I'm looking to prolong the life of my aging P4 3.2GHz machine for a while yet. I like to play games and the 9800SE as everyone knows is quite crappy. I'm thinking of going with the 6800XT 256MB 256-bit. Would this be a decent upgrade as I have found one for $109.99? Also, I soptted a 7600GS on buy.com for $112.00. I know there are nice ATi cards out there but with the troubles I have had with mine I'd really like to get an nvidia as I have always had good luck with them. Any info or opinions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
For a new card and the price, the 7600GS AGP would be the best bet of your 3 choices. It even supports SM 3.0 and isn't particularly power hungry.
I've used one on a P4-2.4GHz with 1.2GB ram and I'm able to play BF2142 at medium/high settings.
If you don't need SM 3.0 support for your games then the X800XL is more powerful and cheaper (when bought used).
I've used one on a P4-2.4GHz with 1.2GB ram and I'm able to play BF2142 at medium/high settings.
If you don't need SM 3.0 support for your games then the X800XL is more powerful and cheaper (when bought used).
Did you look at: http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/12/12/the_best_gaming_graphics_cards_for_the_money/ ?
IMHO, you might want to stretch your budget to the $200 range and wait for the X1950 Pro to come down to that range. They seem to be in the $240 range right now.
IMHO, you might want to stretch your budget to the $200 range and wait for the X1950 Pro to come down to that range. They seem to be in the $240 range right now.
grant_77
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- Sep 10, 2006
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The 7600is better. It is practically the same chip design as the 6800 but its built on newer manufacturing process.
The 6800XT is built on 130 nm and the 7600 GS is built on 90 nm, so it has a lower thermal footprint thus using less electricity generating less heat.
The 6800XT is built on 130 nm and the 7600 GS is built on 90 nm, so it has a lower thermal footprint thus using less electricity generating less heat.
The X1950 Pro AGP is out. Well, that is, it's listed. Product shows as "backordered"
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=326860
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=326860
cleeve
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- Mar 7, 2003
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Not the same chip at all. The 7600's are 12-pipeline cards with 128-bit memory, and the 6800 GT/Ultra is 16-pipeline 256-bit memory. The plain 6800 (and AGP 6800 GS) have 4 pipelines disabled for 12 pipelines, and the 6800 XT has 8 pipelines disabled for a total of 8 pipelines.
Regardless, the 7600 GT performs closely to the 6800 Ultra.
The 6800 GS ferforms a little worse than a 7600 GS at stock clocks
The 6800 XT will perform worse than all of them, roughly the speed of a 6600 GT.
Still might be a good deal for $50 though. Some 680 XTs have high clockspeeds, and the 256-bit memory might be good for overclocking.
Your system would benefit from a better card than a 6800xt/7600gs.
It still has some juice in it.
If I were you, I'd consider extending your spending range a little more (by 20-30$) and look into the AGP versions of
7600GT
850XT (or close derivatives)
These cards offer much better performance than the cards you're currently considering (albeit at a small price pemium), and will likely be the last video card upgrade you'll need on your current system.
Saving 20-30$ now and getting a 6800xt (or somethign similar) will give you a boost, but you'll always be limited by your GPU and you'll start thinking about upgrading again soon (making your 6800xt wasteful).
In my opinion, one of the cards mentionned above is more suitable for a system with your specs, giving you optimum performance and not costing you an arm&leg.
Cheers
It still has some juice in it.
If I were you, I'd consider extending your spending range a little more (by 20-30$) and look into the AGP versions of
7600GT
850XT (or close derivatives)
These cards offer much better performance than the cards you're currently considering (albeit at a small price pemium), and will likely be the last video card upgrade you'll need on your current system.
Saving 20-30$ now and getting a 6800xt (or somethign similar) will give you a boost, but you'll always be limited by your GPU and you'll start thinking about upgrading again soon (making your 6800xt wasteful).
In my opinion, one of the cards mentionned above is more suitable for a system with your specs, giving you optimum performance and not costing you an arm&leg.
Cheers
All right, so with all that's been said, it looks like I'll be going with either a 6800 Ultra or 7600GT. Thanks for all the info, haven't kept up with hardware lately and now that I'm caught up on CPU's and Mobo platforms I'm trying to get caught up on GPUs.
knowsitall
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- Dec 19, 2006
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