8800 GT Confirmed for Oct. 29th Launch? [Archive]

Kunikos

10-12-2007, 10:31 AM

Since there is likely a press embargo if anyone has heard real official details, all we're running on here is rumors from the usual places. But from what I've heard we're looking at a slightly lower shader unit count part with an updated GPU. It will have hardware accelerated decoding of HD content like the 8500/8600 series cards (which one-ups the 8800GTS/GTX cards), and will come in 256MB and 512MB flavors on PCI Express 2.0 (which will work in a normal PCI Express 1.0 16x slot). The former is rumored to launch at a $199 MSRP and the latter at $249, which places them not too far below the current street price for the 8800GTS 320MB (~$260). If the performance is almost as good as the aforementioned card, then they will be pretty good deals-- undoubtedly so when they drop further in price to compete against retailers new price adjustments for the enthusiast ATI cards (which aren't selling as well as they might like).

ARogan

10-12-2007, 10:46 AM

Sounds like this would be good competition against the ATI HD 2900 PRO cards. If these cards run Crysis half way decent I might have to just go pick one up. Doesn't look like I'm going to be able to build my new rig now since I blew so much money on the home theater. A new video card might just have to hold me over.

Kunikos

10-13-2007, 08:25 AM

What's odd is that the new system requirement specs that I saw from Crysis don't even detail the video card at all-- it was just about your CPU, memory, etc. I'm assuming that a decent speed video card that can do DX 10 would be as helpful for this upcoming gen of games as DX9 and Shadermark 3 was for the last gen. I'm also wondering if there will be cards supporting DX 10.1 features soon.

John Reynolds

10-13-2007, 04:01 PM

Give Josh's fall analysis at www.penstarsys.com a quick read. I think the upcoming new midrange parts are going to be interesting, and competitive (a nice change after the 2900 XT's somewhat thud).

Quaro

10-13-2007, 04:21 PM

Woah, looks like ATI might be looking good after all? I hadn't heard the rumors that the next product was kicking ass.

We can expect this card to be around $300, which is cheaper than the current HD 2900 XT. It will also thoroughly spank the HD 2900 XT in overall performance as well as features. It will have the complete UVD unit, and implement SM 4.1 functionality. And it does it all with single slot cooling and a power draw of around 120 to 130 watts depending on the configuration.

Greatatlantic

10-14-2007, 01:45 PM

On a related note, wasn't the 9-series suppose to come out sometime this year? I think I might wait for that, either to buy such a card or get the inevitable price cuts of the old technology.

jpinard

10-14-2007, 05:15 PM

Launch of the RV670 appears to be on the same day as the launch of the AMD Phenom and RD790 chipset

What day is that supposed to happen?

Contrai

10-25-2007, 07:31 AM

Looks like the 8800 GT will outperform the current 8800 GTS. I think their is also a new 8800 GTS being announced in mid-late November as well.
Review 8800 GT? (http://topic.expreview.com/2007-10-23/1193114539d6255.html)

ATi has the Radeon HD 3870 and HD 3850 coming out/being announced in mid November which are suppose to go up against the 8800 GT range of cards.
ATi Cards (http://www.tomshardware.com/cn/119,news-119.html)

If both Nvidia and Ati's cards perform close enough, I'll get the one with the lower profile, is quieter and generates less heat. Hopefully the pricing of around $250 is actually true.

Kunikos

10-25-2007, 08:44 AM

Pics of the single-slot 8800GT. It will come in 256MB and 512MB flavors, and is PCI Express 2.0 and supports DX 10.1 and hardware H.264/VC-1 decoding.

http://forums.vr-zone.com/showthread.php?t=192038

The new 8800GTS 640MB I've read has 16 additional shader units because it's a speed-binned GTX, since they have an oversupply of GTX chips that didn't quite make GTX spec.

The 8800GTS 320MB will be discontinued.

Contrai: Thanks for the review link! Those benchmarks, if true, look kick-ass. The 512MB 8800GT matches or beats the 640MB 8800GTS, plus has DX 10.1! I looked and in DX 10 benchmarks it seems roughly 8-12FPS faster than the 8800GTS 640MB. The price certainly seems nice, at $250 for the 512MB version. And all in a single slot solution! I love the diagram showing how to install an aftermarket cooler on it. :)

That ATI card link, what's the deal with the bullet point that says "physics processing" ?

mouselock

10-25-2007, 09:08 AM

I ask again (like clockwork): Do either of these consumer level cards have 64 bit FP shaders? (I really, REALLY, want to do some GPGPU work when I'm not fragging shit.)

Kunikos

10-25-2007, 11:52 AM

AFAIK not yet; you're stuck with 32-bit.

unbongwah

10-25-2007, 02:12 PM

Does DX10 support 64 bit FP shaders? If it doesn't, would there be any reason for consumer- / gamer-oriented 3D cards to offer it?

mouselock

10-25-2007, 02:43 PM

Does DX10 support 64 bit FP shaders? If it doesn't, would there be any reason for consumer- / gamer-oriented 3D cards to offer it?

GPU physics eventually. I thought 10.1 did move up to 64 bit FP shaders though.

Kunikos

10-25-2007, 07:02 PM

I'm not exactly sure what's involved in DX 10.1 / Shadermark 4.1, and I'm having trouble finding anything on teh Googelz for what you're asking.

corpsman

10-26-2007, 12:28 AM

Any word on when Nvidia is going to release an 8900 series card? I know the 8800s are still the kings of GPUs, but I figured they would start talking about the next series of cards by now... I am still using my 7950GX2, so I would rather skip a gen and go right for the next GX2 [8950].

Jason Cross

10-26-2007, 11:44 AM

GPU physics eventually. I thought 10.1 did move up to 64 bit FP shaders though.

Not shaders... DX 10.0 requires 16-bit per component floating point filtering and has 32-bit per component optional. 10.1 makes that optional 32-bit floating point filtering mandatory.

Don't concern yourself too much with 10.1. It's "mostly" a checkbox feature. It's a minor upgrade like going from DirectX 9.0a to 9.0b and 9.0c. There will be virtually no games that require 10.1 - almost all will have 10.0 paths as well. And the 10.1 version will likely look the same but run a little bit faster, or look ever-so-slightly different (we're talking major scrutinizing of screenshots here).

As for the 8800GT - can't say much about release date or anything like that. I can say it's going to be "hot." way hot.

I wouldn't buy anything until the R670 (ATI's fall refresh mid-range product) comes out as well. I don't know if it's going to beat an 8800GT or not, but I know it's going to be a big improvement for people in that price range as well, and should ship pretty close to it.

All in all, some really good news for PC graphics this fall.

Moggraider

10-26-2007, 12:29 PM

I can't wait for this card to come out. I'll have to build my own rig after my ibuypower fiasco.

Dave Long

10-26-2007, 01:24 PM

I was just about to plunk down on an 8800GTS 640MB that someone was offering me for $260. Now I think I better wait at least until next week...

Just the idea of a single slot, less heat generation and not as much power draw with similar performance at a similar price makes it worth getting an 8800GT over the older 8800GTS.

Crater

10-26-2007, 01:46 PM

I'm building a rig right now. It's a little depressing to use an old card while I wait for the new hotness to come out.

Dave Long

10-27-2007, 11:42 PM

OK, is there any reason NOT to wait for this 8800GT, especially if it becomes hard to find early in the week?

There are some benchmarks and things floating around now and it looks like it's hotter and louder than the 8800GTS cards. I can get an 8800GTS for $260 before shipping... 640MB model even... so I'm really torn here.

Martinez

10-28-2007, 01:26 PM

I'd wait. From the benchmarks, the GT blows away the GTS in most games.

As far as noise, it's using a very small fan (rather than the blower types on the GTS). That may make the card a little noisier as the card runs pretty hot.

TweakTown has a review of the MSI 8800GT 512MB and ran a full review of it (in English). They took it down though and are going to release it again on Monday (the card's launch).

http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_04.gif
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_06.gif
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_07.gif
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_08.gif

In WiC, the performance is pretty much equal
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_10.gif

POWER DRAW
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_11.gif

HEAT
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_12.gif

NOISE
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_13.gif

Synthectic benchmark
http://images.tweaktown.com/imagebank/msi88gt_g_14.gif

BTW, 512MB version is $250 msrp

$234 street price
http://www.techonweb.com/products/productdetail.aspx?id=A0044K&src=FG

John Reynolds

10-28-2007, 02:53 PM

Martinez, your links show a 320MB GTS used and Dave was saying he can get a 640MB board for $260. I'd still probably wait, just wanted to point out that if Dave wants to play at higher resolutions the 640MB board is going to fare better under such testing.

Dave Long

10-28-2007, 02:59 PM

I've got a 1280x1024 LCD that I don't intend to replace anytime soon, and I'd seen those benchmarks before when the review was still up.

I don't think the performance is that much improved (It's not in the "blows away" range to me), though obviously it's better. I'm concerned about the heat the 8800GT generates by comparison with the 8800GTS as well as the noise. My PC is loud enough as it is and heat has been a problem for me in the past, too.

...and once again, I really don't want to mess with installing a heat sink and fan on a video card. That just seems... dumb.

All that said, despite my impatience and the current info, I'm going to wait until tomorrow and see what shows up on newegg.com, etc. If the price is right, I'm probably going to order an 8800GT instead. I didn't think I'd have the cash ready to go as of this weekend, but I do. That always makes it harder to wait. Don't want that to end up used up for something else before I can spend it on the thing I want for the PC. :)

Alistair

10-28-2007, 03:01 PM

There's a review at Boot Daily which isn't quite as positive as that Tweaktown review was. Still positive though. It does seem to claim power draw is lower for the GT than the GTS, where I think Tweaktown claimed the opposite...

http://www.bootdaily.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=849&Itemid=51

charmtrap

10-28-2007, 03:47 PM

Is the 8800gt enough of a boost that it'd be worth returning the 7950gt I just got and getting that (assuming Fry's gets any in stock around launch date)? I got the 7950gt for $150, which I thought was a pretty good deal, but these look pretty awesome for the price.

Martinez

10-28-2007, 03:48 PM

On the GTS 320 and 640, the core and memory speed are the same. The only difference is the amount of memory. The 640 would beat out the 320 when it's use to process more textures. Newer games are taxing the memory limit with the number of textures.

The 8800GT has only 128MB less than the GTS 640, but speed-wise it's faster.

Just wait if you can.

John Reynolds

10-28-2007, 04:09 PM

Agreed, I'd definitely wait until both the G92 and R670 launch and then decide.

Jason Cross

10-28-2007, 04:23 PM

Pics of the single-slot 8800GT. It will come in 256MB and 512MB flavors, and is PCI Express 2.0 and supports DX 10.1 and hardware H.264/VC-1 decoding.

Some of what you say there is inaccurate. NDA prevents me from saying what exactly, but do be wary of rumors and early reviews. Some of them are giving out slightly inaccurate info.

Dave Long

10-28-2007, 04:54 PM

Agreed, I'd definitely wait until both the G92 and R670 launch and then decide.
I'm not waiting for an ATI card. I really don't want to switch from NVIDIA. I've had their cards in my systems since the RivaTNT and found them to always be stable and trouble free whereas I always hear about compatibility and driver issues on ATI cards.

So I don't need to wait for R670 and I'm not going to spend more than $250 or so for a video card.

mouselock

10-28-2007, 04:56 PM

NDA is up when, tomorrow?

I don't know if you (or anyone else who may/may not be under NDA) can say as much, but is there any indication that anything substantive about the new ATI card performance is known yet?

I'd really like a new video card for this fall's crop of games, but it seems like even the old Radeons which are known to be "inferior" to the Nvidia cards actually came through with flying colors on heavily shader/texture oriented titles, which strikes me as being the model that DX10 games will shift toward due to DX10's setup and what they're enabling (as well as, generally, where the graphical power in all new games seems to be coming from). If the new Radeon card is competitive, seems like it might be the better choice looking long term, even if there's a bit of a short term hit on high-requirement DX9 titles. But there's a maddening lack of any information out there about it that's concrete, which seems very weird given that NVidia will have product on the shelf this week.

Dave Long

10-28-2007, 05:00 PM

If you're buying a card now, I think you can safely expect it to last another two or more years. The DX10 features are in there already. There's really no need to worry.

I also don't expect any ATI offering to be light years ahead of what NVIDIA is selling, and I simply don't buy at the $400 and up range when I buy a video card.

Martinez

10-29-2007, 01:04 AM

Well, the reviews of the 8800GT are starting to trickle in.

Tomshardware has a full review of the 8800GT now.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/geforce_8800_gt/index.html

VR-Zone -
http://www.vr-zone.com/articles/Nvidia_Geforce_8800GT_Review/5369-2.html

BTW, the NEW and IMPROVED GTS' are supposed to be out soon as well. It'll be interesting to see how much they improve over the current line.

Oh. Amazon has the 8800GT Superclocked edition for $270, (Superclocked = overclocked by the manufacturer 650/950) (600/900 is stock)
http://evga.com/products/pdf/512-P3-N802-AR.pdf

Chris Nahr

10-29-2007, 01:13 AM

Martinez

10-29-2007, 01:15 AM

I can only think... cost?

I agree, I really liked the old exhaust cooler.

Rob_Merritt

10-29-2007, 04:49 AM

Why did Nvidia drop the rear-exhaust cooler of the GTS? Just to free up the adjacent slot? Who would use a slot next to a hot video card anyway? I love the GTS cooler, it's amazingly quiet and keeps the card very cool.

Some computers do not have a slot next to the videocard available. On my motherboard the power connector and cpu are in that space.

http://support.gateway.com/s/MOTHERBD/FIC/105552/nv.jpg

Crater

10-29-2007, 06:14 AM

Wow, the card is definitely worth the wait it seems. Of course, with the new GTS around the corner, why not wait some more? Ugh.

It would be nice if these were available in stores.

ARogan

10-29-2007, 08:06 AM

Anybody know the length of the 8800gt cards? Is it super long like the gtx or more similar in form factor to the gts?

EDIT: found the answer:
http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQxMCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==

With the reduction in TDP NVIDIA was able to make this video card a single-slot solution that is the same length as a 8800 GTS.
...
Physically the GeForce 8800 GT is the exact same length and width as the GeForce 8800 GTS which is 9” long. The heatsink shroud that covers the entire length of the video card makes it appear longer, but it is not. The main physical difference between the 8800 GTS and the 8800 GT is that the GT has a the single slot cooler.

Dave Long

10-29-2007, 09:02 AM

PURCHASED!

I got an eVGA 8800GT Superclocked from mwave.com for $267 after shipping. It says it comes with Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for that price so it's pretty much the deal of the year for me.

Alistair

10-29-2007, 09:09 AM

Spectacular deal -could you report back on the noise level?

nordhus

10-29-2007, 09:38 AM

According to Tech Report (http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/13479/7) it's very quiet.

mouselock

10-29-2007, 10:08 AM

I also don't expect any ATI offering to be light years ahead of what NVIDIA is selling, and I simply don't buy at the $400 and up range when I buy a video card.

Nor do I Dave, but if the ATI is competitive and happens to expose 64bit shaders, I'd prefer it. I don't get the purpose of keeping their information quite so close to the vest for a product coming out in two weeks.

Dave Long

10-29-2007, 10:36 AM

Spectacular deal -could you report back on the noise level?
Certainly!

They approved my order, but it's not shipped yet. Best case scenario is it's installed in my case on Wednesday night, provided it ships today.

Jason Cross

10-29-2007, 10:51 AM

My review's going up tomorrow, but in short:

This card is crazy good. For $250 (the stock ones with 512MB... OC versions up to $300) you get performance higher than an 8800GTS 640MB in nearly all cases. Sometimes considerably faster. All in a 9" board that draws like 105 watts max. Plus they added the VP2 video processor found in 8600 and 8500 boards but missing from 8800 cards (which offloads a lot of H.264 decoding, but still does not do the entropy decode for VC-1).

I honestly feel sorry for anyone that bought an 8800GTS recently. Even an 8800GTX is only worth the extra money if you have one of those 30" monitors and really want to drive it at 2560x1600 where all the extra memory bandwidth will help out.

AMD has their work cut out for them with R670. I expect it to be really good, but to match this level of good will be something else. I hope they do - good news for all! But for the time being, this is the must-buy card.

SpoofyChop

10-29-2007, 11:04 AM

Thanks for the info Jason!

I had been holding off on my system purchase for a few days to try to get a definitive word on the 8800GT but this morning I was starting to wonder whether it was worth the wait. I figured that even if the GT was better than the GTS that it was likely to take weeks for AvaDirect to add it as an option and I just didn't want to wait that long for what I figured was probably a minor improvement.

Instead, I find that AvaDirect just added the XFX 8800GT AND it's a big improvement.

:D

TheWombat

10-29-2007, 11:45 AM

You can all thank me, as I purchased a 8800GTS 640 two months ago. This is my punishment.

chet

10-29-2007, 11:46 AM

Dave Long

10-29-2007, 11:50 AM

Frys/outpost.com has
EVGA GeForce 8800GT Video Card (512MB DDR3, PCI-E 2.0, DX10, OpenGL 2.0) (http://shop3.outpost.com/product/5434329;jsessionid=cAPaWwUlq0Ds471mB13hSQ**.node3? site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG) for $229. Is this the right one?!?! It is $50 cheaper than i am seeing elsewhere, but they don't include the part number.
That's the low end of the eVGA 8800GT product line, but yeah, that's "the right one". :)

1800MHz Memory Clock and 600MHz Core clock indicate that's the standard 8800GT.

Jason Cross

10-29-2007, 12:58 PM

What Dave said. The "standard" price for non-overclocked 8800 GT cards seems to be $250 (for 512MB). So this is a bit cheaper. Maybe it has no game bundle or something.

Prices go up to $279, $289, $299 for factory-overclocked models. My testing so far has been on a standard non-OC'd model and it's beating the 8800 GTS 640MB all over the place.

mouselock

10-29-2007, 01:26 PM

What Dave said. The "standard" price for non-overclocked 8800 GT cards seems to be $250 (for 512MB). So this is a bit cheaper. Maybe it has no game bundle or something.

According to the Anandtech article, this isn't going to be MSRP though. It's a "standard price" because it's new and hot. (It's a bit hard to tell the way the article's phrased, but it gives the strong impression that NVidia's pricing for the 512MB model ought to drive non-OC prices to around $200, 256 MB being sub $200, and the OC models in the $250 range.)

There's an overclocked EVGA or XFX at NCISX for example for 234 plus s/h.

DoomMunky

10-29-2007, 01:40 PM

These prices are awesome! How come they're so low?

Acoustic Rob

10-29-2007, 02:16 PM

Because I just bought myself a new video card, of course. :-(

chet

10-29-2007, 02:19 PM

So is the overclocking worth the price? Already own the bundled games, so not worth it for that.

Moggraider

10-29-2007, 02:32 PM

SO this just means that the GTS will be lowered in price to below the GT, right? Right?

I wish Nvidia was more consistent with its lettering scheme. GTS cards have always beaten GT cards in the past. And the GT cards were always good, until the 8600 GT. Damn them.

Podunk

10-29-2007, 02:42 PM

Kunikos

10-29-2007, 02:45 PM

The new revision of the GTS card is going to be better than the GT.

Depends. It will be faster than the GT in terms of speed for games, however it will be missing the new features on the GT. Because the new "GTS" is (rumored to be) a GTX that failed to make GTX speeds, it has more shader units so DX10 will be faster. But on the other hand, because it's the GTX core it is missing the DX 10.1 / Shadermark 4.1 features as well as the hardware HD video decoding (H.264/VC-1).

Edit: Oops, I also forgot that the GT will be PCI Express 2.0 (which will work in a 1.0 slot, no worries).

It's interesting to note that Nvidia is actively preventing OEMs from marketing the new GTS as anything other than "OC" or "Superclocked", etc. They are not allowing people to advertise a different GTS with new stuff on it.

Because I just bought myself a new video card, of course. :-(

Thanks, do it more often then! Hehe

Equisilus

10-29-2007, 03:34 PM

I honestly feel sorry for anyone that bought an 8800GTS recently.

Don't feel sorry for me. My eVGA 8800GTS 640MB superclocked card is about 2.5 months old and if I didn't get it then I wouldn't have had a pretty BioShock to play nor be enjoying other gaming goodness for the last quarter of a year. Then, if I waited to get the new GT, I'd be wondering if I should wait to get the new GTS, or wait to hear about the 8900 (?) or wait until ATI releases their next card, or wait....

I just feel there's not a lot a point in waiting unless you don't need or want to get an upgrade at the moment you make the leap. If we kept waiting, we'd never get anything.

Alistair

10-29-2007, 03:56 PM

Inevitably, these start at about $350 in the UK :(

But I see there's a passive one from Sparkle :

http://www.techreport.com/discussions.x/13488

Now that is a must buy.

Martinez

10-29-2007, 07:05 PM

...
It's interesting to note that Nvidia is actively preventing OEMs from marketing the new GTS as anything other than "OC" or "Superclocked", etc. They are not allowing people to advertise a different GTS with new stuff on it. But that's it. :(

Thanks, do it more often then! Hehe

Geez. this is why I come here. You guys know everything.

Do you know WHY nvidia is preventing them from doing so? eVGA has confirmed that the new GTS they have has an additional 16 piplines (bringing it from 96 to 112). Also, that there has been a "small" boost to core clock speeds.

BTW, the "new" GTS are out now, released the same time as the GT.

GT = 112 piplines
New GTS = 112 pipelines
GTX/Ultra = 128 pipelines

Is nvidia planning to release new versions of the GTS later this month that do more than just change the number of pipelines?

jpinard

10-29-2007, 09:07 PM

So is the overclocking worth the price? Already own the bundled games, so not worth it for that.

Jason (or anyone), I'm curious about the answer to Chet's question as well. I wish they'd stick with a dual slot cooler if it means the cards runs quieter and colder.

Also Jason. What are the chances of ATI's new card matching this new one. Not just in speed, but in power draw and heat as well? I love ATI video cards and their drivers, but their performance and the amount of power (at full load) they burn is terrible.

Case

10-29-2007, 09:23 PM

Jason (or anyone), I'm curious about the answer to Chet's question as well. I wish they'd stick with a dual slot cooler if it means the cards runs quieter and colder.

Also Jason. What are the chances of ATI's new card matching this new one. Not just in speed, but in power draw and heat as well? I love ATI video cards and their drivers, but their performance and the amount of power (at full load) they burn is terrible.

Jason and I will know really soon now...

Jason Cross

10-29-2007, 10:45 PM

There's an overclocked EVGA or XFX at NCISX for example for 234 plus s/h.

Hm... I see a couple there for like $249 "after instant rebate" that ends in like ten days. NCIX is Canadian and those are CAD prices, so that's a little more in USD. Newegg only has two in stock, for $289 and $299. We got $279 for XFX at Tigerdirect. I'm not sure we're going to reliably find 512MB cards anywhere near the $200 for a little while yet. Like it's not a good enough deal at $250. :)

But on the other hand, because it's the GTX core it is missing the DX 10.1 / Shadermark 4.1 features as well as the hardware HD video decoding (H.264/VC-1).

None of the Nvidia cards have DX10.1 stuff. Not the new 8800GTs, nothing. The only new thing is PCIe 2.0 (well, dual-link HDCP is new for them too. AMD had that on the 2600 and 2400 cards though).

Also Jason. What are the chances of ATI's new card matching this new one. Not just in speed, but in power draw and heat as well? I love ATI video cards and their drivers, but their performance and the amount of power (at full load) they burn is terrible.

I have some of those answers now, but NDA prevents me from spilling the beans. Sorry. I honestly don't know if it will outperform the 8800GT... that kind of thing is so often determined by last-minute drivers and stuff, that anything you hear now will probably be different by the time they're on shelves, y'know?

I would say that it'd be prudent for anyone interested in buying a card to hold off for a short while and see which is better. I mean any time AMD (ATI) and Nvidia release new stuff close to each other, there's a fair chance for either one to edge out the other.

jpinard

10-30-2007, 12:06 AM

When is the NDA lifted for ther ATI products? And guys... thanks for info. Much appreciated.

Martinez

10-30-2007, 01:05 AM

Any of you guys know if there is a new G92 8800GTS 640 in the works for an end of November release?

mouselock

10-30-2007, 08:58 AM

Hm... I see a couple there for like $249 "after instant rebate" that ends in like ten days.
There was when I posted it, and it was ncixus. However, over the course of the day as demand outstripped supply prices just kept inflating.

Kunikos

10-30-2007, 09:14 AM

Is nvidia planning to release new versions of the GTS later this month that do more than just change the number of pipelines?

AFAIK, that's it. They either disable the extra pipelines that would normally work fine or they would never work anyway and they're disabled for that reason.

I'm waiting to see if the new GTS will be something you could soft flash to GTX.

Any of you guys know if there is a new G92 8800GTS 640 in the works for an end of November release?

No, I think the G92 core or a step up from it (G95?) will be next used to make 8900 products, but it will only happen next year.

HNone of the Nvidia cards have DX10.1 stuff. Not the new 8800GTs, nothing. The only new thing is PCIe 2.0 (well, dual-link HDCP is new for them too. AMD had that on the 2600 and 2400 cards though).

Well, then I'm waiting for the 8900 series. I'm not buying a new video card unless it has DX 10.1 on it. I guess that Chinese site that had the first preview benchmarks was incorrect with their DX 10.1 spec.

I would say that it'd be prudent for anyone interested in buying a card to hold off for a short while and see which is better. I mean any time AMD (ATI) and Nvidia release new stuff close to each other, there's a fair chance for either one to edge out the other.

It'd be nice if that was the case this time around but you'll understand if I don't hold my breath for ATI to catch up at this point on this generation of cards.

Quaro

10-30-2007, 09:39 AM

ATI has bad timing. Even if their card is a better value than the 8800GT, it sounds like everyone who wanted to upgrade already bought one.

Kunikos

10-30-2007, 10:59 AM

Oh, well, I just read on Tom's that the Radeon HD 3800 card coming out will be a new core (RD670 vs. the current RD600 core) and smaller die (55nm process). It will also actually support DX 10.1 and SM 4.1.

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/10/29/amd_hd_3800_to_support_dx_10/page3.html

So maybe it has better than a snowball's chance in hell of being decent and selling. ;)

P.S. Penryn numbers are coming out now that the NDA is dropped.

Rob_Merritt

11-02-2007, 10:53 AM

DoomMunky

11-02-2007, 11:58 AM

I'm interested in the answer to that, too... :)

mouselock

11-02-2007, 12:34 PM

I don't know about benchmarking with older CPUs, but as a sort of roundabout answer I checked out Crysis last night at home on my new machine in a very unscientific manner: I brought up the task manager, ran it for a while, and looked at the graphic traces of processor activity.

On my Q6600 when Crysis was running I would hit about 50-60% utilization across all four processors. Spikes were noticeable for situations with lots of brush/foliage/physics and/or lots of enemy troops.

I suspect the days of "Mediocre CPU but bitchin' GPU == awesome performance" will start coming to an end very soon now.

Dave Long

11-02-2007, 01:26 PM

Crysis is an edge case for sure. I really don't think many games are going to be at that level technically for at least another year or two. Also, that single-player demo is believed to be poorly optimized and not representative of the final game. Not a good thing to use as a benchmark.

That said, I got back ordered on my 8800GT, but as soon as I get one, I will definitely let people know what happens going from an Athlon 3500+ w/2GB of RAM and a 6800GT up to the same box with an 8800GT. I run at 1280x1024 max and I think it's going to be a substantial and worthwhile improvement until such time I upgrade the motherboard, processor and RAM.

jpinard

11-03-2007, 12:22 AM

mouselock

11-03-2007, 03:41 AM

Hey mouse. What did you clock that up to? I almost got when but when the the dual core verion of the 6600 instead since I was afriad I'd not get as much raw speed out of the quad.

I didn't clock it up to anything. I had an athlong X2 4200+ more or less before, I don't need to OC currently in order to get stupidly fast response for everything. And I suspect that going forward the extra cores will be more important than overclocking. (Though I do look forward to the penryns which have a better quad architecture AFAICT. But then, I tend to run things that peg the CPU at 100% for weeks in my off time, so I'm a bit more persnickety about losing microseconds to cache misses than most gamers.)

Kunikos

11-03-2007, 10:14 AM

Dave Long

11-03-2007, 03:08 PM

Well, the rumor mills are churning again.

There's some places saying that an 8800GTS with 128 pipes, based on G92, and even numbered amounts of RAM on them will be coming out before the year is out, but I don't know if I buy it. There isn't a whole lot of year left. :P
At this point, I'll be happy to get my GT next week. I'm not sure how they're going to meet demand on even more cards before Christmas.

Derek Meister

11-03-2007, 10:52 PM

I'm really happy with my BFG 8800 GT, which was an upgrade from an ATI X1900 XT.

Prior to the new card, I was about to dump Vista for gaming, but now I'm getting really good frame rates again.

jfletch

11-04-2007, 07:25 AM

Did anyone bench mark theses with older cpus? I have an amd x2 4200 (which if you discount the dual coreness of it, its around a 3200+ power) and while the 8800 GT looks great, just about anything does when pared with a $1000 cpu.

I am interested in that, too. I have a 4600+.

wumpus posted a link here: click (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/$500_gaming_pc_upgrade/default.asp)

in the Crysis demo thread and it has some benchmarks. On a weaker CPU (like the 4200), the "max fps" is about the same as a much more powerful one. The difference is the minimum FPS, which is a fair bit less.

So the game is definitely playable on that CPU with this card.

But I agree with mouselock - CPU bottlenecking is going to become increasingly important. I don't have $250 on a new card and I just bought a very cheap used 7900GS to put in this computer as a stopgap. So maybe I will get this one when I can grab a 512 for $150. :)