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View Full Version : Deciding on a temporary GPU


Rawcat
03-16-2008, 07:56 PM
Alright, this has driven me nuts lately. I can't seem to decide wich card to temporarily replace my old 8600GT until 9800GTXs or G200s come out.

Yup, im grown impatient. nV is as always reluctant to set any clear dates for their releases, and even then one would have to wait for the preices to normalize after the launch craze.
Instead i want to make a smaller investment to keep me going for the time being. Im aiming at no higher than 350$, preferably less. My choice obviously falls on 8800/9600 GT, biggest bang for the buck as far as i see.

Yet, here come the troubles:
- EVGA are out, their availability in denmark is pretty nonexistant. BFG is a notch better, but still very rare.
- XFX seem to be confused about their own 8800GT cooling (pv-t88p-YDQ4,YHF4). Lots of reports of GT fans being stuck at 100% on the latter revisions of the card, and former revisions getting pricier by the minute.
- 9600GTs are generally still unavailabe in denmark, and ofc still inferior to the 8800GT.

Whats left for me to choose between is:
XFX: 8800GT 512MB YDQ4 (http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26tra de%3B+8800&productConfigurationId=1640442) and YHF4 (http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%26tra de%3B+8800&productConfigurationId=1884224).
Both noisy as hell, the latter being cheaper and the former seeming to have the stock GT heatsink. No idea of their temps.
Gainward: Bliss 8800 GT 512 (http://www.gainward.com/product/product_detail.php?products_id=145)
Couldnt find any reviews for this card, but it seem so have a different cooling solution and a reasonable price. 600 core/1.8 vram speeds, nothing fancy.
9600GT XFX: 9600GT 512 XXX (http://www.xfxforce.com/web/product/listConfigurationDetails.jspa?series=GeForce%E2%84 %A2+9600&productConfigurationId=2037704) - Cheapest card in the range, the fastest of xfx's 9600GTs, soon available.

Other brands, im not sure about. I keep hearing bad thigns about the stock cooler, so i tried to stay away from that when choosing those, and that meant letting out the only BFG card available, along with some Sparkle, Leadtek, Innos3D, club3Ds, Asus, Gigabyte and ZOTAC cards. Yet, im still not entirely sure about any thing here.
Halp?

xMrBunglex
03-16-2008, 08:15 PM
uhh... the 9800 GTX is going to be released this week or next week.

Movieman
03-16-2008, 08:18 PM
or get a 8400 dual core and wait on the vid card..:D
Don't you just hate it when someone tosses things in like this and makes you think!:rofl:

adamsleath
03-16-2008, 08:55 PM
almost get a 3870x2 for that money:lol:

Rawcat
03-17-2008, 03:07 AM
uhh... the 9800 GTX is going to be released this week or next week.

Yeah i know, but all the rumors about that card are keeping me dissapointed so far.

or get a 8400 dual core and wait on the vid card..:D
Don't you just hate it when someone tosses things in like this and makes you think!:rofl:

I decided to wait for 9450 prices to normalize, and then buy a whole new mobo and rams along with it. But for now, i think a new graphics card will keep me going.

triple_A
03-17-2008, 06:18 AM
I have a 9600gt and love it.
But you can't go wrong with either of those. 8800gt still is a bit faster so it's well worth it's price :)