fortune and I don't want to lose performence. What's your precious opinion on these two platforms?

02-04-2008, 07:53 PM	#4
SnipingCoward Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 546	no clue on the differences of each chipset but keep in mind that if you got an SLI compatible mobo you might as well just stick another 7600 in there - this might come in cheaper and get you the performance boost you need you also need to watch out for bottlenecking - doesn't give you much if u buy an uber-gfx but the rest of the system can't keep up with it
SnipingCoward Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 546	Got a PROBLEM? Check this: Project Reality Detailed Installation Guide "Hello, IT! ... Yes, have you tried turning it on and off again?" Jonny: "LAT rockets are anti-infantry"

02-04-2008, 09:41 PM	#5
ConscriptVirus Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 293	yeah watch out for ur bottleneck mine is my CPU and upgrading my GPU wont help much and from what i remember, nvidia makes betters drivers and updates more frequently
ConscriptVirus Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 293	Geforce 6800GT Pentium 4 3.0GHz 2 GB DDR RAM SB Live! on Audigy2 Drivers "These things we do that others may live"

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

02-04-2008, 07:08 PM	#2
jOHNNYdOUBE Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Central Connecticut Posts: 571	I bought the 3870. just keep it cool and its great. In summmer i am building a new pc and will run 2 of these. right now my processor is holding my card back. current specs. pent 4 with hyper thread 3.0 g 3.0ghz 3 gig of ocz ram SB fata1ty pro with 64mb x-ram ATI 3870 ddr4 512mb overclocked at 820mHz had it at 845 mhz once, needs cooling vista ultimate/XP pro dual boot. 180 gb + 750 gb hard drives I always used ati, i like their control panel and catalyst control suite. ATI just a preference. can run on all high, low dyn. lite, and shadows...2x 4x aa right now.

02-04-2008, 07:23 PM	#3
NickO Join Date: May 2007 Sweden Location: Gothenburg Posts: 1,106	Im right now deciding whether I should go 3850 or 3870.. (Mainly how much money I am willing to spend) If I could afford it I would probably get an 8800 but I would need a new power supply unit

02-05-2008, 03:11 AM	#7
[R-DEV]Undies PR Developer Join Date: Dec 2006 United Kingdom Location: England's green and pleasant lands Posts: 1,545	Of the 3850 and 8800gt the 8800gt would win every time for me, priced a little higher but you know where the extra money went.

Sponsored Links

Sponsored Links