So I've had my 9800 Pro since September of 2003...

[archcommus]

...and it still performs like a champ with my 2100+ overclocked to 2.2 GHz. I recently bought an X800 XL, and even now only because I know I won't have the money to do so this fall when I'm in school. If I would've waited to upgrade until my games absolutely required it, it probably would've been until the next big shooter came out before I would do it. That's a LONG time for this 9800 Pro to be performing well, being able to achieve 1280x1024 with AA and AF enabled in games like HL2 and still get 30-50 FPS.

So could this X800 XL last just as long? Still performing well in new games by Christmas of 2006? I'm still wondering if I should've waited until the END of this summer to upgrade and bought into the next gen of cards instead.

 

[jamesbond007]

It all depends on what you think is acceptable. Personally, I don't really care or see the need for FSAA/AF, so graphics cards tend to last me a LOT longer than for most gamers.

 

[raystorm]

I have had my 9800np since June 2003 and I'm still happy with its performance. My cpu is an Athlon 2500+ and I have 1 gig of ram so its hardly a speed demon yet my 9800 still performs very well.

I'm sure I won't see all the details in games that use SM3.0 (I think SC: Chaos Theory is one) and wont see full detail in some other games like Everquest 2 (I dont play mmorpgs)..etc. I always use 16X AF as it doesn't make a dent in the framerate and I usually use 2X or 4X AA if there is little frame rate loss. I also dont exactly get 60fps in Doom 3 but I do play it on high @1024x768 res and its still pretty smooth (I guess 25 to 30fps).

I see no reason to upgrade my 9800 any time soon. When all the new games such as Oblivion, Prey, Quake 4..etc come out and its a choppy mess then I'll upgrade it but until then is my 9800 all the way..to the bitter end!

 

[Dman877]

AA/AF is unnecessary when you're playing games. It may look nice in screenshots but when you're playing, who cares. Only reason to buy a curent-gen card imo is if you have a 16x12 lcd.

 

[raystorm]

Originally posted by: Dman877
AA/AF is unnecessary when you're playing games. It may look nice in screenshots but when you're playing, who cares. Only reason to buy a curent-gen card imo is if you have a 16x12 lcd.

I notice the difference with AF. In some games it can be a big difference. I agree with you on AA though. I dont notice jaggies when I play, especially with fast paced games yet some people notice every single jaggy onscreen.

 

[imported_DaveA]

agreed on af. definately needed, blurry textures = NO. jaggies arent noticeable to me at 1280x1024 but aa sure is nice

 

[Amplifier]

I'm spending $600 on a G70, who's with me!?

 

[raystorm]

Originally posted by: Amplifier
I'm spending $600 on a G70, who's with me!?

I'll take one...on your expense of course.

 

[archcommus]

Well, I knew I wouldn't have the money once I was in school to upgrade, so I had to get it done before I left. However, I actually wanted to do it NOW, not at the end of the summer, because I'll be moving my computer into my room soon and my current one is just too loud to be up there. So I wanted to upgrade the mobo, CPU, and video card before I make the switch, and then no longer have an OCed system, and thus quieter fans. I just hope I didn't buy a new card TOO early, I hope this card will serve me well.

And Chaos Theory uses SM 3.0? Then how come when I asked in other threads if I should get a 6800 GT or an X800 XL most people said not to worry about SM 3.0?

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

what ever you want, they are pretty much the same.

 

[dug777]

Originally posted by: raystorm
I have had my 9800np since June 2003 and I'm still happy with its performance. My cpu is an Athlon 2500+ and I have 1 gig of ram so its hardly a speed demon yet my 9800 still performs very well.

I'm sure I won't see all the details in games that use SM3.0 (I think SC: Chaos Theory is one) and wont see full detail in some other games like Everquest 2 (I dont play mmorpgs)..etc. I always use 16X AF as it doesn't make a dent in the framerate and I usually use 2X or 4X AA if there is little frame rate loss. I also dont exactly get 60fps in Doom 3 but I do play it on high @1024x768 res and its still pretty smooth (I guess 25 to 30fps).

I see no reason to upgrade my 9800 any time soon. When all the new games such as Oblivion, Prey, Quake 4..etc come out and its a choppy mess then I'll upgrade it but until then is my 9800 all the way..to the bitter end!

lol you'll get better fps in d3 than that i hope, i see 40fps with those settings on my 2.1ghz Axp, 1 gb RAM, 9800 pro

 

[Dacalo]

I have had my 9700 Pro since November of 2002, and it is still serving me well. I want to upgrade, but I am going to wait until R520 gets released.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: raystorm

Originally posted by: Dman877
AA/AF is unnecessary when you're playing games. It may look nice in screenshots but when you're playing, who cares. Only reason to buy a curent-gen card imo is if you have a 16x12 lcd.

I notice the difference with AF. In some games it can be a big difference. I agree with you on AA though. I dont notice jaggies when I play, especially with fast paced games yet some people notice every single jaggy onscreen.

I do notice jaggies sometimes, specially when looking at thin items like wires. Bu otherwise I agree, AF or the lack thereof is very noticeable.

 

[mwmorph]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
It all depends on what you think is acceptable. Personally, I don't really care or see the need for FSAA/AF, so graphics cards tend to last me a LOT longer than for most gamers.

same. i played games on a rage frickin pro and geforce2(next card is going to be a used 9700pro) so aa and af are dead to me.

 

[Emultra]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
It all depends on what you think is acceptable. Personally, I don't really care or see the need for FSAA/AF, so graphics cards tend to last me a LOT longer than for most gamers.

AA rocks, have you seen Source without AA? Ugh...it's like every little detail is made out of bricks bolted together. Shaders are nice, though.

Without AF the textures, when at angles, look like they're from HL1. They don't quite blur in "stripes" as much, but they sure do blur.

 

[StrangerGuy]

8x/16x Perf AF on any 9600 Pro or better card is considered a free operation since the performance hit is so minimal.

Correct me if I'm wrong though.

 

[NEVERwinter]

Originally posted by: jamesbond007
It all depends on what you think is acceptable. Personally, I don't really care or see the need for FSAA/AF, so graphics cards tend to last me a LOT longer than for most gamers.

I'm with you :beer:

 

[pulsedrive]

As far as SM 3.0 goes, the bottom line is: it isn't going to be REQUIRED to play games for quite some time. Now if you are one of the bunnies that just HAS to have all the settings cranked up to max on their 16 x 12 LCD that cost 1 grand, then yeah you should get an Nvidia. Personally I am not one of those people and have an x800xl and am VERY pleased with it. I even have the settings on WoW (admitedly not a HORRIBLY graphic intensive game) cranked all the way up and normally get betwen 45-60 FPS. Also the x800xl outperforms the 6800GT in almost everygame except doom3, but go figure.

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: pulsedrive
As far as SM 3.0 goes, the bottom line is: it isn't going to be REQUIRED to play games for quite some time. Now if you are one of the bunnies that just HAS to have all the settings cranked up to max on their 16 x 12 LCD that cost 1 grand, then yeah you should get an Nvidia. Personally I am not one of those people and have an x800xl and am VERY pleased with it. I even have the settings on WoW (admitedly not a HORRIBLY graphic intensive game) cranked all the way up and normally get betwen 45-60 FPS. Also the x800xl outperforms the 6800GT in almost everygame except doom3, but go figure.

"SM 3.0". I'm getting out of here.

 

[archcommus]

What I don't understand is, I've started a few threads in the past and read many OTHER threads in the past about this whole 6800 GT vs. X800 XL thing, and whether 3.0 matters or not. Basically the overall idea was that by the time SM 3.0 becomes big and used frequently, you'll want a next-gen card anyway. And with my X800 XL costing me well under $200, I went for it. But now I read a game will be utilizing SM 3.0 very soon. And I do like the eye candy. So I should've went with a 6800 GT?

Ahh, but compare less than $200 to well over $300...can't deny that price.

 

[raystorm]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: raystorm
I have had my 9800np since June 2003 and I'm still happy with its performance. My cpu is an Athlon 2500+ and I have 1 gig of ram so its hardly a speed demon yet my 9800 still performs very well.

I'm sure I won't see all the details in games that use SM3.0 (I think SC: Chaos Theory is one) and wont see full detail in some other games like Everquest 2 (I dont play mmorpgs)..etc. I always use 16X AF as it doesn't make a dent in the framerate and I usually use 2X or 4X AA if there is little frame rate loss. I also dont exactly get 60fps in Doom 3 but I do play it on high @1024x768 res and its still pretty smooth (I guess 25 to 30fps).

I see no reason to upgrade my 9800 any time soon. When all the new games such as Oblivion, Prey, Quake 4..etc come out and its a choppy mess then I'll upgrade it but until then is my 9800 all the way..to the bitter end!

lol you'll get better fps in d3 than that i hope, i see 40fps with those settings on my 2.1ghz Axp, 1 gb RAM, 9800 pro

Well..you have a 2.1ghz Axp, the 2500+ runs at 1.83Ghz. Also the 9800np is a tad slower than the pro version. So you should get a better framerate than me. In all honesty I never benchmarked it so I have no clue what the average FPS is for me. Its not choppy though so I'm happy about it.

 

[Munky]

My 9800p can still run all the latest games at high settings with AA/AF, at 1024 res. At that resolution, I figure it will last me at least another year, maybe more. I'll probably keep it until I get a LCD monitor, then I'll need something more powerful.

 

[fbrdphreak]

I had a 9800P for a few weeks (the one in my sig is a friend's) and I loved it; but then I got my 6800GT and have never looked back

However I still have to agree that 9800P's are awesome for the money.

 

[archcommus]

So the SM 3.0 issue...why did most people say that it wasn't worth paying so much more for a card that supports it right now when a game will be using it very shortly? I was under the impression that by the time it came popular I would want a more powerful video card anyway, but now that doesn't seem to be the case.

Basically, I just don't want to be disappointed with what my X800 XL can deliver too shortly. As I said before, I was really hoping it would perform very well with all the eye candy for at least 18 months or so. If I already can't use some good graphical features of games in a few months, well that's just crap.

 

[Ackmed]

Originally posted by: Dman877
AA/AF is unnecessary when you're playing games. It may look nice in screenshots but when you're playing, who cares. Only reason to buy a curent-gen card imo is if you have a 16x12 lcd.

I care, thats who.