Should I upgrade now?

[Scheibler1]

heres my rig:
intel e2180...overclocked to 2.8, maybe 3.0-3.2 with better cooler
2x1gb pc6400 g.skill 5-5-5-18 memory
gigabyte p35-ds3l
ATI X850XT---selling for $50 shipped if I upgrade

I haven't even built the rig yet and bought the x850xt for $50 shipped not expecting that I would have enough cash to buy the 8800gt, but now I do! Is the 8800gt a significant improvement over the x850xt at lower resolutions such as 1280x1024?

Was looking into getting an 8800gt or 9600gt...is the 8800gt worth the extra money? I play games at 1280x1024 and would like to play these games at high or very high detail max aa/af:

World In Conflict-will obviously turn off some features
Battelfield 2 and 2142
Command and Conquer 3
Medal Of Honor Airborne
Far Cry
Unreal Tournament III
IL2 Sturmovik 1946

Or should I just keep the x850xt? I will not be using vista, only windows xp 32-bit

 

[HardwareGuru]

Your in good shape with that X850XT. It is pretty decent that card for 1280 x 1024. If you want to game at 1680 x 1050 then the 8800GT will be more ideal. The best thing to do is put together the system with the X850XT and run those games to find out how they perform to your needs. Then, you can really decide if you're satisfied or not. I have an X1650 Pro AGP on a single core Athlon 64 3000+ and I can play COD4 at 1280 x 800 as well as UT3 at 1280 x 800. I had it at this resolution because I have a 16:10WS LCD. But, the X850XT should fare better as it is a faster card than a X1650Pro and your CPU is also faster than my CPU. Your fine.

 

[bluehaze013]

Right now is probably worst time to upgrade. New cards from NVidia next month will affect prices accross the board from both Nvidia and ATI on all their cards (Although 9600GT does seem like a bargain for 169.99) However unless you are in dire need and don't mind wasting the extra money it's probably best to wait a few more weeks and save some bucks.