Should I upgrade to an X800/Geforce 6800 card or a 9800 Pro?

[himuradrew]

Hey guys!!

I've got the following specs on my PC right now:

Athlon XP 2400+
ECS K7AMA3
384MB SDRAM (I'll be upgrading to DDR soon)
Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro @526/303
WinXP Pro SP1
40GB HDD
250W PSU (will be upgrading this soon)

I'm planning to upgrade my videocard but my problem is that I'm not quite sure which one to go for...

- X800 Pro
- Geforce 6800 GT
- 9800 XT

Which one of those would give me the best bang for the buck?

Thanks guys!!

 

[ForceCalibur]

GT.

 

[TStep]

PSU first, wait till the Nvidia card is out, see how the production run cards match up in reality, and go from there. Some one did a review of the newer cards with different processors. A 2100+ was basically the limiting factor in performance, as the cards were maxiing out the cpu. I can't remember which website did the review. Help on this anyone?? Think you should read that first before a purchase. I'll edit when I find it.

 

[CU]

Get the X800Pro or check out the GT when it goes on sale. I have a 1.8@2.4ghz P4 and I plan to get a X800Pro when HL2 and DoomIII come out.

 

[Deeko]

Honestly, coming from a 9600 pro, I don't think you really need to upgrade at this point. Your card will be sufficient for the Doom III's and HL 2's of the world. Wait till they come down in price, or till the next round comes out, cuz you've got plenty IMO. I know I'm not planning on upgrading my 9700 pro anytime soon.

 

[TheWart]

I agree with Deeko.

I think that a 9800 won't be that great of a difference for you, and the X800 might be overkill with that amount of ram/cpu.

 

[ForceCalibur]

If he had a 9700/9800 series, then yes, hes all set. Fact is, the 9600 series SUCKS, they have 4 pipelines, and will guaranteed to sh*t on itself in HL2/Doom3. Even Farcry taxes Radeon 9700/9800s.

 

[whateverdude]

well, I have to admit im a little worried how HL2 and D3 will run on my 9700. Far Cry demo is almost unplayable for me and that has me a little worried about these next gen games coming out.

system is
P4 1.6a @ 2.0
1gig pc2100
asus p4b-266c
9700

 

[LTC8K6]

Sit tight for another month and see how things go with the new cards.

 

[Bar81]

You don't have enough CPU juice for any of the new gen cards. The 9800Pro is your best bet at this point. It plays any game out there and will play HL2 and DoomIII just fine also.