Why yes, it's already new card time :D

[ExAm]

If I had to guess, I'd say that this card (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133193) is really fucking good. Right? I have no clue right now. I thought this thing was $999 just a month ago :P
Either the price went down really damn fast, or this is a cheap 3rd party knockoff. I'd like to know which, and if this'll give me an awesome framerate. I'm guessing yes. If not, reccomend me one that's not insanely expensive.

Apparently it's DX10, and has GDDR3 on it, but I'm wary. It'd be great if I ever went to Vista.

My system's specs are decent, and I need to know if this'll work well with what i have:

AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4ghz
2GB Mushkin RAM, PC3200 (board doesn't support 240 pin RAM :smith: )
Abit KN8 SLI motherboard, NForce4 chipset (not giving me problems anymore, aside from making my soundcard worthless D: )
Can't remember whether my PSU is 400w or 500w. I know that matters with this one.

[mech]

That card was never $999. The card will give you pretty high frames in games depending on what res etc.., I have an 8800 and it's been a great improvement over my mx440. Also, EVGA is the way to go; they offer great benefits. You should upgrade your psu to at least 500 and that card will get very hot if not properly cooled.

[ExAm]

Right, which in the 8 series was $999, though?

As for cooling, my case has at least 5 vents on it, and a 120mm fan in the back. My current card regularly breaks 70 degrees, though, but it has a piece of shit fan. The 8800 appears to vent straight out the back as well, so it should stay reasonably cool.

As for the EVGA model, you mean like this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130082)?

EDIT: Yeah, that one looks better. PNY's warranty is only 1 year limited for both parts and labor. EVGA's is a lifetime limited warranty.

[mech]

You're thinking of the 8800Ultra, and that's the card brand im talking about. Your card will get HOT if not properly cooled.

[ExAm]

I see. You said that it'd get hot already in your last post.

[Atty]

That card was never over $320, the eVGA version was about $240 when they first hit the market. I'd say go for the 640MB version just to last you longer but whatever.

You'll want to know your PSU before getting it.


Also, if it's getting to hot you can boost the fan to 100% manually, it drops my temps by 5 - 7c.

[paladin]

The 8800Ultra is not even $999

[Amit]

Ya, it went from $999 down to about $600 and something US i think. Pretty big price cut.

[ExAm]

Something was >_<

[Zeph]

No card, short of a workstation solution, is 1k USD. Just save your money for a completely new system.

[Atty]

The 8800Ultra was rumored to be $999 at launch, and never was. It was like $600.

[ExAm]

Okay, that was the one. Jesus, overestimated much?

[InnerGoat]

No card, short of a workstation solution, is 1k USD. Just save your money for a completely new system.7800GTX 512 was going for $999 because of how limited the supply was of that thing. Also, agreed on going for the eVGA version.

[ExAm]

Gotcha. eVGA it is. Now, time to badger the folks. I'd better get this for my birthday this Friday, or heads are gonna roll!

(I've offered to co-pay, plus, there's input from two parents, so I'd be surprised if I didn't :P)

[Amit]

I just settled for the X1950PRO over getting an 8800GTS since my powersupply is only 420W and i didn't want to buy a new one. I could have gotten thermaltake's 250W GPU PSU but i just said to hell with it.

[ExAm]

it says "minimum 400w", so I don't think you would have needed to upgrade that, unless you had some pretty hungry other components, and I think mine is 500w.

[Amit]

Actually it says minimum 450Watt PSU required so i was taking a little bit of a risk buying it(would never let my dad know that or he wouldn't get it for me). I still may be pushing it with two HDDs in there too.

LOL when i have enough money to try to build another PC i'll get another X1950PRO if i can find one and put it in crossfire with my current one. Then I'll bring out my old X1600PRO to use in this computer. There are many options since ATi physics will be here in a while. I could use an X1950PRO in each PC and then add the X1600PRO for Crossfire Physics in my main PC. That's probably what I'd do.

[ExAm]

When did Hard Drive start getting called HDD, instead of HD? Where'd that extra D come from?

[InnerGoat]

Hard disk drive...

[ExAm]

Seems like it should be one or the other. Other explanations I've heard are that HD has started to mean High Definition, and is recognized as such.
Another meaning of HDD I have heard suggested, which is pretty damn silly, is HarD Drive

[Amit]

LOL. HD does mean High Definition. HD has never meant Hard Drive has it? Type in HD in google and you get all those HDTV things and such. Type in HDD and you get info about hard drives.

[asian knife]

Good card, bro has it, very good in games, but I have a 8500GT, well I am gettin it tomrow. It should last you a while, also it requires connection to your powersupply, and mobo.

[ExAm]

Yeah, I read about that. *checks power supply*

EDIT: 500w. I'm solid :party:

[ExAm]

lolbump:

Uh, what? I just found out that the 8800 cards have a problem with the Unreal engine under XP. I play Red Orchestra, so that's unacceptable. Anyone have any ideas?

Edit to the above, apparently the person who had the review was the only one saying it. Google yields nothing about problems with the Unreal engine.

Another thing, I read in some of the comments that the minimum amps on the 12v rail for the PSU powering it should be 26 amps. I have a sticker on my PSU, which says that it has 13 amps on 12v A, and 13 amps on 12v B, making 26 amps. One question, though, is 26 amps the combined minimum output of both 12v A and 12v B, or does it have to have 26 amps on both 12v A and B?

EDIT: Apparently, multiple rails are bad. I don't want to have to blow a bunch of money on a new PSU, just so I can get this damn card.

[mech]

PSU's arn't that expensive.

[ExAm]

Some can be, apparently, though I managed to find a 680 watt PSU, with 24 and 22 amps on the A and B rails, respectively, for about 130 bucks.

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7686/cartwu2.jpg

It's an alright price, I guess.

[InnerGoat]

The 8800's had problems with UT2004 for a while, but was apparently fixed in the latest beta driver (?). Not sure about the other games using that engine though.

[Amit]

Does the 8800 have official drivers?

[MetKiller Joe]

I honestly see why everybody is rushing to get these cards. Yes, they are good, but in a couple of months they might go down a hundred in price.

I mean, I'm building my own computer. The price for everything dropped 400 bucks in one month. I plan to buy it in January along with the new 9800 GTX but I wouldn't considering buying that if it didn't have the 65 nm production proccess (making it smaller) and less power consumption.

Save your money. Get a 1K+ computer around January or somewhere around then.

You will have to dish a good portion for the PSU. Don't kid yourself. For these cards you will need a min of about 450W PSU (not including motherboard and HDD). I'm not BSing this. nVidia recommends all of this (check the website).

I calculated the wattage of my PC with this:
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp

It was about 1000Wish.

If you short your wattage, you will be short changing your comp.

Also, for these big cards, you will need a bigger case. Much bigger. Full-size tower if you don't already have one.

My two cents.

-MetKiller Joe