[Doog]

£70 extra for an 8600gts

[-rudi-]

Sorry, I misread, it's a 8600GTS which isn't much better than the GT.

[Insanemadman]

Originally posted by -rudi-:
An 8800GTS is at least twice as good as an 8600GT (which is unlikely to be able to play DX10 games with any degree of quality).

I'd pay that extra £70 tbh.

It is the 8600GTS, not the 8800GTS on offer for an extra £70.

[Insanemadman]

Originally posted by -rudi-:
Sorry, I misread, it's a 8600GTS which isn't much better than the GT.

Yeah, basically what I was thinking.

[-rudi-]

Basically, the 8600 series are not very good and not much more powerful than your 7600GT let alone something like a x1950xt or a nVidia equivalent (7800 or 7900 series).

The whole DX10 thing is marketing hype right now, there are very few DX10 games at the moment and the ones that will be released in future will require a decent GPU to run in DX10 mode. Anything other than a 8800GTS 320Mb minimum is simply not that good and will struggle. Hell, there's a lot of speculation as to whether any of the current generation of DX10 cards will give a good performance in DX10 in the next couple of years.

It's an awful time to buy right now as DX10 cards are hugely overpriced.

[-rudi-]

Furthermore (sorry to double post), if that PSU is not very good (it doesn't seem to be) and is a proprietary one that can only be replaced with an over-priced Dell one (as Dell tend to do) you won't be able upgrade your GFX at all in future without paying over the odds. Hence why I wouldn't recommend purchasing from Dell.

[-rudi-]

Check out this article for an explanation as to why the cheaper DX10 cards aren't even considered as mid-range right now.

[Insanemadman]

It may be a bad time for a graphics card, but I don't have a choice really, I have to buy one about now.

Odd how the 7x00 -> 8x00 jump is pathetic, i'd have thought a 8600 would have clearly beaten a 7600 or a 7800.

So, would it be suitable (I can't select another graphics card on this PC, only the 8600GT and 8600GTS), and then upgrade later on when the decent DX10 cards are out?

The 300W PSU may be rubbish, but my current PC has a 350W one, and the E6750 uses much less power than my current P4 does.

Can you recommend any deals from other manufacturers as alternatives to Dell?

[-rudi-]

You won't be able to run a better GPU on a 300W PSU imo, unless it's VERY efficient.

Mesh get good things said about them.

[Insanemadman]

Mesh website seems to be down atm, i'll have a look at their website tomorrow.