Graphics Buy a 7900GS now or wait for 8600?

Hello everyone,

I'm less than a week away from being ready to order the stuff for my new budget/mid-range gaming PC, and this issue has really been giving me headaches. Before you respond, please consider the following:

-I won't be upgrading to Vista for over a year, so DX10 is out of the question no matter what until then.

-Due to my budget, the video card I end up purchasing cannot be over $175USD.

Have there been any reports on the ETA for the 8600, beyond "March"? Would it perform significantly better under DX9?

Thanks in advance.

 

What card do you have now? 7900GS are fine cards, and since you won't have Vista for a year it may be better to get a 7900GS now then wait for ATI competition and the other 8-series cards to upgrade. If you get an EVGA one and change your mind within 90 days you can trade your 7900 in for another card just paying the difference in price. That way if the 8600s are disappointing you have a 7900GS, if they are better you can step up.

 

Sounds like a pretty good plan for now, actually. I didn't know you could do a trade-in. Is that manufacturer-offered?

My current card is terrible. I'm running an aging Sempron (Athlon XP) system with a GF4 ti4600, so even though I'm only looking at a $650 build, it'll still be a massive upgrade any way you look at it.

 

Yes EVGA are the only manufacturer offering this 'step-up' programme but I'm uncertain of how well it works in practice, plus their cards have a minorly shoddy past IMHO (like PC-Chips and Powercolor). I would make warranty and cooling my main concerns although Gravemind123's suggestion is a great way of getting yourself some insurance.

7900GS are fine cards ... and have loads of o/c'ing headroom. I wouldn't expect 8600 cards to wipe the floor with 7900 cards, the main draw being DX10 and improved IQ. Rumours are nVidia are dis-banding the GF7 cards by the end of April ready for the introduction of the new GF8 range. This supports the theory that actual speed in existing games isn't going to be dramatically better, and possibly price-to-perf may be no better or worse. The real high-end GF8 contender, 8800GTS (given the GTX's size and reqs) isn't a world away from the X1950XTX and 7900GTX. There's also rumours that AmdTI will release a whole range of DX10 cards (May?) rather than a high-end part followed months later by the rest of the family. If you can't wait until AmdTI's offerings are on the table grabbing a 7900GS seems like a good deal considering the perf you're getting for the money it costs. You choice.

 

I have the exact same question and really cant decide but i think i might just go for the 7900GS or maybe a 8800GTS if im rich enough in a months time when i build my new rig

 

Check Tim's last X1900XT review, that has the performance of the 7900GS in it and what you get for your money. Bear in mind the 8600s are still supposed to be over a month away, if internet rumours are to be believed.

 

I thought they were project for the second week of March, either way I would suggest waiting because come April they are discontinuing the 7 series, you might as well get DX 10 support.

 

Where the hell did you read that? Somehow I doubt the 7's will disappear before we have a full complement of 8's. What about the 8300 and 8200? And all the passive GS models?

 

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=6200

Nvidia rep quoted as saying assume it will launch after CEbit so between March 15th and April. April 4 they are stopping production on the 7 series and focusing on 8xxxx.

 

Fair enough, seems mad, but there you go.

 

Stopping production still means there will be a ton of stock left to shift. It'll be 6-months before they drop prices significantly.