6800GT or X850Pro or 7800GT AGP?

[DJames1]

Hi.

I was looking to upgrade my old fx5700 to something newer, and was wandering which card is the best performance wise, and which is the best for value for money?

The choices are X850 Pro, 6800 GT and the 7800 GT (which i think is a bit expensive) budget of max 400 Australian dollars

Also are there any cards in the same performance group and cost that i have missed?

I mainly play GTR 2 and need for speeds.

All comments would be greatly appreciated.


System P4 3.4 GHz, 1 G Ram, Audigy 2 Zs, 500 W power supply

 

[Gary_Busey]

Performance-wise, the 7800GT is the fastest, then the X850Pro and finally the 6800GT. You'll have to post some prices because I'm in the U.S. and have no idea what the prices are down there.

 

[pauldh]

You mean 16-pipe 7800GS right? Or are you talking a Gainward Bliss 20-pipe?

The Gainward Bliss 24-pipe and the 20-pipe 7800GS, followed by the regular 16-pipe 7800GS are the top AGP available. Yes they are very pricey though so when considering them, it's also good too look into what a move to pci-e will cost. You don't need a 7800GS for the NFS series. Not sure about GTR2. I didn't realize it was even out yet; screenies looked awesome though. Do you have it? I want it.

 

[pauldh]

6800GT and X850 pro are equal performers. Priced the same I'd buy the 6800GT. The 6800GS (12-pipe) AGP is slower and would have to be significantly cheaper to peak interest.

 

[DJames1]

Thanks guys, about prices, 350 will pays for a 6800GT and 850, but the 7800 is close to 400.

i was thinking about the 16 pipe version, didn't even know about the 20

yeah the GTR2 demo was realised just the other day 312Mb download, and gives two cars, but has been modded so we can race all 6 demo cars, and Barcelona the offical track, with three other track already out.
very good, but only get 30 fps in dry daytime

thanks Pauldh and Gary_Busey, it seems it still a matter on prefernces, always been a Nvidia fan, so don't know yet which one i'll buy

any other suggestions will also be appreciated

 

[pauldh]

The Gainward 20 and 24 pipe 7800GS(basically a 7800GT and 7900GT) cards are not available in North America as Gainward NA is gone. You have to order them form the UK and for too great a cost.

If your prices are $350 for the X850 pro and 6800GT, $400 for the 7800GS....by all means spend the extra $50 for the 7800GS as it's easily the best of the bunch. Only the X850XTpe comes close.

And thank you for the GTR2 demo info. I payed attention to the game way back, but not for a while. I will DL it now. I didn't play GTR too much once I bought it(lack of Sim interested friends), but the GTR2002 mod for F12002 was an absolute blast that consumed lots of my time.

Ever play Sports Car GT? I'd be thrilled to have a sequel that stays add on car/track friendly like the first. I must have had 2X the number of cars the game could use. I used to keep 4 machines set up for SCGT LAN racing; some good ole times. Stinks, but that classic never worked for me once SP2 for WinXP came out and I have been too lazy to search for a fix.

 

[DJames1]

yeah the 7800 GS is even more for the gainword $600 on ebay, so now definetly out of the question.

Do you know which brand to go for like xfx or bfg, and also for the ati brand? cause i don't know much about there differences if any.

unfortunately never played sports car gt, previously ive played nearly th holw nfs series, and race driver series, which i've had enough of now, and turned to sim racing. also looking forward to nfs carbon, which seems like a huge steep from the previous title.

also heard that if i buy the x850 pro its possible to flash it to the x805xtpe, if that is true that seems to make it a real good possibility, as long as racing games don't go into shader model 3.0.

 

[Gary_Busey]

also heard that if i buy the x850 pro its possible to flash it to the x805xtpe, if that is true that seems to make it a real good possibility, as long as racing games don't go into shader model 3.0.

Yes, it's true. It has to be a VIVO version though. Here's some info on how to tell if it's VIVO and how to flash:

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/100

http://www.overclock.net/faqs/44936-how-flash-your-x850pro-xt-pe.html


There's a couple of us who have ordered this card and will be flashing it to an X850XT PE.

 

[pauldh]

I like the muscle cars, canyon, and return of drift in NFS Carbon. The autoshape car feature could be a very welcome change. Not so sure I like the teammate scout, draft, block aspect nor the fact all the videos I have seen are at night like UG series. Please tell me you can drive in daytime too.

 

[DJames1]

thanks guys, those articles on the x850 are great,

It probably looks like the x850 pro is the card to pick at this point in time, unless the gianword 7800 gs dramatically drops its price.

carbon looks good, i like the exotics, but more than likely no daytime racing from whats being said at ea, still should be good.

Checking some local sites and found the following x850 prov vivo for $330
from HIS (Hightech): and was wandering if this was a reputable company and if it is unlockable (as i don't think its got the yellow power connector). As it seems i can't order from ATi's webstite from Australia

- http://pricepoint.com.au/shop/product_info.php?cPath=232_235&products_id=3064
- http://www.hisdigital.com/html/product_ov.php?id=147

Or an ExpertVision Radeon X850XT for $357 , with 16 pipeline (is this correct?), is this version better than the pro, and can it be made to the PE version? from:

- =AL-EV-X850XT-D3&input[category_id]=106]http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?input[product_code]=AL-EV-X850XT-D3&input[category_id]=106

There is one other, but don't know if it is faster than the x850 above. 7800GS from inno3D, for $450

- =AL-IV-GF7800GS-D3&input[category_id]=1173]http://www.auspcmarket.com.au/show_product_info.php?input[product_code]=AL-IV-GF7800GS-D3&input[category_id]=1173
- http://www.inno3d.com/products/geforce7/7800gs_agp8x.html

Thanks again Pualdh and Gary_Busey for your help