Buying PCI-E graphics cards [was Re: budget gaming hardware spec]

On 03/03/2009, at 8:31 AM, martyc wrote:
> PCi-e 16 is what you need for gaming, i would suggest an Nvidia 8600  
> GTS for
> a budget setup, you can source a new one for as little as 79$ new
[crap snipped]

I hate to say it, but most of that really was full of trite.

For nVidia specifically:

First up, avoid the 8600 - it's horrendously underpowered in SM4[1]  
due to a lack of processing units[2], despite being touted as a SM4  
compatible card.  Whilst its SM3 and earlier performance is adequate,  
it's not worth the time really.  It's also discontinued, so you'll  
only find left-over stock.

Get the 9600GT as a baseline minimum - they're about the same price as  
the 8600GT when it came out, have twice the shader units of an 8600GT,  
have better graphics memory bandwidth, and SLI very nicely (2x 9600GTs  
will outperform a single 8800GT/GTS without too much trouble at a  
fraction of the price - this is what I use at home).

Avoid any nVidia card pre-series 8 at the moment unless you're buying  
cheaply second hand - they're obsolete and only of value if you buy  
into the top end (which will be out performed by the series-8/9  
midrange cards under the right circumstances).

And finally, let's set the record straight:  The only advantage of the  
GTS/GTX variant cards (Not to be confused with the Series-200 stuff  
which starts with the GTX prefix) is that they have better (both  
broader and faster usually) memory buses and a different processor  
unit configuration, _usually_[3] with higher fill rates as a  
consequence.  The GT variant has the same processor core otherwise.   
The higher fill rate allows the GTS/GTX variants to render more in the  
same timeframe, which can be levered to increase the scene quality,  
but on its own, does not improve the graphics quality.  The same  
rendering configuration on both cards will yield the same result.  WoW  
will max out long before you need a high end card.

The biggest changes in nVidia cards is from family to family.  ie:   
Series 6 -> Series 7 -> Series 8/9[4] -> Series 200 (GTX260/GTX280  
etc), and that's where you'll see quality changes at the same  
configuration in some circumstances.

C.

[1] Shader Model 4.  Occasionally incorrectly referred to as DirectX 10.

[2] 8600GTs have 32 stream processors vs the 128 in the 8800GT and the  
64 in the 9600GT.  It makes a surprisingly large difference in  
performance in SM4.

[3] But not always.

[4] Series 8 and 9 are based on the same core on a different process -  
Series 9 was started to avoid the marketing hell that the 8800GT  
unleashed when it outperformed the 8800GTS.

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