What is the difference between these two video cards?

768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX





768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 Ultra





Also, what is a physics accelerator, and what are its uses?

What is the difference between these two video cards?
As mentioned, the 8800 Ultra is an over-clocked 8800 GTX.





A Physics accelerator helps with effects in video games like rag doll effects and explosions. Although quite effective, most systems usually only have enough PCI slots so they can either utilize a PA or a high end sound card only. Therefore, it is a toss-up for most people as to what they want to use in their computer. Personally, I'd go for the sound card and let the videocard/CPU handle the rest.





In regards to Wireless cards, get one with MIMO as a minimum, read reviews on the cards you are looking at because there is currently strong quality differences between cards. Although N cards are not yet standardized, I'd still go for one due to the average signal strength improvements in general.
Reply:the ultra is really a overclocked gtx, these are both very high end cards also very $$$ expensive. the physics accelerator is a pci slot card (make sure you have room if you use sli) its spose to balance the load between the cpu/gpu for better response times i believe (googlable)





Chipset: Nvidia Geforce 8800 Ultra


Core Clock: 612MHz


Shader Clock: 1510MHz


Stream Processors: 128


Vertex Units: N/A


Memory: 768MB 384-bit 1ns GDDR3


Memory Clock: 2160MHz


Memory Bandwidth: 103.68GB/sec


Fill Rate: N/A


Interface: PCI-Express x16





Chipset: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTX


Core Clock: 575MHz


Shader Clock: 1350MHz


Stream Processors: 128


Vertex Units: N/A


Memory: 768MB 384-bit 1ns GDDR3


Memory Clock: 1800MHz


Memory Bandwidth: 86.4GB/sec


Fill Rate: 36.8 billion vertices/sec.


Interface: PCI-Express x16
Reply:Mike you might be interested in these benchmarks


http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2...





You'll note that there's very little difference between the gt and the ultra in terms of speed. There is a huge difference in price between these cards though. It would actually be cheaper to run two gt's then a single ultra and for less money have a higher performing machine





Also, the NEW 8800gts 512 meg (not the old GTS which comes in 320 and 640 meg variants) is faster than the GTX and costs less.





this 9 page article provides the detail on what I have sketched out here, including comparative benchmarks.





http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.a...
Reply:A physics accelerator is used by some games (not many) to make things look more realistic by moving more smoothly or by having more detail. Not many games support them yet. If you have a specific game in mind, you should find out if it supports it before buying.





There are LOTS of wireless cards for a desktop. The easiest to install plug directly into the USB port on your computer. However, if you are building a gaming rig (which it sounds like you are) and your only connection will be wireless, you should go for a PCI wireless card. Your local computer shop should have plenty, or you can get them at NewEgg.com or similar online stores. They typically cost about $50 for a good one, but you can get them as low as $25 and as much as $100.
Reply:the ultra has more processers and will give you better speed, especially with multiple cards in SLI.





there should be either a PCI or USB wireless card. check your local PC store.