[james_8970]

The only problem with the 8800GT is there is a known issue developing (the card throttles and thinks there isn't enough power when there actually is). However if you don't want to choose a ATI card you don't have a choice.
Early models of the Evga card overheated, there was a pretty large outcry about it. If you are overclocking the 8800GT I highly recommend you
a) Get a aftermarket cooler
b) Buy a card without the reference cooler. It's the cooler that both these card have.
Yes, overclocking GPU's are extremely easy and I would never buy a GPU overclocked unless it was the same price as the version at stock.
James

[Advertisements]

So you would suggest I simply drop back to something like the XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog (Not overclocked at all), and overclock it myself?

Without the overclocking, it IS like AUD$60 cheaper..

What is required to overclock it, and how often does overclocking void warranty?


EDIT: I'd be better off going for a 512mb 8800GT rather than a 320mb GTS, right?



Futher edit, because double posting is evil: If you think I can get a better ATI card for the same price or thereabouts, i'd be happy to hear your suggestions, just it would take quite a bit of convincing me to get me to buy it.

I want a video card that will last a long time. No hardware failures for a few years at least.

Edited by Seltox, 25 January 2008 - 10:50 AM.

[Seltox]

So you would suggest I simply drop back to something like the XFX GeForce 8800GT Alpha Dog (Not overclocked at all), and overclock it myself?

Without the overclocking, it IS like AUD$60 cheaper..

What is required to overclock it, and how often does overclocking void warranty?


EDIT: I'd be better off going for a 512mb 8800GT rather than a 320mb GTS, right?



Futher edit, because double posting is evil: If you think I can get a better ATI card for the same price or thereabouts, i'd be happy to hear your suggestions, just it would take quite a bit of convincing me to get me to buy it.

I want a video card that will last a long time. No hardware failures for a few years at least.

Edited by Seltox, 25 January 2008 - 10:50 AM.

[james_8970]

EDIT: I'd be better off going for a 512mb 8800GT rather than a 320mb GTS, right?

Right.

What is required to overclock it, and how often does overclocking void warranty?

If you buy XFX or Evga, you can overclock as much as you like without voiding your warranty. XFX actually lets you mod the card (basically limited to changing the cooler) without voiding your warranty.
James

[stettybet0]

I'd be better off going for a 512mb 8800GT rather than a 320mb GTS, right?

Yes.

If you think I can get a better ATI card for the same price or thereabouts, i'd be happy to hear your suggestions

You cannot get an ATI card that is better than the 8800GT 512MB.

[Seltox]

Okay. So I should definitely go cheaper and get the base XFX card? The base XFX card is much cheaper than the base eVGA. Might be able to find some extra money to get those two extra 120mm fans. Think it would be worth it? I'd then be running six 120mm fans (one on my PSU), a 200mm fan and then the 92 or whatever mm fan my CPU fan is =p.

What limitations will I have with the 256-bit card?


edit: spelling corrections.

Edited by Seltox, 25 January 2008 - 10:59 AM.

[stettybet0]

Limitations of the 256-bit bus is that this card will underperform compared to the 8800GTX (which has a 384-bit bus) on high resolutions and with AA enabled. It will still perform very well, just a little worse than the 8800GTX in those situations.

[james_8970]

You cannot get an ATI card that is better than the 8800GT 512MB.

That's going to change in a week, I can guarantee's that It's about time to, because I want nVidia to release something better then the 8800 series.

So I should definately got cheaper and get the base XFX card?

XFX has better warranty.

What limitations will I have with the 256-bit card?

None.

James

[james_8970]

Limitations of the 256-bit bus is that this card will underperform compared to the 8800GTX (which has a 384-bit bus) on high resolutions and with AA enabled. It will still perform very well, just a little worse than the 8800GTX in those situations.

The 256bit bus cannot be saturated at this time, but with the next generation of cards it's likely that it will happen. If I remember correctly the HD3870X2 uses a 256bit bus and is more powerful then the ultra. But don't quote me on that
James

[stettybet0]

The HD3870X2 (the ATI card James is referring to which should beat the 8800GT) will cost at least $200 more than the 8800GT though... And at that price point, it is getting dangerously close to 2 8800GTs in SLI. And we all know what happens when two 8800GTs in SLI meet two HD3870s:



EDIT:

The 256bit bus cannot be saturated at this time.

Tell that to Crysis...

Edited by stettybet0, 25 January 2008 - 11:21 AM.

[Seltox]

Okay, so at this point it looks like i'll have:

Antec Nine Hundred
Corsair HX-620W
abit IP35-PRO
2gb (2x1gb) Corsair PC-6400 RAM (4-4-4-12)
3.4GHz Pentium D
XFX GeForce 8800 GT Alpha Dog (hopefully I shall overclock this)

All of that sound sweet?

[james_8970]

(the ATI card James is referring to which should beat the 8800GT)

No it will. It's MMRSP is 450$ and is a very powerful card. Tomshardware broke the NDA and released the article for 20 minutes, I read it

3.4GHz Pentium D

I really advise against the purchase of a Pentium D. Are you open to buying a different CPU?
Otherwise the build looks great.
James

Edited by james_8970, 25 January 2008 - 11:15 AM.

[Seltox]

I already own this Processor. Just through i'd list it there to make a full-ish set of specs.

It's about a year old now, and i'm planning on going to a core2 quad or thereabouts once I can actually afford it. This current upgrade is gonna put me in debt a little bit (only to my parents though, so it's all good) already.

[james_8970]

Then the build looks great.
Though I do not recommend overclocking that GPU if it's on the reference cooler. They have a tendency to overheat.
James

Edited by james_8970, 25 January 2008 - 11:24 AM.

[stettybet0]

You can download a BIOS update which fixes the fan problem (I know EVGA offers this, not sure about XFX), or use the NVIDIA control panel or RivaTuner to manually set the fan speed higher to avoid overheating.

[Seltox]

My current video card already overheats in this damned summer weather. But it's a horrible card anyway.

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'd just like to take this opportunity to tell you all that I think this is one of (if not the) best and most helpful community on the net.

Btw, James, your sig "Computers are a lot like air conditioners, they stop working properly once you open windows." I told that to my friends and they laughed quite hard .


I should be ordering these parts in the next 2-3 days. I'll get back to you once I have them all in and working.

~Seltox