Best card for AGPx8

Just get 1 more gig, and look into getting this for your System. What powersupply you using anyway?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102570

Just get 1 more gig, and look into getting this for your System. What powersupply you using anyway?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102570

I was going to recommend that, however, you beat me to it. The X850XT will wipe the floor with an X1600Pro, no matter how much memory the 1600 has.

Also, what are the amps on the +12V rail(s) of your PSU?

Upgrade to the 7800GS since you are saying that system will be useful for a long time.

the 128-bit memory interface really hurts at higher resolutions. if you play games at low-medium resolution then it's not so bad.

I'd suggest the 7800gs.

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Just wanted to add these three quotes from 7950GT reviews:

Firingsquad Conclusion:
"How does the board compare against its new competitor, the Radeon X1900 XT 256MB? Overall we’d have to give the performance advantage to the ATI card; the X1900 XT 256MB not only performed better in the benchmarks ATI cards traditionally do well in (Call of Duty 2, Battlefield 2, Oblivion), the X1900 XT 256MB also outperformed the stock GeForce 7950 GT in titles we normally see GeForce cards come out ahead, such as Quake 4. The X1900 XT 256MB also put up a strong showing in F.E.A.R., outrunning the GeForce 7950 GT by 15% at 1600x1200."


AnaNVtech Conclusion:
"The single 7950 GT card from NVIDIA does not seem to offer a greater immediate return on your investment than its major competitors in the X1900 XT family. First, the X1900 XT 256MB is cheaper than the 7950 GT. Both flavors out perform the 7950 GT in multiple games. Where the 7950 GT does lead the X1900 XT 256MB in a couple cases, it never leads the 512MB version. Obviously, the usual exceptions apply and those shopping with only one particular game in mind may form different conclusions, but in our eyes, the X1900 XT series are still better deals than stock speed 7950 GT parts. "

[H]ardOCP Conclusion:
"In Oblivion, Half Life 2: Episode 1, and Battlefield 2 the ATI Radeon X1900 XT 256MB video card either provided a better visual experience or provided raw performance advantages over the XFX GeForce 7950 GT 570M Extreme. Prey was a wash between both video cards with almost equal performance and image quality. World of Warcraft was the only game where the XFX GeForce 7950 GT 570M Extreme showed signs of providing a better gameplay experience.

It seems that the 512MB of RAM on the GeForce 7950 GT doesn’t benefit it all that much compared to the competition in the latest shader intensive games. Perhaps if you were running at super high resolutions and antialiasing settings would you see a difference, but unfortunately the GeForce 7950 GT doesn’t have the horsepower to push those kinds of settings where it would be stressed. "

http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/arti [...] wxNCwsMTEw
(Note, this is an overclocked 7950GT even)

If you simply must have NV, then the 7950GT is a good card and a better value than the 7900GT. But you will get more for less money with the X1900XT's.

Well, it's a fine card I am sure you will be thrilled with it. If however you really did want to change, Newegg lets you cancel an order up until it ships. No need to call, you do it right from the my account invoice page. A few clicks, it's done. NV has usually been very good in OGL and Flight Sims. Aslo, sometimes flight sims are more CPU bound. Anyway, enjoy the upgrades.