Worth upgrading my 9800pro?

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deadman_uk

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Jun 30, 2003
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I got a Sapphire Radeon 9800pro 128mb card and its around a year old. I can already see it struggling with some games such as Serious Sam 2 and F.E.A.R.

I have hardly any money but I am planning to buy a new graphics card at the end of the year. The thing is... my motherboard only supports PCI and AGP cards and NOT PCI-Express.

So I have a few questions..

1) I want to beable to play new games at good quality, how much longer will my 9800pro last for? or is it already ancient?

2) Would it be worth upgrading to a 6800GT AGP or is the 6800GT already starting to show age compared to newer graphics cards?

3) Would it be better to wait until next year, buy a PCI-Express card and new motherboard?

I have a fast processor and 1GB of ram, my graphics card is holding my system back, what should I do?
 
I think you have all the reason in the world to upgrade to a 6800GT or the X800Go2 or whatever it's called (the one that unlocks to 16 pipes and overclocks up to xtpe speeds)
I have a 9800pro too and they are getting long in the tooth for new games. If you want to run them at high settings forget it. They'll still run them ok just at 1024x768 with medium or worse settings. Your cpu is good enough to support a better video card so do it.
 
That's the thing, overclocking....I don't know how.

I overclocked my CPU by 200mhz before but then reset it when my pc kept crashing after a week.

I wanted to overclock my 9800pro but its an R350 meaning it has no built in temperature sensor. I didnt want to risk overheating it.

Is the 6800GT easy to overclock? if it is, ill overclock it if I have detailed, step by step instructions next to me.

What is better, the 6800gt or x800? (whats the Go2 mean?)

I would be happy playing games at high detail at only 1024x768 to be honest, would my 9800pro struggle?
 
With your processor and motherboard, I wouldnt worry about waiting..
9800pro is an amazing card.. its just seen its day and is slowly riding off into the sunset. The best part about it was that it was SO popular, that it became a standard in gaming. It was a solid card that had plenty of power to boot and worked great at about anything you did with it..

the 6800gt is THAT new card. It is extremely popular, VERY powerful and very universal as far as it comes to gaming. I see it as being the new benchmark for normal gaming. It wont be dated anytime soon (there WILL be more powerful gpu's but like the 9800 series, it will last for a LONG time). You will easily be able to run games for the next few years much like your 9800 card has.

All this is comming from me (a huge ati fan).. so that should say a lot about that card. AGP isn't quite dead yet and the 6800Gt is a great choice for any bus (pci-e or agp).

**ADDED**
Its easy to overclock a 6800gt.. there are programs out there (even programs that come with your videocard if you get the right brand) that will easily let you overclock them. With a 6800gt, I honestly would just leave it alone. You will notice a HUGE difference between that and you 9800.. no use in trying to gamble and push the envelope.
 
deadman_uk said:
That's the thing, overclocking....I don't know how.

I overclocked my CPU by 200mhz before but then reset it when my pc kept crashing after a week.

I wanted to overclock my 9800pro but its an R350 meaning it has no built in temperature sensor. I didnt want to risk overheating it.

Is the 6800GT easy to overclock? if it is, ill overclock it if I have detailed, step by step instructions next to me.

What is better, the 6800gt or x800? (whats the Go2 mean?)

I would be happy playing games at high detail at only 1024x768 to be honest, would my 9800pro struggle?
Click to expand...


Well strike the x800GO2 as that's pci-x only. So the other card you'd be considering is an x800xl. Overclocking your 9800pro at this point won't do much. Overclocking a videocard is not hard in the slightest. But really just the baseline performance of a new card would be a drastic improvement from your old one. Overclocking it some would just be icing on the cake. 6800gt vs x800xl is a toss up. I don't know about your system cause you have a niceer cpu, but I know my 9800 pro can't do 1024x7 high detail in any new games. F.E.A.R. I'm stuck at 8x6 with medium settings. COD2 demo is a slideshow at 640x480.
Doom 3 ran well enough at 1024 high but I'm sure future Doom3 engine games will require lower settings. So only you can make the decision but I think it's worth it.
 
If you don't have a large LCD that needs high resolutions, I'd try to wait until the R600 or G80. It actually does run on almost high in most games with 2xAA and no AF, if you set it to a reasonable resolution. (1152x854 or 1280x1024). In DOD I can run it on all settings high except HDR or bloom, 2xAA @ 1680 x 1050 and still get a solid 60 fps. In HL2 DM I can crank the AA and AF up a good bit because the maps are so small. :cool: Still, Since I have a 2005FPW I've been haveing to turn the setting down a bit in other games, so I'll be picking up a 6800GT soon. But, if you have a CRT, I stick with it for a bit longer.
 
I have just ordered a CFT 19" monitor but when it got to my home, it was broken so I am waiting for a replacement. Do graphics card run differently on LCD monitors?

I know a x800 or x800XL will improve my gaming experience but is it a big enough step from a 9800pro?

If you look at the benchmarks http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/vga-charts-pcie-13.html the 9800pro keeps up well with the x800 on almost all the games tested there. OK the games are a little old now but I dont want to buy a new card and have to replace it again in under a year like my 9800pro.

What is clear though is that I will be buying another AGP card.
 
hmm seeing as you have a 939 CPU you could just sell your mobo and vid card on ebay then just get a PCIE mobo thay run around $120 or so and a new card like a 7800GT
 
I would upgrade to a x800pro/6800gt level card. If you notice in the thg benchies the 9800pro gets beat pretty bad by the x800pro and 6800gt once details get cranked.

image0114gb.gif


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it's like that for pretty much every game on thg, once you crank the settings the 9800p gets beat pretty bad
 
I am getting a x850XT AGP card today, and upgrading from a 9800PRO.

I am really looking forward to cranking it up.
The GTO2 is the best deal going right now, if you can get one with AGP.

Do it!
 
Yea it's pretty ruff on mine. PLaying CoH, WoW and BF2 on a 9800 Pro 128 and man is it crappy, and playing on a Dell 2405FPW 24' doesn't help when putting it at High Rez, my new system is being flakey, and been trying to fx it just a couple of days now and I should have it up.
 
i don't know how much longer you plan on keeping that processor, seeing as it still has alot of life left in it, but i would suggest upgrading to a motherboard with PCIe, getting the latest card (even in midrange) is going to be nearly impossible in the up coming years and i can only see upgrading the MB right now saving you some angst from having to track down some AGP counterparts
 
That round-up from Tomshardware-

Those graphs are way off. I mean, the 6600GT beats the 6800nu in ALL of his tests, the 6800GT is not slower then a x800XL, etc, etc. Look elsewhere for proper benches ;)
 
t3mp said:
That round-up from Tomshardware-

Those graphs are way off. I mean, the 6600GT beats the 6800nu in ALL of his tests, the 6800GT is not slower then a x800XL, etc, etc. Look elsewhere for proper benches ;)
Click to expand...

um actually the 6800 > the 6600gt in his tests and the 6800gt and x800xl exchange blows in alot of the tests, did you even look at the benchmarks???
 
The 6800nu is ahead of the 6600gt in those tests...so I guess there goes "ALL" of them. It's generally accepted that the x800s beat the 6800s in HL2.
 
Can someone explain this.. http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800PCI_Series.html

[size=+1]Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-097-SP)[/size] [size=-1]
Merging the blistering frame-rates of the enthusiast realm with the frugality of the mainstream is where the perfect blend of Hybrid lies, the next generation Sapphire RADEON X800 GTO! Built upon industry acclaimed tech and tweaked to perfection is the moniker of any Sapphire product and the X800 GTO does not disappoint with it is 12 Pixel Pipelines and 256MB / 128MB of onboard memory while utilizing a 256-bit memory interface. The only limit to the power you wield is your imagination and the hardware in your PC! Push your PC’s performance threshold and realize the true potential of PCI-Express and the Sapphire RADEON X800 GTO!

- 400MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 980MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest cutting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- Twelve pixel pipelines
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines
- 48 hour RMA turn-around time for faulty Sapphire product sent back to OcUK within first year of warranty!

green.gif


Price: £114.95 [size=-2] (£135.07 Including VAT at 17.5%)[/size]

Does this card have something bad about it? £135 is very cheap, would this be the card to get?
[/size]
 
The only thing that really seems out of place on those charts is the fact that the 9800XT scores about 35% higher than the 9800pro at 1280x1024. There shouldn't be more than a 5% difference between those two cards which leads me to believe that there are inconsistencies in THG's testing methods.

I'm always suspicious of THG, as many suspect that the site is buiest. For example, THG always shows in their charts (and even openly states) that ATI cards trump Nvidia cards in HL2. On the other hand, HardOCP devoted an entire review to show that there is virtually no difference between ATI cards and Nvidia cards in HL2. This means that either HardOCP or THG are falsifying results (I, for one, believe that THG are the culprets).
 
I'm stuck with the same situation with my 3500 and 9800 XT. I love my 3500 Winchester and Neo2 board, but I want to upgrade. I built another system with a 3000 and a X700 Pro for a friend, and it was performing just as well as my rig in benchmarks.

I think I'll just pick up an X850 XT-PE and keep this system for another year. I can think about a complete rebuild when AMD's new socket is out. Plus, when I do retire this rig It'll have the most powerful AGP card availible.

And GVX, I think the 9800XT does better at higher-res because its a 256MB card, 9800 Pros are 128, although there is a 256MB version.
 
I'm sort of in the same situation as well. Don't mean to hijack the thread hehe.

I got a Pentium 4 at 2.53 Ghz I think its 800 Mhz fsb and 512 MB of PC2100 ram with a Radeon 9600xt.

I am able to get a 850xt pe at a pretty decent price but was wondering if it was worth the upgrade or just buy a whole new computer later. I want to get a new computer when Vista is released and this whole dual core technology becomes mainstream. So I want my 850xt pe to last me until that and I'm pretty sure it would but considering my system specifications, will the card have a huge bottleneck?

Thanks.
 
if you have the money to go to PCI-e do it cause later on youll just need to upgrade the video card.. just as if you dont have the money just buy a card... its much cheaper to buy a 300$ video card than replace a whole system for 1000+
 
I was very happy with the performance leap I got from upgrading to a 6800Ultra after using the 9800@pro speed for nearly two years. Everything ran buttery smooth for any settings and resolution I play in, couldn't be happier. I would imagine you will experience the same thing if you do decide to go with either the 6800GT or X800XL.

Oh yeah, you should also make sure that you have at least 1GB of RAM, really makes a difference too.
 
My bad, I was thinking of his PCIe benchmarks:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/vga_charts-02.html#3d_mark_2005

Someone tell me why the 6800nu looses to the 6600GT in every test?

And the 6800GT is, IMO, a better value then a x800XL. They exchange blows at stock speeds. But a GT @ Ultra speeds on stock cooling is common, a X800XL that overclocks well with stock cooling isn't as common.....at least the two I have done builds with didn't have any headroom. :(
 
I got a Sapphire Radeon 9800pro 128mb card and its around a year old. I can already see it struggling with some games such as Serious Sam 2 and F.E.A.R.

I have hardly any money but I am planning to buy a new graphics card at the end of the year. The thing is... my motherboard only supports PCI and AGP cards and NOT PCI-Express.

So I have a few questions..

1) I want to beable to play new games at good quality, how much longer will my 9800pro last for? or is it already ancient?

2) Would it be worth upgrading to a 6800GT AGP or is the 6800GT already starting to show age compared to newer graphics cards?

3) Would it be better to wait until next year, buy a PCI-Express card and new motherboard?

I have a fast processor and 1GB of ram, my graphics card is holding my system back, what should I do?
Click to expand...
I would sell your 9800Pro on ebay, and buy a 6800 GT. Your system is plenty good enough, and as you already know your video card just cant handle the newer games.

I went from a 9800 Pro AIW to a 6800 Ultra which I got for $220 from this kid who was upgrading to PCI-e. I ended up selling my 9800Pro for $140 on ebay, so it was pretty much a $80 upgrade for me - deffintly worth it.

Your system specs are pretty much the same as mine. I would trade off now, get rid of your 9800 pro, go for a 6800 GT, then when you think it worth swapping MoBo's to PCI-e (which it isn't right now - unless you need to have the best) then sell your GT, and upgrade.

Personally I'm quite happy with what I have right now. I have a 3500 venice in a K8N Neo2. My next upgrade will be an X2 - not sure which one yet(whatever the budget permits). I'm going to hold on to my 6800 Ultra untill 3-4 months after the release of the PS3.

If you've been paying attention to the Playstation 3, and the Ageia physics engine you should be able to see the level of game development that is right around the corner.(PS3 Project Offset Trailer ) I think after PS3 saturates the market EVERYONE will be upgrading their rigs, as Ageia's physics engine begins to become intregrated onto the next generation video cards/ and or motherboards.
 
I would definitely upgrade to something other than a 9800pro. I had one and it was ok for awhile, but I definitely found that the 6800gt could last me longer. In fact I'm probably going to skip the g7x/r5xx generation and wait for the r6xx/g8x generation.
 
kill two birds with one stone get an x800 gto2 for 200-240 us and buy new mothebroard for around 65 or 70 dollars htat supports pcie. Then you get the best of both worlds without killing ur wallet. I got the gto 2 and i will confirm yess the bios mod works im sitting with an x850 xt pe in my box right now and its awesome. I have owned a 9800pro, x800xt pe, a 6800nu, a 6800 gt, and an x800 aiw xt, i went from the 9800 pro to 6800 nu and was thriled, i went to the gt and liked htat gain, but i did miss the "look" of my ati card. most people deny it exists, but it does. play a game like farcry or halflife 2 even though nvidia had ps3.0 support the look on the ati is different and more defined. i cant explain it, and i only see it playing above 70hz, but its there and its significant.
 
Sweet, I'm not the only one in the same situation. Maybe we could make this the official "WTF should I do with my good system with a 9800 PRO?"

I mostly play World of Warcraft, and I'm not even able to run 1600x1200 with my current rig, most likely do to my 9800 PRO. Eitherway, I think buying a new mobo/cpu just for PCI-E is ridiculous. I was thinking of just building a new rig between this summer and Christmas '06. However I would still imagine my 3200+ would still have some life. It seems I have three choices, (1) should I wait for the newer cards for start arriving in AGP, (2) Buy a card now, or (3) Hold onto my 9800 PRO and just build a new rig.

Sorry, I don't mean to hijack. I will just make a new thread if the OP wants.
 
you have a 754 3200, that processor has lots of life, get the nforce 4 based motherboards out there and htrow the gto2 in it too. It leaves you wiht plenty of room to get an x1800 series or 7800 gt series later on with the advantage of having a good cheap card today, really i have owned a lot of cards and you cant beat a flashmodded x800 gto2 for the price really. i played wow at 1600x1200 wiht no problems on my x800xt this would be no problems at all.
 
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