Urge to join the...dark side... rising.

[anticlutch]

Not too shabby. Can you raise your CPU speeds a bit though?

 

[driver66]

I'd like to but I need some help:shadedshu

 

[trt740]

Wait 2 months you will be able to buy a 8800gts 320 for 200.00 or buy two 8800gt 256 mb XFX cards for 239.00, sli them. They will beat a single 8800gts 320 by about 2000 points and be cheaper than two 8600gts, and will overclock up to and past 8600gts speeds. The XFX chips come factory overclocked to near 8600gts speeds and two of them overclocked in sli will beat two 7900gts in sli and come near two 7950 256 mb chips in sli but have directx 10. They also have more shaders than 7000 series cards 32. One 8600gt overclocked will hit 7000 3dmark06 or near so two SLIed should hit 12000+

 

[x800professor]

tk, unless you *absolutely* need to have it, don't go for it. I had a x1950pro and I bought an Evga 8800GTS 320mb and honestly, it doesn't make too much of a difference in games. Sure, benchmarks may tell you otherwise but in reality, it's not too much of a difference (for the games I play, anyway). So if you're getting decent framerates with your x1950pro, keep it for another 6 months to a year and wait to see what nVidia and ATI cook up.

edit: I forgot to add that the one thing I really hate about the 8800 is the ungodly amount of heat it produces. Not that I hate the card or anything, but it gets kind of annoying as the heat rises into my CPU heatsink, raising temps by a couple of C. Great card overall though

I have them both. In Oblivion, the 8800 absolutely slaughters the X1950PRO. Supreme commander and FEAR too.

 

[driver66]

Agreed 8800---><---1950

 

[bigboi86]

Guys, Intel is the darkside, Nvidia is the green side.

 

[anticlutch]

I have them both. In Oblivion, the 8800 absolutely slaughters the X1950PRO. Supreme commander and FEAR too.

I said it didn't make too much of a difference for the games I play and at the resolutions I play at (CS:S, HL2, COH, NSF:C, all @ 1280x1024). Obviously on other games and at higher resolutions the difference would be like night and day but for the games that I played, I could barely tell that the 8800 did better without seeing actual numbers. Obviously the 8800 would own the 1950pro at Oblivion as that game causes even the most recent hardware to lag slightly; the same goes for SupCom and FEAR (assuming soft shadows are turned on).

I'm not trying to badmouth the 8800gts as it's an awesome card. I just didn't see any justification for it as I don't use high resolutions nor do I play hardware intensive games. TK, if you have the money and if you're willing to put up with the extra heat, go for the 8800gts as you will not be disappointed. If, however, you don't play the most recent games, or if you don't use high resolutions, stick with the x1950pro for a bit as the 8800's price will surely go down within the coming summer months.

 

[driver66]

Very good advice

 

[JC316]

I said it didn't make too much of a difference for the games I play and at the resolutions I play at (CS:S, HL2, COH, NSF:C, all @ 1280x1024). Obviously on other games and at higher resolutions the difference would be like night and day but for the games that I played, I could barely tell that the 8800 did better without seeing actual numbers. Obviously the 8800 would own the 1950pro at Oblivion as that game causes even the most recent hardware to lag slightly; the same goes for SupCom and FEAR (assuming soft shadows are turned on).

I'm not trying to badmouth the 8800gts as it's an awesome card. I just didn't see any justification for it as I don't use high resolutions nor do I play hardware intensive games. TK, if you have the money and if you're willing to put up with the extra heat, go for the 8800gts as you will not be disappointed. If, however, you don't play the most recent games, or if you don't use high resolutions, stick with the x1950pro for a bit as the 8800's price will surely go down within the coming summer months.

X1950Pro, or 8600GTS are great options if you game under 1600x1200.

 

[anticlutch]

If I didn't have a 8800gts already, I would rather get the x1950pro... the 8600's 128bit memory interface is a deal-killer. But then again, for the price of a single 8800GTS 640mb, you could SLi the 8600GTS's...

 

[x800professor]

If I didn't have a 8800gts already, I would rather get the x1950pro... the 8600's 128bit memory interface is a deal-killer. But then again, for the price of a single 8800GTS 640mb, you could SLi the 8600GTS's...

The 8600GTS is surprisingly fast. It also overclocks well with proper cooling. I thought it would stink, but it doesn't. It is still too expensive though. Take it down to $150 and you have a great deal.

 

[trt740]

a 8600gt is as low as 129.00 and the overclocked version which equals a 8600gts is at 149.00

 

[x800professor]

a 8600gt is as low as 129.00 and the overclocked version which equals a 8600gts is at 149.00

You found one with memory as fast as the GTS?

 

[JC316]

a 8600gt is as low as 129.00 and the overclocked version which equals a 8600gts is at 149.00

Hmm, not bad at all on those prices. 2 of em in SLI would be interesting. Almost makes me regret getting the Tforce 550.

 

[trt740]

No but they overclock to the same levels. The memory and core you can get a gt to overclock past factory default gts speeds

 

[trt740]

memory and core you can get a gt to overclock past factory default gts speeds.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150229
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16814122026

This gt will overclock very close to this gts and perform near the same using less power.

 

[tkpenalty]

X1950Pro, or 8600GTS are great options if you game under 1600x1200.

Not for need for speed carbon...max shader, max detaill, motion blur at 1280x1024... = stuttering.

 

[tkpenalty]

Wait 2 months you will be able to buy a 8800gts 320 for 200.00 or buy two 8800gt 256 mb XFX cards for 239.00, sli them. They will beat a single 8800gts 320 by about 2000 points and be cheaper than two 8600gts, and will overclock up to and past 8600gts speeds. The XFX chips come factory overclocked to near 8600gts speeds and two of them overclocked in sli will beat two 7900gts in sli and come near two 7950 256 mb chips in sli but have directx 10. They also have more shaders than 7000 series cards 32. One 8600gt overclocked will hit 7000 3dmark06 or near so two SLIed should hit 12000+

Pfft.... 3D Marks mean nothing in real life performance. If u use the 8600GTS for most real gaming, you'll know how bad it is... It runs pretty badly imho...not worth the money.

Futuremark better make a new benchmark soon... the scores are all screwed up. 8600GTS in SLI no way it beats one 8800GTS... also I cbf using driver hacks to SLI... and its more cumbersome to. 8600GT cannot overclock without voltmods btw...

However... I do see your logic, what the 8600GTS lacks in 128bit bus, it makes up for it with the memory speeds, yes, thats where it gets it's speed from. This makes it more sensitive to memory speed changes.

Hmm... i might get one but the 8800GTS is calling me... ill install some aftermarket cooling for all those guys who scream hot hot the 8800GTS runs :S

 

[trt740]

Tk you are wrong numerous reviews show gt cards overclocking with rivia tuner. It is faster than a 7600gt 7900gs and matches a 7900gt. In sli they will beat a 8800gts in those benches. The only danger is overclocking them too much can pull more than 75 mghz from your motherboard causing damage. This is because they require no external power plug, but hey it's your set up. Ive had a 8800gts it would do 11400ish overclocked like crazy with my chip at 3.76ghz. It will let you know on my on my new 8600gts it should do 7000 ish but I cannot bench now my fan went out. Sold my 8800gts to up grade my motherboard and cpu.

 

[x800professor]

Tk you are wrong numerous reviews show gt cards overclocking with rivia tuner. It is faster than a 7600gt 7900gs and matches a 7900gt. In sli they will beat a 8800gts in those benches. The only danger is overclocking them too much can pull more than 75 mghz from your motherboard causing damage. This is because they require no external power plug, but hey it's your set up. Ive had a 8800gts it would do 11400ish overclocked like crazy with my chip at 3.76ghz. It will let you know on my on my new 8600gts it should do 7000 ish but I cannot bench now my fan went out. Sold my 8800gts to up grade my motherboard and cpu.

I've seen some mixed reviews. Sometimes the X1950PRO can keep up with an 8600GTS, but I imagine that might have been a driver issue. Other reviews have shown it about as powerful as a 7900GT. http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/1079/1/page_1_introduction/index.html There you can see an overclocked 8600GTS doing a decent job. It is more powerful than a stock x1950GT. However, the stock 8600GTS sometimes loses to the stock X1950GT. The 8600GTS almost always loses to the 7900GS, even overclocked. The funny thing is the 7900GS stinks in the synthetic benchmarks, but does very well in the actual tests.