Graphics Card - how much better?

I've decided to buy a GeForce 8800GTS. I have about £200 to spend on this card but am torn between the £200 GTS 320MB and the £260 8800GTS 640MB.

8800GTS 320MB = £200

8800GTS 640MB = £260

How much better is the 640MB? Is it worth spending an extra £60? I have a limit of about £200 but could stretch to £260 if I wanted to.

EDIT: The 320MB is superclocked to GDDR3 Memory running at 1700Mhz. Core clock 575Mhz.

Im buying the card for games such as Enemy Territory:Quake Wars, Unreal Tournament 3, C&C3:Tiberium Wars, Crysis etc; So I need a card that is going to run these games as close to max as I can.

Thanks in advance.

It's not worth stretching. The performance increases are not that great. It would be better to buy the 320MB and use your "stretch" money to start saving up for the 9000 series when it comes out.thebrantmeister

Does anyone know when the 9000 series is due to come out?

Ok. Urmm, my current card is XFX. I am going with EVGA with the new card because of the 'step-up' program.

I understand that if I buy the 8800GTS and then the 8900series comes out within 3 months of my 8800 purchase, I can upgrade with only having to pay the price difference of the two cards. Now is that the price difference of the cards when new?

For example, If I pay £200 for the 8800GTS and then the 8900series comes out at say £300 for example. Do I only have to pay £100 for the new card in exchange even if my 8800GTS is now only worth say £150?

Ok thanks brantmeister.

Any more views on the difference between the two cards? I am playing at 1680x1050 resolution and have noticed on one particular thread that someone is having trouble getting good fps on stalker at the same res with the 320MB GTS. Surely a DX10 card shouldnt have trouble at this res on Stalker?

If this is true, I will definitley need the 640MB version for games such as Unreal Tournament 3.

FYI, you have to pay the difference between the cost of your current card and the MSRP of the new card, even if the actual price is lower.

EDIT: Also, everyone has FPS issues with stalker, it's optimized very poorly.

If it was me and i had the money, i guess $60 for double the ram sounds good to me. And I'm pretty sure the cards fast enough to make good use of it.

Read this thread:

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=228783

source 3dnews.ru



8800GTS320 >X1950XT about 30% faster.

And that's why i said: better buy 8800 GTS 640.
Biger mem bufer for textures is giving nice performance boot.


In dx10 games diffrence will be biger.


Search guru3d.com reviews 8800GTS320 vs 640 MB.zigihammer

I've heard rumors that the 9000 series is due at the end of this year. But that's from other posters, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. But I'm positive of the fact that the 8900 series will be out, and even if you upgrade to that, the X900 series is always the best value.thebrantmeister

[QUOTE="thebrantmeister"]I've heard rumors that the 9000 series is due at the end of this year. But that's from other posters, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. But I'm positive of the fact that the 8900 series will be out, and even if you upgrade to that, the X900 series is always the best value.TrailorParkBoy

So if an 8900 is pointless then the 9*** is point as well?

[QUOTE="TrailorParkBoy"][QUOTE="thebrantmeister"]I've heard rumors that the 9000 series is due at the end of this year. But that's from other posters, so I'm not sure how accurate that is. But I'm positive of the fact that the 8900 series will be out, and even if you upgrade to that, the X900 series is always the best value.baddogjmh

So if an 8900 is pointless then the 9*** is point as well?

Ok guys this feedback is great. Thanks for the benchmarks eddyson, very useful. I don't have time to read the article yet but will tommorrow. From the benchmarks, it looks like the superclocked 320MB GTS beats the standard GTS 640MB in certain games on low res. Interesting......

Also, I have considered upgrading the CPU but jsut don't quite have the money yet. I would like to stick in an AM2 mobo but it looks like for now I will stick with 939 and upgrade to either an AMD 4800+ or FX-60. Im pretty sure both CPU's will keep me going for a very long time. Im pretty sure my 4000+ will not bottleneck the 88000GTS from what i've heard.

If the 9000 series is coming out in 4 months, I think it would be a good idea for me to put off buying a new card. EVGA's step-up program only applies to the first 3 months. So il stick with my 7800GTX for the next month and upgrade a bit later.

Any other opinions on the 8800GTS, running it on 1680x1050, benchmarks, 9000 series release dates, CPU upgrades or anything else that is relevant would be great. Thanks again in advance.