8500gt vs 8600gt ?

[lexandro]

Hey folks , i was having a look at purchasing a new vid card and i saw that the new 8 series cards are out. Im looking to replace my 7600gs 256ddr2 . Basically i want to know which is the best "bang per buck" the 8500gt or 8600gt.

8500gt link
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...274689&CatId=0

8600gt link
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...274690&CatId=0

This is where i will be purchasing my new card from. Im not to bothred about the cost (price limit is £110) im just wondering if the extra £40 difference from the 8500 to the 8600 is worth it? FYI i just got a new 19" flat panel so ill be looking to play all my games in its native res of 1280x1024 , so i want a card that can do this res easy.

Thanks

Lex

[Odanez]

7600GS to 8500GT is really not a worth while upgrade imo. 8600GT rather, it's about as fast as a 7900GS.
nVidia's 8600's are really not spectacular in performance, and if you want to upgrade either wait a while longer, or get an older card, since you have no need for DX10 now anyways. ATi X1950Pro for example, but if you want to choose between those two cards, an 8600GT or 8600GTS would be better, simply because the upgrade from 7600GS to 8500GT is not really worth it imo

Additional Comment:

but if you could afford a 320MB 8800GTS, that would totally hammer all of the above mentioned

[trismegistus]

As far as I know,8500gt has gddr2 and 8600gt has gddr3,so yes. The 40£ diff is worth it.

[BIOShazard]

I've heard the 7600GT outperforms the 8600GT slightly. However, the 8600GTS outperforms the 7600GT.

[lexandro]

Thanks for the advice guys , its duly noted . I cant afford any more than the 8600gt, and the 600 series has always been what i normally go for . I was hoping that this puppy would oc very nicely , and it says it can do AA up to 16x i think so that would be a real plus point for me plumping for the card now rather than later .
At the Res im going to be playing at if the 8600GT can get me 40-50 FPS with a nice high AA ill be more then happy.

Any bench scores going around for these cards , and any OC scores anywhere?

[BIOShazard]

Originally Posted by lexandro

Thanks for the advice guys , its duly noted . I cant afford any more than the 8600gt, and the 600 series has always been what i normally go for . I was hoping that this puppy would oc very nicely , and it says it can do AA up to 16x i think so that would be a real plus point for me plumping for the card now rather than later .
At the Res im going to be playing at if the 8600GT can get me 40-50 FPS with a nice high AA ill be more then happy.

Any bench scores going around for these cards , and any OC scores anywhere?

You like Terry Pratchet, i suppose?

[lexandro]

Originally Posted by BIOShazard

You like Terry Pratchet, i suppose?

As a matter of fact , yes I do.

But back on topic , I read the review of some 8600GT and 8600GTS cards on Guru3D , and from what I can gather the GT can overclock up to roughly the same speeds/scores as the GTS version. This is to me a very attractive proposition that a £100 card can do the performance of a £150 - £200 model.

So I need a verdict guys , help me out here.
Is it a worthwhile upgrade from my 7600gs ?
And also will a cpu upgrade be needed for the card to shine or will it be fine on my current chip? (see sig for details)


Will be going to get it this Tuesday if I convince myself its not a waste.

[benniebeeker]

no... hold out for a little while...

[trismegistus]

Well I must agree with benniebeeker. It isn't worth it right now. There is really too little gain and also I think that dx10 games won't be very playable with that card. Wait a while and get at least 8800gts.

[PommieB]

That would be my advice too, get 8800gts, or wait awhile.

[BIOShazard]

Originally Posted by PommieB

That would be my advice too, get 8800gts, or wait awhile.

¨
He wasn't supposed to either get the 8800GTS, he was supposed to wait a while and then get the 8800GTS. I hate people.

[trismegistus]

Wait a second....you hate people and you are registered to a forum full of people. Why?

[lexandro]

Thanks for the replies guys, they are welcome .

Thing is though i wont have any more money for a long time to spend on computer parts . The money I currently have is a refund from Gordon Brown and his tax men ( gotta love the taxman owing me ) .

Not to put to fine a point on it I wont be buying a 8800 card till the prices take a major drop (eg probably in a year or so) so I want a card to tide me over till then. If the 8600gt isnt a good card to get for £100 , then what is?

I dont want an ATI card as I had one a while ago and it stank to high heaven and the catalyst panel was a nightmare to use. So that leaves good old Nvidia as my only option . So , what Nvidia card ?

I had a look at these cards

Inno3d 7900gs 256ddr3
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...258274&CatId=0

Inno3d 7600GT 256ddr3
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...273002&CatId=0

To me the 7600gt seem a pointless upgrade , and the 7900gs doesn't really seem that fast in comparison to the 8600gt.

Maybe I'm missing something here but , to be frank i dont think another 7 series card , albiet a faster one, is the way to go for me. I will be upgrading to vista when the first service pack comes out and by then hopefully the driver and OS bugs should be ironed out. Plus I do a bit of movie encoding and the new system on the 8 series sound sweet.

One question though , does anyone here actually own a 8600 card ? Or is it just from reviews that your basing your view on? I would like to hear from someone with a 8600gt or GTS to see how they are in real life terms rather than in-game benchies. Thing like do they overheat alot , what sort of OC can be gained , any "quirks" the card has or similar .

My current card really needs upgrading as most of the games I have are running slower now due to the increase in resolution from purchasing a new 19"tft monitor. ( STALKER is only just playable at low settings with 30fps @1280x1024).

I really dont know what to do now , but waiting and saving up isn't an option due to the fact that there is no money I can save to add to it.

HELP!

[python134r]

Look, save ur dough and wait. Here in the states Last week a 8800GTS could be had after rebates and such for $220.00. USD I wouldn't settle for anything less. Yes a 7900gs would be a upgrade but not as much as u think. The 8500 and 8600 suck basically. my 2 cents

[Odanez]

7900GS is faster than the 8600GT.
So if you upgrade now, and considering your budget, 7900GS is a good choice. Otherwise: wait...

[trismegistus]

If you are looking at a cheap upgrade that will allow you to play STALKER at more details,go with 7900gs and oc it. I have one and it does oc like hell and plus I'm playing STALKER at all max(grass density on med and view dist. on med,cuz there isn't any diff between med and high) at 1280x960. I get around 40-50 fps outside when moving and around 30fps outside when I'm in a battle. Oh and if you turn on a slight motion blur,it will look like have more fps. So yeah. Get 7900gs and oc it.