Nvidia 9800 GTX+ or a Nvidia 260

[moltar512]

hey

right now i'm running a x1900xt under windows 7
for most things, it's okay, but recently i've been trying to play World of Warcraft with a friend of mine, and since ATI decided that my video card doesn't deserve Windows 7 drivers, I'm thinking about buying a new card

I'm wondering between a Nvidia 9800 GTX+ or a Nvidia 260.

which is the better deal? will probably only be used for World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and/or Diablo III

Links below:

EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

$134.99
($124.99 after $10.00 Mail-In Rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339

or

Galaxy 26XIF9HM1QUH GeForce GTX 260 896MB 448-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

$164.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814162039

or

EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

Your Price:$189.99
Mail-In Rebate :N82E16814130434 $10.00
Price after rebateN82E16814130434(s):$179.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130434

 

[jay2tall]

The GTX 260 is superior, but why not a 4890 which is even better?

IS H489FP1G Radeon HD 4890 Turbo+ 1GB:
$189.99 + $10MIR
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161298

 

[Maziar]

+1^
If its only between 9800GTX+ and GTX 260 then go for GTX 260 because its faster but as jay said 4890 is a better option too

 

[x-nitrous-x]

GTX260 FTW!

 

[cyberkuberiah]

+1 for 4890 .

 

[renz496]

if you only have two choice then go for GTX260. HD4890 is also good. the performance is better than GTX260. btw it's your money so it's your call

 

[amnotanoobie]

9800GTX+ is roughly equal to a GTS 250.

 

[jay2tall]

What does the rest of your system look like? Just curious.

 

[zodiac949]

I'd go with the GTX260. I own a BFG 9800GTX+ and they really arent the greatest.

 

[jay2tall]

^the 9800GTX+ is an outstanding card. The GTX260 just outperforms it by a bit. It's not even THAT much.

 

[dwisen]

9800GTX+ is roughly equal to a GTS 250.

they are the same exact card the ONLY difference is that most of the GTS250's come with 1GB ram and the 9800 GTX+ only has 512MB, but you can also get a GTS250 with 512MB ram. so other than the ram there is NO difference in between the two cards

 

[moltar512]

As far as my system goes, it's a few years old.

I've got a Core 2 Duo 6600 with 2 gigs of ram and an ASUS P5B Deluxe board.

i'd upgrade the ram, but even using windows 7 i don't think i'm actually maxing out the ram I have now. This past week, i've been playing WOW windowed (which seems to help), watching a pirated movie, and/or running firefox in the background.

I was going to stay away from ATI because i'm still butthurt about the driver thing, but I can get over it pretty quickly if it really is a better card. More importantly, i didn't want to spend a fortune for a video card since, like I say, I'm pretty much only going to be playing Blizzard games (Xbox and Wii fill my other needs pretty well)

Thanks for the help guys.. you guys really helped out alot toward my decision. I've been coming to Tom's Hardware in one fashion or another for 10 years and you guys have always been super knowledgeable and friendly to an hardware-out-of-touch n00b like me

 

[moltar512]

Oh, btw.. Should i worry about buying a card from a weird manufacturer like Galaxy? I've seen and bought EVGA before with pretty good results, but if i can save 30 bucks and still have the exact same card... *shrug*

what's the word on no-name brands?

 

[x-nitrous-x]

just show us a link to the cards your interested and we will give you advice based on your results posted.

 

[dwisen]

Oh, btw.. Should i worry about buying a card from a weird manufacturer like Galaxy? I've seen and bought EVGA before with pretty good results, but if i can save 30 bucks and still have the exact same card... *shrug*

what's the word on no-name brands?

my preferance is name brands like PNY, BFG, EVGA. i have heard of Galaxy before but never tried the products, my input on it would be to google the manufacture and model# and look for a result from a place that offers reviews. like newegg

 

[hopar]

my preferance is name brands like PNY, BFG, EVGA. i have heard of Galaxy before but never tried the products, my input on it would be to google the manufacture and model# and look for a result from a place that offers reviews. like newegg

Add Gigabyte, ASUS and MSI to that list. All of these are major players in the field.