25 replies to this topic

[bluerip]

Christmas and birthday has again left me with a dilema of how to spend my gift cards wisely.

Currently I have one 2 year old Leadtek 6600 GT SLI . It has been the weakest component for some time now.
My giftcards are for Bestbuy. These will aford me the BFG 8800 GT which would be awsome however they are out of stock now
So I was wondering if it would be worth considering an ATI card comparable to the 8800 GT if there is one that Bestbuy sells.
I am nolonger familiar with ATI cards.
I'm after bang for the buck.
Considering all that...any opinions?

[m.oreilly]

bang for buck: the ati 3870 (some say the 3850). the x2 version of the 3870 (two gpu on one card) is coming soon though (i'm thinking about waiting for it..)...

[bluerip]

m.oreilly, on Jan 20 2008, 10:47 PM, said:

bang for buck: the ati 3870 (some say the 3850). the x2 version of the 3870 (two gpu on one card) is coming soon though (i'm thinking about waiting for it..)...

mmmmm...bacon! checking it out

[m.oreilly]

i wonder how the performance is with newer drivers? this review is over two months old...plus the power consumption is very much in favor of the ati solutions. i really like the idea of a stock dual slot setup, as in the added bonus re exausting the hot air out the back of the rig. plus the fact i can't stand the nvidia fanboys. i look forward to being completely non nvidia (unless i get a really good price on an 8800gtx/ultra )...

[bluerip]

huh! waiting seems to be the thing now.
Since I am limited to BestBuy because of the gift cards,
and BestBuy isn't offering the ATI 3870 or 3850 atleast online
I may have to wait for the 8800 GT to get stocked up again.
I'll have to truck on down to the store in person to see if the store stock is different.
aaahhhh, aaaarrrrggghhhh I hate waiting.
wheres me rum, lad? aarrggh!

[m.oreilly]

good luck, blue. the 8800gt is a dang fine card, but for my situation i need to have the heat exit my case. if this isn't an issue for you, i'd pick one up when in stock. the thing with the after-market coolers is that you have to glue passive sinks to ram and the like, and i've heard of said glued on sinks falling of of cards (just imagine small blocks of metal falling on mobo/your creative x-fi, etc...).

[bluerip]

m.oreilly, on Jan 21 2008, 09:13 PM, said:

good luck, blue. the 8800gt is a dang fine card, but for my situation i need to have the heat exit my case. if this isn't an issue for you, i'd pick one up when in stock. the thing with the after-market coolers is that you have to glue passive sinks to ram and the like, and i've heard of said glued on sinks falling of of cards (just imagine small blocks of metal falling on mobo/your creative x-fi, etc...).

Ugh. Also be reading about the cheap stickers on the fan coming off and gumming up the works. What ever happened to pride in workmanship?

[Tweak]

Do we expect the x2 gpu from ati to not fall somewhat by the wayside similar to the way the 7950 did due to drivers not being up to par? Seems the 7950 was more of a flash in the pan and never really caught on as it may have been capable. It does seem an ideal hardware configuration, but apparently not as well received as hoped.

[bluerip]

scaramonga, on Jan 22 2008, 07:25 AM, said:

Which is why you get a nice big 8800 waterblock on there no heat, no noise, then clock the f**k out of it!

"8800 waterblock " ? whats that? ...link?

[m.oreilly]

Tweak, on Jan 22 2008, 11:28 AM, said:

Do we expect the x2 gpu from ati to not fall somewhat by the wayside similar to the way the 7950 did due to drivers not being up to par? Seems the 7950 was more of a flash in the pan and never really caught on as it may have been capable. It does seem an ideal hardware configuration, but apparently not as well received as hoped.

too early to tell, though with stock drivers , the leaked info seems to point in favor of this kind of amalgam. i bet gpu construction/design will follow step with recent cpu ideology: more cores are good...

[Tweak]

m.oreilly, on Jan 23 2008, 01:43 AM, said:

too early to tell, though with stock drivers , the leaked info seems to point in favor of this kind of amalgam. i bet gpu construction/design will follow step with recent cpu ideology: more cores are good...

I am hopeful it works out, but I guess "time will tell".

[bluerip]

scaramonga, on Jan 23 2008, 08:46 AM, said:

The one I'm using ATM Stealth Rev.2

I was thinking it was part of a watercool system. That looks like an ultimate solution alright . Probably overkill for me though.
Thanx