Which Video Card to Choose....

[Plague282]

Alright so I'm looking for the hardware for my Bioshock Project, and I'm a little stuck on what GPU I should get. The 9800GTX is supposedly a pile of crap, and the 9800GX2 is getting so so reviews. I'm not dismissing going to ATI, but I've been a Nvidia fan boy for I don't know how long. Price and Power consumption isn't a issue, just want to hear some other peoples thoughts

[Quakken]

I would say flip a coin blindfolded, feel the finished coin to see whether it is heads or tails and then have someone who has not yet seen the coin call which side will be nividia and which one will be ati.

Then, look at some nonsensical benchmarks, massage your toes, and then pick ATi.

Really, you probably won't be too pressed for performance if you buy either. The 9800gx2 is, I'm reasonably sure, not even out yet. It will likely perform better than a 3800gx2 but also cost more, unless nvidia wants to screw over Ati and price it at the same point.

I have no idea.

[J-Roc]

its a coin toss like quakken said. Just get the best you can afford. I put up a link in the hardware deals section about a 8800gt 512 for $169. If i could afford it i would buy 2. I paid $250 for my 8600GTS

[Plague282]

Cost isnt a concern here, I just sold both my 8800GTX's on ebay and I have enough $$$ to afford anything. I saw the benches for the 9800GTX and they look a little under par, but I saw a guy that uped the voltage with a mod and it was hitting around 900mhz.

[TheGreatSatan]

My 640MB 8800GTS is pretty damn NICE!

Question is, what are you doing that you need such a high end card?

[Quakken]

For anything other than crysis/ridiculous "next gen" graphics, you don't. If you're doing cad work, then you would want a quadro anyway. RIGHT NOW, I would personally go with the 3870x2. I am an ATi guy, it can hold strong with any other card out there.

The longer you wait, the happier you will be. The 9800gx2 will come out, it will drive all of the prices down and it will probably kick everything else's butt. For now, I would probably get a card that can get the job done until that card comes out (if you are in need of something right now, if not wait).

Why did you sell your pair of gtx's? That would be a dynamite combo.

[crenn]

The 9800x2 is shaping out to be a nice card, and it may improve with driver releases, but it's more expensive. If you need SLI because of your motherboard, then go for the 9800GX2s (which will be released tomorrow for you guys, they've already been released here) however if your mother supports crossfire, a pair of 3870x2 will do lovely.

[Indybird]

Some recent benchmarks are showing that the 9800GTX will be a very capable card. At $300-$350, it's impossible to be a bad deal.

Heres what I say:
If you're on some kind of budget and you don't need to play the newest games (Crysis...) at Full settings @ 1920x1200 then go for one of these:
1st) 8800GT 512MB ($190-$220): Great performance for cheap
2nd) HD3870 512MB ($170-$220): Good performance + CrossfireX
3rd) 8800GTS 512MB ($230-$270): Top Performance in the budget list
Those arent in order of power but instead in order of how much I recommend them. Remember you can always crossfire or SLI these cheaper cards if you ever need some more performance.

However, if you want to play the latest and greatest at their top settings then I'd recommend:
1st) HD3870X2 ($410-$450): Plays almost every thing full settings full res
2nd) 9800GTX ($300-$350): Not out yet but seems to perform like a heavily OC'd 8800GTS and then some

I would put the 9800GX2 at third but right now we just don't know enough about its performance. Im guessing will outperform the HD3870X2 by a small amount but not enough to justify the extra $150+. If you're going for the absolute best card on the market then the 9800GX2 is it.

If your into overclocking then you'll get the best results from:
9800GTX*, HD3870, 8800GTS, 9800GX2*
*based on early previews

If you're at all into dual card setups then I'd recommend the ATIs over nvidias because of CrossfireX's amazing adaptability and scaling.

As a last note if your buying an nvidia card then I'd recommend:
Evga, BFG, XFX or MSI
If you're buying an ATI then I'd recommend:
Sapphire, HIS, ASUS or Visiontek

-Indybird

[Plague282]

My 640MB 8800GTS is pretty damn NICE!

Question is, what are you doing that you need such a high end card?



Well my Bioshock Project is going to be a monster chassis as well as a monster computer



Intel Quad Extreme processor
8 gigs Patriot Extreme DDR3
790i SLI Ultra Mobo
2 x 150gig raptors
2 x 1tb Hitachi Hd's
X-fi elite soundcard

I was even looking into those solid state hd's but $2k for 64gb doesn't really sit well with me.


Right now I'm just stuck on what vid cards to get. I was looking at some of the early benchies and I may go with is 3 9800GTX's in tri-sli.

[crenn]

Don't get an X-Fi elite, get an Auzentech Prelude!

EDIT: While the 3 cards may be cheaper, the 9800GX2 looks promising in some regards.

[Plague282]

Hmmm looks interesting yea, I just might go with that, Damn i just wish they would release a X-fi pci xpress (I know there is one but its not the flagship.)

[crenn]

One thing that surprised me is, they released a single PCI-E model... and nothing else.

[Plague282]

One thing that surprised me is, they released a single PCI-E model... and nothing else.

I actually have the X-fi PCI Xpress card for my HTPC. It works like a charm and would recommend it to anyone. But like I said, the only gripe I have about it is that it's not the full featured X-fi card.

[Indybird]

You could go with the ASUS Xonar D2X (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829132005). Its essentially a PCI-E version of the D2 (which got very good reviews).

-Indybird

[Plague282]

it looks like there might be a better advantage going tri sli over the quad, Ill find out when a review comes out.