Budget AGP card to replace 9800 Pro

I"ve heard the 6800GS could hit Ultra speeds. my friend's clocking like 100+ mhz on his core and about the same on his memory. It's a good investment. and you can get an eVGA 6800GS for about 170 at newegg.com
 
StealthyFish said:
I"ve heard the 6800GS could hit Ultra speeds. my friend's clocking like 100+ mhz on his core and about the same on his memory. It's a good investment. and you can get an eVGA 6800GS for about 170 at newegg.com
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newegg does not have the agp version for anywhere near 170. tigerdirect has it for 179 thats why i already posted a link for it earlier. :D
 
Is there any solid info you've read that said it's going to be released to AGP? Or is that just speculation? I definitely would be happy if it came to AGP, but so far I havent seen any information showing that the 7600 gt will come to agp.
 
I haven't seen anything, but NVIDIA knows that AGP isn't dead yet just as well as I do. They will alienate a part of the market if they don't release an AGP solution. AGP cards will probably be continued atleast until the next generation. Just my guess though. I've been wrong on this kind of stuff before.
 
I was in your exact situation, computer #3's 9800 pro wasn't keeping up during LAN sessions with my buddies so I searched for something cheap, but with more horsepower for a S754 A64 at 2.0ghz.

I found the Apollo 6800 for $134 at Geeks with no rebate and I bit.
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=GF-6800-128TV&cat=VCD

I've received and installed the card. Originally, it was maginally better than my 9800 pro @ 400mHz core/360, about 900 marks in 3D'03. Installation of Rivatuner revealed what the reviewers on Newegg have been saying, only 8 pipes and 5 shaders are activated.

A few clicks in rivatuner, some gradual testing and now I have all 16 pipes and all 6 shaders working, with no artifacts and OC'd to 345/710 which is pretty much its max. Benchmarking gives ~9150 3D'03 marks. The most I ever got with the 9800 was ~6300. A decent increase at a decent price. Temps haven't broken 52C under aload.

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_unlocking/
the unlocking was a piece of cake.

Newegg reviewers are also stating the card is only clocked @ 250mHz core, but I don't think they noiticed that is a default clock for 2D applications. Open up anything 3D and the card ramps up to 325mHz.

Nowhere does it state that this card isn't a full fledged 6800, so I was ready to send it back if I didn't get at least 12 pipes, although even with 16 pipes unlocked it's not a 6800GT (I have one).

All in all a great BUDGET AGP card that fits within your budget and it's a good bump from a 9800 pro, IMO.
 
Thanks for all your help guys. I ended up spending a little more and bought a 6800GT 256MB from the sale section of these forums (my first purchase fron hardforums!). Hopefully all goes well and I'm sure I'll be more than happy with the performance improvements in Oblivion.
 
Howdy,
So would everyone agree that currently the best AGP card to play Oblivion on is the x850xtpe?
 
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