8800GTX vs 9800GTX vs GTX260

PH3N0M

As the topic states, I'm wanting to upgrade my video cards. The GTX280 is too pricey for my taste so my next option would be the GTX260. With that in mind, I did some research and my results are below.

I was just checking the specs on the GTX260 and the 8800GTX and there's not much of a difference. What I want to know is, are the differences enough to justify an upgrade from the 8800GTX to the GTX260?



XFX GTX260 specs:

• Fill Rate per Second: 36.9 Billion pixels
• Video Memory: 896MB
• Memory Type: DDR3
• Core Clock: 576 MHz
• Memory Interface: 448-bit
• Memory Clock: 2000 MHz
• Shader Clock: 1242 MHz
• Stream Processors: 192
• Memory Bandwidth: 111.9GB/sec.

eVGA 8800GTX Specs:

• Video memory: 768MB
• Memory Type: DDR3
• Core Clock: 575 MHZ
• Memory Interface: 384-bit
• Memory Clock: 900 MHZ
• Shader Clock: 1350 MHZ
• Stream Processors: 128
• Memory Bandwidth: 86.4GB/sec.
• Texture Fill Rate: 36.8 Billion pixels
  
  

eVGA 9800GTX Specs:

• Core clock 792MHz
• Stream Processors 128
• Memory Clock 2304MHz
• Memory Size 512MB
• Memory Interface 256-bit

With all that being said, I'm really undecided as to what I should or shouldn't do. Any input would be GREATLY appreciated. Thanks.

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PC_Inquisitor

Well, the first question is what kind of games d you play? At wich resolution do you play?

If I were you, I would buy another 8800 GTX... A SLI configuration is very powerfull!!

PH3N0M

I play COD4 and other FPS games. I'm currently running dual 8800GTX in SLI. I was just wondering if I should upgrade now or wait a few more months.

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Bolletje

A GTX 260 is less powerful than two 8800GTX's in SLI

I should wait a couple of months. NV is going to 55 nm first and then to 40 nm. And maybe, because ATI is doing very well, the prices will be even lower with the coming high-end cards

blibbax

From the cards you've suggested, it looks like your budget is £200. I don't think you're going to find anything at that price at the moment which will outperform dual 8800GTXs.

I think your current setup is more than powerful enough to keep you going while you wait for more cash and / or lower prices.

PH3N0M

Would it be a waste if I were to buy a couple of 9800 GX's for a quad SLI setup? Furthermore, would my 1000w psu be enough to power them along with everything else in my box?

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blibbax

Whether or not your PSU could handle it depends on what brand it is, and how many amps it has on how many 12v rails.

I would say that unless you can pick up two 9800GX2s for well under £500, this would be inadvisable.

Quad SLI may very slightly outperform GTX280 SLI at the moment, but the 9800GX2 only has 512mb of memory and a 256 bit bus per core, so the GTX solution is likely to out last it, particularly at your resolution.

CDsDontBurn

IMO, if you're going to consider a pair of 9800GX2 cards for quad-SLI, don't do it. Get a pair of GTX260 cards for a little more than the two 9800GX2 cards.

Remember, in SLI, you only have the total video memory of just ONE video card. So, despite the fact that the GX2 cards have 1GB of RAM per card, you can only utilize 512MB of that RAM because it has internal SLI built into the card. And if you run quad-SLI, you'll have 512MB of usuable video memory out of your 2GB of video memory. If you were to get a pair of GTX260s, then, you'd have 896MB of total video memory. The benefit of this would come especially at the higher resolutions when texture is placing more emphasis on the video memory than on the GPU.

and your current pair of 8800GTXs are about at the same performance level to a single GTX260 card.

Then, you ask about the power requirments. If you were to go with the 9800GX2 card, each of these cards require an 8pin PCI-E power adapter and a 6pin PCI-E power adapter. Does your powersuply already have this? If not, you'll need to either buy an adapter to combine two of your 6pin PCI-Es into a single 8pin PCI-E adapter, or get a whole new power supply that natively has both 6pin and 8pin PCI-E power adapters. On that note, the GTX260 does NOT need an 8pin PCI-E power connector. It only requires 2 6pin PCI-E power conectors per card like your current 8800GTX set up does. And, if your current 1Kw PSU can handle your current SLI set up with 2x 8800GTX cards, I don't see why it wouldn't be able to handle 2x GTX260 cards.

I say you go for 2x GTX260s

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PH3N0M

Thank you so much for that explanation. You've put it clearer than even Dell reps tried to put it. I guess I will just hang onto my cash and wait til the GTX 280's drop in price. Thanks, again!

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CDsDontBurn

you're welcome

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sterben

No Zotac card?
A few friends recommended me the brand so I got a 260 recently after my 8800GTX busted for some odd reason, it's a fine brand.

GanjaStar

if you have 8800 gtx in sli don't ugrade, unless you wanna get 4870x2 anything else would be a waste of money.

rsc08

GTX260 216 cores all the way.

Jejking

Not all the way. Of course, the GTX series are great performers. But they lack DX10.1, something which will be used more and more now. Topicstarter, you should wait while the pricewar rages on. 2009Q1/H1 was the time ATi is going to kick something outdoors which gives customers a new perspective to the market, until that time you can hold on with your 8800GTX's

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blibbax

I'm not sure DX10.1 is going to be all that imporant. DX11 isn't far off, so I can see many developers skipping DX10 altogether.

As for waiting for a new card, this will always be the case. If you wait for price per performance to drop u'll be waiting forever. Iff there's something specific you want to wait for, then sure, go for it, but it'l be expensive when it launches and if you wait the whole thing will start again.

However, given that you already have a pretty decent setup, I would put off that upgrade a little longer, that way two sets of graphics cards can last you as long as 3 would if you upgraded right now.

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CDsDontBurn

dx10.1 isn't everything. it's really just a marketing gimmick if nothing really uses dx10.1.

but, i do agree that holding on to the two 8800s is a good choice for the time being. unless power consumption is an issue where both of those 8800 cards will consume more than the single GTX260-216 and still perform very similarly to each other.

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Bolletje

Indeed, DX 11 cards will be rolling out of NV and ATI's fabrics next year (Q4).

In the meantime NVIDIA and ATI will both be going to a smaller chip (GTX 260 already has 55 nm, but they will even go to 40 nm when all is going well).