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OK, I lied: This thread is now about shopping for a vid card
whuppins
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
[strike]Let me first say that I am not asking for purchasing advice. No money has been or will be spent, so suggesting any alternate models or upgrade paths or whatever aren't really helpful in this case. I'm really just curious as to which card is 'better'.[/strike] Actually, I changed my mind. I'm now interested in hearing ideas for an upgrade I'm considering purchasing. Please see my post below and tell me what you think.
I recently had my old vid card, a GeForce 7950GT, die on me. The PC was under warranty so I receieved a replacement. When I got it, I was initially excited because I saw that they put in an 8600GT instead of another 7950, and the first thing I thought of was DX10. So that's cool.
Soon after, though, I began to wonder if, aside from DirectX, this was actually a step up at all. Knowing a little about how NVIDIA names their cards, I knew that there would probably be some areas where the old card would outperform the new one, since my understanding that in some cases, the x950 -> x600 comparison could be more meaningful than the 7xxx -> 8xxx comparison.
So anyway, I went to this page to get a quick rundown of their relative specs. I was disappointed to find that, according to those tables, all categories are lower on the 8600. My problem is that I don't know all the newfangled metrics for measuring GPU performance, so I didn't know if the 7950's higher "Texture fill rate", for example, was a big deal, or if it was maybe offset by some other factor not listed there. But still, everything's better on the older card? Seriously?
Can someone with a better understanding of the stats on these tables explain to me if it's apples to apples, or if there's a better way to compare these cards? Did I actually get ripped off?
Last thing -- of course I will do some benchmarking of my own this weekend; I guess that will ultimately tell me what I want to know. Until that happens, though, I'm just looking for some general guidelines for comparing the two cards. Thanks in advance to all GPU nerds who contribute.
I recently had my old vid card, a GeForce 7950GT, die on me. The PC was under warranty so I receieved a replacement. When I got it, I was initially excited because I saw that they put in an 8600GT instead of another 7950, and the first thing I thought of was DX10. So that's cool.
Soon after, though, I began to wonder if, aside from DirectX, this was actually a step up at all. Knowing a little about how NVIDIA names their cards, I knew that there would probably be some areas where the old card would outperform the new one, since my understanding that in some cases, the x950 -> x600 comparison could be more meaningful than the 7xxx -> 8xxx comparison.
So anyway, I went to this page to get a quick rundown of their relative specs. I was disappointed to find that, according to those tables, all categories are lower on the 8600. My problem is that I don't know all the newfangled metrics for measuring GPU performance, so I didn't know if the 7950's higher "Texture fill rate", for example, was a big deal, or if it was maybe offset by some other factor not listed there. But still, everything's better on the older card? Seriously?
Can someone with a better understanding of the stats on these tables explain to me if it's apples to apples, or if there's a better way to compare these cards? Did I actually get ripped off?
Last thing -- of course I will do some benchmarking of my own this weekend; I guess that will ultimately tell me what I want to know. Until that happens, though, I'm just looking for some general guidelines for comparing the two cards. Thanks in advance to all GPU nerds who contribute.
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7950GT - 8:24:24:16 @ 550, 256-bit DDR3 @ 1400
8600GT - 32:16:8 @ (540/1180), 128-bit DDR2/DDR3 @ 800/1400
Okay, deciphering that crap.
Strictly on the shaders, you're at a combination of 8+24 (vertex + pixel) vs the 32 unified. Not a bad combination, and the clocks are almost identical. However you have only 2/3 of the texturing units, and half the render outputs. That's one thing that's hurting you, but it's not the killer.
What qualifies you for "fucked" is the fact that you went from 256-bit DDR2 to either 128-bit DDR3 or 128-bit DDR2. That's either a 50% or 75% decrease in memory bandwidth, which will choke you severely in higher resolutions or bandwidth-hungry games. And since you probably have the DDR2 version, that would be the 75% decrease.
Edit - I know you said model suggestions aren't any good really, but if you're in a situation where you can go "wtf" at them, an 8600GTS would be better and possibly obtainable. It's still got the same core limitations and 128-bit DDR3, but it would at least be clocked higher and have memory at 2GHz, giving you about a 30% loss instead.
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I thought they were required to put something of equal or greater value (value in this case being the metrics to determine the power of the card). A ~60% loss is not even worth it, and I'd be on the phone chomping at their asses.
If you have the one with DDR2, that's a HUGE downgrade.
So, since I was considering upgrading anyway even before this happened, I think I'll go back on what I said in the OP and ask for advice on buying a new one (this is assuming that bitching to customer support doesn't get me anything).
I was looking at this GTX 260. It seems like a good amount of bang for the buck (and Tom's Hardware would seem to agree with me). Aside from the obvious healthy specs, I'm encouraged by reports of it running cooler and quieter than one might expect. Also, I've had good experiences with EVGA in the past. So, assuming I can cram it into my case, does that seem like a good buy for $200 (after rebate)?
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.
750W PSU, E6600 Core 2 duo, 2GB of ram (probably soon to be more) pretty decent mid-level gaming rig circa 2 years ago.
Oh, well then. Yeah, that GTX260 Core 216 will be just fine, is a nice balance of bang and buck, and IIRC EVGA made that one on the newer 55nm process, so it'll have less power draw and less heat output. And your system is enough to not bottleneck it. Enjoy.
Whoever replaced your 7950GT with an 8600GT DDR2 is still a 150-piece stainless steel toolbox though, and should be at minimum reamed out over email.
Can trade TF2 items or whatever else you're interested in. PM me.