IS it worth upgrading my video card?

UreshiiAkuma

I am fairly happy with my current system, but wouldn't mind getting more out of it for more recent games if a video card upgrade would provide noticeable improvement. However, if my current CPU and system RAM speeds will provide a bottleneck that severely limits any boost I get from a new video card, I'll just wait until I am ready to build a new system in a year or so.

Anyway, currently I have a GeForce 7900 GT (256 MB GDDR3, PCI-E)

My system is a mish-mash of upgrades over the last 3 - 4 years, so the potential bottlenecks are:
2 GB PC3200 (400 MHz)
Athlon 64 FX-53 (2.4GHz)
nVidia nForce4 (socket 939) Motherboard

Worth upgrading the video card? Cost isn't really a concern, if there is a noticeable increase in performance. So if $300 will give me a 50% or more FPS increase, that is fine. But if my older parts mean only a 10% boost, then I won't bother.

If it is worth upgrading, any suggestions for a card to upgrade to?

Deusfaux

it'll bottleneck it, but not SEVERELY. you'll notice the improvement.

aim for at least a 9600 GT, get an 8800GTS 512 if you can.

actually thats really the only 2 choices ATM. other than waiting a bit for the new architecture (9900GTX)

Lucky Cynic

I would just keep the 7900GT just a wee bit longer. Pick up a game that is nicely optimized and you should be content with it for quite a bit longer. May I recommend UT3, which looked fantastic on my 7600GT.

wunderbar

my general rule is that I'll upgrade my video on every second hardware cycle. So right now I have a 7800GT, I'm skipping the 8xxx series, and will buy a 9xxx card, likely a 9800GT. once they're onto the 11xxx series, or whatever they'll call that, it'll be time for a whole new system for me.

powersurge

wunderbar wrote: »

my general rule is that I'll upgrade my video on every second hardware cycle. So right now I have a 7800GT, I'm skipping the 8xxx series, and will buy a 9xxx card, likely a 9800GT. once they're onto the 11xxx series, or whatever they'll call that, it'll be time for a whole new system for me.

The 9800GTX at least isn't an upgrade at all from the 8800gtx and I'd guess the GT's are probably pretty close too.

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQ4MSw5LCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

Deusfaux

there is no 9800 GT.

He'll want a 9900 GT if one comes out (or GTX which WILL come out)

wunderbar

ya, after looking at benchmarks for the 9800GTX, I'm really wtf'ing at nVidia. Makes me a little afraid.

I'm going to be upgrading my video card in late june/early july, so I want to hold out to see if a new product cycle comes out. if the only advantage of the 9800 series is that is uses less power, that's good, but not that good. If I had to buy now I'd probably go for an 8800GTS 512, only slightly more than a GT with performance close to the 8800GTX

Corsair

UreshiiAkuma wrote: »

I am fairly happy with my current system, but wouldn't mind getting more out of it for more recent games if a video card upgrade would provide noticeable improvement. However, if my current CPU and system RAM speeds will provide a bottleneck that severely limits any boost I get from a new video card, I'll just wait until I am ready to build a new system in a year or so.

Anyway, currently I have a GeForce 7900 GT (256 MB GDDR3, PCI-E)

My system is a mish-mash of upgrades over the last 3 - 4 years, so the potential bottlenecks are:
2 GB PC3200 (400 MHz)
Athlon 64 FX-53 (2.4GHz)
nVidia nForce4 (socket 939) Motherboard

Worth upgrading the video card? Cost isn't really a concern, if there is a noticeable increase in performance. So if $300 will give me a 50% or more FPS increase, that is fine. But if my older parts mean only a 10% boost, then I won't bother.

If it is worth upgrading, any suggestions for a card to upgrade to?

You would definitely see an improvement. My system is very similar to yours, and I upgraded my 7800GT to an 8800GT 512MB when they first came out. The price/performance was a steal, and I got a nice performance boost. I had not planned on upgrading anything for at least another year, but it was worth it and I don't regret it, though I probably wouldn't have upgraded if I still had been using my 19" monitor. I had purchased a 24" Dell so the extra horsepower was nice for the increased resolution.

fogeyman

Deusfaux wrote: »

it'll bottleneck it, but not SEVERELY. you'll notice the improvement.

aim for at least a 9600 GT, get an 8800GTS 512 if you can.

actually thats really the only 2 choices ATM. other than waiting a bit for the new architecture (9900GTX)

You shouldn't get an 8800GTS. If you're getting an 8xxx card, get the 8800GT 512; it's far better than the GTS.

And you'll see a significant improvement. I have a worse CPU (x2 4200+) and the same RAM and motherboard, and I saw a huge jump from my 7800GT 256 to my 8800GT 512. At 1280x1024, I used to play Oblivion at medium-high. I play it fully maxed now with the 8800GT. Bioshock used to run at medium; it's maxed out now, too, with DX10.

Deusfaux

no, you're absolutely wrong.

an 8800 GTS 512 is better than an 8800 GT 512

xYUUBINKYOKUx

Thought I would just hijack this thread a bit. How about an upgrade from a 7950gx2 to a 9600GT is that a worthwhile upgrade. I've got an

e6600 dual core
3 gigs of ram

if that helps figure it out at all

wunderbar

Deusfaux wrote: »

no, you're absolutely wrong.

an 8800 GTS 512 is better than an 8800 GT 512

yup. the GT is faster than the GTS boards that have 320MB or 640MB of memory, but the GTS with 512MB is almost on par with the 8800GTX.

Really, the GTS 512 shouldn't even be called the GTS, because it's not the same card as the earlier 8800GTS boards.

fogeyman

wunderbar wrote: »

Deusfaux wrote: »

no, you're absolutely wrong.

an 8800 GTS 512 is better than an 8800 GT 512

yup. the GT is faster than the GTS boards that have 320MB or 640MB of memory, but the GTS with 512MB is almost on par with the 8800GTX.

Really, the GTS 512 shouldn't even be called the GTS, because it's not the same card as the earlier 8800GTS boards.

Oh, a new GTS board came out? I guess that's why it's 512 and not 640. When I first read Deusfaux's post, I thought the GTS 512 was the old one. My mistake.

Deusfaux

yeah, back in november. Its the same chip as the 8800 GT, but with the full 128 shaders instead of 112

Regicid3

I got the 8800 GTS 512 in the rig I built on Saturday and it is amazing.

UreshiiAkuma

Thanks for all the info everyone ... good info about the 8800 GT vs 8800GTS 512MB. I think I would have missed, otherwise, how different the 8800GTS 512 is from the other 8800GTS models, and how well it performs.

It's also good to hear of people in similar situations seeing a nice performance boost. I think I'll go ahead and order a 8800GTS 512, and plop her in this weekend :winky:

fightinfilipino

i recently bought a 9800GTX after reading some favorable reviews.


of course immediately after i receive the card, i find some not-so-favorable reviews panning the 9800GTX for its low memory and its modest-at-best performance increases. i had been using a GeForce 6800 BFG card, so while the increase is going to be dramatic for sure, i might not have the best bang for the buck card

if you're going for an 8800, you might want to look at the 768mb memory cards. they're pricer, but apparently their performance is superior and should last you a while.

Deusfaux

only at high resolutions / aa are they superior

fightinfilipino

well, ok. just drop two grand on a quad GX2 SLI setup then :P

UreshiiAkuma

I went ahead and ordered a 8800 GTS 512MB, it should be here in the next few days.
Currently, I can run Crysis on Medium at 1280x (whatever widescreen is) and get an avg of 30FPS. I'll measure how it runs on High tonight, so I have a basis for comparison once I get my new card.

UreshiiAkuma

During my lunch hour, I ran home, swapped cards, and did a quick check with Crysis. These are far from scientific results, but I was still quite pleased with the marked increase in performance:
@ 1280x960, all Settings HIGH
The 7900GT averaged 13 FPS
The 8800GTS 512 averaged 33 FPS

@ 1920x1200, all Settings HIGH
The 7900GT averaged 1 (one) FPS (completely unplayable slideshow)
The 8800GTS 512 averaged 24 FPS

Since anything above 20 FPS is very playable to me, I am very very happy with the results.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and suggestions.

fightinfilipino

i'm guessing you had AA set to off for those runs?

UreshiiAkuma

yea ... fortunately I am one of the (probably) few people that don't like the look of AA, so I never have to worry about the performance hit
(and at the higher rez, there wouldn't be much point in AA even if I did like it)