Help with AGP selection

[itech]

I currently have a fx5200 AGP card which I am looking to upgrade, my budget is £120, please could I have your opinions on the best AGP card for this money or tell me the best choice from the selection below. I will be mostly using my PC to play Far Cry.

6800 TD
6800 XT
7600 GS
X1600 Pro

Thanks for the help guys.

 

[waylander]

I don't suppose you could afford the 7800GS? I know far cry is fairly demanding.

I would personally go for the 6800XT, this was a top end card whereas the others were made as mid range cards.... 256bit interface compared to 128bit.

 

[dizarky]

If you can't spring for extra to get the 7800gs which i have, and love more than anything else i have ever had, then at least being able to get the newer 7 series 7600gs should suffice well, especially for far cry. just overclock it.

 

[Fursecul]

The 6800XT is the best candidat for the job

 

[cleeve]

Far cry isn't that demanding. Out of those cards you listed, I'd go with a 7600 GS.

6800 XT's are crippled, not even as good as a 6600 GT. Stay away from 'em.

Even better would be an X800 XL or X850 XT. I don't know if Ati is still offering them for under $130 on their site though, but they're by far the best AGP deals, and almost as fast as a stock 7800 GS.

 

[Anoobis]

Hang on there Cleeve.

I agree, the 6800XT is crap and quite honestly I'm surprised at how many people were so quick to jump in and say it was good :?

But, wouldn't it be nice to play FarCry with the 1.3 patch and enable SM 3.0? It sure did look purdy when I used it. I'd like to recommend the OP look for used 6800GT on eBay. You could probably pick one up for around the same cost as the cards the OP mentioned and get SM 3.0 compatability for the purdy eyecandy.

 

[cleeve]

Totally agree. If you're OK with buying used, the 6800 GT is an awesome card, better than any of the ones we listed for sure.

Although I'm pretty sure a 7600 GS could handle Far Cry's HDR on a decent system with real nice framerates...

 

[pauldh]

The 6800XT is way too wimpy for HDR in farcry. SHoot, IMO the 6800GT is borderline too wimpy for it also. I didn't like the way my 6800U runs HDR in farcry. (Although Cleeve, yes, HDR 2 did perform better than HDR 7) 10x7 with HDR 2 was definately playable. But I'd still rather use 12x10 4xaa instead.

 

[Anoobis]

You know...my bad

I just looked and the OP quoted their budget in quid (is that the right slang/term??).

They might have a difficult time finding a 6800GT on eBay in their location and might be better off with the 7600GS AGP.

 

[jamesgoddard]

If you have to buy now, get a 7600gs for under £80

If you can wait, get a 7600gt for £110 ish, hubba hubba hubba http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_a7600_gttdh_2.html

 

[itech]

why do I have to wait for the 7600gt? Is it not available yet? It seems a very good card for the price.

 

[jamesgoddard]

why do I have to wait for the 7600gt? Is it not available yet? It seems a very good card for the price.

We know they are being produced, we even know who by and specs etc, (see that link) but I can't find them for sale anywhere The price is an assumption of between £10 and £15 more than the PCI-e model, the same premium as found with other Nvid AGP cards like the 6600gt and the 7600gs.....

I would expect them in a month or two….

 

[kaotao]

The 7600GT is supposed to be available sometime this month. If you can wait, that'd be better than any of those cards you listed. If you can't wait, I'd go for the 7600GS.6800XT=crap.

 

[jamesgoddard]

why do I have to wait for the 7600gt? Is it not available yet? It seems a very good card for the price.

They have started to appear.... Overclockers ar ethe first, more will come

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Nvidia_AGP_Graphics_Cards.html#aGX_2d088_2dLT

Be one of the first to get it for £120, or wait for all the other stores to catch up in a few weeks for £110 IMHO....