x800xl-->7800gt: worthy upgrade?

[forbin]

i have an x800xl now, but would like to be able to play bf2 at highest settings at 70+fps at 1280x720. i could probably get a pretty good deal on a 7800gt, sell my radeon, maybe i could get out only paying 100$ for the upgrade. battlefield is about the only game i play, though theres some games on the horizon i might be interested in (quake:wars).

basically just wonderin what the difference would be like... i am running on an A64 3000+ winchester, not overclocked.

 

[Piuc2020]

Its a good upgrade but not one that is worth the money or not one you really need. I would suggest holding out till G80 and R600, you could most likely keep your card until R700 and G90 if you can cope with medium-low settings with that card.

But yeah, if all you play is BF2, well the X800XL plays it well enough, if you still need more framerates (you only really need 60 and even that is overkill but whatever) then yes, you will like the 7800GT very much yes,

 

[beserker15]

bf2 would probably benefit more from 2gb of ram rather than a new video card. according benches, the x800xl should be able to handle that resolution fine.

 

[ShadoWing]

definitely, if you wanna shell out the money for it, however, the 7800's already been outdated and is really becoming cheaper and cheaper, so the new gen cards may be a better, more worthwhile upgrade

 

[forbin]

i hear what all of you are saying. its tough figuring when to upgrade computer parts, esp. video cards. i know the 7800's are poised to plummet in value relatively soon, and while the new Nvidias are around the corner, the prices on these cards are getting rediculous. no way im dropping 400 on a video card, let alone $650.

i know a 7800gt isnt gonna cut it for unreal3 , so im not even fooling myself, i dont really plan to upgrade until some nice mods for unreal3 (ones like americas army) which probably wont be until late 2007 or so. quake wars looks nice, but probably not worthy of an all out upgrade. im a bf2 junkie anyway and i dont see it changing (i played exclusively bf42/dc on my g4 4200 for like 3 years, built a new rig for bf2 and my hdtv)

im also concerned that the bf2 mods may be more taxing than vanilla, as was FH to bf42.

call me a frame whore if you will, but i can perceive a huge difference between 50 and 80 fps. and if i got the card, i'd get another gig of ram so i could play with high textures.

anyone got a quick ballpark 7800gt score vs. x800xl. i think i got 4900 when i ran 3dMark05.

thanks for the advice btw

 

[the Chase]

Well I must be a fps whore too because I'm in the same situation as you(but with highly oc'd GTO). And I can confirm that the mods are more taxing. BF2 Special Forces runs a fair amount slower on my card than regular BF2. Maybe an average of 10 fps overall.(But I really notice some of the lows as putting me at a disadvantage in the game). I already have 2 gigs of memory and that did smooth things out a little. Read firingsquads review of the X1900XT(not the crossfire review which is the latest) as that has the 7800GT and the X1800XL results(I know not the X800XL- but may sway you towards an X1800XL for this game if its all you play). I myself am waiting for the 7900GT or the X1900XL and jumping on one of those(hope they are in the $300-$350 range).

 

[forbin]

yeah i'll probably keep my eyes on the x1900 series to see if their low end model stacks up. i'd prolly pull the trigger at 300$, i just wish there was a sweet spot card out there like my x800xl was when i got it (300$ vs 400 for 6800gt).

 

[sindows]

The 7800GT is nowhere near worth the $100 upgrade IMO. Check out his review-http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/games-2005.html
The X800XL loses out to the 7800GT by 15 fps(1280x1025, 4XAA, 16XAF). I hardly think its worth the money considering the X800XL is already fast enough to provide good-decent gameplay.

 

[imported_Sincity]

I run my 7800GT at 1280 and settings between MED and HIGH. In FRAPS, my average framerate is in the high 80s. Though I had to back down my OC to 485/1150 due to glitches on BF 2. I plan on getting my second 7800GT for my B-day In April. Hopefully by then I am able to pick one up for around $250. I paid $270 for mine after MIR.

 

[videopho]

That's what I did 3 months ago and haven't looked back. The 7800GT is way better in all aspects ie. fps, resolution (1920x1200 for my 2405fpw), driver, and best yet, ability to overclock. The x800xl was a nice card, very stable but a very poor overclocker. I sold the x800xl for 60% what I paid for so my net for the 7800gt was around $60.

 

[SniperWulf]

I made the same upgrade a few months back and yeah, you'll definately see a difference in performance

 

[mauri]

Well, I'm facing the same decision (I can't make up my mind!). Currently I'm running X800XL, 2GB of ram and A64 +3500 Winchester @ 2.6GHz. My settings in BF2 are 1280*1024 and I run it all high with 4*FSAA. I just played Special Forces woth framerate between 40-60fps (ghost Town).

I just received a mail that my X1900XT has arrived (and is ready for delivery), but I'm starting to have second thoughts. I would like to run BF2 (and CS:S, DOD:S) at 1600*1200 with high settings without problems, but I'm wondering if 7800GT Will be able to do that. or should I just go for the X1900XT?

 

[videopho]

Originally posted by: mauri
Well, I'm facing the same decision (I can't make up my mind!). Currently I'm running X800XL, 2GB of ram and A64 +3500 Winchester @ 2.6GHz. My settings in BF2 are 1280*1024 and I run it all high with 4*FSAA. I just played Special Forces woth framerate between 40-60fps (ghost Town).

I just received a mail that my X1900XT has arrived (and is ready for delivery), but I'm starting to have second thoughts. I would like to run BF2 (and CS:S, DOD:S) at 1600*1200 with high settings without problems, but I'm wondering if 7800GT Will be able to do that. or should I just go for the X1900XT?

The X190XT without a heartbeat. Can 7800gt handle 1600x1200? Yes but when aa/af turned on, 7800gt is barely able to handle with reasonable frame rate.

 

[mauri]

Yep, I'm starting to feel more and more like 7800Gt doesn't feel enough of a upgrade over X800XL. but now I'm starting to wonder if I should wait for G71 over the X1900XT..

Oh the decisions..

 

[Myrandex]

I definitely have read a review that showed that putting 2GB of memory in the machine didn't change the FPS scores from 1GB, and even 1GB showed minute changes over 512MB.
Jason

 

[Auric]

Yeah, system memory capacity does not affect framerate, but playability -i.e. hesitation due to paging. 1GB is generally 'nuff to avoid paging, especially given 256MB video memory, unless high textures is enabled.

I've got an XL also and while everyone and their cat knows it is not a huge o'erclocker it may be worth a 10% performance increase as reflected by 3DMock. Dunno, mebbe you can eke some more performance out of the CPU too while you wait on a worthy upgrade.

I also am looking forward to FH2 but likewise expect it to ravage my system. One more worthy AGP upgrade would be nice.

 

[imported_Sincity]

Ran everything HIGH with 2xAA and came back at 72 FPS. If you are planning on buying the 7800GT, Newegg has the MSI version for $264 after MIR. I have the MSI version and OC'd at 480/1150 for BF2. Can go as high as 501/1200.