Specterr

Hey everyone, I am looking into getting a graphics card I've got three cards, all from different manufactures but very similar, when I did a comparison I did find some differences though but I'm not sure what they translate into, all cards are within $10 so price is not an issue.

The Three Cards Are:
XFX GeForce 8800GTS
BFG GeForce 8800GTS
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT

API Support:
XFX GeForce 8800GTS = 16x
BFG GeForce 8800GTS = Directx 10, OpenGL 2.0
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT = Directx 10, OpenGL 2.0

Card Type
XFX GeForce 8800GTS = Video Card
BFG GeForce 8800GTS = 3D VGA
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT = 2D/3D Accelerator

Clock Speed
XFX GeForce 8800GTS = 650 Mhz
BFG GeForce 8800GTS = RAMDAC Duel 400 Mhz
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT = 900Mhz, 1800Mhz Effective

Fill Rate
XFX GeForce 8800GTS = None listed
BFG GeForce 8800GTS = 41.6 Billion
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT = 38.4 Billion

Video Memory
XFX GeForce 8800GTS = 512MB
BFG GeForce 8800GTS = 512 MB GDDR3
EVGA e-GeForce 8800GT = 512 MB DDR3

Which one of these three is the best card to get? Also...my motherboard doesn't support DDR3...will it be a problem to have a videocard that uses DDR3 memory?

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Namebot

Never had to use them, but I hear NCIX has good prices for canada. Or is future shop a B&M that you plan to visit?

Motherboard DDR3 compatibility won't be a problem, but make sure your motherboard has a PCIEX16 slot for the video card rather than the older AGP interface.

Which card is the best will take a bit more in depth investigation and benchmark/$ calculation. My bet is on one of the GTS models.

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Specterr

Yeah, I am only using futureshop because I have a giftcard that needs spending, everything else is either NCIX or tigerdirect.

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Waldo_II

Ok, you can quickly count out the EVGA 8800GT because the GT is slower than the G92 version of the GTS (There are also G80 versions, which are slower and less efficient).

And between XFX and BFG, I suggest you go with XFX. I have heard many more complaints about BFG Tech's products, particularly the customer service, than with XFX. XFX is a much bigger brand than BFG, too.

AND, you get Company of Heroes free with XFX.

The website doesn't give too much information about the cards as I would like, but I will tell you that BFG's business model is based around factory overclocking. Almost everything from BFG Tech will be factory overclocked.(Overclocking is when you add an extra electrical charge to the components to make them go faster. This, while improving performance, will lower the card's lifespan). So, you might get like a 1% speed difference if you use BFG Tech over XFX.

In summary, buy the XFX card.



EDIT: And no, you will not experience any problem with the video card's onboard GDDR3 memory. That memory is reserved just for graphics and is handled by the card, not the motherboard. I use a EVGA GeForce 8800GT with my nForce 590 motherboard, a DDR2 motherboard, and it works fine.

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|TG-XV|Waldo_II

Bamboo

If you look back though the front and 2nd page of forum posts, you will see that both Nvidia and ATI/AMD are releasing their next gen stuff in less than a month. You should really consider waiting till then to buy.

Even if you don't get one of the brand new cards, it will push the price of the older ones you listed above down even further.

If you must buy a.s.a.p., all of the cards above are good cards, but the GTS will be the fastest. And most of the spec stuff companies post are just blaa stuff to make their card look coolest. The only thing to really look at is the clock speeds if they have the same amount of memory.

So

[bold]BFG GeForce 8800 GTS 512MB PCI-Express Video Card[/bold]
# Memory: 512MB GDDR3
# Core Clock: 650MHz
# Shader Clock: 1625MHz
# Memory Data Rate: 1940MHz
# Memory Bandwidth: 62.1GB/sec

[bold]XFX GeForce 8800GTS 512MB PCIE Video Card - Alpha Dog Edition [/bold]
GPU Clock: 650MHz
Memory Clock: 1940MHz

Even if you go through the shop above, you should still use Newegg.com as a reference to read reviews and compare.

For example, on the XFX card, see this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...+512MB&x=0&y=0

There are 2 very simular versions, and the one you are considering above is the more expenive of the 2. And even worse is the fact that one cheaper one (by $40) is actually clocked faster, meaning a slightly faster card.

Good news is they both got really good reviews going, both with 5 eggs.

The BFG is also highly rated
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143119



I would still wait a month till your store gets the new cards. The 8800 GTS will probably be discontinued very soon.

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Namebot

Future shop seems to have bungled their card info. Can't match the BFG card on Futureshop to any on the BFG manufacturer site.

So it makes it hard to know which is better without calling Future shop and asking them the model # of the cards.

BUT BFG only lists one version of that model on their site and assuming it is the regular "alpha dog" edition from XFX and not the "xxx" version, we can come to the conclusion that they are nearly identical in performance.

The main difference is going to be what comes in the box. Look at the box contents and if you see anything you want (so-and-so dongle) get that one.

NOTE!: The future shop site claims the XFX one comes with a copy of Company of Heroes, a ~15-20$(US) value and a pretty interesting game.

Also note that both companies offer "lifetime" warranties of sorts, both of which I believe offer some sort of registration. Check their sites for the fine print, I've heard the XFX one covers further over clocking of the card.




^Good point about the new models. They should at least depress the older ones prices even if they don't interest you.

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draeh

Personally, I would go with the EVGA model that has 1GB of memory. On Tom's Hardware, they have written extensively on how limiting the 512MB is when it comes to using AA & AF.

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Steamers

I would recommend Inno3d. I use Inno3d v.cards at home (well not 8800gt... but still XD) and it seems dependable

Specterr

Thanks for your help guys, I ended up getting the XFX, though I didn't realize how much of a beast the thing is...you could crush small woodland animals with it. Big difference from my radeon 9600pro, which looks more like a soundcard now than a videocard

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Steamers

Grats.. Now go and play maxed out supah high end games =)