Geforce 7800GT or...

[vikingblade]

Im getting ready to pull the trigger on a new gaming pc. obviously the graphics card is a very important decision. My price limit is $400 or under. this means 7800gt, x850xt, x800xt or x800xl. i know the popular, quick answer right now is the 7800gt, and this is the way im leaning. however, ive read a few things that are making me wonder if it is the right choice.

some of my concerns are the AA/AF and overall image quality, shimmering graphical glitches, conflicts with far cry...which i love and driver problems. at the price of this card, i would really hope for more. are these problems exceptions or the rule with the 7800gt. would the radeons perform almost as well[fast] but look better with aa/af turned up, for $100 less.

Thanks for the input

 

[Eureka]

Hmm, first of all, do you really need all that much power? x800xl is plenty power if you don't need to run it on a 24" LCD.

Norm

 

[Cookie Monster]

Grab the 7800 GT, because of the new rel 80 driver from Nvidia. It is supposeto fix near all problems/IQ/etc, and provide performance boosts from dual core setups, enhances SLi by quite a bit.

Its also cooler. I mean 60C at load with that single slot cooler. Plus lower noise and power consumption. Dont forget the transparacey AA, and such.

It is a powerful card, stick in a NV 5 silencer rev3 for the 7 series, see about 15C drop in temps (based on the Asus TOP edition GTX with its built in NV silencer), and OC it.

But hey thats just me.

 

[xtknight]

Shimmering occurs on either NVIDIA or ATI cards, at about the same level.

Both of the cards have options to antialias within textures (Radeons do since Catalyst 5.9 release). AF is just about the same, still shimmering on both cards.

What monitor do you have? That will influence the choice a lot.

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
Hmm, first of all, do you really need all that much power? x800xl is plenty power if you don't need to run it on a 24" LCD.

Norm

He may want to keep the same card over a long period of time.

 

[Cookie Monster]

O yea, 7800 GTs are now around $350ish.

 

[Hacp]

Save your cash and get a x800GTO^2 and flash it to x850XTPE. Then wait for the next next generation with your saved $$$.

 

[vikingblade]

My monitor is the viewsonic p225fb. i believe i can easily go 1600x1200 and higher. its a crt but big and high quality.

ive read many times that the 7800gt may be overkill but the fps stats ive seen at 1600x1200 w/aa/af turned up dont seem overkill to me. im looking for the fastest, best looking gaming experience i can get with a video card under $400. not good enough or ok if i turn down aa/af. if im gonna spend this much on a card, i hope it can handle all the newest games very, very well.

so... the newest nvidia drivers have solved most of the initial problems?

any word on the far cry/7800gt problem?

 

[compgeek89]

$420?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143039

 

[vikingblade]

Originally posted by: compgeek89
$420?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143039

You had to do it, i knew someone would...hehe. unfortunately, it puts me even more overbudget. im already stretching it for the $400. i was intially looking at a $379 x800xl

 

[compgeek89]

Then here
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170088

Or for the very best brand, and only $350...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130247

 

[vikingblade]

OK... So if i go 7800gt, any particular brand making the best card.
evga, bfg, xfx... also, the albatron model is a pretty damn good price...any opinions on the quality. is it not worth the savings.

 

[Cookie Monster]

EVGA is awesome brand.
BFG isnt to shabby, and leadtek is awesome too.

 

[vikingblade]

anyone know the real story on this..very strange. ive read in more than one place mention that this evga 7800gt is only gddr2, not gddr3 like all other 7800gt's. it previously listed as gddr2 on newegg now lists as gddr3. wtf....

eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256-P2-N515-AX

i cant even find mention of this Model# 256-P2-N515-AX on evga's website

 

[Eureka]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814123157R

Only 200 for a x800xl... just to bring in some competition.

eVGA is pretty good, if you need to get a card.

Norm

 

[jiffylube1024]

Go for the 7800 GT because you can play Far Cry with HDR turned on with that card, and trust me, you will not want to go back once you've tried HDR! Just make sure you get a 7800GT with good cooling, because HDR taxes GF 6/7 series cards like nothing else.

 

[Corporate Thug]

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814123157R

Only 200 for a x800xl... just to bring in some competition.

eVGA is pretty good, if you need to get a card.

Norm

its a refurb and $220

 

[imported_Bleh]

Originally posted by: Hacp
Save your cash and get a x800GTO^2 and flash it to x850XTPE. Then wait for the next next generation with your saved $$$.

Ditto.

 

[vikingblade]

i was just looking around on the evga forums...looks like alot of 7800gt's are getting graphical artifacts etc.. and need a bios flash or something. i really dont wanna have to hassle and worry about my new 400 dollar video card. does anyone know fer sure if the latest batch of 7800gt's are good to go without a bios flash etc..

 

[Dannyevilcat]

Originally posted by: vikingblade
anyone know the real story on this..very strange. ive read in more than one place mention that this evga 7800gt is only gddr2, not gddr3 like all other 7800gt's. it previously listed as gddr2 on newegg now lists as gddr3. wtf....

eVGA Geforce 7800GT 256-P2-N515-AX

i cant even find mention of this Model# 256-P2-N515-AX on evga's website

I just bought this card yesterday, same model #. Everest shows it as DDR3, so I don't know where the DDR2 rumour comes from.

 

[Aznguy1872]

I have an evga 7800 gt and it has some artifacts but i'll try this bios flash and see if it will fix it. But from the budget you have, i'd get 7800 gt.

 

[vikingblade]

ya see...in my opinion, if im shelling out 400 bucks for one of the top rated recommended cards around, i/we shouldnt have to do crap, except install an occasional driver update. why arnt all the reviews of this card discussing this. why is this card still being recommended highly over all the ATI's, if it has obvious problems...i dont get it. high fps dont mean nothin if it looks flawed.

how many of you out here have a 7800gt... how many with trouble, how many with no trouble. im talkin out of the box, update driver...thats it.

 

[vikingblade]

How many of you out here, have a 7800gt....

How many of you have trouble..

How many with no trouble...

Im talkin out of the box, update driver...thats it. No bios flash etc..

Lets hear your honest 1st hand experience with the 7800gt

 

I started out with issues that got resolved. I would say it would depend on what you play. So far all i saw is that you want to play far cry. I was able to play far cry great with my x800xl, it looked amazing and the graphics were great for me. I ended up getting a 7800gt for newer games.

*edit*
Ohh ya, no artifacts and no bios flash.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: vikingblade
i was just looking around on the evga forums...looks like alot of 7800gt's are getting graphical artifacts etc.. and need a bios flash or something. i really dont wanna have to hassle and worry about my new 400 dollar video card. does anyone know fer sure if the latest batch of 7800gt's are good to go without a bios flash etc..

Link plz?

 

[vikingblade]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: vikingblade
i was just looking around on the evga forums...looks like alot of 7800gt's are getting graphical artifacts etc.. and need a bios flash or something. i really dont wanna have to hassle and worry about my new 400 dollar video card. does anyone know fer sure if the latest batch of 7800gt's are good to go without a bios flash etc..

Link plz?

EVGA 1

EVGA 2

EVGA 3