Would you upgrade at this time?

[Zoso04]

My specs:

Barton 3200
1 gig pc3200
9800np agp - The problem.
19" VP191B LCD - Native Res is 1280 x 1024 : This is my main reason to upgrade for its hard to play Doom 3 etc at this res with AA on.

Question is would you upgrade video card at this time?

If yes please explain and if no please explain.

I do game a lot and use games such as Doom 3, Halflife 2, WOW, etc...

 

[Regs]

I upgrade my Video Card once a year and my CPU/MOBO every other year.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Zoso04
My specs:

Barton 3200
1 gig pc3200
9800np agp - The problem.
19" VP191B LCD - Native Res is 1280 x 1024 : This is my main reason to upgrade for its hard to play Doom 3 etc at this res with AA on.

Question is would you upgrade video card at this time?

If yes please explain and if no please explain.

I do game a lot and use games such as Doom 3, Halflife 2, WOW, etc...

well, NOT for Doom3 . . . the game just ain't worth it.
:thumbsdown:

"At THIS time?" absolutely NOT [unless you can't "stand it" anymore].

The NEW videocards are a few weeks from release/ability and prices of current video cards will drop

 

[ddogg]

no wait for the next generation of cards to release so that you know what the table has to offer this time around. the price of this current gen cards would also drop significantly if the G70 are monsters.

 

[Insomniak]

Jesus Christ, hell no. Wait for the next gen. You have plenty of juice there to last you 6 months.

 

[imported_X]

You'll be kicking yourself in another couple of months if you upgrade now. Wait for the G70 and R520 to come out. If nothing else, they should at least lower the prices on current offerings.

 

[JBT]

I'd wait and also don't bother playing DIII

 

[RussianSensation]

You could wait but....

XP3200+ is becoming really slow. It's often hitting bottom minimum framerates that are important for playability. That means it probably wouldnt' be a good idea to pair R520 and G70 with XP processor. If you had P4 or A64, it'd be another story.

XP slow in Doom 3
XP not great in WOW

Since you have 9800Pro and AGP, the only decent upgrade is probably 6800GT for $300. If you can sell 9800Pro for $90, that's only $210. Even if you dont sell it and buy 6800GT, I doubt it'll drop below $200 even when new cards come out. So the question is, is it worth it for you to wait 2 months for $100 extra today for smooth gaming? That's up to you. Given your cpu, there would be no difference between x800xt/850xt pe and 6800gt/ultra series for the most part. Even then 6800GT is a good match for your system until a full system upgrade to dual-core, pcie and whatever else. Also most 6800GTs overclock to Ultra speeds.

Leadtek 6800GT - fairly quiet and 2 games for free.

Of course you could wait for prices to drop, but then again you'd probably be looking at either x800xl or 6800GT.

 

[Nickrand]

I agree with the russian, your cpu is going to be holding you back once you get a new generation gpu. I'd start looking at a new mobo/cpu/gpu plan. And I'd wait until the new gen gpu's come out and get a card that is 3/4 of the way to the top (or whatever makes a good price/performance ratio for you).

 

[Zoso04]

XP3200+ is becoming really slow. It's often hitting bottom minimum framerates that are important for playability. That means it probably wouldnt' be a good idea to pair R520 and G70 with XP processor. If you had P4 or A64, it'd be another story.

So if I were to pick up the Leadtek 6800GT do you think this will carry me at least another 8 to 12 months before I need to upgrade with a good step up in performance? Or am I at the point where investing in a 6800gt will not give me a good performance boost based on my xp3200?

 

[apoppin]

the 6800gt would be an excellent "match" for your rig . . .

. . . and your xp3200 is not "old" for current games - by any means [Inreal3 engines game may strain it . . . but the 1st game using it wont be out till late this year].

 

[RussianSensation]

I think 6800GT is perfect to last you 8-12 months given that it's powerful enough to play anything at 1280x1024 AA/AF today (apart from EQ2 perhaps). Again anything faster than it would probably give marginal gains for much higher price increase.

Obviously an A64 setup like Venice 3000+ overclocked to 2.4ghz or more + G70 or R520 is an insane step up, but they'll cost a lot of money. Even A64 (new mobo $110 + $150 cpu) + 6800GT/x800xl isn't that great bang for the buck if you plan to upgrade your system later. See if you hold out for 8-12 months, then you are looking at new socket M2 for A64 - possibly a dual-core processor, longhorn operating system and maybe 2 gigs of ram, + DDRII 667 at the very least, and DX10 spec on the horizon. So you either age your current system over the next 1 year or so or get A64 overclock it and maybe a G70 R520 derivative in 2-3 months and age that over 2 years. Given your system, i'd probably get 6800GT to hold me over for now and then step into dual-core. Your system is still very good for majority of every day tasks and A64 wont be that much of a boost, as opposed to dual core in 1 year (when prices on it drop too).

 

[ddogg]

I suggest you upgrade your rig to A64 or a P4 instead of buying a new graphics card now. you would notice a boost in your games.

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: ddogg
I suggest you upgrade your rig to A64 or a P4 instead of buying a new graphics card now. you would notice a boost in your games.

Given his graphics card that'll result in 10% boost in games as opposed to 90% if he simply kept everything and bought a 6800GT.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: ddogg
I suggest you upgrade your rig to A64 or a P4 instead of buying a new graphics card now. you would notice a boost in your games.

Given his graphics card that'll result in 10% boost in games as opposed to 90% if he simply kept everything and bought a 6800GT.

QFT.

 

[Zoso04]

Given your system, i'd probably get 6800GT to hold me over for now and then step into dual-core because it is still very good for majority of every day tasks and A64 wont be that much of a boost, as dual core in 1 year.

Thanks for your input and everyone else too. I would like to hold out on the MB / CPU for now but didn't want to upgrade the video card if for one wouldn't see a good performance gain and two would not last me at least another year. After reading what you have to say it looks like a 6800GT will give life to my system for another year.

I'm a ATI fan so going to ask this real quick what do you think of the X800XL over the 6800GT?

Also why did you pick the Leadtek over another brand?

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: Zoso04

Given your system, i'd probably get 6800GT to hold me over for now and then step into dual-core because it is still very good for majority of every day tasks and A64 wont be that much of a boost, as dual core in 1 year.

Thanks for your input and everyone else too. I would like to hold out on the MB / CPU for now but didn't want to upgrade the video card if for one wouldn't see a good performance gain and two would not last me at least another year. After reading what you have to say it looks like a 6800GT will give life to my system for another year.

I'm a ATI fan so going to ask this real quick what do you think of the X800XL over the 6800GT?

Also why did you pick the Leadtek over another brand?

X800XL is good bang for buck/but it's on the older feature set (no SM3.0, etc.), and also a bit slower than the 6800GT.

LeadTek is simply the best quality manufacturer of Nvidia parts right now, end of story.

 

[Zoso04]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122195

Is this the right card I'm ready to purchase ?

I saw the link above and make the purchase thanks all!!

 

[isekii]

ROFL the HSF reminds me of Darth Vader

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Zoso04
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122195

Is this the right card I'm ready to purchase ?

I saw the link above and make the purchase thanks all!!

That's the one. Because this is one of the quietest 6800GTs out there - has a copper heatsink which will probably allow 6800Ultra speeds, 2 free games, leadtek quality and customer service. X800XL is a good card as well but it's a poor overclocker and costs quite a bit more than the PCIe version (unjustifiably). Also in games with heavy stencil shadows, Nvidia cards tend to be faster (ie doom 3, chronicles of riddick and fear to come). In HL2 however, even though ATI cards are faster, both provide comparable gameplay.

Doom 3
Riddick
F.E.A.R.

Now compare HL2 where for the most part, the difference isnt as drastic until you enable 6AA/8xSS. HL2

My other recommendations for you would be to overclock 3200+ to 2.4ghz and sell the 9800Pro to help ease the cost of the upgrade and install CoolBits registry hack (auto settings), to gain another 5-10% from gpu overclock (set to only in 3d mode).

 

[Emultra]

Excuse me, but does not the OP's original post say "9800np", meaning non Pro?

 

[Dkcode]

Sorry to but in guys but im in the same situation here except im running a Tbred 2600+ overclocked to 2.33ghz. I have also been doing alot of research and decided to buy a X800XT however for a little less i can have the Leadtek GT. The only thing im worried about is with my current setup will the X800XT give me that much gain in performence over the GT? Will i be wasting my money buying the XT?

Thanks.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: Emultra
Excuse me, but does not the OP's original post say "9800np", meaning non Pro?

Good Catch Emultra!

I pretty much have a similar rig. THe 6800GT was BIG improvement over my 9800 Pro. It will be a HUGE improvement over a non-pro.

Fern

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation
You could wait but....

XP3200+ is becoming really slow. It's often hitting bottom minimum framerates that are important for playability. That means it probably wouldnt' be a good idea to pair R520 and G70 with XP processor. If you had P4 or A64, it'd be another story.

XP slow in Doom 3
XP not great in WOW

Since you have 9800Pro and AGP, the only decent upgrade is probably 6800GT for $300. If you can sell 9800Pro for $90, that's only $210. Even if you dont sell it and buy 6800GT, I doubt it'll drop below $200 even when new cards come out. So the question is, is it worth it for you to wait 2 months for $100 extra today for smooth gaming? That's up to you. Given your cpu, there would be no difference between x800xt/850xt pe and 6800gt/ultra series for the most part. Even then 6800GT is a good match for your system until a full system upgrade to dual-core, pcie and whatever else. Also most 6800GTs overclock to Ultra speeds.

Leadtek 6800GT - fairly quiet and 2 games for free.

Of course you could wait for prices to drop, but then again you'd probably be looking at either x800xl or 6800GT.

While a 3200+ isn't the best card to push a 6800GT X800, it will do the job..

That first link you showed with Doom 3 is a joke, a 3200+ A64 only scores 8-10 frames faster...

 

[otispunkmeyer]

6800GT simply no need at this time

i cant even play games that much since my course at uni is just chocka, and i find my self just borwsing the net when i have spare time, or watching a movie

my computer needs have changed drastically since i got here....now its less games (what i built this machine for) and more about storage, music, video, films, photos, internet and work. some more / bigger disks are on the horizon

there isnt even any point in me going s939 just yet either,(skt754 A64 3200 here) this thing can keep up just fine with equivalent 939 rigs.

when A64 X2 gets cheaper, and new GPU's are out n about, i may consider upgrading

edit

i have a leadtek 6800GT AGP btw.........very sweet card, very masculine card with all that heavy weight copper. its big, vulgar and shiny and im lovin it loads

its quiet and you get 2 decent games so its a good choice. and to top it off....its a very very well engineered card, and has the best 2D output ive ever seen.