Help me choose a new video card?

Okay so i've been getting that 1long 3short beepcode that says its my video memory. I was actually rather unhappy with my purchase of the card I have anyways. So I think i'll just give in and use this as an excuse to go buy a new one! :D

So here's what I was looking at. EVGA 8800GTS

Okay now i've been looking up some things and always thought the amount of video ram is important. Thats why I opted for a 512mb card even though I found out that doesn't mean jack. $200 lesson 2 me. But anyways this is the 320mb version as I've read I shouldn't notice a difference between this and the 640mb version unless i'm running ultra high resolutions correct?

Also from the factory its core speed is 576mhz vs the normal 500mhz. Highest i've seen is the BFG tech at a core 580mhz. Then the memory clock is 1700mhz. Would it be worth it to spend the extra $30 or can I just overclock the EVGA version? Some review claimed they saw this card run at 660/2070? Any truth to that?

Any other input I know its got the 320bit mem interface with 96 shaders. Was looking at like the 8600gt's etc and thinking about sli_ing them but would it be better to just get this.

Also I've got a 630wt PSU that should be fine for this card right? Curious though if I buy this one down the road if I SLI them would I need a bigger one?

O one other thing it says under supported operating systems its only xp/mce compatible. Is this wrong why would it be DX10 if it doesn't work with vista? I run home premium X64bit will this card even work with this version of vista?
Thanks for the help
 
Yea, I don't see you noticing a performance difference between the 320MB and 512MB versions. In fact, that 320 should be a bit faster due to it's higher clock speeds.

Your correct that the one 8800GTS would be better than two 8600GTs in SLI.

Your current PSU supplies more than enough for one card, but you would need a SLI certified PSU to run two cards.

From the eVGA site: "Built for Microsoft® Windows Vista™". It will work perfectly with Vista.
 
i cant remember what game but i belive it was quake 4 that if you have high settings on it it will use 500mb of VRAM with uncompressed textures. in this case they were comparing the 320 8800gts to a 512mb 7950gt they performed similar in FPS so if you dont care about DX10 then that one might be better because it is cheaper too.

dosent your old video card have a warranty to cover the bad RAM? i know 512MB video cards have not been out for enough time for the warrenty to expire
 
i cant remember what game but i belive it was quake 4 that if you have high settings on it it will use 500mb of VRAM with uncompressed textures. in this case they were comparing the 320 8800gts to a 512mb 7950gt they performed similar in FPS so if you dont care about DX10 then that one might be better because it is cheaper too.

dosent your old video card have a warranty to cover the bad RAM? i know 512MB video cards have not been out for enough time for the warrenty to expire

Well I care about DX10 cause its the future. Also i'm using vista which can run DX10 so I don't think i'll waste that much money on something that isn't future proof. Thanks for the suggestion though I just can't see a point in buying a DX9 card ya know. Also ya my card has a lifetime warranty but I don't feel like going through the RMA process. Plus like I said the card isn't that great only scored like 3k on 3dmark06 so its my excuse to buy myself a new one!
 
EVGA is supposed to be a great OC'er. the nice thing is if you register teh card for the lifetime warranty, if you fry it OC'ing then it is still covered under warranty.

And like it was said above, it should work with vista. If you do SLI the 8800's you would need a bigger PSU... i think. However, right now you don't need them SLI'ed.
 
EVGA is supposed to be a great OC'er. the nice thing is if you register teh card for the lifetime warranty, if you fry it OC'ing then it is still covered under warranty.

And like it was said above, it should work with vista. If you do SLI the 8800's you would need a bigger PSU... i think. However, right now you don't need them SLI'ed.

Ya I don't plan on SLIing them yet. Maybe down the road. I was on Nvidia's website and it looks like there current driver doesn't even support sli for them anyways.

I just want to confirm this should be the best card for my money right? I was thinking about the 8600gts as well but I've heard they suck for the price they want.
 
I've heard the 8600's are actually good for their money (around performance of a 78, but with DX 10 capibilities). But having not used them myself i cannot truthfully tell you.

For the money, yes that is the best card. personally, if it was me, i'd save up the extra $90 and get teh 640 MB version, but if you don't want it then what you have is a great card.
 
I don't know how much of a noticeable differance there will be. I do know that with the 640 you wont need to worry as much about games out-doing the video ram. If you don't plan on using vista with that card then stick with the 320. the 640 would be nice if you had AERO enabled on vista so it doesn't cut into games as much.

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, im home sick from school today and feel like crap.
 
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