What Graphics card

Kazu

i have a ati 128mb 9700 pro what would be a good upgrade

Jammer

6800Ultra / X850XT PE

davie_b

Gainward FX 5200 256MB
not a bad option it depends on your price range

jozi

I would say a 9800pro as i had one but seeing i have a nvidia 6600gt (AGP) i can recomend it. Both cards are around the €200 mark. The nvidia does win in most reviews, i cant see the difference. The 6600gt & 9800pro are a hell of a lot better than the nvidia 5200 i was using after my 9800pro died, not sure if it was 128 or 256mb but i dont think that makes a difference with curent games, i wouldnt recomend a 5200 for games. It strugled with ut2k4 at 1024 res and all setting to low, thats my experience with it anyway everything maxed now with the 6600gt (same as for the 9800pro)

Jozi

Nukem

Jammer wrote:

6800Ultra / X850XT PE

Any ideas where you could get a x850 handy????????????

BadCharlie

Nukem wrote:

Any ideas where you could get a x850 handy????????????

You plan on getting a PCI-Express motherboard ? As you will need one if you want the ATI x850 to work.

www.overclockers.co.uk clame they will have the x850 in stock late next week. I be sirprised if they do maybe in the next month we might c something.

Nukem

BadCharlie wrote:

You plan on getting a PCI-Express motherboard ? As you will need one if you want the ATI x850 to work.

www.overclockers.co.uk clame they will have the x850 in stock late next week. I be sirprised if they do maybe in the next month we might c something.

Plan on getting a whole new system - would love a x850xt but wont be available til a few months. Probably settle for a Leadtek 6600gt til the Summer.

gline

depends how much u wana spend Kazu. also depend n wether agp or pci-e and sli???? If money is no option and agp then x800 range is recommended, if pci-e SLI probably 6800 ultra's or GT's is best. If price is an issue and agp, probably a 9800 pro is good value, thats my opinion anyway, you wont be sorry with any of these when upgrading from your 9700 pro

tuxy

gline wrote:

depends how much u wana spend Kazu. also depend n wether agp or pci-e and sli???? If money is no option and agp then x800

so would you recomend the x800 over the 6800gt?
much the same price

gline

tuxy wrote:

so would you recomend the x800 over the 6800gt?
much the same price

Ohhhhhhh, thats a tough one, i cant really answer that as i only have used the x800, ive never used a 6800gt and i havnt seen one in use. It kinda depends on what games u wana play i think, x800=HL2, 6800=doom3 etc. I will say this for the x800 series, they overclock REALLY well , better than the 6800 IMHO. Which would make them more value for money. Tough choice though, either 1 is great, i used to ove nvidia but when i got the x800 i wa converted to ATI, LOL

jessy

davie_b wrote:

Gainward FX 5200 256MB
not a bad option it depends on your price range

He said an upgrade!

tuxy

well its a shuttle system that i have so i would be keeping it at stock speed
so im still undecided on x800 pro vs. 6800gt

BadCharlie

tuxy wrote:

well its a shuttle system that i have so i would be keeping it at stock speed
so im still undecided on x800 pro vs. 6800gt

The x800 is good but does not have all the pipes as a x800xt would have. Maybe Gline was lucky and unlocked the other 4? But its something to keep in mind before you buy.

dixsey

jozi wrote:

I would say a 9800pro as i had one but seeing i have a nvidia 6600gt (AGP) i can recomend it. Both cards are around the €200 mark. The nvidia does win in most reviews, i cant see the difference. The 6600gt & 9800pro are a hell of a lot better than the nvidia 5200 i was using after my 9800pro died, not sure if it was 128 or 256mb but i dont think that makes a difference with curent games, i wouldnt recomend a 5200 for games. It strugled with ut2k4 at 1024 res and all setting to low, thats my experience with it anyway everything maxed now with the 6600gt (same as for the 9800pro)

Jozi

dont go near an fx5200 they,re shiite

jozi

dont go near an fx5200 they,re shiite

Yep I know.
Wasnt even a good tempory gfx card

Jozi

gline

BadCharlie wrote:

The x800 is good but does not have all the pipes as a x800xt would have. Maybe Gline was lucky and unlocked the other 4? But its something to keep in mind before you buy.

No i didnt unlock the xtra 4, i tried, but it didnt work. Tuxy mentioned price, so thats why id recommended x800, is cheaper. As for 6800GT, well i dont know how good they are, ive seen loads of good reviews, i think its like the amd Vs intel arguement though, really up to personal choice mostly

gline

as for fx5200, dont even think about it, they belong in the bin

ViperVenoM

i thought the 5200 post was a joke... :eek:

i wouldnt wipe my arse on 1 tbh..

CivilServant

It would be painful alright, either way.

padraigf

I'd say that the 6800gt spanks the x800pro. That is unless you get a lucky x800 that all the pipes unlock on, but I think they are few and far between these days.

My 6800gt will clock up to 420/1120 from 350/1000. Id call that a respectable overclock. I havent tried flashing it to give more voltage to the core and memory to get a better overclock yet either. Many people report that this lets them get much higher still (at a big cost in heat).

Another thing to remember is that the 6800 series has SM 3.0 and HDR support. (not sure if theyre the same, lol). HDR is VERY pretty, find someone who has the card and get them to run rthdribl on it (free demo, google it). Its scarily realistic looking. HDR in farcry adds another dimension to the game aswell. I don't see why anyone would buy a new card without support for the latest features.

6800GTs go for between 417 and 500 on komplett. mine was the XFX for 460 and I think it was well worth it. X800pros just that much cheaper to justify the performance loss.

btw, i dont think that its the case that x800=hl2. i run it 1280x1024, max everything 4xAA, 8xAF and it runs like butter. I think it was Farcry that the 6800 series got creamed in.

Azza

Rofl

Kazu

i found found that my AGP slot is only 4X speed would the 6600gt be bottlenecked by the slow AGP slot

padraigf

Very very little, if at all.

Azza

I've been told its pointless getting an agp x8 card if the port is only 4 as it really reduces speed. Just what I have heard.

SirLemonhead

You might loose like....1fps at the MOST, if at all from using an AGP 8x card on a 4X slot.

jessy

Kazu wrote:

i found found that my AGP slot is only 4X speed would the 6600gt be bottlenecked by the slow AGP slot

Nope

gline

padraigf wrote:

I'd say that the 6800gt spanks the x800pro. That is unless you get a lucky x800 that all the pipes unlock on, but I think they are few and far between these days.

My 6800gt will clock up to 420/1120 from 350/1000. Id call that a respectable overclock. I havent tried flashing it to give more voltage to the core and memory to get a better overclock yet either. Many people report that this lets them get much higher still (at a big cost in heat).

Another thing to remember is that the 6800 series has SM 3.0 and HDR support. (not sure if theyre the same, lol). HDR is VERY pretty, find someone who has the card and get them to run rthdribl on it (free demo, google it). Its scarily realistic looking. HDR in farcry adds another dimension to the game aswell. I don't see why anyone would buy a new card without support for the latest features.

6800GTs go for between 417 and 500 on komplett. mine was the XFX for 460 and I think it was well worth it. X800pros just that much cheaper to justify the performance loss.

btw, i dont think that its the case that x800=hl2. i run it 1280x1024, max everything 4xAA, 8xAF and it runs like butter. I think it was Farcry that the 6800 series got creamed in.

how many games have pixel shader 3.0 support?? hardly any. and HL2 does run better on ati based gpus. also your overclock is about standard for an x800 aswell, and core speed is faster on x800, but tbh they are even enough when it comes to playing games. Like i said its really up to personal choice.

clearz

gline wrote:

how many games have pixel shader 3.0 support?? hardly any. and HL2 does run better on ati based gpus. also your overclock is about standard for an x800 aswell, and core speed is faster on x800, but tbh they are even enough when it comes to playing games. Like i said its really up to personal choice.

Dam all but you are not buying a graphics card for the past, you are buying it for the future. And upcomming titles will use these features

gline

its been out for well over 6 months and still barely any titles using it, which means when they do it will be time to upgrade again anyway, no point in having to pay more for a graphics card with features that you will probably not use for a year or more, and will have upgraded again before you do, newer cards will support it anyway

clearz

What major titles have came out in the last 6 months Doom 3 and HL 2 both which have been in development for years. Far Cry uses PS3 an HDRL. OK buy a PS2 card that costs the same anyway

gline

clearz wrote:

What major titles have came out in the last 6 months Doom 3 and HL 2 both which have been in development for years. Far Cry uses PS3 an HDRL. OK buy a PS2 card that costs the same anyway

Like i said before its personal choice, they are both as good as each other, if you are buying a card solely because it has ps3.0 then thats up to you, personaly i dont think its worth choosing a card because it has PS3.0, just because they are the 1st cards to support it, it doesnt mean they are the best, that technology will be expanded on son enough and there will be something better before we see games using ps3.0. The only problem i see with x800's is the gpu temp being allowed to run too high, which a decent cooler sorts out anyway, but it is bad releasing a card with a crappy cooler and say it is safe to run a gpu above 70 safely all the time.

Azza

Nvidia cards would be better if you ran any linux distrabution.

Bascially as it stands the 6800GT>X800Pro and the 6800ultra< x800xt

However ATI will have out soon the X800XL card which is 100 euro cheaper and matches the performance of the 6800gt.

tuxy

will the X800XL be pci-e only?

Azza

No idea.

jessy

tuxy wrote:

will the X800XL be pci-e only?

Don’t see why it should be? Majority of people are still on AGP.

BadCharlie

tuxy wrote:

will the X800XL be pci-e only?

It is only pci-e only at the moment, same for the x850. But maybe in a few months time they might release the AGP version but i dont know!!

Nukem

BadCharlie wrote:

It is only pci-e only at the moment, same for the x850. But maybe in a few months time they might release the AGP version but i dont know!!

I would doubt it - but i checked it out and found nothing. I really dont know. But is shows a turn towards the PCI-E if they are placing those cards on the market first.All you i found on the net is the same question as yours "are they doing and AGP version" Will keep my eye out Tux

Felstorm

a bit off topic but whats the difference between a 6600 with 256mb and a 6600GT 128mb apart from the different ram types because im looking to get this Grainward 6600 but theres no specs listed.

tuxy

even though the 6600gt has less memory it will give you better frame rates
it has a core speed of 500MHz and memory speed of 1000mhz while the none gt runs at 300mhz core and 550mhz memory
if i had the choice i would go with the 6600gt

the nameing systems the gpu makers have in place is awful and very misleading

Felstorm

how did you find out the stats or is that for the normal 6600 line?

padraigf

In general a higher core speed, memory speed and memory bandwith are much better than more memory. Also, the naming scheme of nvidia cards implies that the 6600gt would be faster.

6600 XT/LE < 6600 < 6600GT < 6600 Ultra

Some of those cards might not exist but thats the way nvidia names their cards, and it holds for all of their ranges, as far as I know.

tuxy

Felstorm wrote:

how did you find out the stats or is that for the normal 6600 line?

ya thats the normal stats for those cards

airetam_storm

padraigf wrote:

In general a higher core speed, memory speed and memory bandwith are much better than more memory. Also, the naming scheme of nvidia cards implies that the 6600gt would be faster.

6600 XT/LE < 6600 < 6600GT < 6600 Ultra

Some of those cards might not exist but thats the way nvidia names their cards, and it holds for all of their ranges, as far as I know.

Theres no 6600XT cause they got rid a that with the FX line

Also speed isint everything as a real fast gpu and memory wont do anything without a good pixal shader and vertex shader :rolleyes:

TacT

There is a worrying trend taking place with people who know nothing attempting to advise people on what the best plan of action is for an upgrade and giving bad advice. I'm sure if it continues people will never ask for advice on what to buy because people will be incapable of telling them what is better and why.

A 5200 from a 9700pro would be a DOWNGRADE for gods sake..

god have mercy on the person that advises someone to downgrade instead of upgrade when the person seeking said upgrade finds it to be slower than their old components :rolleyes:

If you're not 100% certain of what you're advising someone to do when they're looking for advice then please refrain from posting rubbish.

TacT

padraigf wrote:

In general a higher core speed, memory speed and memory bandwith are much better than more memory. Also, the naming scheme of nvidia cards implies that the 6600gt would be faster.

6600 XT/LE < 6600 < 6600GT < 6600 Ultra

Some of those cards might not exist but thats the way nvidia names their cards, and it holds for all of their ranges, as far as I know.

Why then are the 6800U agp and XTPE so close in terms of performance when there's such a massive difference in clockspeeds? I would have thought the whole current intel vs amd64 performance numbers would have made people realise that clockspeed isn't everything. How about the number of pipelines on said card? Vertex shaders? pixel shaders? Features? Does none of that play a part in your video card purchase? I know it did in mine...

astrofool

I would say he's referring to cards in the same family. The amount of people who bought a 256meg 9200 or fx5200, over something like a 128meg ti4200 or 9700pro is incredible.

Like for Nvidia right now, in the 6th family (6xxx), a 6800 will be better than the highest of the 6600's, and any 6600's would be better than any 6200's. Within each level, there are generally 3 or 4 speed bins from lowest (XT/LE or just play 6x00), to highest (GT then ultra).

It gets more confusing as ATI's scheme is rather arseways, where a 9500 is faster than a 9600, and now where generations come and disappear quickly (X700), and can possibly have many variations (9550, X850), and then top to bottom speed grades go: LE < vanillla < pro < XT, and the XL could conceivably fit in before the XT but after the pro, depending on the app.... Also, not all of one generation of ATI would support the same features, whereas, ALL 6xxx series from nvidia support all the same features, as would all of the fx 5xxx series (they learned after the gf4mx debacle).

padraigf

FFS people, I was only giving advice applicable to his situation.

airetam_storm : I'm well aware that theres no XT's in the new Geforce 6 series, I was making a generalisation for the entire nVidia range, as I repeatedly mentioned in my post. If you're desperate for someone to try and seem better than at least read their post in full please. Also, if you don't even know how to spell the word *pixel*, please dont try to teach me how I need to know about "pixal shaders". He was asking about a straigh comparison between a 6600 and a 6600gt. Not broadly between all cards.

TacT: You're a moderator, you should have a bit more sense. Please pay a bit more attention to what I said before you correct me as well. I wasn't comparing core and memory clock speeds across different cards, or features or anything like that. I was just saying that on two quite similar cards, the core and memory clock are more useful than more memory.

Everyone is just dying for something to correct today...
Thanks astrofool, you've read my post in context, more than I can say for our other local geniuses.