Graphics Card ? improvement or not ?

B

big_b

Well-known member
Is it worth the change found this Graphics card while looking for some RAM

PC Specs
Box :Antec p180 & true control 500w p/s
Processor: AMD Athlon 6400 X2 Dual Core
Motherboard: AN9 32X series 3.00 gigahertz
Memory: 3GB 800Mzh duel channel
Graphics: Xpertvision 7800GT (2x in SLI mode)
Drivers: Nvidia 6.14.11.6921
Storage: 4x Samsung 200GB SATA-II plus 2 x 200GB external backup
Sound: SB 5.1
OS: Windows XP-Home SP2
Optical : LG multidrive DVD burner
Monitor:Polyview V372 17 flat panel 8ms response
Printer/fax : Brother MFC-240C
Anti-virus/spam & Firewall: Zone Alarm

My current video cards are still selling for around $450 & are about 12mths old
Stumbled across this with 1gb memory & for the price is it worth changing over to 2 of these in sli to improve graphics memory.
http://www.techbuy.com.au/product.asp?at=51&prodid=77651
 
SLi does give a slight improvement in frame rates, but nothing to go out and buy 2 graphic cards, if the system comes with the 2 cards then fair enough, but I would not go out and buy them just to have SLi.

I have seen the difference between 1x 7600GT and 2x 7600GT's in SLi, brother had this in his system for a while, there is an improvement but nothing to go out the backyard and do cart-wheels over... ;)
 
Whats the monitor size got to do with performance I thought that only improved the resolution you can get.
BTW monitor is wrong mine is CMV 938D 19" - gave the 17" to my daughter

If Trainz is so graphics hungry wouldn't 2 cards with a gig of memory each be an improvement over the 2 in my system now with 256mb each?

Dave
 
It is really in the way the game uses 2 cards, most are not programmed to take advantage of SLi so 1 card will do just about the same job, like I said above, there is a slight improvement but not much.

Little bit like the PhysX technology really.

At the end of the day, how many people have SLi ready systems and how many people have just 1 card? Yeah, more people have just single card systems, if it was the other way around then maybe we would see bigger improvements and more use of SLi.
 
Big B, don't step up to anything under 8800GT, and wait a few months if you can because they are going to become more affordable !!:wave:

The new chipsets are coming out and everyone should try to wait for the better price.:Y:

Regards,

Lorin
 
Last edited:
big_b said:
If Trainz is so graphics hungry wouldn't 2 cards with a gig of memory each be an improvement over the 2 in my system now with 256mb each?

Dave
Click to expand...

This is true, but what good does 512MB do if the GPU core is so slow all the data does is sit in that 512MB VRAM?

Basically a 128MB video card with a blazing fast GPU would do better than a 1GB video card with a molasses GPU. So really you want the best of both worlds. As far as the 8xxx series goes the 8800 GT 512MB or the 8800 GTS 512MB will produce good results.
 
GP_38-2 said:
This is true, but what good does 512MB do if the GPU core is so slow all the data does is sit in that 512MB VRAM?

Basically a 128MB video card with a blazing fast GPU would do better than a 1GB video card with a molasses GPU. So really you want the best of both worlds. As far as the 8xxx series goes the 8800 GT 512MB or the 8800 GTS 512MB will produce good results.
Click to expand...

I second that. I have an 8800GT, and compared to my other X1650 Pro, the 8800GT is at least 10x better performing, if not more!

I would say wait a little, at least until the good 1 GB cards come out, then look aroung then. Just my two cents.
 
big_b said:
Whats the monitor size got to do with performance I thought that only improved the resolution you can get.
BTW monitor is wrong mine is CMV 938D 19" - gave the 17" to my daughter

Dave
Click to expand...

Well the higher the resolution you run at the harder the graphics card has to work and vice a versa. One of the reasons sli is used is to allow for higher resolutions without lowering performance and picture quality. Depending on the card ( and game ) the lower the resolution the more the cpu is the limiting factor in performance but that is offset by being able to turn up the AA and AF etc to improve the picture quality.

John
 
Anyway, just to chip in, the memory access interface on the new card is half that on your current cards, so there is no point in them. (Maybe this isn't a really big factor, but I have to stick my nose in somewhere!:hehe:)
 
Last time I checked, 7800GT's are going for about $50 on ebay, don't know who's charging $450 for them, but if you find anyone paying that much for them, please get me their name and address, as I've got a bridge in Brooklyn they might be interested in.

The 8800GT's have been steadily dropping in price, and with the 9xxx series supposed to debut next month, will probably drop even more. 2 of them in SLI might even be enough to handle Crysis :)
 
Magicland said:
Last time I checked, 7800GT's are going for about $50 on ebay, don't know who's charging $450 for them, but if you find anyone paying that much for them, please get me their name and address, as I've got a bridge in Brooklyn they might be interested in.

The 8800GT's have been steadily dropping in price, and with the 9xxx series supposed to debut next month, will probably drop even more. 2 of them in SLI might even be enough to handle Crysis :)
Click to expand...

Here !/2 way down page

http://www.pricespy.com.au/cat_16.html#g91

Dave
 
The nVidia 9600 GT is out now, from initial reviews it looks to be fairly decent in performance. It's definately not an 8800 GT, but at $180 USD it looks to be a solid mid-level card.

big_b YOW that much for a 7800 GT? I know that's in AU but still YIKES!
 
You should find that in actual fact the 9600GT will give the 8800GT a run for its money and should be on par, going by its memory transfer rate, its memory clock and memory interface are the same.

So therefore what ever the 8800GT can do the 9600GT will do.
 
There's a review of the 9600GT on Tom's Hardware see http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/02/21/nvidia_geforce_9600_gt/ The 9600GT isn't far short of the 8800GT, but not quite as fast.

My personal favourite card at the mo is a Gainward 8800GT 1024Mb card. http://www.gainward.net/product/product_detail.php?products_id=149

Why? Because when Doom 3 came out, it was noted at the time that 512Mb could produce better graphics than 256Mb cards because Doom 3 could use larger, more detailed texture files. As Trainz using textures on more or less everything, I figure that more Graphics memory = less stutter / loss of FPS.
 
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