High End AGP Video Card Advice Please

  • Thread starter Thread starter Eoforheard
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Eoforheard

I have a 3 year old P4/2.4 GHz (2.6 GHz O/C), AGP 4x, Radeon 9700 Pro, 1 GB
PC2700 RAM, 2 x 1600x1200 CRT monitors. Funds permitting, and depending on
how pissed off I get with my current system, I hope to replace it in maybe
9-12 months with a close to high end Socket M2/dual-core AMD CPU and a close
to high end PCI-Express video card depending on M2 availability and prices
of new technology stabilizing.

I am unhappy with the performance of my system in Doom3, HL2, and Riddick.
Even though I play 3D shooters badly, I need all the help I can get. I am
thinking of getting another video card to tide me over until I build the new
system that I would expect to last me for a few years, unless there are
major technology changes. I am making the possibly rash assumption that a
faster video card could be worthwhile and I can leave the CPU alone. There
seems to be nothing faster than a 2.8GHz/533 available anyway that is
suitable for my early rev Asus P4PE motherboard.

It would be cool to have a 16 pipeline card and I can get a 6800 GT or
X850XT AGP for around $300 from ZipZoomFly when they have them back in
stock. I would appreciate some advice on what¹s best to do. Here are a
few thoughts I have:

1. Am I wasting my money on one of those cards as my CPU is so underpowered
and I should settle for a 6600GT, X800GTO, or X800XL (alas, no 6800GS AGP)
or some other card not that there is much to choose from with AGP?
2. Whatever I buy, will I be dissatisfied so I should just put the $300
towards the new system and get it as early as possible?
3. I am not a quietness fanatic as I have three PCs and a Mac running in my
study, but I am rather turned off the Sapphire X800GTO which is supposed to
be particularly loud and it makes me wonder about the 2 slot X850XT.
4. I do watch DVDs on my PC and the nVidia MPEG2 is much better for image
quality than ATI according to Maximum PC, but I think the X850XT would give
me a better chance to try out AA and AF at 1600x1200. I run at 1024x768 no
AA/AF now as I cannot afford the performance hit.

My biggest fear is that I blow $300 on a new card and I cannot tell the
difference.

Thanks for any advice on these questions and any questions I should have
asked instead.

Clive
 
It's unfortunately you can't use a PCIe card now and plug it into your
new box when you eventually upgrade. So that is a problem. I have
the same PC, a 2.4ghz Intel, 1gb RAM and a 21" monitor. I use an X800
Pro card and it works great. The 2.4g chip isn't THAT outclassed yet.

If you really must have a temporary card you might just look for a used
9800 Pro on Ebay and then sell it when you upgrade. Otherwise you're
probably best just waiting it out until you can get your whole new
system put together. Patience is a virtue.
 
Eoforheard said:
I have a 3 year old P4/2.4 GHz (2.6 GHz O/C), AGP 4x, Radeon 9700 Pro, 1 GB
PC2700 RAM, 2 x 1600x1200 CRT monitors. Funds permitting, and depending on
how pissed off I get with my current system, I hope to replace it in maybe
9-12 months with a close to high end Socket M2/dual-core AMD CPU and a close
to high end PCI-Express video card depending on M2 availability and prices
of new technology stabilizing.

My biggest fear is that I blow $300 on a new card and I cannot tell the
difference.

Thanks for any advice on these questions and any questions I should have
asked instead.

Clive
Click to expand...


I went from an ATI 9800 XT to this:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6684652&type=product&id=1083712392168

You will notice the difference and you won't be disappointed...

(Even though I notice the price has gone up since I bought mine less
than a month ago! Must be popular for some reason...)
 
Eoforheard said:
I have a 3 year old P4/2.4 GHz (2.6 GHz O/C), AGP 4x, Radeon 9700 Pro, 1
GB
PC2700 RAM, 2 x 1600x1200 CRT monitors. Funds permitting, and depending
on
how pissed off I get with my current system, I hope to replace it in maybe
9-12 months with a close to high end Socket M2/dual-core AMD CPU and a
close
to high end PCI-Express video card depending on M2 availability and prices
of new technology stabilizing.

I am unhappy with the performance of my system in Doom3, HL2, and Riddick.
Even though I play 3D shooters badly, I need all the help I can get. I am
thinking of getting another video card to tide me over until I build the
new
system that I would expect to last me for a few years, unless there are
major technology changes. I am making the possibly rash assumption that a
faster video card could be worthwhile and I can leave the CPU alone.
There
seems to be nothing faster than a 2.8GHz/533 available anyway that is
suitable for my early rev Asus P4PE motherboard.

It would be cool to have a 16 pipeline card and I can get a 6800 GT or
X850XT AGP for around $300 from ZipZoomFly when they have them back in
stock. I would appreciate some advice on what¹s best to do. Here are a
few thoughts I have:

1. Am I wasting my money on one of those cards as my CPU is so
underpowered
and I should settle for a 6600GT, X800GTO, or X800XL (alas, no 6800GS AGP)
or some other card not that there is much to choose from with AGP?
2. Whatever I buy, will I be dissatisfied so I should just put the $300
towards the new system and get it as early as possible?
3. I am not a quietness fanatic as I have three PCs and a Mac running in
my
study, but I am rather turned off the Sapphire X800GTO which is supposed
to
be particularly loud and it makes me wonder about the 2 slot X850XT.
4. I do watch DVDs on my PC and the nVidia MPEG2 is much better for image
quality than ATI according to Maximum PC, but I think the X850XT would
give
me a better chance to try out AA and AF at 1600x1200. I run at 1024x768 no
AA/AF now as I cannot afford the performance hit.

My biggest fear is that I blow $300 on a new card and I cannot tell the
difference.

Thanks for any advice on these questions and any questions I should have
asked instead.

Clive
Click to expand...

I would get either a 6600GT or a 6800 standard. You will automatically get
much better OpenGL performance for Doom 3, Riddick, Quake 4 and Call of Duty
2 and Half-Life 2 should run easily. Anything else is a waste of cash if you
plan a major upgrade in 12 months.
 
Sleepy said:
I would get either a 6600GT or a 6800 standard. You will automatically get
much better OpenGL performance for Doom 3, Riddick, Quake 4 and Call of
Duty 2 and Half-Life 2 should run easily. Anything else is a waste of cash
if you plan a major upgrade in 12 months.
Click to expand...

Yeah. I just upgraded one of my PC's from an AthlonXP 1800+ to a 3000+ and
from a GeForce Ti4200 to 6600GT and it runs everything to date just fine. It
wouldn't be too far off from your specs either. Fairly inexpensive upgrade
that will allow you to play all the latest games for the next year. Granted
not at top notch quality, but still playable at decent framerates.
 
Thanks, just gotta find somewhere in the UK that'll get me one before the
weekend!! Any where you recommend that'll have stock?

Cheers,
 
Eoforheard said:
I have a 3 year old P4/2.4 GHz (2.6 GHz O/C), AGP 4x, Radeon 9700 Pro, 1GB
PC2700 RAM, 2 x 1600x1200 CRT monitors. Funds permitting, and depending on
how pissed off I get with my current system, I hope to replace it in maybe
9-12 months with a close to high end Socket M2/dual-core AMD CPU and a close
to high end PCI-Express video card depending on M2 availability and prices
of new technology stabilizing.

I am unhappy with the performance of my system in Doom3, HL2, and Riddick.
Even though I play 3D shooters badly, I need all the help I can get. I am
thinking of getting another video card to tide me over until I build the new
system that I would expect to last me for a few years, unless there are
major technology changes. I am making the possibly rash assumption that a
faster video card could be worthwhile and I can leave the CPU alone. There
seems to be nothing faster than a 2.8GHz/533 available anyway that is
suitable for my early rev Asus P4PE motherboard.

It would be cool to have a 16 pipeline card and I can get a 6800 GT or
X850XT AGP for around $300 from ZipZoomFly when they have them back in
stock. I would appreciate some advice on what¹s best to do. Here area
few thoughts I have:

1. Am I wasting my money on one of those cards as my CPU is so underpowered
and I should settle for a 6600GT, X800GTO, or X800XL (alas, no 6800GS AGP)
or some other card not that there is much to choose from with AGP?
2. Whatever I buy, will I be dissatisfied so I should just put the $300
towards the new system and get it as early as possible?
3. I am not a quietness fanatic as I have three PCs and a Mac running inmy
study, but I am rather turned off the Sapphire X800GTO which is supposed to
be particularly loud and it makes me wonder about the 2 slot X850XT.
4. I do watch DVDs on my PC and the nVidia MPEG2 is much better for image
quality than ATI according to Maximum PC, but I think the X850XT would give
me a better chance to try out AA and AF at 1600x1200. I run at 1024x768 no
AA/AF now as I cannot afford the performance hit.

My biggest fear is that I blow $300 on a new card and I cannot tell the
difference.

Thanks for any advice on these questions and any questions I should have
asked instead.

Clive
Clive,

From the sound of it I was running almost the exact same configuration
Click to expand...
as you, P4/2.6/800 OC'd to 3.12, with a Radeon 9700 with a gig of RAM
and a 21" monitor.

Long story short; if you intend to upgrade everything in the near
future, you'll be wasting your money. I went with a BFG 6800GT (AGP)
that I found on Ebay for $250 and while the card itself allows me to up
the resolution on Doom3 and Battlefield 2 the framerates are not what
you'll find on the online testing sites. Quite simply, the processor
is the bottleneck, but I was not willing to do a wholesale upgrade of
my system at this time. The BFG 6800 GT is a great card and I have
been able to up the details and res to a certain extent, but the
difference is not revolutionary.

Save your cash and do it properly in the new year.
 
Mister Hand said:
Clive,

From the sound of it I was running almost the exact same configuration
as you, P4/2.6/800 OC'd to 3.12, with a Radeon 9700 with a gig of RAM
and a 21" monitor.

Long story short; if you intend to upgrade everything in the near
future, you'll be wasting your money. I went with a BFG 6800GT (AGP)
that I found on Ebay for $250 and while the card itself allows me to up
the resolution on Doom3 and Battlefield 2 the framerates are not what
you'll find on the online testing sites. Quite simply, the processor
is the bottleneck, but I was not willing to do a wholesale upgrade of
my system at this time. The BFG 6800 GT is a great card and I have
been able to up the details and res to a certain extent, but the
difference is not revolutionary.


Save your cash and do it properly in the new year.
Click to expand...


Yeah, I tend to agree. I'm sitting on a gaming system that is more than two
years old now featuring a 2.8GHz Northwood C P4, 1GB RAM and a 128MB Radeon
9800 Pro. Actually, I'm still happy with it, but I thought about upping the
video card to an X800XL since prices are getting really sweet on those cards
now, and also to prolong the useful gaming life of the computer. But after
careful consideration, I decided in the end to put the money that I would
have spent on such a card towards a whole new system next year. I too am
waiting for the M2 socket, as well as G80/R580 before I make the plunge. I
set up a specific savings account for a new computer a few months back and
will continue to sock money in it every payday until I want to build.
Upgrading or building a decent new gaming computer need not be difficult if
you are committed to putting aside ~$200 a month for a year. This way it's
not too painful having to come up with the cash (or use credit) all at once.
 
Replacing a 9700 Pro with a 9800 Pro wouldn't be a good idea. There would be
no noticeable difference.

Someone over on Rage3d replaced a 9800 Pro with a AGP 6800GT (although he
had Barton running at 2.2Ghz) he said his performance in Doom3 just about
doubled and all his games ran noticeably faster. A 6800GT would make an
immediate difference in how games would run on your rig.
 
Excellent, well just found this card in stock locally...
Inno3D GeForce 6800 GT

Managed to knock him down to £230 which didn't seem too bad, plus its got
the DDR3 type ram which is quicker than some of the other subbranded 6800's.

Will let you know how I get on!

Cheers
 
Excellent, well just found this card in stock locally...
Inno3D GeForce 6800 GT

Managed to knock him down to £230 which didn't seem too bad, plus its got
the DDR3 type ram which is quicker than some of the other subbranded 6800's.

Will let you know how I get on!

Cheers
 
Yes but they are PCI-E cards, and PCI-E already appears to be much lower
cost than AGP.

Nice website though for the bookmarks, will hang onto that one.

Cheers
 
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