Which card is better value for money

[arran]

i want to buy a new graphics card not sure how much i want to spend but it will be between 70-140 pounds but when looking at the reviews on here for the 7900gt the 8600gts and the 8600gt the 7900gt seems to outperform the 8600gts on most games and the 8600gt is further behind. when looking at the specs on nvidia site both of the 8600 cards have better specs how come the 7900gt is outperforming them.

which one am i better of getting??

assuming one of the three is the right choice

 

[SNGX1275]

The 9600GT is in your price range and is better than those cards.

8800GT is also in your price range (but more expensive than the 9600GT) and is better yet.

The 9600GT is probably the best performance for the money.

 

[arran]

do you have a sites that you would recommend to buy from

will i require alot of room behind my PCI-express slot if i buy a 9600gt? as i have about 16 cm or so clearance
what are the major specs i should be looking for when i buy a graphics card btw??

 

[nickc]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Description=9600gt&x=14&y=34

that is a site u might look at the 9600GT at.

 

[Matthew DeCarlo]

It's kinda hard to judge a card by it's specifications because the actual architecture of the card is going to vary. The numbers only mean so much. If you've got the Bat Mobile racing a Dodge Neon and the Bat Mobile has to drive an extra 500 miles to reach the finish line, it doesn't really matter how fast it can drive, does it?

 

[arran]

right okay well i think i have a few cards in mind so i will just compare the specs and look to see what sort of reviews there are on them. i dont think i can go that wrong.

 

[SNGX1275]

You gave a pretty large price range which is why I found it a bit difficult to make a real recommendation. You might want to look at some 8800GT vs 9600GT benchmarks for the higher end.

 

[Acclamator]

I agree the 9600 series is the sweet spot.

 

[Ghasede_Del]

8600 series for low price 8800 gt and gts for medium price and 8800 gtx to 9600 for high end

 

[arran]

okay thanks guess i will look into getting either an 8800 or 9600 guess easiest way to choose could be checking my bank balance lol

 

[SNGX1275]

The 9600gt isn't going to beat a 8800gt, so the 9600gt should be for the medium price and mid range card.

From [H]'s review

In our testing the GeForce 8800 GT was faster than the BFGTech GeForce 9600 GT OC in every game. In the case of Crysis we saw the most advantage for gameplay with the 8800 GT allowing us to enable “High” shaders quality at 1280x1024. In some games though, like COD 4, and UT3 the improvement wasn’t as big, but it was still there.

 

[arran]

okay thanks for the info

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Check out this offer. It's the best I've found so far. Good luck and let us know how it goes.

 

[arran]

thanks that is pretty good price i will prob do the upgrad over easter when i have more time to build and to put the new card to use

 

[Didou]

Why no mention of ATI cards, specifically the 3850 & 3870 ?

 

[nickc]

Didou, is the 8800GT not a better card than either of those?

 

[kpo6969]

If your in the US this can be a useful guide:

http://www.yougamers.com/hardware/stats/3dmark06/priceandperformance/?mainnavi=true

 

[Didou]

The 8800GT is much better than those cards performance wise, there's not even a doubt there but the price is not the same either. You also have to consider that the original poster's system only has an Athlon64 X2 3800+ as well so why spend so much money for a card that won't be able to flex its muscle on the system.

An ATI 3850 will bring a nice noticeable performance boost without breaking the bank also allowing him to save up money for a system overhaul in the future.

 

[tastegw]

i agree with Didou, the 8800's are better, but you will be fine with the 3850's or 3870's if you want to save some green, the 3800' models are good cards and are a good bang for the buck. this can be said for th 8800gt's too.

use this link to compare the two cards (8800gt vs 3870)
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2007.html

 

[Gavin_Capacitor]

For the money your willing to spend, go for a 9600GT or a HD3870. The 9600 preforms better but the HD3870 has DX10.1 - its up to you really. Whatever you do though, DO NOT get a 8600 or 7900, they are both very dated and on their way out. If you want to spend a bit more, go for a 8800GS or 8800GT.

 

[arran]

okay thanks the sites you have posted are useful i know i wont be able to get the most of the card but i am planning on updating most things over summer so no point buying a lower spec graphics card now and buying a better one later