$200 for a Graphics Upgrade and AMD 64 vs P4 2.93Ghz: Should I bother?

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pcstuff

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OK, I have 2 "vanilla flavor" office machines at work, of which I can take one home:

1) P4 2.93Ghz (Prescott core if I remember correctly with a PCI-E card (Radeon X600 Pro 256mb)

2) AMD 64 3200, but no PCI-E slot, only AGP, would have to buy a card

Last weekend I took the P4 home, and it has decent game play. I ran Fear and Q4, both ran ok. I didn't pump up the settings too high. I hadn't been playing games on the PC in a while and was blown away by the detail over my Xbox.

So here are some questions for all you gaming/video ueber-geeks:

- I have $200.00 to spare right now and am wondering if the AMD will do more for me in games than the P4, but since it only has an AGP slot, will I notice a "dramatic" improvement?

- Am I better off buying a better PCI-E card for the P4 machine, or should I save the $200.00 for something else until something new comes out in my price range/or I can afford something really better?

I've been looking at the Nvidia 6600GT cards, they seem to be in my price range for either AGP or PCI-e.
 
pcstuff said:
OK, I have 2 "vanilla flavor" office machines at work, of which I can take one home:

1) P4 2.93Ghz (Prescott core if I remember correctly with a PCI-E card (Radeon X600 Pro 256mb)

2) AMD 64 3200, but no PCI-E slot, only AGP, would have to buy a card

Last weekend I took the P4 home, and it has decent game play. I ran Fear and Q4, both ran ok. I didn't pump up the settings too high. I hadn't been playing games on the PC in a while and was blown away by the detail over my Xbox.

So here are some questions for all you gaming/video ueber-geeks:

- I have $200.00 to spare right now and am wondering if the AMD will do more for me in games than the P4, but since it only has an AGP slot, will I notice a "dramatic" improvement?

- Am I better off buying a better PCI-E card for the P4 machine, or should I save the $200.00 for something else until something new comes out in my price range/or I can afford something really better?

I've been looking at the Nvidia 6600GT cards, they seem to be in my price range for either AGP or PCI-e.
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Depending on the core of that 3200+, the difference probably won't be VERY noticable in comparision to a 3.0gzh prescrapp but I would still prefer the AMD personally.

However, seeings how the AMD machine is AGP, you upgrade options are going to be limited in the future as everything is going to PCI-E. That being said, it all depends if you just want this machine to work decently for awhile with minimual money OR do you want this sucker to last years down the road?

If you want the PC to last without having to replace it for awhile, go with the P4 and the PCI-E

If you want the PC to just *work* and plays games decently but have limited future expansion for video cards, get the AMD.

You can wait until the end of mandkind for a $200 video card. How LONG to wait is entirely up to you.
 
The thing is, it's a work machine, so probably in another year or so I will get anew one to take home. So I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on upgrading this one, so I can play a few games over the next year.

That said, I'm still a geek at heart, and if I can upgrade the vid card for a >$200.00 and see a dramtic improvement over the current P4 X600 machine, I will spend that much, but not a penny more.

I'm debating whether or not I should spend $200.00 now and if so, on which machine (AGP or PCI-E), or on the other hand, leave it be, and upgrade the new machine I will be taking home in another 12 month to a better vid card.
 
pcstuff said:
The thing is, it's a work machine, so probably in another year or so I will get anew one to take home. So I don't want to spend a whole lot of money on upgrading this one, so I can play a few games over the next year.

That said, I'm still a geek at heart, and if I can upgrade the vid card for a >$200.00 and see a dramtic improvement over the current P4 X600 machine, I will spend that much, but not a penny more.

I'm debating whether or not I should spend $200.00 now and if so, on which machine (AGP or PCI-E), or on the other hand, leave it be, and upgrade the new machine I will be taking home in another 12 month to a better vid card.
Click to expand...

In that case, I wouldn't bother. $200 won't net you a video card that will be substantially better then the X600 beyond a 6800GT which will be tough to find for $200 even now. If your getting machines for free from work and get it replaced next year, keep the $200 and use it for casual gaming but don't expect to run with all the eye candy on like machines like mine can churn out. Then again, this is around $3000 worth of equipment.
 
Thanks for the advice! That was kind of my feeling, too, but without actually trying a "better" video card I wasn't sure which way to go.
 
IceWind said:
In that case, I wouldn't bother. $200 won't net you a video card that will be substantially better then the X600 beyond a 6800GT which will be tough to find for $200 even now. If your getting machines for free from work and get it replaced next year, keep the $200 and use it for casual gaming but don't expect to run with all the eye candy on like machines like mine can churn out. Then again, this is around $3000 worth of equipment.
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I have to disasgree with this recomendation. The X600pro is basically the same as a 9600pro which is a mid-range card from early 2003. Just look at this [H]ardocp review of the 6600GT compared to the X600XT: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjYw .

The 6600GT slaughters the X600XT (probably 100% performance difference in most cases). Also, taking into account that the OP is using an X600pro (which has a core that's clocked 100MHz lower than the X600XT) the performance different would be even larger.

With a 6600GT you would be playing most of your games at 1280x1024, whereas an X600pro might get you 800x600 at medium details. I would say that upgrading would be worth it.
 
For best performance NOW, get the A64 and put a AGP 6600 GT in it. or 6800 Regular. Either can be had for under 200$. This will give you more performance then the P4 system witht he same card easily. And since your getting a new machine next year anyways who cares if you can't upgrade to a PCI-E card.. dosent sound like your to interested in spending the money that would require anyways. I can promise you though the A64 3200 +6600GT will outperform that P4 with a PCI-E 6600.
 
I thought I made it out and you guys reel me back in! :D

Hmm, so I should look at a 6600GT AGP card for the AMD 64 machine. Looking on pricewatch, it seems that the 6800 AGP card is in about the same price range ($170), but seems to have a bit more horsepower. Do you guys agree?

Thanks to all the posters for your input, btw!
 
Although the AMD 64s are generally a little bit faster, I would go with the P4 for the PCI-E. Your next system is almost definitely going to have PCI-E, so at least your card won't be worthless to you at that point.
 
matt fury said:
Although the AMD 64s are generally a little bit faster, I would go with the P4 for the PCI-E. Your next system is almost definitely going to have PCI-E, so at least your card won't be worthless to you at that point.
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Damn, every time I think I've made up my mind, someone throws in another very good point.... No wonder I have such a hard time making up my mind. :p

So, what PCI-E card for under $200.00 do you guys suggest? Still a 6600GT and 6800 regular? Does anybody know of a roundup review site that reviews all the different 6600gt and 6800 flavors?
 
I remember a hot deal for the x800xt pe for 200 in the deals section. Not sure if it is still there.
 
Go for ATI at that price point. Unless you can find a 6800GT, the max deal for your money is one of the cards mentioned in the above posts. GTO2 probably being your best bet because of the guarenteed unlock and OC.
 
I found an X800XL for $185.00 shipped. Hope it will really show an improvement over the X600, otherwise I'll come back and give you guys a piece of my mind! j/k

Thanks again for all the good pointers!
 
pcstuff said:
I found an X800XL for $185.00 shipped. Hope it will really show an improvement over the X600, otherwise I'll come back and give you guys a piece of my mind! j/k

Thanks again for all the good pointers!
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Great choice for the price. You will notice a huge difference.
 
am I the only one that wants to know where he works that they are upgrading from 3200+ AMDs and Pentium 4 2.93s?
 
Go with the P4. A tiny bump in processor power vs. PCIE?

Go for the PCIE.
 
3200 + any of the previously mentioned video cards is the best deal for gaming. If you are going to be getting new systems in a year then whats the sense with losing horsepower to future upgradeability? Plus, if that's a venice core you can OC the crap outta it and really be flying.
 
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