Wednesday, January 16, 2008

GeForce 8x00 Series Comparison

As part of a semi-annual graphics card roundup, I'm going to analyze the state of the PC gaming market for current-generation nVidia PC video cards.

Introduction

If you want an nVidia card for PC gaming (as opposed to an ATI card), then you really need one of the new 8x00 series cards. They offer DirectX 10 support and a unified stream processing architecture which integrates previously separate vertex and pixel shaders and adds geometry processing as well. If the preceeding sentence means nothing to you, these are the latest and greatest technological advances in software and hardware for gaming video cards. (See nVidia's 8800 FAQ and 8800GT FAQ for basic information on these cards.)

However, if you haven't followed the gaming hardware market closely, it can hard to figure out what you need. There's a variety of 8x00 series cards available, ranging from the budget 8400GS to the mid-range 8600GT and 8600GTS, the upper range 8800GT and 8800GTS and the luxury 8800GTX cards. For the purposes of this comparison, I'm assuming you're not going to drop more than $350 on a video card, which excludes the 8800GTX from this list.

I'm also looking at single graphics cards here; most 8600 and higher cards support SLI mode, where you can use at least 2 graphics cards simultaneously to dramatically improve your graphics performance. You need both a motherboard and a power supply that support this feature in order to use it, so if you haven't built or purchased a system with this in mind, you likely won't be able to take advantage of this feature.

The cards below are all PCI Express x16 or PCI Express 2.0 (three of the 8800 series) so you need to have a motherboard with appropriate PCI Express support and open slots. If you still have an AGP-based motherboard (this is most likely the case if your motherboard is over 4 years old), it's time to upgrade and buy a new one if you're looking to buy a current graphics card. While there are AGP-based GeForce 7-series and Radeon HD 2000-series cards on the market, there are no AGP-based GeForce 8-series cards yet available.

I'm a big Newegg fan and have happily bought computing gear from them for years; so while you may prefer to buy your hardware from somewhere else, I've quoted Newegg's current prices (including rebates and standard 3-day shipping costs) and provided links to their product pages for the items below.

I've also listed primarily EVGA graphics cards below. Again, I've happily bought and used many of their boards in the past, so this reflects my personal preference. In specific cases, other manufacturer's cards are listed, but in my experience, EVGA has made solid, reliable graphics cards over the past decade.

Price Points

While there's a huge variety of cards and options available, I always like to know what I can get for a given dollar amount. With that in mind, let's look at the major price points right now:

  • $325 = 8800GTS G92 512MB
  • $275 = 8800GT 512MB
  • $200 = 8800GTS 320MB
  • $150 = Asus Silent 8600GTS 256MB
  • $125 = 8600GTS 256MB
  • under $100 = 8600GT 256MB
I've highlighted the cards corresponding to these price points in bold on the chart below.

For $325, you can get a very nice new 8800GTS G92 card with 512MB. While it uses 256-bit memory access compared to other 8800GTS which can use 320-bit memory access, this doesn't appear to have much effect in real-world performance. Having 128 stream processors compared to the 96 available on older 8800GTS cards does make a big difference, though. The G92 GPU is a significant improvement over the older G80 GPUs used in previous 8800GTS cards, so this is an obvious choice for high performance at a non-luxury price.

If you need to spend less than $300, the 8800GT 512MB cards like the EVGA listed below are a good deal. The clock speeds are slightly slower than newer 8x00 cards, but with 112 stream processors onboard, it can chew through pixels all day long. These are the heavy hitters at the upper end of nVidia's lineup on our price scale. While the 8800GTS G92 can be a better deal for the money, the 8800GT 512MB boards are still solid graphics cards for the money.

At $200, the 8800GTS G80 320MB cards are an excellent buy. For over a third less than the 512MB or 640MB 8800 cards, you can buy a very capable board. If you're running your games at 1680x1050 or lower resolution, you can get the same performance as the 640MB cards for a lot cheaper.

At $150, the ASUS Silent 8600GTS 256MB stands out. It can run completely silently without the need for fans or active cooling, which make this an excellent choice for home theater or small form factor PCs, or anyone who cares about their power bill.

At $125, other 8600GTS 256MB cards are a good buy. These can run most current games at acceptable quality and mid-range resolutions (1280x1024). Most of these will run hot, so be aware of the need for extra cooling and good airflow in and around your PC.

For under $100, 8600GT 256MB cards are the entry level for anyone who enjoys modern gaming. These can easily handle older games like World of Warcraft if the rest of your system is up to par, but will not run current demanding titles like Bioshock and Crysis well, if at all. A good 8600GT can get close to 8600GTS cards in performance, and it still sports 32 stream processors and a 128-bit memory interface, so it is significantly better than any 8400 series card.

Comparison Table


Cost

GPU

Core
clock

SPs*

Memory


Card

clock

size

type



EVGA 640-P2-N829-A3

$342

8800GTS G80

576Mhz

96

1800Mhz

640MB

320-bit GDDR3



EVGA 512-P3-N841-A3

$327

8800GTS G92

670Mhz

128

1940Mhz

512MB

256-bit GDDR3



EVGA 640-P2-N828-A3

$315

8800GTS G80

540Mhz

96

1700Mhz

640MB

320-bit GDDR3



EVGA 512-P3-N802-AR

$276

8800GT

650Mhz

112

1900Mhz

512MB

256-bit GDDR3



EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR

$257

8800GT

600Mhz

112

1800Mhz

512MB

256-bit GDDR3



EVGA 320-P2-N811-AR

$200

8800GTS G80

500Mhz

96

1600Mhz

320MB

320-bit GDDR3



ASUS Silent EN8600GTS

$147

8600GTS

675Mhz

32

2000Mhz

256MB

128-bit GDDR3



MSI NX8600GTS-T2D256E-OC

$127

8600GTS

700Mhz

32

2100Mhz

256MB

128-bit GDDR3



BFG GE86256GTOCFE

$110

8600GT

565Mhz

32

1400Mhz

256MB

128-bit GDDR3



EVGA 256-P2-N758-TR

$96

8600GT

684Mhz

32

1620Mhz

256MB

128-bit GDDR3



EVGA 256-P2-N751-TR

$80

8600GT

540Mhz

32

1400Mhz

256MB

128-bit GDDR3



EVGA 256-P2-N732-LR

$36

8400GS

450Mhz

16

800Mhz

256MB

64-bit GDDR2


* = Stream Processors (unified geometry/vertex/pixel shaders)


I've also listed the 8400GS above for comparison. Since it has half the stream processors, slower clock and memory speed, a 64-bit memory interface and uses slower GDDR2 memory, this should only be a choice for people who Just Need A Cheap Graphics Card. If you play any amount of non-casual games, you're better off going with a cheap 8600GT instead.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Dirty Vegas at Sheetz, one night only

So yesterday I was in the Sheetz off of Route 50 near the Loudoun - Fairfax county line, the one on Poland Road, stopping to fill up on gas like I normally do. I get out of the car, and while I'm swiping my credit card on the pump, I hear what sounds like a Dirty Vegas track. Huh, interesting. I must have got that album about 5 years ago, listened to it for a couple months, then completely forgot about it.

I go in to use the men's room, and this guy comes in to wash his hands. He has long shoulder-length dirty blond hair, and he's singing along to the track. "Days go bayyy-yeee..." And then he keeps going. "My hair's so long, I don't know what I'd do... Like Ozzy Osbourne, aye really want to meet yoo-ooou." Ha! I can't even remember the last time I heard anyone singing in a men's restroom.

Guess the guy's an employee since he had an official Sheetz hat and said bye to the staff as he went out. Wonder if he'll be playing again sometime soon.