Is this a waste a money?

[mrmjs]

I have a AMD Athlon 3000+ PC with a GeForce 5600 Ultra 128 card, its a APG card. Anyway I know the PC is old but I was thinking of upgrading the card to this model

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133176

My question is, is it a waste of money? I don't want to spend much more then $150.

 

[prozac26]

If you have 1gb of RAM at least, then it's a pretty good upgrade.

 

[mrmjs]

I have 2Gb of Ram

 

[prozac26]

Good upgrade. Go for it.

 

[ArbY]

For the same price, wouldn't the X850 Pro be a better buy? Link

I hear people sizing up the X850 Pro in a lesser standing compared to the X850XT ... but I'm guessing the main differences are probably concerning memory speeds.

The X850 Pro has GDDR3 memory and a 256-bit interface. It has 12 pixel pipelines, same as the X1600, and I wouldn't be surprised if the memory speeds were higher, even.

EDIT - Found out that the X850 Pro has a Memory Clock Speed of 500MHz, and an Engine Clock Speed of 1000MHz (500MHz effective). The X850XT has 16 pixel pipelines, while the X850 Pro has 12.
Going back to the 7600GS: It has a 400MHz Core Clock and a 1080MHz Engine Clock (540MHz effective). Its memory is GDDR2 and the interface is 128-bit.

Given this data, wouldn't the X850 Pro make the better buy?

 

[mrmjs]

Ive never been much of a ATI guy but Ill wait and see what others have to say about that card

 

[ArbY]

I also heard you could unlock 4 pipelines making it basically an X850XT. I'd definitely go for the X850 Pro over the 7600GS.

 

[mrmjs]

another thing im thinking is... is this old PC worth putting money onto?

AMD Athlon 3000 ( 2.16Ghz )
2Gb PC2700 DDR
120Gb HD ATA133
GeForce 5600 Ultra 128Mb AGP 8X

Its to bad the MoBo is a socket A or I'd upgrade the processor and Vid Card and think nothing of it.

If I do upgrade the vid card, how much more use can I get out of this pc?

 

[darkstar782]

'Engine clock' at 1000MHz?

I think you'll fine the Memory clock is 540MHz DDR, or 1080MHz effective, and the GPU is 520MHz on both the x850 Pro and x850XT, the pro has 4 pipelines diasbaled, which it *may* be possible to re-enable, but thats not a sure thing.

There is also the slightly faster x850XT PE, but I don't think thats availible anymore.

Either of these cards would be faster than a 7600GS, the only advantage the 7600GS offers is Shader Model 3.0 (and therefore HDR) support, so if image quality is more important for you should get the 7600GS, or maybe an x1xxx series card, the only AGP one being the x1600 Pro, which is quite a bit slower than the 7600GS (at least in 3dmark)

The only AGP option that supports SM3.0 and is faster than the x850 is the 7800GS, preferably the Gainward versions with 20 pipes, but this is expensive, and, being AGP, still a dead end upgrade.

 

[ArbY]

My bad if I misquoted things.

I pulled the terminology from this site:
http://new.pny.com/7600-GS-512MB-AGP--P1897C14.aspx
and this site: http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/ (check-mark the X850XT and X850 Pro then click "Next" at the bottom). The next page lists the Memory Clock Speed and Engine Clock Speed.

 

[kaotao]

A 7600GS would be a fine upgrade for you. My advice would be, if you can go a liitle bit higher, the 7600GT would be your best bet. It performs up to par or better than the X850pro, and has sm 3.0 and supports OpenEXR HDR. To answer your question, the 7600GS wouldn't be a waste of your money. However, the X1600 series for gaming, is (at least until the X1650pro comes out).

 

[pauldh]

The X850 pro would easily outperform the 7600GS. It's about equal to a X800XL and 6800GT. If you simply feel you must have an SM3.0 card, the 7600GT would be worth the extra money; 7600GS is a little weak.

Anyway, you'll be fine on that setup and could OC your AXP if you want a little more CPU power. My ranking is 7600GT, AIW X800XT, X850 pro, X800GTO/6800GS, 7600GS. (all in the $130-180 range).

 

[cleeve]

Ditto Paul again.

X850 XT or 7600 GT are probably your best bets.

 

[pauldh]

Ditto Paul again.

X850 XT or 7600 GT are probably your best bets.

Know of a good review that compares the two?

 

[GeneticWeapon]

X8xx cards are old technology and do not support modern games. Dont get sucked in by these ATi zealots, get the 7600GS and overclock the balls off of it. ......you > winner...

 

[GeneticWeapon]

The X850 pro would easily outperform the 7600GS.

Reported.

 

[mrmjs]

i have never OCed anything on the PC.. would it make much of a difference? I wouldnt have a clue on how to even OC the thing

 

[GeneticWeapon]

The 7600GS will overclock 100Mhz over stock, in my own experience in dealing with a friends card(and reading reviews).

People on these boards will recommend cards based on their stock performance, but this can be decieving, graphics cards have hidden performance in their overclocking capabilities.

The 7600GS overclocks like a mad dog(in my own experience), and has all of the modern features of the newest cards available.

 

[godlyatheist]

THG just did a review on sub 200 GPU's, and Cleeverated 7600GT and X850XT as equal.

My opinion is that the 7600GT(not the GS) wins. For old games, both 7600GT and X850XT pulls enough FPS(CSS, Far Cry, etc.). The GS's clock falls behind too much. For new games, both lack enough power to use all eye candies. However, with the 7600GT at least you can enable HDR at a performance hit if the game does not have SM2 HDR.

If he really wants to OC like crazy, get a 6800GS with 256-bit bus.

 

[Xazax310]

If you ask me i wouldnt go for the 7600GS or the ATI X1600 both have large(512mb or 256mb) memory but each only uses a 128 bit bus which in the case of 512MB will cause an extreme loss of performence because the 128 bit bus cannot handle that much memory.

X850PRO at newegg for 135$
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102606

You really cant beat the X850PRO as you might be able to unlock a possible 4 more pipelines(just by doing a bios flash) making it X850XT and for that price cant complain

 

[pauldh]

Even overclocked the 7600GS mem speeds will blow, and X850 pro's OC very well themselves and even have a chance to unlock. Stock the cards aren't even close, max overclocked they still would not be close. 3Dmark06 messed with your head GW. :tongue: You can have the HDR slideshow, and I'll take the smooth gameplay with higher resolution and FSAA.

 

[Heyyou27]

Even overclocked the 7600GS mem speeds will blow, and X850 pro's OC very well themselves and even have a chance to unlock. Stock the cards aren't even close, max overclocked they still would not be close. 3Dmark06 messed with your head GW. :tongue: You can have the HDR slideshow, and I'll take the smooth gameplay with higher resolution and FSAA.

That HDR slideshow is so beautiful.

 

[Hando567]

go 7600GT its a good solid card.

 

[angry_ducky]

BFG 6800GS OC $140 after a $30 MIR. Faster than a 7600GS, and it supports HDR, SM3.0, and all those other goodies which my X600 doesn't . The X850Pro MIGHT be a little bit faster, but I'd take this card anyway.

Or you could always wait for THIS to come back in stock.

 

[Xazax310]

go 7600GT its a good solid card.

Yes the GT is a good card however the 7600GT is PCI-E not AGP so that cannot apply here. HDR and SDM 3.0 are overrated good they are but it really doesnt apply for much games. The newer games coming out however support this technology (stronghold legends, Crysis, Supreme commander..ETC) but in any case spending only 130+ bucks for a good GFX cards is your best bet, i Bought my X800XL(PCIE) for 280$!!! man and that was in JANUARY! now the stupid things are selling forr 150+. go for a cheap card now you will thank me later when DX10 comes out and renders that 7600GS kaput.