8800GTS Vs. 8800GT linked user review

[Quakindude]

I was reading around the EVGA forums today and came across this post. It's an interesting user comparison in that he has an AMD 4200 CPU. There's some other users chiming in with their CPU's and observations as well.

[Dread]

Interesting read.
I would agree with some of the responders, in that if it was time
for me to upgrade, would get the GT. If I was set with a decent card
now, would wait for the next generation or much better drivers before
buying it.

[Stormcrow]

$270 for a card that performs slightly better then the $400 card is outstanding, if you're in the market for a new GPU. Those of us who already have the GTS 640mb, theres no reason to even bother worrying over it.

[polobunny]

Some of those posts are great, others are ridiculous. People with no knowledge of the 3DMark world are running benchs and expecting to see what they saw in certain reviews over the net.
The 8800GT should be hyped like it is. It gives better performance than a 8800GTS for cheaper. End of discussion in my opinion.
I'm not saying it's worth changing your GTS to a GT, but for anyone buying a new card the GTS are rendered "useless".

[azianai]

Just be warn the stock speeds for the fan are inadequate and you need riva to change teh fan speed.

[Yellowhello]

Originally Posted by azianai

Just be warn the stock speeds for the fan are inadequate and you need riva to change teh fan speed.

Isn't the fan temperature-controlled though? Like if the card is getting too hot it will automatically ramp up the fan RPM is compensate? Don't know for sure, just a question...

[OCNoob]

Originally Posted by yellowhello

Isn't the fan temperature-controlled though? Like if the card is getting too hot it will automatically ramp up the fan RPM is compensate? Don't know for sure, just a question...

Yeah, that's usually how it works.

That might be what he's talking about, though. Since the 8800GT uses a smaller heatsink, the fan would have to spin faster for it to cool as good as the larger 8800GTS cooler would, despite the die shrink.

[polobunny]

Thing is the 8800GT automatic fan control, like many other video cards fan control is not really what's best for the videocard. Most of the time the companies set very low values so buyers don't hear a crazy whining noise coming out of their computer. Downside being a big heat buildup, core temps reaching up to 80 celsius which is not ideal if you're a big gamer.
Truth be told, I think companies don't plan on you playing much more than 2 hours a week. Temps going that high for an extended period of time can and probably will start giving you artifacts or even worse, seriously damage your video card core.

For example, one can open his video card bios with certain bios editors and see how the fans are set.
Opening my x1900XT bios i see that at 70 celsius, the fan is at 32%.
At 88 celsius->50%
At 97 celsius->68%
And finally, at 100 celsius->100%
The fan setting is simply ridiculous.
I specify the fan speed myself. When playing 3D games I like to put it at 85%, which normally gives me a maximum temperature of around 63 celsius. For testing purposes, I tried to let it handle itself a few times. I noticed that around 85 celsius (hard to monitor since I have to ALT+TAB) I start getting artifacts. What would leaving it reach 100 celsius accomplish?

I've went the extra mile with this card. When i'm on my desktop, I downclock it and undervolt it. This leaves me with a card that doesn't heat too much, so I can lower the fan setting to 35%, which is in my opinion bearable. I get around 35 celsius temps. When i'm sleeping (since the computer is in my room) I put the fan down to 18%, which makes the temperature rise to 46 celsius. That's all temps at around 23.5 celsius room temperature. If I wasn't managing it myself, it would be on 2D clocks, which normally put the card in the 60's...

[azianai]

by no means is this sayin the 8800gt's not superior to the gts. I myself am considering tryin to offload my gts for the gt, but with the fan stock issues, and also some reviewers stating they get red spots when running at high resolutions, i may stick with the gts till V2 comes out.

[drew and not u]

Seems like going from the GTS to the GT would be more of a sideways move then an actual upgrade.