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Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

MikeWhitehead
Grafter
Posts: 748
Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

As the subject says, I'm looking for a new graphics card as this one is crying at me (seems it doesn't want to live much longer).
I'm looking along the lines of an EVGA 8800 GTS or, if cheap enough, an EVGA 8800 Ultra.
£475 is the cheapest price I can find for:
768Mb EVGA 8800Ultra Superclocked Mem 2250 MHz, 655 MHz GPU, 128 Stream, x16 PCI-E
£270 is the cheapest I can find for:
640MB EVGA 8800GTS Superclocked, Mem 1700MHz, 567MHz GPU, 96 Streams, x16 PCI-E
Any help would be appreciated Smiley
11 REPLIES 11
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Those are crazy prices.
I paid about £40 for what my system says is:-
Nvidia GeForce 7300 GS
512 MB
PCI Express 16X
GPU frequency 550 MHz
Does everything I want a video card to do.
What's all that overclocking about anyway?
If the card dies it's because you've killed it.
More money than sense...

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

MikeWhitehead
Grafter
Posts: 748
Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

The card died because it's old, not because I killed it; If you must know its a standard 6800 GS I currently have, it's not overclocked at all. So not more money than sense Smiley
I am in the process of pricing up an upgrade and this has been a premature expense, so I thought I'd be better getting a good quality card rather than an old, obsolete, poorly made equivelant. It may do everything that you want a graphics card to do, but not everyone has the same requirements.
Please only reply to the thread if you can contribute to the main subject (cheapest retailer of 8800 graphics cards).
Anyone know of anywhere cheaper for the cards mentioned in my first post?
God
Grafter
Posts: 1,112
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

ebuyer £234.95 inc VAT http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=1...
hmmm.... you could go mad and SLI two of those for the price of the ultra  Shocked
VileReynard
Hero
Posts: 12,616
Thanks: 582
Fixes: 20
Registered: ‎01-09-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Apologies Mike,
I read "SuperClocked" as Overclocked.
I know a few people do that kind of activity. Sorry.
Have you considered buying from a USA outlet (excellent exchange rate).
Regards,

"In The Beginning Was The Word, And The Word Was Aardvark."

MikeWhitehead
Grafter
Posts: 748
Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

God:
You know, it never even crossed my mind to SLI two lesser cards. I wonder what kind of performance I'd get from 2 GTS's compared to a single Superclocked Ultra. Hmmmm...

Axis:
I've been looking around some American stores, but the majority of the cheaper ones only ship within the States. The cheapest I've found now so far is £350 inc shipping from an American place on eBay.
On the subject of SC/OC: The "Superclocked" is actually the card overclocked quite considerably, but the overclocking is done at the manufacturing plant, so any faults in the card can still be reported as a fault, as you haven't done the overclocking by yourself. I'd never buy a £400+ card to then overclock it myself, because then I really would have more money than sense Tongue
God
Grafter
Posts: 1,112
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

To be honest I don't know about the performance ratio of SLI pairs against a normal card either. I wonder if they pool the on board ram as well as processing? If so it might also mean that you could go for cards with less ram.
I actually moved away from SLI when I upgraded as I found it very irritating because I run a a two monitor setup. When you switch in and out of SLI mode one of the monitors gets turned off and your desktop is reset to one monitor. (Sticking the cards on ebay later today!)
Obviously it is not an issue if you are running one monitor.
MikeWhitehead
Grafter
Posts: 748
Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Im running a single Xerox 22" widescreen monitor, so the two monitor problem isn't much of one for me. The only downside to the monitor is that it's non-DVI Sad Any new cards I get I'll need to get a DVI adapter, since I don't have the money to buy a new monitor as well (really, I don't have the money for a graphics card either but there you go :P)
If you are interested, I found a post on another forum regarding this exact topic:
Quote
8800 GTS 640 MB vs. 8800 Ultra
Now this is better balanced. The increased VRAM size of the GTSs allows it to gain quite a bit of ground over its 320 MB cousin - about a 15-20% performance gain overall. A reference 8800 Ultra is about 20% faster than an 8800 GTX thanks to its higher GPU, memory and shader clock, plus a 17% higher memory bandwidth thanks to the heightened memory clock. There is still the matter of the higher number of stream processors in contrast to the GTS, which does impact their ability to render a scene with a high vertex count and things of that nature. I have to say that this would be very close, but ultimately I would have to call the Ultra here for the option to add a second down the line for a massive performance boost. I would just be mindful of the power consumption of these cards before purchasing them, and the same goes the GTXs.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming Tongue
juliasdream
Grafter
Posts: 260
Registered: ‎09-06-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Quote from: MikeWhitehead
Im running a single Xerox 22" widescreen monitor, so the two monitor problem isn't much of one for me. The only downside to the monitor is that it's non-DVI Sad Any new cards I get I'll need to get a DVI adapter, since I don't have the money to buy a new monitor as well (really, I don't have the money for a graphics card either but there you go :P)
If you are interested, I found a post on another forum regarding this exact topic:
Quote
8800 GTS 640 MB vs. 8800 Ultra
Now this is better balanced. The increased VRAM size of the GTSs allows it to gain quite a bit of ground over its 320 MB cousin - about a 15-20% performance gain overall. A reference 8800 Ultra is about 20% faster than an 8800 GTX thanks to its higher GPU, memory and shader clock, plus a 17% higher memory bandwidth thanks to the heightened memory clock. There is still the matter of the higher number of stream processors in contrast to the GTS, which does impact their ability to render a scene with a high vertex count and things of that nature. I have to say that this would be very close, but ultimately I would have to call the Ultra here for the option to add a second down the line for a massive performance boost. I would just be mindful of the power consumption of these cards before purchasing them, and the same goes the GTXs.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming Tongue

I find Aria or Microdirect the best places to look for computer components.
Reasonable prices and quick reliable delivery
Just be sure when you order something that its exactly what you want because for returns or customer service I know Aria can be a nightmare
You can get a refund on unwanted goods but they charge a testing and re-stocking fee
I'm not sure about microdirect but I have heard good reports on them
www.aria.co.uk
www.microdirect.co.uk
polsapple
Grafter
Posts: 30
Registered: ‎15-09-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

scan.co.uk
is my usual port of call. Having said that I recently bought a new printer from PCWorld. Approx £10 cheaper than other places i use (which include Aria and MDirect) it was on an internet special offer but I could still pick up from store. Bargain.
Happy hunting
Smiley
MikeWhitehead
Grafter
Posts: 748
Registered: ‎19-08-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Yea that's where I originally priced them, from scan (I always go there too :P).
I've managed to find them for around £10-20 cheaper on ebuyer, so think I'll just get one from there.
Thanks everybody for your help Smiley
God
Grafter
Posts: 1,112
Registered: ‎30-07-2007

Re: Where is cheapest for graphics cards?

Plus ebuyer are doing free delivery on orders over 50 quid.