help on a smart upgrade

[Rob423]

hey guys, im in the process of upgrading.. i really really want a 6800GT, but i deff don't wanna shell out anything over 300 for a gfx card.

right now im running a gf4 ti4200 128mb leadtek and i play CS 1.6, Day of Defeat and im pretty happy on how it looks...... but now i wanna play Half Life 2 and CS:Source and run them really well, would a 256MB FX5950XT nvidia fit my needs? or what would you reccomend for around the 300 area, there's a nice 5950XT on newegg for only 181$..... that's a nice price... what do you guys think would be a good upgrade improvement.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

 

[RichPLS]

You can get a GeForce 6800 128MB for $300

<font color=red><pre>\\//__________________________________
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[georgebeee]

which would blow away those nvidia FX cards, be a much smarter upgrade

 

[Rob423]

yeah? sounds good..
any particular brand? I like Leadtek.. but if they don't make one who else would you reccomend?

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
80gb Maxtor
200gb WD 8mb cache..
Lian-Li PC-60
LiteOn 52X/LiteOn 811s DVD-RW
AMD XP2800+
LeadTek GF4Ti4200 128mb
Hitachi CML174
1GB Corsair XMS PC3200

 

[HardWareBoss]

Why not buy HIS 9800ProICEQ at NewEgg $235.

 

[dd_viper]

BFG for its warrenty and cant void warrenty by o/cing (i think) :lol:

or i have evga and had VERY good custumer service when i had a problem with my psu :frown:

but i think i'd b smart to go with the BFG

Homer: (crying) ahhh i dont remember the last time i cried like this!
Lisa: When u put ur shirt on backwards
Homer: (crying) o ya, (crying) the tag chafed my skin (crying)

 

[coylter]

6600gt anyone?

Signature (up to 200 characters). You may use <font color=blue><b>Markup</b></font color=blue> in your signature

 

[pauldh]

Stay away from the GF FX series, a Radeon 9800 pro is better than any of them.

If a 6800GT is out of pricerange, head to your local BESTBUY for <A HREF="http://server3.uploadit.org/files/PaulDH-6800small.jpg" target="_new">this GF6800/farcry/HL2 bundle</A>.


MSI K8N Neo2 platinum, A64 3000+, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro

 

[BrandtP]

I just over the weekend bought an eVGA 6800. I'm happy with it and with the rebate it was only $289 US before tax (at the usually overpriced Circuit City). I was upgrading from an FX 5700 Ultra and can see a nice difference. I can play Doom 3 and Morrowind at 1024 x 740 and they look great (was at 800x600). I would normally have ordered from Newegg, but even the rip off, mainstream stores (i.e. Best Buy, Circuit City, and CompUSA) are offering competetive deals. While mail order was still cheaper, the price difference wasn't great enough to justify waiting for my order.

I guess what I'm trying to say is go with a Geforce 6800.

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by BrandtP on 11/29/04 09:55 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[xonic]

agree on GF6600. it's about $200 on buy.com with coupon.

Hard decisions: Intel or AMD, nVidia or ATI, Windows or Linux, Neverwinter Nights or Counter-Strike, computer or woman.

 

[GPU_BURNER]

i got a bfg 6800 oc for 255 w/far cry at best buy too - i was able to use riva tuner to open it up - nice card for my average system - 2.8 p4

 

[HardWareBoss]

That was 128 Not 256?

 

[cleeve]

SMART upgrade? Friends, friends.

Pay Attention!

1- Stay the hell away from the GeforceFX series. They suck. Really.

2- Your mobo is limited to the AthlonXP 3200+. Think about it... any AGP videocard you buy now is going to be garbage when you upgrade to a mobo with PCIe. Which can't be more than a year or so away, if you're a game player.

3- This in mind, a good short-term solution that isn't a waste of money is what you're looking for.
So do yourself a favor and get a USED Radeon 9700 PRO or 9800 PRO, in the ~$130 to ~$150 range. These flagship cards still offer very good performance in new titles. (Hellabetter than your time-honored Ti4200, even).
With the added bonus that, in a year or so, when you upgrade your whole setup, you'll probably still be able to score ~$100 for the Radeons because they're so damn good. Nice.

If you MUST get an Nvidia product (guessing you're an Nvidiot because you haven't listed any Radeons in your choices), bypass the whole shite GeforceFX line and get yourself a shiny new Geforce 6600GT AGP, which will tie you over nicely, but cost substantially more than the used Radeon 9700/9800 (for about the same performance) and will ALSO be useless when you upgrade to a PCIe platform.

Cleeve has spoken.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 332/345)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>3200+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 400 FSB)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[PARTYBOY]

rofl 6600gt brand new with warranty to a 9700/9800 second hand which has been oc and which has taken it up the ass plus no warranty talk about being a sucker plus its a ati hahaha i whish i was a ATI IDIOT with a 9700pro scoring 3dMark03: 5,354 welldone anything else u wanna declare cleeve.

You have no Party boy in you.

 

[coylter]

WTF was...that????

Signature (up to 200 characters). You may use <font color=blue><b>Markup</b></font color=blue> in your signature

 

[cleeve]

Heheh. A loser Nvidiot, obviously.

I'll say this for partyboy though, his momma sure is tough.
Not alot of women out there who can swallow that much manchowder at one sitting without gagging.

I have to admit, he's right about one thing... I don't have any partyboy in me.

His dad can't say the same thing, unfortunately.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 332/345)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>3200+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 400 FSB)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[blackphoenix77]

I'd get a 6600GT.

<font color=blue>AthlonXP-M 2500+(12x200)</font color=blue>|<font color=green>Abit NF7-S</font color=green>|<font color=red>Kingston DDR400 2x256Mb</font color=red>|<font color=purple>NEC Accucync90 19"</font color=purple>|<font color=black>Sapphire 9600XT</font color=black>