8800GT or HD3870?

raystantz

I'm playing EQ2 currently, but am upgrading to plan for future titles..

 

I wanted the 8800GT but have seen alot of people having enormous problems with EQ2.

I was also looking at the HD3870, but it just irks me that the performance for the price is with the 8800GT.. I hate to have to sacrifice performance in all games, for just one game.

 

what should I DO?

 

I'm running an AMD board and Athlon X2 dual core processor.

Trentasy

well the dh3870 seems to be a pretty good card, i always had nvidia cards because i think they are alot better than the radeon cards... but comparing the 2 cards together i'd have to say the radeon card is better than the  8600gt... but if u want a card for good perform and good price then i suggest the GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB card

xxthecorexx

i have no problem in eq2 with a 8800GTS 512. what problems are you hearing about ?

i ASSUME your motherboard is crossfire compatible at which point i'd say get a 3870 then you can link 2 cards if you ever decide to go that route. if you're never planning on using sli or crossfire i'd say to go with the 8800 series.

 

consider what your next upgrade might be then decide from there.

Myrick

I would def go for the 8800gt. Nvidia has been pushing forward pretty good and has good track record with solid gfx cards. Minus the lawn mower models :P but the 6800 series was solid and the 8800 cards are great. Ati still seems to be pushing to get back on track. If your building for the future I would go with an sli mobo and a power supply to support it and sli cards.

hope this helps

Psiho246

I would go with Radeon HD3870.

CleffyII

Right now the performance difference between the HD3870 and the 8800GT is 9% or less while Nvidia also funds games in order for them to be optimized for a Nvidia card.  However, the HD3870 supports more shader technology, and is about 10+% cheaper.  While no game in the next 2 years will actually make that 9% or less different noticeable (something that will make the fps with a 3870 drop to skipping rate will probably also do the same to the GT).  Ontop of it the HD3870x2 or an HD3870 in crossfire outperform any dual Nvidia offering.  And Nvidia doesn't support thier drivers for a Card as long as ATI does.

oakae

I would get the 8800gt. It doesn't cost much more and it is faster.

DAS1337

Originally posted by raystantz


I'm playing EQ2 currently, but am upgrading to plan for future titles..
 
I wanted the 8800GT but have seen alot of people having enormous problems with EQ2.
I was also looking at the HD3870, but it just irks me that the performance for the price is with the 8800GT.. I hate to have to sacrifice performance in all games, for just one game.
 
what should I DO?
 
I'm running an AMD board and Athlon X2 dual core processor.

Ignore everyone else in this thread and wait for the 9*** line of Nvidias.  You could get a much better card in a month or so for the same price that you would pay now.  I sure would be pissed if I didn't know and spent 300-400 bucks on a card that drops to 150 with a new line of cards on the market.

CleffyII

Success usually skips a generation.  It also applies to computer hardware.  But yea waiting until the end of the month for the 9XXX series is a smart move.  Prices will drop.

Malduster

i recomment 8800 GS, its around 160-200 bucks and really good... probably THE best value for money when you're going in SLI mode.

Xeysz

Originally posted by CleffyII


Right now the performance difference between the HD3870 and the 8800GT is 9% or less while Nvidia also funds games in order for them to be optimized for a Nvidia card.  However, the HD3870 supports more shader technology, and is about 10+% cheaper.  While no game in the next 2 years will actually make that 9% or less different noticeable (something that will make the fps with a 3870 drop to skipping rate will probably also do the same to the GT).  Ontop of it the HD3870x2 or an HD3870 in crossfire outperform any dual Nvidia offering.  And Nvidia doesn't support thier drivers for a Card as long as ATI does.

I've been researching a lot on this topic, and what CleffyII says is very much true.  The reason I'd go with ATI Radeon is because on Newegg (and elsewhere...) the price difference is usually enough for me to purchase an extra game.

P.S.: You don't need one of these cards for EQ2.  These video cards are for games that use up all of your system resources such as a modern FPS, Crysis.  In MMORPGs the major difference when turning a graphics setting to "high" is that you can see more scenery.  Seriously, getting 60 fps in an MMORPG compared to 30 is not a big deal, but it is rather important in a FPS.  I'd say that if you already have your mind set on the 8800GT then you should go out and buy it.