Upgrading from AIW 9800 Pro 128MB AGP 8x - Need Suggestions

[masop]

I've had my ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro since early 2003, but it is showing it's limitations with games such as NFS: Most Wanted, both with slowdown and detail glitches (shadows, bump mapping, etc). What would be a worth while card to buy for a replacement? I'm looking at possibly upgrading my mb, cpu and memory as well, going pci-express. I'm looking at a $750 budget if I was to upgrade all 4 of those components and go 64-bit. As far as the video card goes, I'm looking at something under $250, but want a fast, yet stable and reliable card. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

-- MaSoP

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
Athlon XP 3200+ (underclocked at 2500+ for stability)
2GB PC3200 Crucial Memory, Dual Channel Mode
ATI All-In-Wonder 9800 Pro 128MB AGP 8x
Antec Tower Case
Antec Neo 480 Watt PSU (SATA/PCI-E Ready)

Temps: Average 53-63C for CPU, 17-27C for Case with multiple fans, etc.

 

[masop]

Thanks for the reply. What would be the closest NVidia equivilant to the 850XT? I've pondered if I should stay with ATI or switch over to NVidia, cause I've had issues with the RadeOn series in the past (9700 Pro) producing VPU errors, crashing Windows XP. I've also wondered which brands to stay away from when looking for a card, if any. I've always stuck with ATI for ATI based cards, and PNY fior NVidia based cards in the past. Any additional thoughts?

-- MaSoP

For about $250, you might find a X850XT, which would be a huge upgrade over a 9800. Also, 6800GS is a very good option.

 

[cleeve]

If you're going PCI-express anyway, for slightly over $250 (like the $270 range) you should be able to find a 7800 GT.

The 7800 GT will easily best an X850 of any flavor. It is by far the obvious choice in the $250 to $300 price range, and WELL worth the extra expendature over $250 for longevity and raw pixel-pushing power.

Best gamer's card for the money.

P.S. Sounds like your 9700 PRO had an overheating problem. Mine's always been stable, I still use it on my secondary machine.

 

[masop]

I've been monitoring pricing lately and can't find much of anything under the $350 range for the 7800GT models. I tend to frequent ZipZoomFly and NewEgg and use PriceGrabber and PriceWatch for searching for price comparisons. Where have you seen 7800GT models for the $270 range? I'd have to agree, if the pricing was that low.

-- MaSoP

If you're going PCI-express anyway, for slightly over $250 (like the $270 range) you should be able to find a 7800 GT.

The 7800 GT will easily best an X850 of any flavor. It is by far the obvious choice in the $250 to $300 price range, and WELL worth the extra expendature over $250.

Best gamer's card for the money.

 

[cleeve]

I just went ot newegg and typed in 7800gt and found one for $285 immediately.

($265 after mail-in rebate!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256

 

[cleeve]

This one comes with a free SLI mobo for $359

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238#Combo

 

[masop]

Perhaps I've been picky with my searches, or prices have dropped in the last few days. Any thoughts on eVGA, Sapphire and other similar brands? I know at the end of the day, all 7800GT's for example will basically be the same, but it surprises me, the stark contrast in price difference between brands. Other than extra games which I do not need, what could possibly be so different betwen brands other than extra cables, etc to make the pricing so different. Anyone here use an eVGA brand card before?

I just went ot newegg and typed in 7800gt and found one for $285 immediately.

($265 after mail-in rebate!)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130256

 

[cleeve]

Maybe your search methods have been a little exclusive. 7800 GT's have been available for under $300 for a couple months now.

Sapphire is OK and eVGA is OK. Ive personally had both and they've been good to me. I don't think they're the preferred brands though, but I'm not very knowledgable about card brands.

 

[pauldh]

I agree with a 7800GT, but if that breaks the budget, a $200 X850XT would do the trick. It's above a 6800U, which would be NV's nearest competing card.

 

[masop]

The X850XT doesn't support pixer shader 3.0, only 2.0b which won't give the most eye candy. Games like B&W look realistic as hell when using a pixel shader 3.0 enabled video card. I figure if I stick with ATI, I'm looking at a X1800 or X1900 to have that capability. If I go NVidia I'm looking at a 6800GT, 6800 Ultra or 7800 series in order to get pixel shader 3 support. I cross referenced card comparison charts I checked out from another post to figure that out. I also want the memory/core speeds to be greater than my 9800 pro. Either I settle for v2 or pay the extra cash. I think the 7800GT would be the best deal. Thanks.

-- MaSoP

I agree with a 7800GT, but if that breaks the budget, a $200 X850XT would do the trick. It's above a 6800U, which would be NV's nearest competing card.

 

[cleeve]

Pixel Shader 3.0 is pretty much indistinguishable from the 2.0 path unless the game uses SM 3.0 specific HDR (OpenEXR), and that's used in a very small list of games... maybe 3 or 4 I could think of off of the top of my head. Half Life 2 "lost coast" HDR looks awesome and is SM 2.0.

The SM 3.0 stuff is 90% hype. It's a tiebreaker between similarly performing cards, but not a reason to exclude a card from your list. The X800 series is a perfect example of this, and is capable of the most important eye candy: AntiAliassing & AnistropicFiltering.

Memory and Core speeds are almost irrelevant when you're moving across architectures (which you are). A 16-pipeline card at 300 mhz is better than a 4-pipeline card at 500 Mhz. Also, you're better off with 500 Mhz DDR memory on a 256-bit bus than you are with 800 Mhz DDR memory on a 128-bit bus.

 

[masop]

Hmmm. Really? I'm only going by the samples I checked out in the VGA Charts VIII a while back where you could see a noticeable difference between v2 and v3 in Black & White for example. The games I play are NFS: Most Wanted, Far Cry, Half-Life 2, Worms Forts: Under Siege, Black & White 2 and will be checking out the upcoming LOTR: Baddle For Middle-Earth 2 real soon. I'm not a hard core gamer, but do play some intense games at times. I finished F.E.A.R a month or so back which rocked the house, though I had to use the medium setting to get smooth game play.

I just want the next card to give me a good 2 yrs or so of gaming w/o many short comings, even though that is par for the course in todays GPU Wars. I'm going to shoot for the X850 XT or the 7800GT. I noticed the price dropped on NewEgg this afternoon for that eVGA card (retail) just within a few hours of me initially checking it out this morning. It's $270 now with a $20 rebate. Thanks for all the input.

-- MaSoP

Pixel Shader 3.0 is pretty much indistinguishable from the 2.0 path unless the game uses SM 3.0 specific HDR (OpenEXR), and that's used in a very small list of games... maybe 3 or 4 I could think of off of the top of my head. Half Life 2 "lost coast" HDR looks awesome and is SM 2.0.

The SM 3.0 stuff is 90% hype. It's a tiebreaker between similarly performing cards, but not a reason to exclude a card from your list. The X800 series is a perfect example of this, and is capable of the most important eye candy: AntiAliassing & AnistropicFiltering.

Memory and Core speeds are almost irrelevant when you're moving across architectures (which you are). A 16-pipeline card at 300 mhz is better than a 4-pipeline card at 500 Mhz. Also, you're better off with 500 Mhz DDR memory on a 256-bit bus than you are with 800 Mhz DDR memory on a 128-bit bus.