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#1
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
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! |
#2
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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. |
#3
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
deimos wrote:
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. Thanks to all for the replies. I just bought the card at the link below. How'd I do? http://www.compsource.com/pn/512P3N802AR/Evga_603/ |
#4
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
Mike Phillips wrote:
deimos wrote: 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. Thanks to all for the replies. I just bought the card at the link below. How'd I do? http://www.compsource.com/pn/512P3N802AR/Evga_603/ You made out just fine. Other than price though . The MSRP for the 8800GT was supposed to range from 199 to 249 (256MB and 512MB versions respectively). But due to short supply and demand, they're getting marked way up. |
#5
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
deimos wrote:
Mike Phillips wrote: deimos wrote: 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. Thanks to all for the replies. I just bought the card at the link below. How'd I do? http://www.compsource.com/pn/512P3N802AR/Evga_603/ You made out just fine. Other than price though . The MSRP for the 8800GT was supposed to range from 199 to 249 (256MB and 512MB versions respectively). But due to short supply and demand, they're getting marked way up. Thanks for the link. I just bought the same card from them. Too bad about the price. Gotta pay to play. |
#6
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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. Newegg is very popular and have good prices, common recomendation. 8800GT is the new 'miraclecard', its a midrange card but with very high performance. Those cards are PCIe 2.0 and DX10 so will last a while. When it coems to 8800GTS you should know that there are two very different cards with that name, one is beeing phased out and is based on slightly older tech and are trimemd down versions of the old king of the hill 8800GTX, the otehr variant (and the much prefereed one) is the new 8800GTS based on the G92 core (it can be said to be a trimmed up version of the GT with the enw core, PCIe 2.0 etc). The way to tell them apart is by the memory on the cards. The old ones will ahve 320/640MB while the new ones (if not marked as G92) will have 256/512MB ram. The problem with the GT/G92 GTS is that they are very new and hot and supplies are VERY short right now. 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? As explained earlier it doesn't realy make a difference, 2.0 is fully backwards compatible with 1.0 and there are very few gfx cards and even fewer motherboards around that actually is PCIe 2.0 yet. As sais earlier, the x factor of a PCIe slot is how many lanes it uses for communication, each extra lane adding a set amount of extra bandwidth. PCI 2.0 is supposed to double that bandwidth. How do I know what brand of card to buy? XFX? EVGA? ASUS? AFAIK most cards are made in teh same factory and then each brand just add their own logos, extras etc so they should be fairly similar, go with the best package and price. (Asus are known for all around good quality and packages, XFX/BFG for tested and overclocked cards etc... If you're unsure just google for the model name and review and read up ona card befroe deciding. Best Wishes Thomas |
#7
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
"mcp6453" wrote in message ... 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! This 8800GT is selling for a good price. http://www.ncixus.com/products/27328...%20Technology/ I just installed the above card in my PC about two hours ago. Tested with 3DMark06 and no issues at all. Usually a card will fail Deep Freeze benchmark in 3DMark06 if it is flaky at all. Benefit of this card is that it is not factory overclocked (had to RMA 7900GT KO twice to EVGA because of their bull**** factory overclocking) and comes with a much better HSF than they put on the other cards. This is a heatpipe cooler which is very good because quite a few people have had issues with heat on the 8800GT's. They used a fan that was too small for this class of card IMO. New stock of 8800GT's have better fans but still not as good as this one. If I want to overclcock the card then I am quite capable of doing it myself so won't be buying any more overclocked video cards. EVGA eventually sent me a 7950GX2 and even that card seems to have an issue where the screen gets scrambled at the end of the driver install (is ok after a hard restet though) and my monitor won't detect the card when I use it over dual link DVI-D. New 8800GT works fine over DVI-D. EVGA is about to be getting a new email from me reaming them out once again. That will be three RMA's over one effing card! Ridiculous. |
#8
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
I just installed the above card in my PC about two hours ago. Tested with
3DMark06 and no issues at all. Usually a card will fail Deep Freeze benchmark in 3DMark06 if it is flaky at all. Benefit of this card is that it is not factory overclocked (had to RMA 7900GT KO twice to EVGA because of their bull**** factory overclocking) and comes with a much better HSF than they put on the other cards. This is a heatpipe cooler which is very good because quite a few people have had issues with heat on the 8800GT's. They used a fan that was too small for this class of card IMO. New stock of 8800GT's have better fans but still not as good as this one. If I want to overclcock the card then I am quite capable of doing it myself so won't be buying any more overclocked video cards. EVGA eventually sent me a 7950GX2 and even that card seems to have an issue where the screen gets scrambled at the end of the driver install (is ok after a hard restet though) and my monitor won't detect the card when I use it over dual link DVI-D. New 8800GT works fine over DVI-D. EVGA is about to be getting a new email from me reaming them out once again. That will be three RMA's over one effing card! Ridiculous. I own the factory overclock version of this card with the usual 8800GT shrouded cooling. The DDR3 is clocked at 2000Mhz vs 1800 on yours. The shader and GPU clocks are identical. The problem with your version of the card is that while there's excellent heatpipe/fan cooling of the GPU, there's basically no directed decent cooling of the ram, not even ramsinks. On the typical 8800GT, the ram is cooled by the shrouded casing, metal airflow channels and albeit noisy fan. From my experience, and others that I've read, it's the ram that causes most issues. My card never faltered once in multiple runs of 3DMark06 1.1 and others. It locked up in F.E.A.R and F.E.A.R Extraction point after 2-5 minutes with the typical screenful of red artifacts which are indicative of overheated and pushed DDR3, while it could play endlessly in Bioshock, Crysis and others. Partly this was the fan not ramping up, but even with it set to 100% manually it was still an issue within less than 10 min in that game. I rewrote the BIOS of my Galaxy OC 8800GT (using NiBiTor) from 600/1500/2000 clockings to 675/1600/1900 clocks, while setting the fan at 35% idle to 75% in 3D. Noise isn't an issue now, I don't have to use Rivatuner, and it's never once locked up in F.E.A.R. in over 2 days on hours at a time playing. 100% stable. Benches a bit faster now. Far as I can tell, the real issue with these cards is the memory overclock causing heat an instability issues. Pretty sure the GTX and Ultra versions use a higher quality, higher binned DDR along with the different core. |
#9
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
"Augustus" wrote in message news:qWH8j.7360$5l3.5155@edtnps82... I own the factory overclock version of this card with the usual 8800GT shrouded cooling. The DDR3 is clocked at 2000Mhz vs 1800 on yours. The shader and GPU clocks are identical. The problem with your version of the card is that while there's excellent heatpipe/fan cooling of the GPU, there's basically no directed decent cooling of the ram, not even ramsinks. On the typical 8800GT, the ram is cooled by the shrouded casing, metal airflow channels and albeit noisy fan. From my experience, and others that I've read, it's the ram that causes most issues. Yea, but they fail because they push the ram past a stable clock speed. I had to RMA 7900GT twice thanks to factory overclcocking of the ram. Ram doesn't really need heatsinks IMO. I have no heatsinks on my system ram either. No issues with system ram or this video card. If it turns out that it ever did need heatsinks then I can pick up a pack for ten bucks. I read an article a few years back that claimed heat spreaders on ram actually act as heat insulators instead of helping to dissipate heat. Like I said, 3DMark06 Deep Freeze bench will show up any ram isssues quite quickly and it ran flawlessly. I give this Galaxy 8800GT with the really nice and quiet HSF my seal of approval. |
#10
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Nvidia 8800GT/GTS
On Fri, 14 Dec 2007 19:34:10 GMT, 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 8800 GTS 320 or GTS 640 are older, overpriced, "slow" cards. The correct new GTS is the 8800 GTS 512 using the G92 GPU. This is similar to the 8800GT, but with some extra processing power unlocked, and these cards have higher stock clocks on GPU, Memory, and Shaders. They perform close to the most expensive older Ultra cards except in games where the Ultra's extra memory bandwidth really helps. These GTS 512 cards come with a real cooling solution, and not a noisy fan that dumps heat into your case and needs an extra utility to set the fan correctly. They use an extra slot next to the video card slot because the cooler is wider. Benefits are cooler GPU temps, the hot air exhausted out the back of the case, and a quieter fan. Costs more but you do get good value for that extra cost, esp if you want to run SLI down the road. PS you might watch your local papers for good deals. A local store is selling the Asus 8800GT for $249 this weekend. Newegg is backordered at $299. |
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