pc good enough for 7800GS?

[Scratch]

Hi. i am considering of buying a new GFX, and currently looking at the new 7800 GS. (AGP) Here are my specs:

Amd Athlon 2600+, 2.03GHz
Abit NF7-S2(G) MB
1GB Kingston RAM
Ati Radeon 9550 256mb gfx (AGP)

Well the question is will the 7800GS work to its full potential? or my CPU isnt good enough? and so should i get a 6800GS instead? Also spending so much money on the dieing-AGP systemm might be quite stupid of me...

right now im playing battlefield 2 on low graphics, and its getting very annoying. i want to play with decent quality gfx!! im also considering of buying F.E.A.R.

any help appreciated.

 

[bourgeoisdude]

I say: Get it. If you ever want to upgrade to a newer cpu and mobo just get the ASRock 939 Dual-SATA-II mobo, that way you can use a PCI-e video card for even better video cards. If no system upgrade--can't go wrong with the best AGP card around. Go for it.

Now...will the 6800GS work? Yes, beautifully, only it does not have pixel shader 3.0 and some other bells and whistles that only the newer gen graphics cards have. Also the 6800GS will only be a minor improvement to what you already have.

To answer your question, no, nothing should hold back the full potential for the 7800GS. Just be sure to allocate AT LEAST 128MB to the AGP Aperture Size in the BIOS.

 

[cleeve]

Your CPU is OK, but the 7800 GS is terribly overpriced.

I don't recommend spending more than enought to get an X800 GTO or 6800 GS for an AGP system.

Either an X800 GTO or 6800 GS will be a MASSIVE improvement over a Radeon 9550.

MASSIVE.

 

[Scratch]

I found a reasonably cheap Radeon x850 XT, which is only 20 pounds more expensive than the 6800 GS

1# PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI (AGP)
- 520MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 1080MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest putting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- 16 pipelines
- 6 programmable vertex shader pipelines
Price: £159.95 (+VAT & delivery, adds up to £197)

 

[cleeve]

It's hard to tell if that's a good deal because I don't know the relative pricing.

Could you list the prices you can find for an X800 GTO, 6800 GS, X850 XT, and 7800 GS? Then it'll be easier to make a recommendation.

 

[Scratch]

sure. here it goes:

BFG GeForce 6800 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail (GX-013-BG) -
370MHz Core Engine Clock speed
- 256MB 1050MHz high speed GDDR3 memory
- Superscalar 12-Pipe GPU Architecture
- High-Speed DDR 256-bit Memory Interface
- 555 million Vertices/Sec setup
- 33.6GB/second memory bandwidth
- Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
- LIFETIME Manufacturer Warranty (Contact BFG representative on 001 866 234 3499 for warranty services)

Price: £139.95 (£164.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

_____________________________________________________________

PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB DDR3 VIVO TV-Out/DVI (AGP) - Retail (GX-058-PC)
- 520MHz GPU Clock Speed
- 256MB 1080MHz GDDR3 memory accelerates the latest putting edge 3D applications
- 256-bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory interface
- Sixteen pixel pipelines
- Six programmable vertex shader pipelines

Price: £159.95 (£187.94 Including VAT at 17.5%)

P.S the 850 XT is usually 180 + VAT, theres a 20 quid discount this week.

_________________________________________________________

x800 GTO - 150 pounds from ebay.

____________________________________________________________
Oh and 6800 supports pixel shader 3.0 when x850 XT does now, but people said it will only be a small difference.

 

[cleeve]

Yes, SM 3.0 is almost impossible to notice unless the game is using OpenEXR HDR, and only 3 or so games support it... and the ones trhat do pretty much require a superpowerful card like a 7800 GT or better to enable it with decent framerates. So it's not a big deal yet.

Having said that, the 6800 GS still seems to be the best bet for you. If you can get the 7800 GS for 30 pounds more you might want to have a look at it, although it seems kind of pricey - but then again, the 6800 GS you listed seems very pricey, but that's part of living in the UK I guess.

So for 30 pounds difference ($60 usd), the 7800 gs might be more attractive than it is on this side of the atlantic. I still cringe when I think of spending this much on an AGP card when that money could go toward a PCI-express mobo and CPU.

How much are 6600 GT's over there? That might be a good option for you. A 6600 GT is still light years ahead of a Radeon 9550.

 

[pauldh]

Also the 6800GS will only be a minor improvement to what you already have.

Huh? He has a Radeon 9550; A 6800GS is a huge improvement. I'd spend 20 pounds more on a X850XT any day though, as in some games (like Fear, which he mentioned), the difference would be huge.

 

[pauldh]

Put my vote in for spending the extra 20 pounds on the X850XT. Now in the USA, it's $100 higher (50% more). Most reviews show it spanking the 7800GS in FEAR, although Tom's latest super clocked article doesn't show the same results. But the 6800GS too would be a great card for your system and save you enough to pay for FEAR.

 

[Scratch]

Thanks for your posts

1 more question: on what graphics will the 6800GS/x850 XT run f.e.a.r? medium/high? i really think il put few extra quid on x850 xt.