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Old December 14th 07, 10:24 PM posted to alt.comp.periphs.videocards.nvidia
deimos[_2_]
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Default Nvidia 8800GT/GTS

mcp6453 wrote:
While I know quite a bit about computers, I am certainly not up to speed
on video cards. Others have recommended that my son get an 8800GT or GTS
for a Christmas present. The recommended seller seems to be newegg.com.

The computer is an Intel DG33TL. It supports PCI-E. What is the
difference between PCI-E 1, PCI-E 16, and PCI-E 2.0? Are there any
differences as far as the motherboard concerned? Will a PCI-E 2.0 work
in any PCI-E slot?

How do I know what brand of card to buy? XFX? EVGA? ASUS?

Thanks! Time is running out!


You're pretty much on track with the advice given so far. Problems
you'll run into however include a VERY SHORT supply of 8800GT's.
They're nearly impossible to get for a sane price. Most all of them are
marked up well beyond MSRP.

8800GTS's like my 320MB are plentiful, but the 320MB is being
discontinued (previously available around 315-330 USD). You can still
find the 640MB version and the new 512MB version is around, but in
somewhat short supply.

Depending on what kind of games your son plays, you can get away with a
cheaper and more available 8600GT
(http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...2E16814130298).
These don't hold a candle to the insane amount of power present in an
8800, but they're still faster than anything previously in their price
range and very good cards overall.

For games like World of Warcraft, it's complete overkill; but even for
new games like Call of Duty 4 and Unreal Tournament 3, it offers
surprisingly good performance. I've recently replaced my brother's card
with one and he was amazed how well the UT3 demo ran.

Now PCI-E.

The different speeds you see refer to both the PCI-Express slot size and
how much data it can send over it. A PCI-E X1 slot is small and runs
really no faster than an old PCI slot. It's suitable for modems and
soundcards, etc. After that, you have X4, X8, X16. They're all the
same full length slot, but how fast the card runs is determined by the
motherboard. Most all video cards will operate at 16X unless otherwise
specified (or in an SLI configuration). This gives them the full amount
of bandwidth required.

Physically you're limited to the slot size for video cards. The main
difference is full length X16 slots compared to the very sort X1 slots.
Don't buy X1 cards, they're worthless. You shouldn't have to worry
about that.

PCI-E 1.0 and 2.0 are just different versions of the same standard and
2.0 is backwards compatible with 1.0. There is little difference to
you, unless you're buying a new motherboard. All 2.0 devices will be
backwards compatible with 1.0 motherboards. 2.0 simply provides more
wattage to the card.

Please read this article for more info:

http://www.directron.com/expressguide.html

Post back if you'd like comments on a specific card.