what to buy: 8800GT or HD3870 or 9600GT ?

So, I decided to buy a new videocard. Presently, I have an nVidia
7600GT. It plays a lot, if not most of the games of the past 2 years
at the settings close to maximum. But I wanted to be able to play
Crysis and the like.

I was thinking about nVidia 8800GT. However, its length is 23 cm, and
the available space in my PC case is 22 cm. So, no 8800GT... maybe,
the Gigabyte version with the Zalman cooler and the non-reference PCB
which is 21 cm long.

The alternative is ATI HD3870. "Triplex" from Taiwan released the 3870
card with a non-reference PCB which has a length of 19 cm, and thus
will fit my case. Those cards were sold exclusively in China, but
started to pop up in the USA, Australia and Germany as seen on eBay.

I was contemplating by such a card from eBay, but the price in here is
still high (~ US$250) even inspite the advertised decrease of the
price of the card by AMD from US$250 to $190.

This decrease was inspired by the announcement of 9600GT by nVidia. It
perfroms almost as good as HD3870, but costs $170. I think I like the
idea of 9600GT more... but this card is long ! -- I cannot fit it into
my case -- it is as long as the reference 8800GT.

I did an extensive reading on the INternet, and it came out why the
performance of 9600GT is as good as that of HD3870 even if it has a
less powerful hardware. The first reason is that nVidia optimised
their hardware for fps performance in gaming. Secondly, the RV670 chip
in HD3870 has a flaw: it has a software implementation of anti-
aliasing (which I need for SH4) instead of hardware one. Moreover, the
AA is via the so-called "tent" function, which just averages over the
neighborhood, and thus makes the sharp details look muddy. You do not
always need that ! What's more (and very serious), nVidia seems to
come up often with the updated drivers for the latest games; ATI is
not doing it, and it is not known whether they will provide such a
support after being acquised by AMD.

In short, I could wait for half a year more, and probably buy an
HD3870 for $160-190. Or, I could wait the same half a year, and
possibly buy 9600GT for $150-170 (and a new case, or wait for a
shorter non-reference PCB design ?). Or, I could buy right now the
grey-import HD3870 (from China tailored for the Chinese market with
the Chinese quality) for $260. What do you think guys ?

for budget i'd go for a 8800GT then overclock it. 512mb or 1gig versions
best. faling that the 8800gtx
"Beladi Nasrallah" <nasralla.DeleteThis@inbox.com> wrote in message
news:44a7fc7c-70a0-4415-8252-7227c8acad71@e10g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> So, I decided to buy a new videocard. Presently, I have an nVidia
> 7600GT. It plays a lot, if not most of the games of the past 2 years
> at the settings close to maximum. But I wanted to be able to play
> Crysis and the like.
>
> I was thinking about nVidia 8800GT. However, its length is 23 cm, and
> the available space in my PC case is 22 cm. So, no 8800GT... maybe,
> the Gigabyte version with the Zalman cooler and the non-reference PCB
> which is 21 cm long.
>
> The alternative is ATI HD3870. "Triplex" from Taiwan released the 3870
> card with a non-reference PCB which has a length of 19 cm, and thus
> will fit my case. Those cards were sold exclusively in China, but
> started to pop up in the USA, Australia and Germany as seen on eBay.
>
> I was contemplating by such a card from eBay, but the price in here is
> still high (~ US$250) even inspite the advertised decrease of the
> price of the card by AMD from US$250 to $190.
>
> This decrease was inspired by the announcement of 9600GT by nVidia. It
> perfroms almost as good as HD3870, but costs $170. I think I like the
> idea of 9600GT more... but this card is long ! -- I cannot fit it into
> my case -- it is as long as the reference 8800GT.
>
> I did an extensive reading on the INternet, and it came out why the
> performance of 9600GT is as good as that of HD3870 even if it has a
> less powerful hardware. The first reason is that nVidia optimised
> their hardware for fps performance in gaming. Secondly, the RV670 chip
> in HD3870 has a flaw: it has a software implementation of anti-
> aliasing (which I need for SH4) instead of hardware one. Moreover, the
> AA is via the so-called "tent" function, which just averages over the
> neighborhood, and thus makes the sharp details look muddy. You do not
> always need that ! What's more (and very serious), nVidia seems to
> come up often with the updated drivers for the latest games; ATI is
> not doing it, and it is not known whether they will provide such a
> support after being acquised by AMD.
>
> In short, I could wait for half a year more, and probably buy an
> HD3870 for $160-190. Or, I could wait the same half a year, and
> possibly buy 9600GT for $150-170 (and a new case, or wait for a
> shorter non-reference PCB design ?). Or, I could buy right now the
> grey-import HD3870 (from China tailored for the Chinese market with
> the Chinese quality) for $260. What do you think guys ?
>