Budget AGP card to replace 9800 Pro

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ptech

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 4, 2005
Messages
301
I've been playing TES4: Oblivion and have been less than impressed with the performance of my 9800 Pro 128MB card. I have an A64 3000+ 754 with 1GB memory. I want to spend between $120-$140 for a new card, and here are the graphics chipsets I've narrowed it down to:

GeForce 6600GT 128MB
ATI X1600Pro 256MB

Both are roughly the same price for AGP models at the egg. Will either of these cards boost my performance? I'm running it currently at 800x600 with medium settings and I'm getting a bit of lag during multiple-NPC scenes and busy landscapes. And does shadermodel3, and opengl 1.5 vs 3, and the 128mb to 256mb memory difference make a big diffrence? Any comments will help. Other suggestions are welcome, as well, as long as it's in the price range.
 
you could probably find a x800gto for that or a 6800gt. The 6600gt is barely better than the 9800pro and the x1600pro just isn't worth it.
 
Yeah, I don't think those cards will improve your performance enough to justify the upgrade. IF you can sell your 9800pro and use the 140$, then you can either find a used 6800GT around the forums or get a new 6800GS, both should be nice upgrades from your 9800.
 
Thanks for the responses guys. I don't think X800GTO's and 6800GT's are in my price range; they're a lot more expensive for AGP models. I tested Oblivion on my friend's 6600GT and it could at least run in 1024 resolution, and he's even running an older XP 2800+. Now I'm thinking of just adding another 512MB of system RAM along with a 6600GT...
 
Honestly, get the X800 XT AIW. Best bang for buck IMO. I have very similar specs to you on my AGP machine. AMD 64 3000+ 1 gig of ram, and this thing can even handle Oblivion on high at 1280x1024 with 4x AA though 1600x1200 runs better without AA. All source games like butter at highest, Riddick runs real nice, Far Cry. Basically, it's still a beast of a vid card. Not to mention it's a single slot card.
 
What if you're going from a geforce 4 to an X1600 is it really that bad? From what I've read on the elderscrolls forums the x1600 can do a good job with oblivion, and it's only 120 bucks.
 
Well then that's all I need. Right now, all I need is a good Oblivion performer.

Can someone do me a small favor and buy both a 6600GT and an X1600Pro (both AGP), then buy Oblivion, run it and benchmark each card, then report to me how well it does? Thanks. That would be swell. I would pat you on the back and be eternally grateful. hehe...
 
170$ GTO 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102609
225$ 6800GT 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130264
274$ AR 7800GS 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130275

This is about the best i could come up with real quick. Anything less than that GTO and your upgrade would be more of a side-grade. Yes, with AGP right now your options suck. Your gonna want a 256MB card for oblivion though, Another 128 card is not gonna do much better. I suggest a used 6800GT or X800pro/xt.
 
Visiontek X1300 512megs DDR2

It's 159.99 at circuit city and it's a very good card for the money
 
Psycho said:
Visiontek X1300 512megs DDR2

It's 159.99 at circuit city and it's a very good card for the money
Click to expand...

He's trying to upgrade not downgrade.
 
Psycho said:
Visiontek X1300 512megs DDR2

It's 159.99 at circuit city and it's a very good card for the money
Click to expand...
what is it with you and the x1300 cards? lol. in the other thread you brag about it being a good card for $179.99. its a horrible card even for $159.99 and 512mb of ram on that level of card is a joke. :D
 
Buying an X1300 for gaming purposes of any type is like buying salt instead of cocaine to get high with.

btw X1300- I wouldn't even pay $60 for it, let alone $160.

~Adam
 
Actually i just spent $150.00 for this X1600XT at newegg for the wifey's rig and i was stunned at how well it ran games as long as you keep the res below 1280x1024 it's very quick. Just a heads up for a good fast ATI based card with SM 3.0. It's also a no-dongle crossfire card as well.
 
yeah I agree the x1600xt actually performs well in oblivion at 1024x768, they have these cards in all the computers at a local lan, you can run everything pretty much on high with hdr on.
 
X1700 class cards should be coming out soon and I guess they will have AGP versions. We all know that the 6800gs and X850 class cards would be good but they are out of your price range

and :p at the guy saying that a $160 X1300 is a good deal
 
ptech said:
I've been playing TES4: Oblivion and have been less than impressed with the performance of my 9800 Pro 128MB card. I have an A64 3000+ 754 with 1GB memory. I want to spend between $120-$140 for a new card, and here are the graphics chipsets I've narrowed it down to:

GeForce 6600GT 128MB
ATI X1600Pro 256MB

Both are roughly the same price for AGP models at the egg. Will either of these cards boost my performance? I'm running it currently at 800x600 with medium settings and I'm getting a bit of lag during multiple-NPC scenes and busy landscapes. And does shadermodel3, and opengl 1.5 vs 3, and the 128mb to 256mb memory difference make a big diffrence? Any comments will help. Other suggestions are welcome, as well, as long as it's in the price range.
Click to expand...
I went from a 9800pro 128mb to a 6800le 128mb (16/6 overclcoked to 6800GT speeds, unlocked pipelines) and its like night and day.

Everything is now playable at 1280x1024 with med/high quality. In FEAR I get 50fpsmin, 100fps average, 200fps max. In quake4 I get 68fps average and everything else is playable (my specs are in my sig).

Screw the 939 upgrade, get a 6800GT/GT or 7800gs and WAIT! It will be more than enough power to hold you over. Coming from a 9800pro you will appreciate it!



BTW I'm with everyone else when I think that a 6600GT is a waist of money for you.

$203 - This is the card that I have. Get it ONLY if you plan on unlocking it.
http://atacom.com/program/print_htm...328979_156_3_163_77&Item_code=VIDA_LEAD_40_SV

$134 Nvidia 6800 - I hear these are unlockable
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140067

$215 - 6800GT
http://www.compuvest.com/Description.jsp;jsessionid=auVFjxoSmtQbO3GAcP?iid=183632

$215 - 6800GS
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322753&affiliate=pricegrabber
 
I will soon be selling an x850xt refurb with a 3-year warranty or the same warranty on a 6800gt refurb (both AGP) for $210 shipped. I havent decided which one I'm going to keep yet. :)

~Adam
 
I'm still looking to upgrade my video card as well, I currenlt have a 9800xt. I don't want to upgrade my whole system just yet, so I'll have to settle for a video card upgrade for now.

Xp3200
1gb ddr 400
nf2
9800xt

What do you guys think?
 
darkhorse said:
yeah I agree the x1600xt actually performs well in oblivion at 1024x768, they have these cards in all the computers at a local lan, you can run everything pretty much on high with hdr on.
Click to expand...


BurntToast said:
Coming from a 9800pro you will appreciate it!
Click to expand...

These comments are very helpful! Thank you! I'm now looking for a good 6800GT and now maybe even an X1600XT... I'm hopeing to find one at maybe around $140 used. I'll let you know how my luck goes around here, thought I doubt I'll find a usex X1600XT since it's pretty new anyways. And thanks for all the links, too, guys...
 
N3rv said:
I'm still looking to upgrade my video card as well, I currenlt have a 9800xt. I don't want to upgrade my whole system just yet, so I'll have to settle for a video card upgrade for now.

Xp3200
1gb ddr 400
nf2
9800xt

What do you guys think?
Click to expand...
Look at my post above. My system is very similar to yours. I just have 2gb of ram.
 
I have to update my experience with oblivion and my 6600gt, after downloading coolbits and setting render frames ahead to 0 I can run it at 1024x768 with med details, HDR(no aa) decently. It still slows down in thick forest though, hopefully I can get a pci-e mobo and a 7600gt soon.
 
ptech said:
These comments are very helpful! Thank you! I'm now looking for a good 6800GT and now maybe even an X1600XT... I'm hopeing to find one at maybe around $140 used. I'll let you know how my luck goes around here, thought I doubt I'll find a usex X1600XT since it's pretty new anyways. And thanks for all the links, too, guys...
Click to expand...

You won't find a usable x1600 XT, since ATI doesn't allow cardmakers to build them in AGP.

The x1600 XT is a MUCH BETTER card than the x1600 Pro, due to having twice the memory speed. The x1600 Pro is a joke, if you are currently using a 9800 Pro.

And why are you budgeting so little on an upgade anyway? Didn't you pay around $150-200 for your 9800 Pro anyway? You'll have to wait another year if you want 9800 Pro eclipsing performance for $125. Expect to pay $175-220 for a good AGP upgrade for your 9800 Pro.
 
We got the X1600XT basically because at resolutions of (1024x768 - 1152x864) the card is as fast as an X800XT, actually in between the X800XL and X800XT in various benchmarks. I also took into consideration that we both still game with CRT's. Hers is 19" max refresh is 75 @ 1600x1200. She plays most games at 1152x864 except older games wher she can easily now go to 1280x1024 or 1600x1200. FEAR is the only one she plays @ 1024x768 with SS off - and the X1600XT runs FEAR at that res like an X800XT, and it's overclocked so in effct it really runs it like an X800XT PE (at lower resolutions). We also switched out her AGP board for a Biostar Tforce 754 and i also OC'ed her 2.2 newy to 2.6).
 
I myself was in the same boat as you last week. I was going to upgrade to a 6800gs agp for ~$225, but then I realized I could get a 7600gt PCI-E and Socket 754 PCI-E mobo for ~$255. Well, then I needed a new power supply or an adapter (20 pin ps to 24 pin mobo) and before it was all said and done I found myself up around $280. So I continued my search....

To make a long story short (too late?)

I was able to buy a used(with 7-day non-DOA guarantee) BbATI x850pro 256mb AGP for $120 shipped. It was an open box with all accessories included, I think it may even be the VIVO(?) card. I'm hoping that this will get me by until the next generation of cards come out sometime after Windows Vista. I know the x800/x850 series may not have the performance of the other more expensive cards, but it also doesn't have the price tag either.
It seems as more people are moving to the other cards mentioned above, a niche for the x800 / x850 series 256mb AGP cards is developing where you can get them for $100-$150. And if that wasn't enough... some of them can be unlocked to 16 pipelines and oc'd to turn them into X800/x850 XT's...

I hope mine will be here tomorrow :)
 
ptech said:
These comments are very helpful! Thank you! I'm now looking for a good 6800GT and now maybe even an X1600XT... I'm hopeing to find one at maybe around $140 used. I'll let you know how my luck goes around here, thought I doubt I'll find a usex X1600XT since it's pretty new anyways. And thanks for all the links, too, guys...
Click to expand...

X1600XT's wont perform half as well as the 6800GT. If you play games more than 10 hours a week then I suggest at least a 6800nu which is probably about 25% better than a X1600xt.

~Adam
 
I think many of us are on the same boat...
My spec here:
P4 2.8C
ABIT IS7-E mobo
512MB x 2 RAM
9800pro 128MB...

I'm switching to the 20'' WS LCD which is 1680 x 1050 rez...after read your posts, now I realize probably I could buy a 6800 or 6800GS for my system, will it run smooth at that high rez? BTW, I play DOOM3,HL2,FEAR,NFSMW...
Thanks
 
BurntToast said:
I went from a 9800pro 128mb to a 6800le 128mb (16/6 overclcoked to 6800GT speeds, unlocked pipelines) and its like night and day.

Everything is now playable at 1280x1024 with med/high quality. In FEAR I get 50fpsmin, 100fps average, 200fps max. In quake4 I get 68fps average and everything else is playable (my specs are in my sig).

Screw the 939 upgrade, get a 6800GT/GT or 7800gs and WAIT! It will be more than enough power to hold you over. Coming from a 9800pro you will appreciate it!
Click to expand...

Um..you're bullshitting right..FEAR at 1280x1024 running at 100fps average on your specs? HAH..maybe if you're running it at 640x480, then you might get the result you posted, because a 6800GT with Anthlon XP will choke on FEAR at 1280x1024, and you don't even have a true 6800GT even with the unlocked LE.
 
CleanSlate said:
X1600XT's wont perform half as well as the 6800GT. If you play games more than 10 hours a week then I suggest at least a 6800nu which is probably about 25% better than a X1600xt.
~Adam
Click to expand...

If you're playing at a res of 1024x768-1152x864 or1280x1024 with no AA/AF an X1600XT will smoke a 6800NU and basically get's very close with a 6800GT as long as quality settings are not to high. Check Far Cry benches here.

http://www.bytesector.com/data/bs-article.asp?ID=609&page=5


As you move up in quality settings and resolutions the 6800GT will take over but a 6800NU certainly won't. The X1600XT is substantially better than a 6800NU at lower resolutions, and still beats it in higher resolutions (although by smaller margins). Essentially what the X1600XT is is a killer low res card with pretty good mid-end performance but won't get you 6800GT/X800XL/X800XT frames in high resolutions (which in my case anyway is not what i bought the card for).
 
I recently upgraded my HTPC with a 512MB x1600pro. I know the 512MB is probably useless, but it was the same price as the 256MB version ($140). I could run some benchmarks if it would help.

I would agree that a 256MB GTO or Xxxxx Pro would definitely offer the best advantage. Try your luck used or refurbed at the for sale/trade forums.
 
Sapphire Radeon X850 XT 256MB PCI Express Video Card $154 after a $15 rebate

link

MUCH faster than the cards mentioned above for just a little extra money
 
trungracingdev said:
Sapphire Radeon X850 XT 256MB PCI Express Video Card $154 after a $15 rebate

link

MUCH faster than the cards mentioned above for just a little extra money
Click to expand...
Ok.....we need agp here. Notice the thread title
 
if you're hitting around 160, go 6800GS. it clocks extremely well (like a 100mhz +) it's a huge improvement. my friend owned a 9800pro, moved to 6800GS, says it's the best thing he ever did sinec he bought his 9800pro
 
There's a guy selling a BFG 6800U in the FS/FT for $200. I know its more than you wanted to spend but thats a good deal on one of the fastest AGP cards.
 
Haha I was looking for this thread last night. My 9800 XT just died last night and I don't have the cash yet to spring for a full upgrade. I'm getting a 6800GS in the morning as soon as they get back in stock at Newegg!
 
acascianelli said:
There's a guy selling a BFG 6800U in the FS/FT for $200. I know its more than you wanted to spend but thats a good deal on one of the fastest AGP cards.
Click to expand...
how is that a good deal? you can buy a brand new one for $20 more.
 
trek554 said:
screw paying $60 more for BFG cause here is a 6800gs for less than $180 BRAND NEW http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1782292&Sku=P56-7024
Click to expand...


You might be able to OC that 6800GS to 6800U levels, but for 20 bux more, I'd go for the used 6800U, and you'd still have a kick ass warranty through BFG anyways.

I upgraded from an AIW 9800Pro to a 6800NU and the difference was night and day. I'm running:

P4 3.06 (stock)
2GB RAM
6800NU

FarCry, Doom3, Jedi Knight, all of 'em @ 1280x1024, smooth as butter.

Go for at least a 6800NU or buy the used 6800U for 200.

Kwincy
 
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