upgrading old video card.. ati or nvidia?

J

JonnyB

n00b
Joined
Mar 19, 2005
Messages
33
Currently I have...

A64 Winchester 3000+ Socket 939 @ 2.2 ghz
Asus A8V-Deluxe
512mb PQI Turbo Ram - Cl-2.5
Radeon 9500 Softmodded to 9700Pro

I want to upgrade my video card to something newer, better, faster, etc... I've read reviews on the new cards like X850 XT PE AGP and one thing that was said about them is that they can have an ungodly amount of AA and AF without hindering performance... Well.. I want a card that is AGP, that I will notice a (hopefully large) performance increase with, but I don't need AA or AF or any of that... I just want a good mid-level card that can do me better than 800x600 in Medium Quality (doom 3) and not lag like crap... Do I want to go with ATI or Nvidia? I use dual monitors (both VGA) and I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg.... So [H]ard videocard gods... What do you recommend?
 
My 6800NU (under $200) will do 1280x1024 High Quality Doom 3 with no slow downs or problems at all. Great cards.
 
diablo111 said:
My 6800NU (under $200) will do 1280x1024 High Quality Doom 3 with no slow downs or problems at all. Great cards.
Click to expand...
yeah, that sounds like a great card for you without breaking the bank. Since you mention Doom 3, you'll probably want an nVidia card unless you can afford to spend $400 on an 850xt which is nearly as good in Doom3 as a 6800ultra...

oh yeah, but for no fancy effects like antialiasing or high antistropic, definitely either a 6800nu or a 6600gt. you will notice a huge improvement over the 9700pro in Doom 3 even on a vanilla geforce 6600.

ugh i'm probably being confusing... go for the 6800nu!
 
If its just for D3 then get the 6800nu, but personally if I were you I would get the X850 because it will last you longer. The 6600GT is about 20% better than the 9800pro in most games and about 80% better in D3.
 
diablo111 said:
My 6800NU (under $200) will do 1280x1024 High Quality Doom 3 with no slow downs or problems at all. Great cards.
Click to expand...
My 6600GT does 1600x1200 High Quality with no slow downs...
 
Wow, lot of responses! =D

I don't want this card solely for Doom3, I've actually already beaten it twice but it's still fun to play... I play D3, HL2, CS:S, UT2K4, handful of other LAN games / older games... I'm really liking the Leadtek 6800 on NewEgg.. good chance of unlocking more pipes and maybe even a lil overclocking... and at under 200 it seems like you just can't beat it.. Do you think this card would last me for a decent gaming experience from now to say.. a half-year / year from now? Also... Do you think prices will drop when Ati's "CrossFire" or whatever new is coming out comes out? Would it be better to wait 'til then or buy now?
 
JonnyB said:
Wow, lot of responses! =D

I don't want this card solely for Doom3, I've actually already beaten it twice but it's still fun to play... I play D3, HL2, CS:S, UT2K4, handful of other LAN games / older games... I'm really liking the Leadtek 6800 on NewEgg.. good chance of unlocking more pipes and maybe even a lil overclocking... and at under 200 it seems like you just can't beat it.. Do you think this card would last me for a decent gaming experience from now to say.. a half-year / year from now? Also... Do you think prices will drop when Ati's "CrossFire" or whatever new is coming out comes out? Would it be better to wait 'til then or buy now?
Click to expand...
you can wait around forever for new stuff to come out, but getting a 6800 for under 200 is a really good value. for non-high res or AA/AF, you really can't go wrong with a 6800nu even if it doesn't unlock. and you're getting a lot of free power if it does.
 
Borgschulze said:
My 6600GT does 1600x1200 High Quality with no slow downs...
Click to expand...

That's somewhat subjective. My Pentium 4 550@3.9GHz does not give me decent performance at 1600x1200 with my BFG 6600GT OC. Its playable, but not the smoothest gameplay experience. Even with AA and AF off.
 
Dudeyourlame said:
and why would you not want to have AA/AF and only 800 by 600? is your monitor from the 1990s? lol
Click to expand...

:p :p

I generally tend to run games at 1280 x 1024 or higher, some even at 1600x1200.. At that resolution I barely noticed a difference with AA/AF on than off when I was testing it out when this card was new :rolleyes: I run 800x600 because my graphics card chokes at any higher than that.. I'd love to run AA/AF, especially at that res, but my current card doesn't like me very much if I do that.. :(
 
JonnyB said:
Currently I have...

A64 Winchester 3000+ Socket 939 @ 2.2 ghz
Asus A8V-Deluxe
512mb PQI Turbo Ram - Cl-2.5
Radeon 9500 Softmodded to 9700Pro

I want to upgrade my video card to something newer, better, faster, etc... I've read reviews on the new cards like X850 XT PE AGP and one thing that was said about them is that they can have an ungodly amount of AA and AF without hindering performance... Well.. I want a card that is AGP, that I will notice a (hopefully large) performance increase with, but I don't need AA or AF or any of that... I just want a good mid-level card that can do me better than 800x600 in Medium Quality (doom 3) and not lag like crap... Do I want to go with ATI or Nvidia? I use dual monitors (both VGA) and I don't want to have to spend an arm and a leg.... So [H]ard videocard gods... What do you recommend?
Click to expand...

You should definitely get a 6800nu and 512mb more of ram. 1GB is barely enough these days. 512 is definitely not enough at all.
Sir-Fragalot said:
That's somewhat subjective. My Pentium 4 550@3.9GHz does not give me decent performance at 1600x1200 with my BFG 6600GT OC. Its playable, but not the smoothest gameplay experience. Even with AA and AF off.
Click to expand...

sounds like you got a bum part in your system then. my nu with an unlocked vertex shader did wonders at 1600x1200 with 2xaa and 2xaf highest quality in ALL games.
 
Zinn said:
you can wait around forever for new stuff to come out, but getting a 6800 for under 200 is a really good value. for non-high res or AA/AF, you really can't go wrong with a 6800nu even if it doesn't unlock. and you're getting a lot of free power if it does.
Click to expand...

6800nu's handle AA/AF really well actually. 1280x1024 with some minor AA/AF and you'll do fine. Its extremely easy if you unlock.
 
BossNoodleKaboodle said:
You should definitely get a 6800nu and 512mb more of ram. 1GB is barely enough these days. 512 is definitely not enough at all.


sounds like you got a bum part in your system then. my nu with an unlocked vertex shader did wonders at 1600x1200 with 2xaa and 2xaf highest quality in ALL games.
Click to expand...

He's got a 6600GT. They do not scale up that high with AA/AF at all. That's there issue, great for the 1024x768 with some AA/AF, but once you get any higher with it they just choke and die. Its due mainly to the memory bandwidth, and some what with the pipelines.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top