Upgrade from 6800

[NumenorLord]

I have a GeForce 6800 vanilla running at 400/760. It can definitely play Oblivion, just not as high as I might like it to. Would upgrading to a GeForce 7600 GT be worth the extra $180 ($165 after rebates)?

 

[Jaffee]

Doubtful. You'll probably see a major jump in performance to justify the money spent with at least a 7800GT or higher, or, if you want to go ATI, an X1800GTO or higher (though I could be wrong, I'm not exceptionally familiar with those cards). My personal reccomendation would be the 7900GT for right around $330. Great deal.

 

[NumenorLord]

From all the reviews I've read, it says that the 7600 GT outperforms the X1800GTO.

 

[baracuda73]

the x1800xt has better performance in Oblivion than the 7900gtx

 

[MrsD]

the x1800xt has better performance in Oblivion than the 7900gtx

Keep in mind the 7600GT is only 128 bit, while your 6800 vanilla is 256 bit.

 

[TurdBurglar]

The memory bandwidth is irrelevant in this case. The 7600GT outperforms the 6800GT, a 16 pipeline card with a 256-bit memory bus as well as the 6800GS, which outperforms the 6800GT. There's more to it than memory bandwidth.

*edited for spelling

 

[Heyyou27]

An X1800 XT would be a fantastic card for the price. The 7900GT is around the same price, but I'd take ATI's ability to use Open EXR HDR and Antialiasing at the same time over it. Also high quality anisotropic filtering, and AVIVO features look verrrrrrrrry nice.

 

[cleeve]

From all the reviews I've read, it says that the 7600 GT outperforms the X1800GTO.

More like 50/50 from what I've seen. Still the 7600 is cheaper, so there's not much reason to get a GTO...

...EXCEPT for overclocking, and Oblivion.

Oblivion favors ATI cards, an X1800 GTO will stand toe-to-toe against a 7900 GT in that game...

And with a 256-bit memory interface and a severely underclocked core at stock speeds, in addition to software voltage control, the X1800 GTO overclocks like shiznit (and unlocks to 16 pipes, tool, if you're lucky)

 

[NumenorLord]

I guess I will just wait for my new computer next July. I found out that my savings bonds are going to be worth ~$6,500 more than I thought they would be next June, so I'll cash them in and get a really, really awesome PC (for college).

 

[jbscotchman]

I went from a 6800 non-ultra to a 7600GT and it was definitely worth it, especially considering I was able to sell my 6800 on ebay for $100 dollars. I noticed major performance boosts in games like COD 2, NFS Most Wanted, Battlefield 2, FEAR, Serious Sam 2, and many others as well as higher levels of detail. Its easily the best choice if you're looking to spend under $200 dollars. The X850XT is priced the same but its older technology, doesn't support Shader Model 3.0, and performs roughly the same in current games. The 7600GT is still in its infancy and will only get better overtime as more optimized drivers are released also.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

The X850XT is priced the same but its older technology, doesn't support Shader Model 3.0, and performs roughly the same in current games.

But no one is recommending the X850XT, they are recommending the X1800GTO and X1800XT, both of which would outperform in Oblivion and have added features, like FP16-HDR+MSAA, and AVIVO video decoding/encoding acceleration. For that the X1800GTO is a better choice, but if he has to wait and can survive with the GF6800 in Oblivion, then getting something more turely next generation isn't a bad idea, just not very appealing the idea of waiting for better performance because there's always something better on the horizon, but why not game now, especially if he can sell his GF6800 and get either a GF7600GT or X1800GTO for a very small premium.

The 7600GT is still in its infancy and will only get better overtime as more optimized drivers are released also.

Doubt the change will be that large in Oblivion, it's not like it's a totally new architecture.

 

[ryokinshin]

the 6800 is the high end card from the last gen of gfx cards, the 7600gs and gt are mid range cards, unless u plan on going the way of mid range cards then u should be getting at least a 7800gt nvidia or x1800xl ati for the current gen high end card performance

if u hav 6.5k to spend on a comp, i dont suggest u buy the best of watever is out today, like sli 7900gtx cards or crossfire x1900xtx cards. simply becasue as every generation is released, ud want to stay up to date with those new features like pixel shader 4 that comes with dx10 etc

my advice would be to buy a high end comp thats not top of the line or a mid range comp, and upgrade when u hav to run games at low settings to get a playable fps, the best high end card that is also a great deal for the money i think is the 7900gt IMO

personally, i dont care wich company i buy gfx cards from for single card solutions, ur jsut putting on extra stress if u start getting picky

 

[jbscotchman]

The X850XT is priced the same but its older technology, doesn't support Shader Model 3.0, and performs roughly the same in current games.

But no one is recommending the X850XT, they are recommending the X1800GTO and X1800XT, both of which would outperform in Oblivion and have added features, like FP16-HDR+MSAA, and AVIVO video decoding/encoding acceleration. For that the X1800GTO is a better choice, but if he has to wait and can survive with the GF6800 in Oblivion, then getting something more turely next generation isn't a bad idea, just not very appealing the idea of waiting for better performance because there's always something better on the horizon, but why not game now, especially if he can sell his GF6800 and get either a GF7600GT or X1800GTO for a very small premium.

I wasn't arguing with anybody or saying that he should wait...

The 7600GT is still in its infancy and will only get better overtime as more optimized drivers are released also.

Doubt the change will be that large in Oblivion, it's not like it's a totally new architecture.

Actually if you look on the guru3d forums people are reporting big improvements in Oblivion with Forceware 84.43

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

the 6800 is the high end card from the last gen of gfx cards,

No, the vanilla 6800 is a mid-level card performing close to the GF6600GT's performance.

the 7600gs and gt are mid range cards,

The GF7600GT is the new equivalent of what the vanilla 6800 would've been for last generation, and a great bang/buck. And let's you save money for the next generation cards when it will matter about having at least a certain level of performance.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Actually if you look on the guru3d forums people are reporting big improvements in Oblivion with Forceware 84.43

The difference is about 10-20%, which has more to do with the recentness of the game, not the card. If it were the card itself it would only affect the GF7600 series. And while 10-20% sounds big, compared to the competition it's not enough to make up the difference.

And if you look at the feedback on those drivers, they improve Oblivion, but mess up some other games. There's been alot of talk about them at elderscrolls.com

 

[jbscotchman]

I don't own Oblivion but I've been using those drivers for over a week now and they haven't gave me any problems.

 

[Jaffee]

Back to the original poster's question:

Will you see a huge improvement? Probably not. Will your PC be more futureproof? Sure. However, I would assume you could survive on a 6800 until DX10 cards roll around. That would be my recommendation to you.