Looking To Upgrade From 8000GT to ? Advice Please

Greetings Geeks.

I am looking to upgrade my current 8800GT. My rig is an AMD 5600 X2. I know that sometimes video cards can provide marginal increases at best. Here is the catch, I will upgrade the rest of my rig in December this year, but I plan on keeping the video card (I do this to spread the $$ out a bit).

So, what to buy? Card nomenclature is crazy these days. Some cards have faster buses, but slower memory, etc. I am looking to spend around $200, give or take an Andrew Jackson. I am not necessarily brand loyal, although my last few cards have been GeForce based.

I do appreciate any help or sharing of first hand experience going from a similar setup.

 

I have got a GTX295 and a GTX260 running at the moment and without doubt the 295 is fast but the downside is it too expensive and it runs far too hot (80c to 85c is normal) so a good air flow is needed.
The 265 is only marginally slower but i have it coupled with a faster CPU and DDR3 ram so they run pretty much the same.
Bang for buck the GTX280 is the best and is ripe for overclocking, the GTX 285 is just a factory clocked 280.
Thats my opinion but then i would be biased wouldn't i ?

PS you will also need some space in yout tower because the GTXs are big.

 

If you have no problem with used cards you can pick one up off E-bay ... I picked my NVidia PNY GeForce 9800 GX2 off of E-bay (this card was the last card to be produced before the GTX series) for about $240 AUD ... it was an awesome upgrade from my GeForce 8600 GT ... it has Dual GPUs with 1GB of DDR3 GRAM ... although it has the same issues as bills GTX ... it runs VERY hot ... its almost too hot to touch (in a 16 degree air-conditioned room with awesome air flow). ALSO high end cards like the GTX Series and the 9800 GX2 are much bigger than the standard card ... they take two slots and are almost twice the length.

ALSO you must have the proper power pins and wattage available to upgrade. For example my 9800 GX2 requires a free 6-Pin Power connector AND a free 8-Pin power connector. It must also have a PSU of MINIMUM 650 Watt.

So as you can see, there are a lot of things to consider when upgrading your Video Card.

 

I just finished shopping around for a card and here are some that i found.
you didnt mention your mobo but im pretty sure it will be fine with these.

SAPPHIRE TOXIC Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5

EVGA 01G-P3-N981-TR GeForce 9800 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3

SAPPHIRE 100260SR Radeon HD 4850 X2 1GB 512-bit (2 x 256-bit) GDDR3

XFX GX260NADBF GeForce GTX 260 Black Edition Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3

Take note on the memeory standards they do make a difference, for instance a GDDR5 card clocked lower will be faster then a GDDR3 card clocked a bit higher.

each card is around 200, ranging from 150-219. USD

the second nvidia card i threw in just to make it even

hope this helps, Cheers!

 

I also run a GTX260 (the one with 216 SP) and it was a great upgrade from a 9600GT. I locked the fan at 70% with RivaTuner and it never gets over 55c even during long crazy gaming sessions. The fan ships at 40% and would run way too hot IMO. It idled at 50-53c and got over 70c while gaming. A friend has a GTX275 and loves it, but from the specs, it appears to only be a bit faster than a GTX260 but is almost $100 more....

 

I would give the 9800GT a pass that Nimda posted, I have two of them(the 512MB ones) and while there's nothing wrong with 9800GT in of itself, it's just not enough of a step up to warrant the expenditure.

I like the GTX 260-216 (I have the eVGA with the same memory and clocking as the XTX) and find it about 1.5 times as fast as a 9800GT. I've tried a couple of demo games on it and is much better than the 9800GT in that regard. Besides, it's much quieter too even at %100 fan speed, it's a nice and pleasant whoosh instead of the jarring noise that a 9800GT makes.

Of course, you may have to look into a new PSU too, eVGA says 500W as a minimum on the 260 but get at least a decent 650W.

 

EVGA 896-P3-1260-AR GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

Exactly what you need, 896MB DDR3 memory, high clock speeds ect but be aware you will need a big case

Anyway 2nd option, for 15 extra dollars you can get this awesome SAPPHIRE Vapor-X Radeon HD 4870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102825

Dude its like awesome 1GB GDDR5, damn that powerful memory, it is difficult to say if it is better than the geforce gtx 260 but i'm more opinions will be posted on this!

Oh and remember you will need a 500W PSU for both of those cards, have fun

Dacads

 

well im getting the Toxic (O.C) version of that ATI card for my system, and from what ive been reading its definatly a top competitor. I just cant help but to go for that Memory 4.0Gbps...im sold.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102815