NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB

if these cards were 250 or less, definitely would be worth it...but for an extra $60 ($299 vs $359)you get double the memory. i agree with rupbert...

 

Confused with the review, you are saying that if you play at 1280x1024 there is no use getting a GTX like I will be doing pretty soon? Or have I read wrong.

I havent upgraded for 3 years, and in March I will start ordering my stuff, which is going to be £1800 for the machine only. Which means I really want the thing to last as long as it can. Is the GTX worth the £180 more than this? IMO I think it is due to it being more future proof for games i.e. Crysis. Which I will def be playing.

 

As far as the benchmark style goes, [H] seems to be sticking with the highest-playable-settings. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything without at least two different reviews anyway, and checking both gives two different types of insight!

But one thing I don't follow. The benchies here don't match at all to Anandtechs; http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2926&p=8

In their review, their card got slaughtered under Quake 4, where as here it held up under fire just as well as the others. Difference in settings? The overall trend seems to suggest Anandtech's results are awry; the ones here and at [H] suggest a slight disadvantage at best at 16x12, not a slaughter.

Great review though -- compared several major brands!

 

i miss the old testing method already. canned benchmarks don't reveal anything about the kind of toll features like ssaa or adaptive aa have on games. if you're paying upwards of 300 USD on a video card, wouldn't you at least try to turn on as many switches as possible. enable the more sophisticated aa features and tell me whether a x1950xtx is anywhere near a 8800gts 320. i mean, here in the states the lowest price for a sapphire x1950xtx from a reputable etailer is 380 USD including tax and shipping, the evga 8800gts 320 is 312 USD. canned benchmarks suggest that these two products are somehow on equal footing.

 

As far as I understood all the reviews of G80 it's not totally pointless to get a GTX to play @ 1280x1024. You'll get everything maxed out + AA + AF at awesome frame rates. Owning a GTS myself I have to say it's way enough at the moment for EVERY game I tested @ 1280 but if you want to last your coming PC for another 3 years go for a GTX as the next next-gen games (the ones after Unreal Engine 3.0) will definitly stress your GTX a lot. And within 3 years wouldn't it be realistic to say you might own a 22"-24" monitor? If you have the money to go for a GTX, do it damnit!

[offtopic]
£1800? That's about 2,687.89€! What do you plan buying? Core 2 Quad, GTX SLI? I paid roughly 1,300€ for my PC (see sig)...
[/offtopic]

 

I cant believe that the memory made that much of a difference.

 

I would probably go for a 640MB GTS if you're concerned about future proofing, but I believe the GTS 320MB will stand up for itself at this resolution too.

 

They have used Ultra Quality (which kills performance on cards with less than 512MB of memory). There's little to no image quality benefit enabling it (the textures are just uncompressed, but you'd be pushed to notice the difference when playing the game), which is why we tested with high quality and there was very little drop in performance.

 

Understand.

My setup for £1800 actually isnt that impressive, I was disapointed tbh.

CPU: Intel E6600
GPU: 8800GTX
CASE: Silverstone TJ09
MOBO: ASUS Striker
RAM: Dominator 8600 2GB
PSU: Tagan 700W
1x Raptor 170GB 1000RPM + 300 or 500GB WD 72000RPM

Then extra's which are 2x DVD Drives, 1x Floppy, Memory and CPU Coolers. Which comes to around £100.

The rest comes to £1700. Not alot for so much money. And I'm building it myself. Will order around March time, Ready for C&C3.

 

You think the GTS 320mb would stay up there at high playable settings @ 1920x1200 in the future?

 

nope

 

So the 640 would be a better option?

 

It would be a better option, yes... GTS 320 is better suited to 1680x1050/1600x1200 or lower.

 

I'll get saving then

 

Aaaah, that makes sense. Thank you thank you. Great review.

 

Pretty nice setup. The price ain't that pretty though.
But I already envy you for it.