9600Pro to a x800XL?

[Overkast]

I'm thinking about upgrading my v-card to a x800XL. I play mostly FPS and strategy games, and sometimes some flight sims once in a blue moon.

My mobo is 8x AGP and I don't want to move to PCI-e and spend $$$ on mobo/cpu/v-card upgrades, so I was thinking a x800XL agp card would be nice for some up-coming games like AoE III (which uses HDR lighting) and even for Battlefield 2 which currently lags pretty often for me.

Any thoughts on this upgrade? Think the v-card will improve the lagging on my BF 2 or is it most likely an internet bandwidth issue? (4 megabit cable model connection).

P4 2.4c
1GB Mushkin 3500 (L2)
Intel D875PBZ mobo
128 Radeon 9600Pro

 

[mdchesne]

man after my own heart. did the exact same as you are doing now, only last december. Never regretted it. though if you can hold off until the r520 cores come out later this year, i'm sure the prices of the x800xt will drop and you can get that for around the same price as the xl right now.

 

[Overkast]

Yeah, it's just tough playing that "waiting game" when you already know you're gonna get something eventually

I havent read much about r520 lately... how solid is that info about it definitely coming out this year? I can wait for a few months... probably until after AoE comes out in October so I can see how it handles on my 9600Pro first, but I'll most likely make the purchase shortly after that anyway.

 

[Slogun]

My 9800XT died recently, just got my X800Xl yesterday.
Great 16x pipe card for the price.

 

[CheesePoofs]

The X800XL should yeild much better results than the 9600. I think they are clocked similarly, except the X800XL has faster, memory, but the XL has 16 pixel pipes instead of the 9600's 4 pipes. You will be happy with it

 

[atom t]

This is a great deal X800 Pro for $179. It is approx the same performance as X800XL. Probably a bit faster in older games but a bit slower in newer games that makes heavy use of pixel shaders.
12 pipelines but higher clock speed (475MHz)

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: atom t
This is a great deal X800 Pro for $179. It is approx the same performance as X800XL. Probably a bit faster in older games but a bit slower in newer games that makes heavy use of pixel shaders.
12 pipelines but higher clock speed (475MHz)

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

That is a great deal!

The X800 Pro is a hair behind the 6800GT in performance terms...great buy for that price IMO

 

[selfbuilt]

Originally posted by: atom t
This is a great deal X800 Pro for $179. It is approx the same performance as X800XL.
http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

My vote for the x800pro as well.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: atom t
This is a great deal X800 Pro for $179. It is approx the same performance as X800XL. Probably a bit faster in older games but a bit slower in newer games that makes heavy use of pixel shaders.
12 pipelines but higher clock speed (475MHz)

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

That is a great deal!

The X800 Pro is a hair behind the 6800GT in performance terms...great buy for that price IMO

The 6800gt is by far superior to the x800pro. We're talking up to 50% faster in all games i've seen benchmarked with a few D3D exceptions. Doom 3 is 20-30fps, 20+ faster in pacific fighters, etc. link to THG benchmarks.

That's still a good price ($179) for the pro, but don't expect as much as some are saying. Even the XL is at best equal with the 6800gt most of the time, besting the nvidia card in a few games i've been able to find

Here's a link to x800xl/x800pro/6800gt comparisons...i'm not sure how FS can conclude the x800xl "outclasses" the 6800gt. From what i can see there is little difference. The 6800gt beats the x800xl easily as often as the other way around

[the pro is] approx the same performance as X800XL

Jeez, where are you people getting this sh|t from?

 

[atom t]

The 6800gt is by far superior to the x800pro. We're talking up to 50% faster in all games i've seen benchmarked with a few D3D exceptions. Doom 3 is 20-30fps, 20+ faster in pacific fighters, etc. link to THG benchmarks.

Which jungle did you just swung out of? You gave us a link that show comparable performance.

YOU CAN DISCOVER MORE ABOUT A PERSON FROM ONE POST THAN IN AN HOUR OF PLAY.

 

[Matt2]

X800Pro is a handicapped X800XL.

X800XL will blow the X800Pro out of the water. This especially holds true when enabling AA/AF.

 

[selfbuilt]

Originally posted by: Malladine
The 6800gt is by far superior to the x800pro. We're talking up to 50% faster in all games i've seen benchmarked with a few D3D exceptions. Doom 3 is 20-30fps, 20+ faster in pacific fighters, etc. link to THG benchmarks.

Interesting bias you reveal. How about we use the same review sites and express it like this:
Except for Doom3, the x800xl matches or exceeds on 6800gt on various game tests, especially in nonAA/AF modes.

That sentence is just as accurate as yours ... and note that I'm just removing one game from the comparison, while you have removed a mysterious "few D3D exceptions".

Jeez, where are you people getting this sh|t from?

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply the x800xl and pro are equivalent - the xl is 5-20% faster, depending on the game, typically. But the pro typically has excellent overclocking abilities the xl can't match (pretty close to maxed out), so you can often compensate for lower pipes. At any rate, I don't think the xl should command a >25% price premium over the pro, which it currently does thanks to this ATI deal.

You might also want to learn some manners when posting.

Originally posted by: Matt2
X800Pro is a handicapped X800XL.

X800XL will blow the X800Pro out of the water. This especially holds true when enabling AA/AF.

Ah, no. the x800pro is a handicapped x800xt, by reduced pipes. The x800xl is a handicapped x800xt, by clock speed. That still makes the xl faster at stock, but hardly worth the price differential given oc abilities.

 

[Matt2]

EDIT: I'm not trying to start a war.

X800Pro for $179 would be a good choice.

 

[Kogan]

Originally posted by: Matt2

X800Pro for $179 would be a good choice.

I agree. Also, I've seen the XL's for sale for around $200 used ($230 or so new), so it just all depends on how much you want to spend..

 

[imported_Woody]

This really shouldn't be a pissing contest over which is the faster video card.

When it comes down to it, the 6800GT, X800XL, or X800Pro are all fine cards in roughly the same performance category depending on what you use them for and what games you are running. We all know Doom3 and Id fans are better off with NVidia while HL2 and CSS fans are better off with ATi cards, barring the new ultra high end 7800 range.

The X800XL is going to cost a little more than an older X800Pro but on a 2.4GHz P4 system it's not going to make a hell of a difference in performance, if any. Typically a stock X800XL will outperform a stock X800Pro due to the higher number of pixel pipelines....16 vs 12....but the XL will probably have less overclocking headroom if you are into that. The older X800Pro will run at much higher speeds.

I have several cards from NVidia and ATi and they are all good. I have an X800Pro that I've clocked up to 570MHz core /1020MHz memory and have hit 5400 on 3DMark05 (NForce2/XP3200) and that is going to outperform any stock X800XL on the same system and probably a stock 6800GT as well. I don't own one but I understand the 6800GTs have some clocking headroom as well. I run my X800Pro everday at 550MHz core /980MHz memory and it runs cool and stable and is very fast. It was cheaper than a competing 6800GT when I bought it and included full VIVO so it was a good deal at the time. Although all these cards have come down in price.

You really don't need more graphics power than any of these cards provide unless you get a faster CPU and a very high end monitor to run at high resolutions. You will find a nice performance increase over the 9600 and I think you will be very happy with it for a long time. Good luck!

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: Malladine

Originally posted by: n7

Originally posted by: atom t
This is a great deal X800 Pro for $179. It is approx the same performance as X800XL. Probably a bit faster in older games but a bit slower in newer games that makes heavy use of pixel shaders.
12 pipelines but higher clock speed (475MHz)

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

That is a great deal!

The X800 Pro is a hair behind the 6800GT in performance terms...great buy for that price IMO

The 6800gt is by far superior to the x800pro. We're talking up to 50% faster in all games i've seen benchmarked with a few D3D exceptions. Doom 3 is 20-30fps, 20+ faster in pacific fighters, etc. link to THG benchmarks.

That's still a good price ($179) for the pro, but don't expect as much as some are saying. Even the XL is at best equal with the 6800gt most of the time, besting the nvidia card in a few games i've been able to find

Here's a link to x800xl/x800pro/6800gt comparisons...i'm not sure how FS can conclude the x800xl "outclasses" the 6800gt. From what i can see there is little difference. The 6800gt beats the x800xl easily as often as the other way around

[the pro is] approx the same performance as X800XL

Jeez, where are you people getting this sh|t from?

ROFL, can i have some of the crack you are smoking?
50%?
That's just silliness.

First off, never link to THG as if what they say is fact. We all know what a joke that site is, which certainly doesn't lend to your credibility either.

How 'bout you do a little reading:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2299&p=1

Yes, the 6800GT is better, maybe a bit better than i had remembered.
But 10-20% is a damn long shot from 50% :roll:

Try getting your facts straight next time.

 

[BFG10K]

OP, you'll see a huge performance gain with that upgrade.

 

[Sonikku]

I have a 9600XT and want to upgrade, but I only have a Sempron Socket A cpu and MOBO.

 

[Busithoth]

9600Pro -> x800xl will make you pretty happy.
I have to second the notion that if you could just hold out another month or so, and x800xt will make you happier a little longer.

 

[MisterCornell]

Hrrrm.. I just upgraded to a Radeon 9600 Pro from a GeForce MX 420.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: selfbuilt
Interesting bias you reveal. How about we use the same review sites and express it like this:
Except for Doom3, the x800xl matches or exceeds on 6800gt on various game tests, especially in nonAA/AF modes.

That sentence is just as accurate as yours ... and note that I'm just removing one game from the comparison, while you have removed a mysterious "few D3D exceptions".

Well man, you mention a bias? I have never owned an nvidia card. How's that? I've owned 4 ati cards. How's that? I was attempting to reverse some blatantly misleading information.

Just to be clear, I didn't mean to imply the x800xl and pro are equivalent - the xl is 5-20% faster, depending on the game, typically. But the pro typically has excellent overclocking abilities the xl can't match (pretty close to maxed out), so you can often compensate for lower pipes. At any rate, I don't think the xl should command a >25% price premium over the pro, which it currently does thanks to this ATI deal.

You might also want to learn some manners when posting.

You might want to post here some more before commenting on how I post.

Note I said that the deal for the pro was a good one.

Originally posted by: n7
ROFL, can i have some of the crack you are smoking?
50%?
That's just silliness.

First off, never link to THG as if what they say is fact. We all know what a joke that site is, which certainly doesn't lend to your credibility either.

How 'bout you do a little reading:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2299&p=1

Yes, the 6800GT is better, maybe a bit better than i had remembered.
But 10-20% is a damn long shot from 50% :roll:

Try getting your facts straight next time.

heh :roll:
I linked to Firing Squad too and note I said "up to 50%". I've been searching the net for info on video cards for a while and observed the excellent overall performance of the 6800gt. I am in no way biased, as I mentioned earlier. I can't be bothered to go back through all the benchmarks i looked at when I posted before, but i think if you did some more research you'd see my point a little more clearly.

Personally I like THG's graphics card benchmarks, and I guess I don't see why they would favour one card over another. They seem to be consistent with other sites - anandtech, firingsquad, etc. And no-one else has such a comprehensive list. It's pretty handy

For the record, I don't care which card is faster. It's the principle. You can't go around handing out misleading information. What I wrote regarding the 6800gt's performance in comparison with the XL's could be taken as slanted certainly. However, the fact that selfbuilt turned it around to slant towards the XL proved my point precisely. It's very easy to do exactly because the performance is so similar. Neither card is superior to the other, overall.

Maybe you're all just so used to seeing people "take sides" that you automatically look for it in posts like mine. Just a thought

Malladine out :beer:

 

[blckgrffn]

Whatever man. You are the the one who came in here and made yourself look like the dumbass. If you go to any reviews done recently and not when the XL was released, you will see that in most games, like Far Cry and HL2, etc, the XL goes toe to toe with a 6800U rahter than a GT. Basically, you can find benchmarks out there to say whatever you want. Tom's is a joke, however, and should be treated as such. I don't want to spend forever hunting up benches to show you this though, you can look for yourself, obviously. Maybe if you did more research you could see my point more clearly...

As some have pointed out, with a 2.4ghz system, a Pro, XL, XT, and GT or U would all be pretty much the same... to the guy who wanted to upgrede the socket A platform, hit up that Pro. It will still be a huge shot in the arm, the 9600 series was always slow in my mind, right along with the 5700 series cards.

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
Whatever man. You are the the one who came in here and made yourself look like the dumbass. If you go to any reviews done recently and not when the XL was released, you will see that in most games, like Far Cry and HL2, etc, the XL goes toe to toe with a 6800U rahter than a GT. Basically, you can find benchmarks out there to say whatever you want. Tom's is a joke, however, and should be treated as such. I don't want to spend forever hunting up benches to show you this though, you can look for yourself, obviously. Maybe if you did more research you could see my point more clearly...

As some have pointed out, with a 2.4ghz system, a Pro, XL, XT, and GT or U would all be pretty much the same... to the guy who wanted to upgrede the socket A platform, hit up that Pro. It will still be a huge shot in the arm, the 9600 series was always slow in my mind, right along with the 5700 series cards.

Like a dumbass? Is there really a need for that? My point was that the gt is a faster card than the pro. In fact, it's so much faster that it's comparable with the xl, which it is. There was nothing whatsoever dumb about what I wrote.

I'm not attacking anyone, except maybe the guy who said the pro has approx. the same performance as the XL ( )

Benchmarks can say whatever you want? Hardly...I find benchmarks to be very accurate, if you read the fine print, so to speak.

:beer: for you blck

 

[blckgrffn]

X800 Pro vs X800XL (512)

Shows that there really isn't that much difference with the latest drivers... Doom3 loves that 512 of memory though!

X800XL vs the world...

Shows that if you want a benchmark to show something, it can. Love how the x800xl pretty much bests or equals the 6800U in everything but Doom 3, which is pretty evident at this point.... what I was trying to say is that you can find benches by reputable sites that show the 6800 series a little stronger, or you can find becnhes where the x800 series seems to be stronger in the Pro/XL vs GT/U range. Thus, having them say "what you want" based on whatever point you are trying to prove, not that I can't read numbers and test setups

The reason I said what I did is that you came in spouting nearly nonsense (NV 50% faster!) and calling down members who said other wise or called this into question based on their post count or how long they have been here. While sometimes you can do that if they truly sound like an idiot, you have no background on what kind of experience they have or know what other forums they might belong to.

Anyway, I firmly believe that the Pro is with 5-10% of the XL in nearly everything and thus it is a much better buy than a GT or XL at their current price points. Going from 50 to 55 fps or even 100 to 110 fps is really worth more than $25 or so IMO. If you think about the x800 Pro fill rate vs the X800XL fill rate, their is no reason that the XL should be faster by anything other than that slim margin. Furthermore, comparing benches from last summer vs this summer isn't very fair as we all know that driver improvements in that amount of time could account for a 5-10% performance discrepancy since we see so many reviews of cards right after they come out and not a couple driver releases into their life cycle.

Anyway, sorry if I was too rash, and a :beer: for you too, mallidine

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
X800 Pro vs X800XL (512)

Shows that there really isn't that much difference with the latest drivers... Doom3 loves that 512 of memory though!

X800XL vs the world...

Shows that if you want a benchmark to show something, it can. Love how the x800xl pretty much bests or equals the 6800U in everything but Doom 3, which is pretty evident at this point.... what I was trying to say is that you can find benches by reputable sites that show the 6800 series a little stronger, or you can find becnhes where the x800 series seems to be stronger in the Pro/XL vs GT/U range. Thus, having them say "what you want" based on whatever point you are trying to prove, not that I can't read numbers and test setups

The reason I said what I did is that you came in spouting nearly nonsense (NV 50% faster!) and calling down members who said other wise or called this into question based on their post count or how long they have been here. While sometimes you can do that if they truly sound like an idiot, you have no background on what kind of experience they have or know what other forums they might belong to.

Anyway, I firmly believe that the Pro is with 5-10% of the XL in nearly everything and thus it is a much better buy than a GT or XL at their current price points. Going from 50 to 55 fps or even 100 to 110 fps is really worth more than $25 or so IMO. If you think about the x800 Pro fill rate vs the X800XL fill rate, their is no reason that the XL should be faster by anything other than that slim margin. Furthermore, comparing benches from last summer vs this summer isn't very fair as we all know that driver improvements in that amount of time could account for a 5-10% performance discrepancy since we see so many reviews of cards right after they come out and not a couple driver releases into their life cycle.

Anyway, sorry if I was too rash, and a :beer: for you too, mallidine

Hmm, pro and XL are a lot closer with the latest drivers, you're right. I didn't realize that made such a big difference. XL still wins out at higher res and with AA/AF turned on, but at a retail $50 more it's not as good a deal as I thought. Same for the GT.

I only picked selfbuilt up on the post count thing because he suggested I post with more manners. He needs to read more of my posts if he thinks that

Anyway, yeah, i'd recommend any of those cards. That refurb $179 Pro is looking amazingly good right now. The OP will obviously see a giant boost going from a 9600pro to any of the cards mentioned here.