AGP Upgrade... Recommendations?

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wickywicky

Limp Gawd
Joined
Aug 18, 2005
Messages
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looking to upgrade to a faster AGP vid card but not looking to spend $400+ or even $200... currently running a 9600XT but thinking of going NVidia. I game, but not hardcore. Seen quite a few different 6800's in the F/S thread for about $160 but then I saw this ASUS 512mb version: info link, newegg link.

thoughts, comments? initially it seems for $12 (plus shipping) more I can get a RETAIL card with TWICE the ram... Is there a catch or something I should know about? I've never bought a third party card like this, but have always trusted ASUS.

TIA!
 
That ASUS card looks pretty good, but a 6800gs would be better due to its 256 bit memory interface versus the 128 bit interface of the ASUS card. It looks like newegg is no longer carrying the 6800gs though - it got replaced by the 7600 series. Personally, I think the 512MB of ram on the ASUS card is overkill. If I were you, I would try to find a 6800gs on the FS/FT. I paid $160 USD for my 6800gs new (pci-e) and it was a good upgrade over my 9800p, but I had to get a new mobo as well. However, if you like the ASUS 6800, it would be a decent upgrade from you're 9600xt. Hope that helps.
 
wickywicky said:
thoughts, comments? initially it seems for $12 (plus shipping) more I can get a RETAIL card with TWICE the ram... Is there a catch or something I should know about? I've never bought a third party card like this, but have always trusted ASUS.

TIA!
Click to expand...

512MB of GDDR2 = No good ;).
 
wickywicky said:
looking to upgrade to a faster AGP vid card but not looking to spend $400+ or even $200... currently running a 9600XT but thinking of going NVidia. I game, but not hardcore. Seen quite a few different 6800's in the F/S thread for about $160 but then I saw this ASUS 512mb version: info link, newegg link.

thoughts, comments? initially it seems for $12 (plus shipping) more I can get a RETAIL card with TWICE the ram... Is there a catch or something I should know about? I've never bought a third party card like this, but have always trusted ASUS.

TIA!
Click to expand...
Don't know what you think about biostar but newegg has a 6800GT 512 256mem interface.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141026
 
hmm, interesting. i see now about the 256 vs 128 bit ram interface... so this is a steup up from the ASUS card technically but still GDDR2. as far as biostar, i've obviously heard of tuem but really, i've pretty much stuck to NVIDIA and ATI made cards... anyone have comments or experiences with biostar cards?

really after the comments above and reading up on it a bit, i would like to and probably should go with GDDR3, but really i'm not a hardcore gamer so will i really notice a difference? any of these will be a step up from my 9600xt!

Another concern i just thought of is running vista... all of these should handle the areo 3D interface, right?
 
I just went from a 9600 to a 7800gs-what a difference. Having said that have you tried maxing out your 9600 with the ati tool. you can get at least 20% more out of it. I did but still decided to spend the money and get as much out of my current rig before going to a dual cpu etc on my next build. What is your cpu by the way. the new card runs anything at 16 anostopic and
8 x anti aliasing at 85 hrtz at 1024 x 768 with out batting an eyelid.
 
Don't know what you think about biostar but newegg has a 6800GT 512 256mem interface.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...N82E16814141026
Click to expand...

that is a 6800XT, not a GT, i would suggest staying away from the XT's

From what I've heard neither does ATI
Click to expand...

ATi very much does produce their own card

6800gs though - it got replaced by the 7600 series
Click to expand...

it got replaced by the 7800GS which is a very good AGP card, practically the same performance but better advance shader support.

Another concern i just thought of is running vista... all of these should handle the areo 3D interface, right?
Click to expand...

any DX9 card with 256megs of memory (any i guess.. not very specific) and is somewhat modern will run the new interface just fine.

really after the comments above and reading up on it a bit, i would like to and probably should go with GDDR3, but really i'm not a hardcore gamer so will i really notice a difference? any of these will be a step up from my 9600xt!
Click to expand...

not really, but good luck finding a good mid to high end card with only DDR on it, trends moving to mass GDDR3, so if you were looking you could probably find the X1600pro with DDR1 on it, but the difference won't kill you, as you said you weren't a hardcore gamer it really shouldn't be a deciding factor (since it will most likely also bump up the price).

i'd recommend the 7800GS
 
I'd recommend one of 2 things-

upgrade to PCIe, it's easy and you'll be happy you did it (7600gt FTW)

or

get a 6800nu that unlocks or a 6800gt for a good price (100 for nu, 120-130 for gt)

Don't settle for anyhting else (i.e. 6800xt is crap, so is the 512mb, so is the 512mb ultra)

You feel me?
 
i feel you, dawg ;)

gonna start keepin' my eye out for a card. thanks everyone for all your advice!
 
not to hijack your thread but I have a BFG 6800 OC 128MB card for sale for $125.00. I originally upgraded from a 9800pro and it was a huge improvement. With the 16 Pixel Pipeline unlock and the SM3.0 support its a great card. And from BFG its warrantied forever no matter who owns it. Let me know - again, sorry to hijack your thread and shameless hawk my item.

Matt
 
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