Upgrading from a 9500Pro ~$200 budget, give some insight please.

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Konstantinnovation

Gawd
Joined
Jun 25, 2001
Messages
677
NEEDS:
I am running an A64 3200+
ATI vs Nvidia: I dont care*
I would like a card that would make all the new games look the way they are intended to look. I can't tell what my 9500pro cant do in DX9 so please chime in if you can give some info.

MY IDEAS:
I see that the following two cards are approximately what i should be looking into.
little bit cheaper: 9800Pro 256-bit 128mb
little bit faster: 6600GT 128mb

WHY I AM UPGRADING:
I DON'T want to do this upgrade, but my bro is suffering. He uses a Geforce2 MX440 which is no longer a valid option for any gamer.


*I dont care ATI vs NVIDIA, provided NVIDIA has good multi monitor/tv out support like ATI does. I know ati has more incentive to work on the software for the tvout for their all in wonder products, and have been quite pleased with them thus far.
 
HA!.. I just got rid of my mx440 last week. Got a AIW 9800PRO for $229 @newegg. I also was considering a fx5950, but opted for the AIW features.. I love it so far, everything runs smooth and now water is pretty again!
 
I don't really need the All in Wonder. I live in NYC and i cannot use my PC to tune cable. I would need to use a cable box.. and m not paying for another one.

I need solid multi montor for sure, and occasionally I may want to have the TV out.

BTW, water in what game is pretty?
 
6800nu is better than the 6600gt for sure. Plus, you might be able to unlock.
 
Unless you mean the LE, i dont see one in my pricerange.

Pricewatch Quotes:
$250 - GeForce 6800 LE 128MB
$370 - GeForce 6800 GT 256MB
$323 - GeForce 6800 GT 128MB
$332 - GeForce 6800 GE 256MB

Is this card basically a 6600 with 256bit?
 
looks like the 66/6800 are the popular choice. i took the AIW cause my lame ass "DV" cam dosent work like it should. As far as I researched though, the 9800PROs arent bad comparitively.

And I was referring to the water in farcry. My old MX440 liked to draw boxes around things in water.
 
ill say a 6600GT AGP
BTW a 9500 is a full DX9 card it can do every thing but SM2b up

id realy look in to a 6600GT or 6800nu
 
sickpuppy said:
Is this card basically a 6600 with 256bit?
Click to expand...

no, it's a completely different architecture. If your budget is $200 max it won't really matter for you though, since $250-$300 is it's range. Unless compusa has another PNY sale, but even then i would stay away from PNY cards.
 
A 6800LE is a 6800 (256-bit) that's been locked down to 8/4 (I believe it's only 4 vertex shaders), out of a possible 16/6. The card has a LOT of modding potential (stress on potential), but it stinks otherwise- it costs more than a 6600GT, while getting beaten consistently in benchmarks.

Get the AGP 6600GT. 9500Pro is still an amazing card, it just doesn't have the raw power to keep up with modern chips.
 
Another vote for the 6600 GT. It consistently beats the 9800 Pro, and the prices are about the same. If you find an awesome deal on a 9800 Pro, it is still a very worthy card, but at close to equal prices the 6600 GT is a no-brainer. The Leatek ones seem to get the best reviews for performance, temperature and noise (e.g. at Anandtech.com).
 
Not the 6800LE, not the 6800GT, just the regular 6800. Just look for BFG 6800OC. Beats the 6600GT, possibility to be unlocked, and is around 220-230.
 
Posted on anandtech: "The x800(350/700) 12pipe card is coming out by the end of this month"

I can wait a month. But how would it place compared to other cards?
If it is to fill the market gap that the 9800 leaves because of the 6600, then it should be better price/performance than the 6600.

Bottom Line:
Saving 5$ due to decaying prices is not worth it for me. If I can get something Better or noticeably cheaper next month I can wait.


"Just look for BFG 6800OC"
Didnt come up with anything priced close to what you say and i tried a few searches.
 
pduan87 said:
Not the 6800LE, not the 6800GT, just the regular 6800. Just look for BFG 6800OC. Beats the 6600GT, possibility to be unlocked, and is around 220-230.
Click to expand...

220-230? $305 @ Pittsburgh BB
 
pigpen said:
220-230? $305 @ Pittsburgh BB
Click to expand...
Yeah, thats what I was thinking too... its a bit more than that. If you know where you can get a 6800nu for 230 let me know.
 
sickpuppy said:
Posted on anandtech: "The x800(350/700) 12pipe card is coming out by the end of this month"

I can wait a month. But how would it place compared to other cards?
If it is to fill the market gap that the 9800 leaves because of the 6600, then it should be better price/performance than the 6600.

Bottom Line:
Saving 5$ due to decaying prices is not worth it for me. If I can get something Better or noticeably cheaper next month I can wait.


"Just look for BFG 6800OC"
Didnt come up with anything priced close to what you say and i tried a few searches.
Click to expand...

if your going to wait on that it might be much more then a month with ATi track record >.< my guess is itll be out 2-3 months and even then ill be a an inflated price 250ish is my guess
 
Well, if you don't mind warranties, you could buy the 256MB ATi 9800 and flash it to XT. You'll have all the same features and should perform the same if not better than the 6600GTs. If you don't want to void the warranty, go with the 6600GT. ;)
 
If you're going to get any 9800pro get the MSI one. MSI uses the 9800XT cores, and I've read MANY successful flashes to 9800XT and OCs to 9800XT speeds.
 
FaRKle0079 said:
If you're going to get any 9800pro get the MSI one. MSI uses the 9800XT cores, and I've read MANY successful flashes to 9800XT and OCs to 9800XT speeds.
Click to expand...

Yeah, most of the new 9800s come with the R360 chip. :) (and some of the 256mb come with the XT PCB so you can have a full XT)
 
Since people seem to say that waiting for the x800 isnt the best of ideas, I have my eye on the following:

XFX 6600GT I heard some of the other top brands dont have very secure HSF mounts, and this one has dual dvi out =)

Anyone else have problems with their 6600GT's overheating etc?
 
The 6600GT is the best choice for $200. Period. The 6800LE isn't, and the X700Pro hasn't been made in AGP (not that it's better because it isn't.) The 9700-9800 series aren't better. Now if you go up to the $250 range then of course the 6800NU is the better choice and while I somewhat agree that with other people that the 6800 series is the better buy it is of course more expensive.

What people sometimes fail to realize is sometimes when you need a part NOW you can't always step outside a certain price range. Your in need and locked in. If you aren't willing to or can't go outside your budget than the 6600GT won't dissappoint.
 
Well i am looking at a $225 6600GT, i suppose i should look into the plain 6800's and see the performance diff. I dont have a budget cap per se. I just want the best bang for the buck.
 
Sigh, Why am i starting to push to 300$ ^^

*Slap self on wrist* Bad Bad Puppy. Spend your money on Hardrives and a new PSU!

6800's are $270 to start + a $30 cooler so i can unlock and OC...

$200 is a very lame price range, nothing falls in it and makes me happy.
 
This is a bad forum to come to with a price range, because unless your price range is $500, there will always be a bunch of people that will say "X card is better for just X more dollars." If you said you had $300, people would tell you to:

A.) save a bit and buy a 6800 GT because it's so much better
B.) wait on a X800 XL

That's just the nature of the beast. You would probably be very happy with a 6600 GT, because it is after all an 8 pipe card. It should seem like quite the boost from your 4 pipe 9500.
 
Yes, I've been using a 6600GT PCI-Express for over a month and it's surprisingly fast. I have played HL2 all day at 1280x1024 with 2xAA and 8X AF and it's actually run really good. Totally smooth. I was very surprised by it's performance.

That being said I'll still be happier when my 6800GT PCI-E arrives. I only bought the 6600GT so that I could play some games while my 6800GT was on backorder.
 
sickpuppy said:
Sigh, Why am i starting to push to 300$ ^^
6800's are $270 to start + a $30 cooler so i can unlock and OC...
Click to expand...
You don't need an extra cooler for that. The 6800 uses the same single-slot cooler as the 6800GT, which runs 25MHz faster on the core while upping the voltage to 1.4V, compared to 1.1 or 1.2 on the vanilla. Also, I believe that newer TYPES of memory run hotter than their predecessors even at the same speeds, so that the 700MHz DDR is significantly cooler than GDDR3 running at 1GHz. Unless you realistically expect to run your card beyond Ultra speeds (approximately same temps as GT), the reference cooler already on it should be fine.
 
9800pro or a 9600XT would be a fine upgrade for you. They can play all games just fine.
 
2Fresh said:
9800pro or a 9600XT would be a fine upgrade for you. They can play all games just fine.
Click to expand...
LOl, the 9600XT would be a downgrade.

Believe me, you do not want a 9600XT.

biohazard_nz said:
Personaly, I would save up and get the 6800 (not ultra or GT, just 6800 vinalla) because looking at the NVIDIA forum, many people are having all sorts of crashing, overheating, artifacting problems.

see: http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showforum=26
Click to expand...
This seems to only be a problem for ppl with SIS motherboards; and there already seems to be a fix for it (at least according to your link).
 
Basically I want games like: DeusEx2, Doom3, HL2, VampireTMR, Farcry etc. to run nicely at high detail at ~1280. I basically want the games to look like they were meant to look and still be smooth. I can barely play these games at 1024 on my 9500Pro, with no AA.
 
What are the specs of your system? (particularly CPU)

It's an important factor in your decision, as your system might bottleneck the performance gains of the 6800nu (hence, the 6600GT might be the best choice after all).
 
sickpuppy said:
Basically I want games like: DeusEx2, Doom3, HL2, VampireTMR, Farcry etc. to run nicely at high detail at ~1280. I basically want the games to look like they were meant to look and still be smooth. I can barely play these games at 1024 on my 9500Pro, with no AA.
Click to expand...

On my 9700 pro, I can run Doom 3 at 10x7, HQ. Far Cry can be run with low AA and medium AF as set in game at 1280x1024 with some details at low, and textures, environment, and water at their highest settings. If I drop the AA, it can do 1600x1200 fine.
 
Outpost.com has the BFG 6800OC for $250 usually, and microcenter (if you have one near you, and if they have them in stock) has the Evga 6800 vanilla for $239 while their 20% off sale is going on.

The 6800 vanilla is definitely the best bang for your buck card atm. 12 pipes, 256bit memory and generally good OC's, with the possibility of unlocking 4 more pipes via rivatuner.
 
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