Computersight -

Is your current video card feeling a little sluggish?  If you have an older card, you may not be able to play some of the newer games on their highest settings.  Nvidia’s GeForce 8 series of graphics cards was one of their most capable lines of cards they have ever released.  But now technology has advanced further, and the 8 series has become outdated.  Is it worth it to upgrade from the 8 series to the current GT200 series?  Let’s find out.

I ran benchmarks in 3DMark Vantage with both cards on an identical set up.

The Test System:

DFI DK P35-T2RS

Intel C2D e8400 @ 4.2GHz

4GB OCZ SLI DDR2 RAM

BFG 8800 GTS 512MB / GTX 260

Windows 7 x64

(Image via FutureMark)

RESULTS:

8800 GTS 512 (Core: 780 / Memory: 1066)
Graphics Score 6682

[Graphics Tests]

• Jane Nash: 20.11 FPS
• New Calico: 19.02 FPS

[Feature Tests]

• Texture Fill Test 698.04 GTexels/s
• Color Fill Test 3.29 GPixels/s
• Pixel Shader 24.24 FPS
• Stream Out 25.58 FPS
• GPU Particles 29.41 FPS
• Perlin Noise 32.51 FPS

GTX 260 (Stock)
Graphics Score 9383

[Graphics Tests]

• Jane Nash 28.45 FPS
• New Calico 26.49 FPS

[Feature Tests]

• Texture Fill Test 588.21 GTexels/s
• Color Fill Test 5.18 GPixels/s
• Pixel Shader 31.44 FPS
• Stream Out 27.66 FPS
• GPU Particles 34.69 FPS
• Perlin Noise 35.81 FPS

GTX 260 (Core: 650 / Mem: 1200)
Graphics Score 10644

[Graphics Tests]

• Jane Nash 32.21 FPS
• New Calico 30.12 FPS

[Feature Tests]

• Texture Fill Test 649.93 GTexels/s
• Color Fill Test 6.17 GPixels/s
• Pixel Shader 35.14 FPS
• Stream Out 30.54 FPS
• GPU Particles 38.4 FPS
• Perlin Noise 39.78 FPS

Final Verdict:

This is definitely a worthwhile upgrade, especially for only $200.  As you can see, the benchmark framerates increased by over 150%.  It’s important to keep a gaming PC up to date, and there is no better way of doing so without breaking the bank.