If given the choice, is an 8800GT 512MB or 9800GT 512MB better for 5x WoW?

[Hachoo]

Ok so I'm going to upgrade my 8600GT next week so hopefully run a little bit better while multiboxing. (Video card is the bottleneck right now).

Anyway, I've always heard great things about the 8800GT 512MB, but its still ~$140-170 right now, however a 9800GT 512MB is only $99, and it SEEMS like the 9800GT would be faster, but why the hell would the 8800GT be more expensive if the 9800GT is faster?

Any opinions on this? NOT interested in any other than these two cards so please don't suggest anything else (especially not ATI *shudder*).

[Hachoo]

I know somebody here has to have an opinion on this - looking for a good answer fast so I can purchase and have it ship today :)

[Urgas]

I am running a 5-box on an ASUS G50 from bestbuy (laptop) with the 9800 GT 512 mb and I am fine as long as I dont have all of the windows open at once, I symbolically reference the wow accounts into 4 other wow directories (runs better) and I no longer have issues with my follows falling off. I do not have experience with the 8800 GT, but I thought i would share my experiences with the 9800. I have a 2.0 gh Intel core duo with 4 gigs of ram running windows in 64 bit. Hope this helps a little bit. The only issue I ahve is that when I try to run it with keyclone and the other 4 windows are visible but small i get some system lag, so I just minimize the others and I am great running 50 frames with maxed settings on the main screen I see most places and about 28-30 in shat and new stormwind.

[suprafro]

I recently upgraded to an 8800GTS 512mb, it runs 5 clients flawlessly. I only have 3.5gb of addressable memory (32bit winxp) so I peak that out when I zone into shatt/org and start swapping to disk, but outside of those situations everything just runs perfect. No complaints, however I have no idea how it stacks up vs the 9800 or how the 8800GTS would compare to the GT (assuming GT would be better :D )

[Hachoo]

Hmmm...

Right now I'm running 5 wows, main window at 1152x864 with low detail settings, background windows (not minimized, hidden behind the main window) at 800x600 with minimum settings, and everything is pretty fast. This is on an 8600GT - I can maintain 30FPS on the main window (I have the background windows set to 10).

Anyway was hoping with a new card I could set the main window to 1280x1024 with better detail settings and still get faster speeds, also a bit faster in places like org/shatt. For $99 the 9800GT seems like a sound investment compared to $160 for the 8800GT. Specification wise they look almost the exact same so I'm not sure why the 8800GTs are so much more expensive. Same clock speed, same memory, same support, same pipelines, same everything really. Also XFX has a lifetime replacement policy (Already used it 3 times in the last 3 years on my current XFX card - it used to be a 7600GT but they upgraded it to an 8600GT when it failed for free).

[Kulzor]

For the most part an 8800GT and a 9800GT are identical. The only real change is that the 9800GT uses their newer 45nm die process, while the 8800GT uses I believe a 65nm die process. Thus the 9800GT will tend to run a little faster, take less power, and generate less heat than the 8800GT.

When running 5 pcs, I prefer lower power/heat...

[Bot]

i just bought an 8800gt and 5 times wow runs very well. i havent used the 9800 but it seemed like you wanted some type of response so my 2 cents. although it is a wierd thing higher number usually means better right? but i must say i cant complain about my 8800. from what ive been able to find it seems as though the 9800 is about the same as the 8800 but with some added features. since its not really a true upgrade it may not have sold well and theyre overstocked, but i dont have any real proof of that statement other than some random message board threads i found by googling '9800gt vs. 8800gt'.

[Noids99]

For the most part an 8800GT and a 9800GT are identical. The only real change is that the 9800GT uses their newer 45nm die process, while the 8800GT uses I believe a 65nm die process. Thus the 9800GT will tend to run a little faster, take less power, and generate less heat than the 8800GT.

When running 5 pcs, I prefer lower power/heat...



QFT. They are so close to identical that I'd pick the cheapest option to be honest.

Cheers

[Hachoo]

Thanks for the advice guys, 9800GT it is (woohoo saving $60).

Also have to get a 4pin to 6pin adapter since my power supply doesn't have a 6 pin pci-e connector. Hopefully it doesn't choke with the new video card, otherwise I guess I'll be buying a new PS also.

[Sam DeathWalker]

http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-q3-2008/benchmarks,30.html

I am sure the 9800 will be the better.

Im using 9600's and hope to get 7 per machine (all setting on low and only 1280 X 960).

[Solon]

I have upgraded from the 8800gt to the 9800gt. It wasn't really an upgrade, I just run a little cooler than before. Both cards for me would run main window at 1600x1050 at full graphics on a 22" WS and 4 others at 800x600 lowest settings together on a 19" WS. The main would sustain 50fps and the clones at 15fps everywhere but shat (after I symbolically linked my data and cache folders).

I honestly agree that the cheaper card is the much better deal. I run an Antec 900 case, so cooling wasn't really an issue before, it is a non issue now. Note that the 9800 should have a lighter power requirement, which might be an issue for you. Good luck. ^^

EDIT: spelling as always

[Hachoo]

Yes the lighter power requirement is nice because I only have a 400W antec powersupply - its a nice one but its pretty old - the 9800GT says it recommends a 400W supply so hopefully it will work. If not I'll upgrade that also, but I think this is the way to go.

I just have to wait until tonight to buy, cause I might have to buy a cable modem as well. Renting one from charter now but its been flakey as hell the last few weeks and they don't want to do anything about it except have me reset it continuously which doesn't always work. Today a tech is coming out, if hes not going to swap the modem out or wants to charge a fortune to do any work then I"ll just buy a motorola or linksys cable modem and stop renting theirs - it'll pay itself back in a year anyway.

[Suvega]

So, uhh...

Don't touch anything in the 8 series with a 10 foot pole,

I've burned 7 out of 7 8 series cards we've gotten (thank god for lifetime warrenties)

[eqjoe]

So, uhh...

Don't touch anything in the 8 series with a 10 foot pole,

I've burned 7 out of 7 8 series cards we've gotten (thank god for lifetime warrenties)

ack! Don't say that! My Dell XPS 1730 Laptop has 8800 SLI.... it would suck hardcore if that died out of warranty!

-j

[elsegundo]

Suvega: how did you burn them? cant be that you've gotten 7 defective cards. whats your setup like and how much do you stress them?

[Haruko]

I'm curious myself on how he burned seven cards. 8 series was very much groundbreaking which is why it was around so long at the top of the charts. At least the g92 core lineup. Glad you got the 9800, it's a great card overall and cheaper like you stated.