So I recently picked up a 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor, and my 8800GTS (G92) has gone from the Videocard that couldn't break a sweat, to having to turn down AA... going from 1024x768 to 1680x1050 put more stress on the card than I was expecting.

While it is holding up for now, I can see myself having to start turning down even more settings in the upcoming months and I want to be able to play the Holiday Season Games without having to sacrifice graphics, for FPS. (Don't worry, the wife will be getting the 8800 so it's not going to waste.)

My Rig:

WinXP Pro
AMD 3.2Ghz Dualcore Processor
3 Gigs 4-4-4-12 Corsair RAM
750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA HD
650w PSU (1 x 6Pin, 1 x 6+2Pin)

I don't want to spend anymore than $460, so the 3 big contenders seem to be the 9800GTX2, The GTX260 and the GTX280.

The 9800X2 seems like a very powerful contender, lots of muscle, a great price and the advantage of having sli in a single PCIe slot, leaving room to add a second in the future for 4 cards in the space of only 2, but I am a little concerned about the power consumption and reported "Hitching" with the "Two cards in one" technology.

The GTX260 is nice and cheap at only $300, seems to be getting rave reviews and at 1680x1050 the card has a lot of muscle... but I have to wonder if the card will hold up to the test of time. While I have no real issue with upgrading my GPU once a year, I would really like a little more longevity out of a $300-400+ investment. I'm not asking for ATI 9800pro longevity, but if it's a case of spending $100 extra now, for the 280 and not having to update for 2 years, or saving $100 but having to shell out another $400 next Holiday season, I would rather pay more now and save in the long run.

The GTX280 is of course, the top of the current barrel, and is on the upper tier of the cost scale and while I know it will perform better than the 260, is it really worth the $140 extra?

Thank you all in advance for any help or direction.

- Asci

9800gx2 is the highest performing of the three. Drivers are already mature, and performance is consistent.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=13
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=14
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=15
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=16
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=17
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=18
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=19

Full load power consumption: gtx260 is lowest, 9800gx2 second, gtx280 highest. Low clocked g92 cores are more energy efficient than higher clocked g200.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=22

Cheapest 9800gx2 cost $280 (for factory overclocked version):
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133231

Cheapest gtx260 cost $245:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814133229

Cheapest gtx280 cost $420:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143141

So for price and performance, the 9800GTX2 is the best pick of the bunch?

Whats the advantage of going with a 260 or a 280 then if the previous generation card is getting higher benchmarks and costs less?

The latest generation always cost more. Gtx260 and 280 prices will drop once the next generation comes out. Most people go by hype, buy what's "cool" and don't do serious research. Those cards are priced at whatever people are willing to pay.

Well I know that much, but I was assuming the 260/280 had something to offer.

I mean going from the 8800 series to the 9800 series it was significantly advanced streamcore architecture, so I was thinking that the series would have something going for it, but the proof seems to be in the benchmarks.

What's streamcore? If you meant stream processors, they all use them.

Gtx280 does have something going for it: SLI. 2 gtx280 in dual sli will outperform 2 9800gx2 in quad sli, due to diminishing returns as cores increase.

Considering how 9800GX2 prices have fallen it's turning out to be a good deal. Chances are they will be gone soon. I also doubt we will see much improvement on them from the driver side of things. A 9800 GX2 may not always scale well and there are a few instances where they fall behind a single 280 or Radeon 4870, like in Call of duty 4. If you're worried about that then do some research as far as reviews, or just check out the charts here. I think that for the price it's acceptable that it falls behind in a few cases when it pulls ahead in so many others and is so well priced.

I'm not much into SLI, I would rather buy one high performance card that buy two cards and only get an extra 75% performance for a second card.

As for "Streamcore" that's for want of a space on my part "Stream core architecture" as in, when the 9600 launched, nVidia was bragging that they had increased performance of the Stream Processors in the 9600/9800 so that it could do the same amount of work as the 9800 with half the stream processors.

I just did a "Click here and see what your computer would score with one of our new cards!" links over at nVidias site... and they are saying I will only get 1400 extra points from Futuremark going from an 8800gts (g92) to a GTX280... yet I would score 1600 more with a 9800GTX2... so even nVidia is confirming that the 9800GTX2 is a better buy for the system.

So it looks like ill be getting a 9800GTX2 come Friday.

Thanks for the help.

It's really surprising to me that a G92 8800 GTS can't sail through 1680x1050.

My 8800 GTS 320 did pretty well at that res.

That's not true. 9800gx2 significantly outperform both gtx280 and 4870 in Call of Duty 4.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=14

It does fall behind gtx280 and end up very close to 4870 in one game: Quake Wars.
http://www.anandtech.com/video/sho [...] =3341&p=15

At no times does it fall behind single 4870. The average gap is far too big for that to happen.

Ummmm ya, I have a 8800GTS 512 with a 22" and it runs everything with no issue.

I do overclock, I think my core speed is at 790 or soo, it might be your cpu thats holding you back..

Again, I have E3110 @ 4.23ghz. Maybe you should look at updating your processor....

I used to have a 8800GTS - had it since they first came out. There hasn't been a suitable upgrade until now (Some games are slow at 1650x1050 with max settings - crysis for a start) I was considering getting a 280 but it was bad value for money, so I decided to wait. Then last month the 4870x2 came out. That's where my money went, got one from dabs for £300. And it kicks the 280 into touch, and that's with dodgy drivers.

Are you kidding about the E3110 its running at over 4 gigs that chip will beat ALL non clocked core duos without even trrying I have a 6850(at stock speeds) and his one will beat the pants off mine, his chip is more than enough grunt for ANY game/application, In my opinion that's some bad advice.

I had a 8800GTX and not a GTS like I said above

I apologise I thought the original poster had the e3110 I misread the post. Many apologies for that. I cant seem to edit my posted message, how backwards.