Choose my new video card

[dman918]

I have a chance to sell my x800xl for a decent price and wanted to hear everyone's opinion on what I should do as an upgrade. Should I go with a gto and unlock it or go with the new 6800 out? Or is there a better alternative, such as a 7800gt? I want to spend $275 max. Oh, and links to the specific product are always appreciated.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[Wreckage]

Well a 7800GT will run you $300, but that's what I would go with. Try and get one with a free copy of COD2. If you don't want to shell out the extra $25, get a 6800GS for $200.

 

[Powermoloch]

save a lil more man...30 bucks to go...come one NOW !

 

[dman918]

I CAN spend more, I just don't know if I want to. Is it really worth $100 more for that card? I am not so sure...

 

[LostTime77]

Well the 7800GT has double the pipelines of a 6800GS and outperforms a 6800 ultra by a good margin. The 6800GS runs barely under a 6800GT. It would still be good to get the 7800GT, IMO , I myself am getting one for an upgrade from an X800XT, which I am selling.

 

[Wentelteefje]

Well the 7800GT has double the pipelines of a 6800GS and outperforms a 6800 ultra by a good margin. The 6800GS runs barely under a 6800GT. It would still be good to get the 7800GT, IMO , I myself am getting one for an upgrade from an X800XT, which I am selling.

Yep, 7800GT is the best value, especially this one from eVGA... Only $ 289!!! (after Mail-In Rebate)

I'd be getting one of those, as they only cost 9 bucks more than an eVGA 6800GT!

EDIT: Don't start telling me you can't afford the 14 dollars extra...?
EDIT: The difference is only four bucks now!!! Get that 7800GT before it's too late!

 

[buzzsaw13]

I would recommend the Connect3d X800GTO but it seems Connect3d decided to come out with unlockable cards. They still can be overclocked quite well, but like the rest of these people, you're better off with a 7800GT.

 

[dman918]

But again, the question is if that is worth the price difference from a (non-connect3d) gto or gto2. If you are getting x850xt speeds at $200, wouldn't it be more worthwhile with those cards? Sorry, I am asking because I simply don't know.
Thanks for the responses thus far.

 

[Munky]

I dont think c3d just started locking up all their cards, maybe some cores have a defective quad, but I see people who even recently unlocked the card. And yes, I dont think a 7800gt is worth the price difference over a modded gto, but you already have a x800xl, so if I were you I'd get a card that's of a newer generation than what you have. It depends on how often you upgrade. If you plan on getting a yet newer card within a year then a modded gto would be a nice free upgrade. But if you plan to keep the card for at least a year then a 7800gt would be a better choice in the long run.

 

[dman918]

In a video card, I would like to try to keep it as long as I can. I certainly do not need the latest and greatest, but I want to be able to play a game decently if I want to. FEAR ran OK on the x800xl, but not great. Otherwise, the current card works fine. I don't play in any resolution higher than 1280x1024 and in fact, I many times am willing to play at 1024x768.
I guess I am not going to be quick at buying a $300 video card every year or anything unless I get an opportunity to sell my old card for a good amount.

 

[RussianSensation]

Upgrading from you X800XL to 6800GS, or X850XT PE (ie. unlocked GTOs) is not worth it. The minimum upgrade is 7800GT. You could always wait for R580 and 90nm G70 refreshes.

 

[v8envy]

Depends on what you mean 'for a decent price.' If you can get more than $220, go for it and replace your card with a 6800GS. There won't be a perceptible real world difference. You'll just have to make the call of whether the few bucks you make are worth the hassle of being without video for a few days. =)

For an upgrade, nothing less than a 7800 GT will do.

Remember that with a $180 unlockable card you run two risks: one, the card might not unlock, and two you might !$@!# up the card. OC your XL if you want to take risks, it's not worth a few bucks to chance being stuck at 12 pipes.

p.s. powercolor now has a 16 pipe GTO 16 for $180ish as well, that may be worth taking an OC chance on. No news yet on whether it's a 480 core.

 

[christopherzombie]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
Upgrading from you X800XL to 6800GS, or X850XT PE (ie. unlocked GTOs) is not worth it. The minimum upgrade is 7800GT. You could always wait for R580 and 90nm G70 refreshes.

I agree. This would be more of a step-to-the-side rather than a step-up. Go with the new technology. A 7800GT is what you need.

 

[dman918]

I have someone who is buying the x800xl for $235.

 

[dman918]

Eh, screw it. Ordered the 7800GT as you all recommended. I doubt I can be dissappointed by it.
Thanks everyone!

 

[dman918]

Man, the gto2 is back at $209. I hope I made the right decision...

 

[sisq0kidd]

Originally posted by: dman918
Man, the gto2 is back at $209. I hope I made the right decision...

$209 still isn't that great of a deal IMO. You made a good choice. Don't look back!

 

[buzzsaw13]

Originally posted by: dman918
Man, the gto2 is back at $209. I hope I made the right decision...

The GTO2 can't compare to the 7800GT even when unlocked and overclocked to X850XT. If you were on a tighter budget then you should have went with the GTO2, but since you have the money for a 7800GT then theres no contest. Good luck with that 7800GT, its a great card.

 

[dman918]

Great. Thanks everyone for the advice. I was concerned that a x850xt would be very close in performance to a 7800gt. If it isn't, then there really wasn't a big reason not to get it. Plus, I get Call of Duty 2 free.
Thanks again!

 

[johnnqq]

a lot of missinfo in this thread. an x800 gto would be the best "value" frames/dollar especially after overclocking. the 6800gs is a good buy (i'm getting one) for $200. if you can justify spending an extra $75 for 10-20 frames, then go ahead.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: johnnqq
a lot of missinfo in this thread. an x800 gto would be the best "value" frames/dollar especially after overclocking. the 6800gs is a good buy (i'm getting one) for $200. if you can justify spending an extra $75 for 10-20 frames, then go ahead.

how so? Upgrading from X800XL to X800GTO is a downgrade. Even if you overclock it and unlock it, it'll never be much faster than X800XL. 7800GT would be a much better card if he was actually going to "upgrade" to something worthwhile.

 

[Munky]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: johnnqq
a lot of missinfo in this thread. an x800 gto would be the best "value" frames/dollar especially after overclocking. the 6800gs is a good buy (i'm getting one) for $200. if you can justify spending an extra $75 for 10-20 frames, then go ahead.

how so? Upgrading from X800XL to X800GTO is a downgrade. Even if you overclock it and unlock it, it'll never be much faster than X800XL. 7800GT would be a much better card if he was actually going to "upgrade" to something worthwhile.

Actually a modded gto can be MUCH faster than a x800xl, and reach performance levels of a 7800gt in some games, but there's an element of luck with these things. It may or may not unlock, and may OC very well or not so well. Most will reach at least 500 on the core, and the gto2 always unlocks, so for $210 it's a nice deal (the gto for $160 is even better if you're lucky). But if you are willing to spend the dough on a 7800gt, and plan to keep the card for at least a year, then the 7800gt is a better choice since you MAY get a bit more mileage out of it in future games with SM3/HDR, does significantly better in OpenGL games, and is a good performer across te board, especially since it can be OC'd to gtx performance levels.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: munky

Actually a modded gto can be MUCH faster than a x800xl, and reach performance levels of a 7800gt in some games, but there's an element of luck with these things. It may or may not unlock, and may OC very well or not so well. Most will reach at least 500 on the core, and the gto2 always unlocks, so for $210 it's a nice deal (the gto for $160 is even better if you're lucky). But if you are willing to spend the dough on a 7800gt, and plan to keep the card for at least a year, then the 7800gt is a better choice since you MAY get a bit more mileage out of it in future games with SM3/HDR, does significantly better in OpenGL games, and is a good performer across te board, especially since it can be OC'd to gtx performance levels.

Hey munky....actually after reading your post I decided to check things out...it does seem 7800GT isnt that great of an upgrade in itself from x850xt pe. hmm.....guess I was caught off by the long hype of geforce 7.

Review

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: dman918
Man, the gto2 is back at $209. I hope I made the right decision...

Sleep soundly... you did.

The difference between an X800XL, a GTO2 & a 6800GS is very small & likely not worth the effort involved, while the 7800GT will be a noticable improvement.

 

[dman918]

I figure I will keep the card for a couple years, so it was probably worth the slightly higher price for the 7800gt. I will OC it as well, since it seems like the linked card is pretty OCable. I hope it is a little quieter than my x800xl was though. I also would love to play FEAR with AA and AF. My computer was very hiccupy with either enabled. Also, I have heard so much about SM3 (and saw pic comparisons), that it seems like the quality will be much better as well across many games. Just justifying the purchase...