Upgrade "old dog" AGP system....

[BlindedByScience]

Guys - I'm going to rock the system in my sig for a while longer, until I go CoreDuo, PCI-E, etc.

Dumb question - I'm going to assume a 7800GS will wipe the floor with my current 6800GT...yes? The egg has a nice rebate on the BFG and I'm thinking about a little upgrade...if it is in fact an upgrade....

Thanks in advance - B.B.S.

 

[GonzoP]

BBS what resolution do you game at? The 7600GT actually beats out the 7800GS below and sometimes even at 16x12 and 1680x1050. If you're above that then yes you've got to pony up for the 7800GS. I was going back and forth between the two cards until I saw the benchies. I use only a 17" LCD native 1280x1024 and there's a moderate lead for the 76GT over the 78GS. Not to mention there's a bit of OC room on the 76GT even without volt mods. Don't be overly discouraged by the 128bit memory or 12 pixel pipelines.

Having said all that, either card is only going to be a half-step upgrade from your 6800GT depending on how far you've got that thing OC'd. Case in point looking at your P4 3Ghz in your sig. I'd venture a guess your 3DMark 03 and 05 scores are in the 12K and 5500 neighborhood respectively. With my 76GT I'm about 1K above each of those numbers. Now who gives a care about 3DMark right. Well even in real games the jump from a 68GT to either a 76GT or 78GS [depending on resolution] may be as small as just a few frames to no more than 10-15fps.

 

[BlindedByScience]

Well even in real games the jump from a 68GT to either a 76GT or 78GS [depending on resolution] may be as small as just a few frames to no more than 10-15fps.

GonzoP - thanks for your comments. Your statement is what I was concerned about. The more I read, this seems like it won't be a huge step up in terms of performance so at this point, I'm thinking I'll just apply the upgrade cash to the new PC fund and call it good...


Thanks - B.B.S.

 

[Xilikon]

Also, if you don't play Oblivion, the 6800GT is a decent performer so you can ride on it for a bit till DX10 cards and new hardware.

Myself, i'm upgrading to a pci-e mobo and 7900GS since Oblivion is my main game and i'm not really happy with the 6800GT speed. However, in HL2:EP1, it perform really well at 1280x1024 with all eyecandy on.

 

[BlastRadius]

I was going to obviously mention the gainward 7800+ GS. But if you live in the USA then there really is no point.

Only reason I mention it now is that there is a very very noticeable difference between a 6800GT and the Gainward card; and probably the only true AGP upgrade available for you. Not worth the money or time for you to get one though...

 

[Xilikon]

I was going to obviously mention the gainward 7800+ GS. But if you live in the USA then there really is no point.

Only reason I mention it now is that there is a very very noticeable difference between a 6800GT and the Gainward card; and probably the only true AGP upgrade available for you. Not worth the money or time for you to get one though...

Forgot about the Gainward Bliss but you are right, it's not worth the price unless you want to brag about having the fastest AGP system on the planet...

 

[Sovereign]

7600GT! If you can get one. I don't know if they're in stock right now. But, my friend games at 1280x1024 and runs Call of Duty 2 maxed out with 8xSAA/16xAF (damn same settings as my SLI rig... ) and it's perfectly playable. He can run most games on High settings (no Ultra on the Doom3 engine as that makes use of 512MB video memory).

Don't be put off by the 128-bit memory or 12 pipes, it's a great card. I thought the 128-bit interface couldn't handle modest AA, but it can...and they usually overclock well (590/750 from 560/700 on STOCK air).

 

[Tzzird]

7600GT!!

Don't be put off by the 128-bit memory or 12 pipes, it's a great card. I thought the 128-bit interface couldn't handle modest AA, but it can...and they usually overclock well (590/750 from 560/700 on STOCK air).

QFT

 

[GonzoP]

GonzoP - thanks for your comments. Your statement is what I was concerned about. The more I read, this seems like it won't be a huge step up in terms of performance so at this point, I'm thinking I'll just apply the upgrade cash to the new PC fund and call it good...


Thanks - B.B.S.

Yeah I was upgrading from a Ti 4200 to it was worth it for me to invest the $$ to get another year out of my rig which frankly now handles anything out there at 1280x1024. But given your specs you might as well start thinking about a quad core/DX10 system next year