Video Card Decision, Need Help!

[Tc3er]

Hi, I am currently looking into upgrading the video card in my comp and need a little help. Presently I am looking at the Nvidia chipset (either the 6600GT or the 6800GT) and was wondering, between these two cards, would it be worthwhile to just spend the extra money and purchase the 6800? (I would like the card to last for a good while)
Also, I know there are many brands that "make" each one of these models and was wondering which company most people believe (or have evidence) is the best in terms of performance, price and reliability. One last note, I am only looking at the PCI-Express 16 one's. All help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in advance.

[jlreich]

Well the 6800GT is definitely better and will last you longer. It has 12 pixel pipelines over the 660GT's 8 and a 256bit memory interface over the 6600GT's 128bit, among other things. So it will beat it hands down.

Oh, and just to make sure, you do have a PCIe x16 slot right?

Should you purchase a 6800GT over the 6600GT? Well if you are gamer and it is in your budget I would say go for it. :cool:

As for manufacturers you can't go wrong with one from Saphalline's sticky. Just updated yesterday. :)

http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39018

[Tc3er]

Thank you for the reply.

[saphalline]

The 6800 GT has 16 pipelines. The 6800 GS has 12.

[jlreich]

Oops! Right you are Saph. Thanks for catching me.

[Tc3er]

More Pipelines = Better Performance?

[jlreich]

Yes. Pixel pipelines are not the only factor but it is one the biggest. Along with core speed, ram speed and ram bus width.

Here is a very good thread on video cards with teachings by Saphalline. http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39536

[Tc3er]

Well, I have done little more searching the past few days and came across an Evaga 7800GT for only about $20.00 more than the 6800GT I have been looking at. My question is, should I spend the extra money and purchase the 7800GT, or save it and just go ahead with the 6800GT? Also, it seems that both the 6800GT and 7800GT have resolution rates of 2048x1536@85hz, however, the monitor I currently have (Samsung 710N) has a maximum resolution of 1280x1024@72hz, will this difference create a problem or will the card just come down to match the monitors resolution? Thanks for your help.

[jlreich]

Yeah if you can find a 7800GT for $20 more definitely go for it. It will make a difference. The 7800GT will spank the 6800GT. It has 20 pixel pipelines and a better core architecture. Just make sure it isn't refurbished or anything like that.

Don't worry about the resolutions. You can set it to whatever your monitor can handle.

[Tc3er]

Thanks again, and no the card is not refurbished, which is amazing for that price(i think newegg is having a x-mas sale or something).

[Elwood]

I was in the same boat and opted for the XFX 7800GT. I have no regrets, very good card. It is also one of Saph's stickies too.

[Tc3er]

One last question, my current mobo is non-SLI, however it seems like all of the 6800's and 7800's are, will these cards still work with my non-SLI board or will I have to upgrade it as well, thanks again.

[Elwood]

SLI is not a requirment unless you plan on running 2 cards simetanously (which is what SLI is). Keep in mind that you will need a Motherboard with a PCIe slot for the PCI Express Video Cards.

[Tc3er]

Excellent, just wanted to make sure on that point (I don't really plan on running SLI anytime soon, one 7800GT is more than enough) and the mobo does of the pcix16 slot, so I am good to go, thanks alot.

[Tc3er]

Two final questions before I go out and buy the 7800GT (which I plan to do later tonight, as long as my other hardware has no problems). First, I have a 480W PS and I just wanted to make sure that is enough. Second, will the current motherboard I am running (ASUS K8N4-E Deluxe) to enough to power and run the card, thanks again.

[jlreich]

Yeah the mobo is perfectly fine. The PSU should be fine as long as it is a decent brand.

[Tc3er]

Well, bought and installed the 7800GT and it is amazing, however I have a couple of questions in regards to "tuning" the card for performance. Aside from overclocking, what, if anything can be changed to increase the performance of the card? Also, what exactly is "anti-aliasing"? Thanks.

[jlreich]

Anti-Aliasing or "AA" smooths out the ruff edges on objects. You know how on a curved line you can see those little blocky edges, AA works to smooth that out. That's the non technical explanation anyway. If you want more about vid cards have look at this thread by Saphalline. http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39536 (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39536&highlight=Anti-Aliasing)
And here about AA specifically. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Aliasing

Aside from overclocking, what, if anything can be changed to increase the performance of the card?
Just make sure to go into the advanced video options of each game you play and crank up the options to the highest you can without any noticeable hiccups in the game.

I usually go into the options whenever I get a new game, set everything to a fairly high level and tweak from there. But I only have an X700. You should be able to set video options to the highest on most games with your 7800GT. :cool:

Enjoy!

[Tc3er]

Thanks for the reply.

[saphalline]

Aside from overclocking, what, if anything can be changed to increase the performance of the card?In terms of gaming, resolution has the biggest impact on performance. If a game is stuttering, turn down the res. That always works, as long as the system as a whole is balanced and optimized for gaming. Nowadays that means at least 1GB of dual-channel RAM, a decently fast CPU, and a SATA hard drive.

Some other things to note about your 7800 GT:

AA is free. The G70 GPU has so many optimizations in this department that there is no performance difference between no AA and 4X AA. So crank it up! You get the extra eye candy for free.

AF (anisotropic filtering) is nearly free. Turn on AF whenever you can, and when you're given the options of the level of AF, try 4X thru 16X and see how they affect performance. 8X is usually the sweet spot for most newer games.

V-Sync (vertical sync) is a personal preference thing. This affects when the screen is redrawn. When V-Sync is turned on, the frame rate follows the refresh rate (which is limited to 60Hz by the API's by default). When V-Sync is turned off, frame rate can increase but "screen tearing" can also occur. Experiment to see which you prefer. (Newer games will let you pick your refresh rate - I expect this trend to continue.)

For older games, go for as high a resolution as your monitor can handle. Keep in mind that AA is free, so games like MOHAA should play at 1600 x 1200 with 4X-8X AA without a problem. For newer games, I usually prefer to turn down the resolution and crank up AA, AF, and the details. This lets you see as much eye candy as possible, which tends to improve the overall visual quality of DX8/9 games, while the lower resolution improves performance.

[Tc3er]

Well, the card is working like a charm, I started experimenting with the options and found the settings that I like, however, I have been playing Farcry for the past few days (it came with the card) and recently ran into a problem, with no explainable source. Following one of the levels, the game seems to be loading the next level, however, instead of loading the said level, the game instead returns me to my desktop, what are the possible causes of this?

[jlreich]

Is it always the same level that crashes?

Check for patches/updates for the game if you haven't already.

[Tc3er]

Thanks, the patche(s) worked.

[saphalline]

Also, I have found that a heavily fragmented hard drive causes some games to crash while loading the next level. Make sure you set your system to defrag the next time you head out or go to bed.