yet another video card comparison thread

[nutcasert]

Hello. My first post, but I'm a long time lurker. Anyway...

I know there are a lot of threads asking what video card is better but I never manage to find a clean answer. SO...

My current system is:

Athlon 64 3000+ (newcastle I think, but I'm not sure, NOT a sempron...)
ASUS K8N-E (sock 754)
1 gig RAM
and a MSI GF 6600GT (agp)


So, anyway, I want to play a couple new games, and my card is showing it's age in Oblivion and GRAW, two games I've been waiting ages to play. So I'm going to have to upgrade. I've been looking EVERYWHERE. I have a few options...

Current favorite: Upgrade to PNY GF 6800GS AGP (and hope the pipes unlock)
Or: Upgrade to GF 6800 GT AGP (but it's really expensive)
Or maybe: Throw in another gig of ram
I also saw: ATi x1600PRO AGP (looks good...)

So, what is my best bet for a sub $200 upgrade to play oblivion, graw, and future titles? I know I'm going to have to bite the PCIX bullet in about a year, but I just dont have the money yet. (18, going to college, no job atm, yada yada you know the drill)

Turns out the ATI x800GTO will not work for me because it does not have SM3.0, and GRAW requires it. And I want to play GRAW.

 

[Bobthelost]

Graphics card, i'm yet to se the RAM useage go over 1GB in oblivion.

 

[bmx045]

you're best bet is just upgrade the video card, leave your RAM and your processor for now, unless you decide to upgrade to a 939 socket, in which you can now get a pci express card.

 

[nutcasert]

okay, thanks. I heard that a second gb in graw can help, but it is usually the gpu that bottlenecks. So, which gfx card do you think? 6800 gs? x1600 pro?

 

[LW07]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102016
Spend $20 more and get this X850pro. It's got 12 pipes, but due to higher clock speeds, it's comparable to the X800XL and 6800GT. I don't know how GRAW would require SM 3.0, probably for just stuff like HDR and other fancy SM 3.0 features that could be just turned off(a 6800GS wouldn't be strong enough to run it with HDR, anyhow).

 

[morgash]

the 6800gs agp can unlock to 16 piepes and overclock to 6800gt or higher speeds easily making it much faster than the x850pro. its gonna be by far ur best bet in the cards u listed. course if u don wanna unlock/OC then go the the x850, otherwise the 6800gx will kill it.

Morgash

 

[Frostwake]

Oops, isnt there 7600 GT in agp? at least theres 7600 GS which isnt THAT bad... hmmmmm well then i would get 6800 GS

 

[nutcasert]

Thanks for the info.

I am aware of the pipes that are masked on a 6800GS AGP. I'm not counting on it, but if I get it, I will certainly give it a try and give it an OC.

I hear a lot of future titles are going to implement SM3.0 so I don't want to miss that.

Also, im a bit of an overclocking fiend, mad scientist kinda person, so if the 6800 has the best potential for that I think I'll go with it.

Also, concerning an X850 series, has ATi fixed their drivers yet? you see, I used to have this old radeon 7000 series, as well as an older Rage 128, (I didnt upgrade much back then) and the drivers were flaky at best. And at worst, many games crashed. Also, can ATi's be OCed well? (assuming I use some sort of overkill, massive 3rd party cooling solution)

And on a last note, I found this 6800 GS "Super" made by Diablotek. Thing is, this one has 512 MB of RAM instead of the customary 256. Is this worth the extra cash?

Lastly, an off topic question:

If I get a new video card, my 6600GT is going into my second box that's slower and older.

Athlon 1800+ no OC
512 MB DDR RAM
GeForce 3 Ti200
MSI KT3 Ultra mobo

If/when that 6600GT replaces the GF3, what do you think the new bottleneck will be in games? (GTA:SA, FEAR, Ghost Recon 1, UT2k4, NFSU, etc.)

 

[Bateluer]

Originally posted by: nutcasert


Also, concerning an X850 series, has ATi fixed their drivers yet? you see, I used to have this old radeon 7000 series, as well as an older Rage 128, (I didnt upgrade much back then) and the drivers were flaky at best. And at worst, many games crashed. Also, can ATi's be OCed well? (assuming I use some sort of overkill, massive 3rd party cooling solution)

And on a last note, I found this 6800 GS "Super" made by Diablotek. Thing is, this one has 512 MB of RAM instead of the customary 256. Is this worth the extra cash?

First, I've never heard of Diablotek, but 512MB of RAM on a 6800GS card is a waste and not worth the money.

Secondly, ATI's drivers have been perfectly fine for years. The Rage128 is what? About a decade old now? The Radeon 7000 is the original Radeon, just renamed, if memory serves, putting it at around the GF1/2 timeframe. Ancient.

With ATI's purchase of ArtX and the reorganization of their driver teams under Catalyst, ATI's drivers have been very respectable. In fact, since the release of the 9700/9500 lineup, the Catalyst drivers have been extremely good. It is also debatable that they are better than Nvidia's drivers because ATI doesn't release Beta drivers every 3 days. This means that everyone with an ATI card is either running ATI drivers or a 3rd party modified version of the ATI drivers. With Nvidia, you could run over a dozen different viable sets of drivers on the same card, makes it very difficult to trouble shoot a lot of the time.

This is the route I'd go with your system, if it was mine. I'd be looking at used 6800GTs, or possibly a 6800GS AGP. However, your system is fast approaching the limits of its upgrade potential and will have to undergo a major overhaul before too long.

AM2 and Conroe will launch soon, but those may be outside your budget. Odds are though, all the people that upgrade will be selling off their s939/PCIe based systems. I'd keep an eye on the FS/T forum, eBay, or your used merchandise site of choice.

 

[LW07]

Originally posted by: nutcasert
Thanks for the info.

I am aware of the pipes that are masked on a 6800GS AGP. I'm not counting on it, but if I get it, I will certainly give it a try and give it an OC.

I hear a lot of future titles are going to implement SM3.0 so I don't want to miss that.

Also, im a bit of an overclocking fiend, mad scientist kinda person, so if the 6800 has the best potential for that I think I'll go with it.

Also, concerning an X850 series, has ATi fixed their drivers yet? you see, I used to have this old radeon 7000 series, as well as an older Rage 128, (I didnt upgrade much back then) and the drivers were flaky at best. And at worst, many games crashed. Also, can ATi's be OCed well? (assuming I use some sort of overkill, massive 3rd party cooling solution)

And on a last note, I found this 6800 GS "Super" made by Diablotek. Thing is, this one has 512 MB of RAM instead of the customary 256. Is this worth the extra cash?

Lastly, an off topic question:

If I get a new video card, my 6600GT is going into my second box that's slower and older.

Athlon 1800+ no OC
512 MB DDR RAM
GeForce 3 Ti200
MSI KT3 Ultra mobo

If/when that 6600GT replaces the GF3, what do you think the new bottleneck will be in games? (GTA:SA, FEAR, Ghost Recon 1, UT2k4, NFSU, etc.)

ATI's drivers are perfectly fine. The driver problems were back in the Radeon 7000 and Rage 128 days. The drivers are great now. The new bottleneck in the older rig will be the 512mb of ram, but why are you asking this about your old rig if you can just play those games on your newer rig?

 

[nutcasert]

This is the route I'd go with your system, if it was mine. I'd be looking at used 6800GTs, or possibly a 6800GS AGP. However, your system is fast approaching the limits of its upgrade potential and will have to undergo a major overhaul before too long.

Yes, I know. My system was build just before PCI-E was widespread, and just before socket 939 mobos became cheap, just before SATA became commonplace, and before i realized that NF4 mobos were the way to go.

I plan on spending about 900 bux on a system within 12 months.

The new bottleneck in the older rig will be the 512mb of ram, but why are you asking this about your old rig if you can just play those games on your newer rig?

A lot of my friends play the same games that I do. In the past, on my older systems, they'll drop in, and hop on one of my older boxes. Well, the more systems I keep in shape, the fewer computers that need to be lugged around for a LAN party. (Sometimes at my house, sometimes somehwere else, who knows) But it's nice to have spare, capable systems laying around. Plus, there's nothing like a 1v1 with both players in the room, surrounded by your drunken freinds placing bets.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Save your cash for a new PC (PCI-e and S939 or a intel mobo that supports the upcoming conroe).
Its too expensive to upgrade for a AGP setup. I would suggest to either save up the cash.

OR if your desperate, try look for a used 6800GT/ultra in the FS/FT section. You could look for a 6800GS or save abit more for a 7800GS, but this is the limit for your situation.

I like NV drivers as they dont hog memory and much simpler to install and use. But thats just personal taste.

An X1600pro is fast as a 6600GT.

Here take a look at some of the choices:
EVGA 6800GS AGP $225~

(remember that the 6800GS can unlock, and OC up to 400~)

Ok.. most 6800GT/GS AGP are out of stock. (found a 6800GS for 200~ but out of stock unfortunately).

This might be out of your reach, but its S.M 3.0, performs fast, HDR, OCable

EVGA 7800GS AGP $269 AR.

Thats about it. I could look harder, but AGP is REALLY dying out.

 

[nutcasert]

I dont plan to make a new comp for another 12 months, but i want to play oblivion and graw and have them look good. I dont mind shelling out 150-180 bucks. i think Im going to get a 6800gs once i check some more benchmark scores...

 

[Cookie Monster]

The 6800GS i have linked is the cheapest i could find. I think it will be great to go with a 6800GS because this card can unlock and be fast as a 6800 ultra.

The X series from ATi doesnt have S.M 3.0 meaning it might not be able to play GRAW (could have degraded IQ in the worst case scenario for running a backup shader path e.g S.M 1.1)

Just remember, you wont be able to play MAX settings with this card, but yoru preferble resolution should be 10x7, while 12x10 might be your limit. (AA/AF will depend on the games you play).

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: nutcasert
I dont plan to make a new comp for another 12 months, but i want to play oblivion and graw and have them look good. I dont mind shelling out 150-180 bucks. i think Im going to get a 6800gs once i check some more benchmark scores...

Oblivion is not exactly a game for budget boxes. You should save your money and play Oblivion 1 yr later at higher settings. why blow 180bucks on a card which is still going to be slow for Oblivion?

If you insist on playing it at 640x400(or is the lowest 800x600), go with ATI since Oblivion runs significantly faster on ATI. For example the x850xt is faster than the next gen 7800gt(in Oblivion AT benches) and even the useless lameass 4-pipeline x1600pro is onpar with the 6600gt

 

[ElvishFrost]

How do you guys feel about the PNY GeForce 6800 GS? (I've been reading this thread because I'm in the same boat...Except the card that nutcasert is replacing is better than the one I am..lol (Radeon 9200) /cry Tigerdirect has it in stock for $179 and it's got pretty good reviews from those who bought it..

 

[Munky]

The 6800gs itself is a decent card for under $200, but the problem is it's made by PNY. That means the card more likely to have defects or fail early than from a more reputable brand like BFG.

 

[Ika]

FS/T is a good place to shop for AGP cards. You can often find a 6800GT for less than $180.

 

[LW07]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102570
If you're willing to spend $40 more, I would suggest that you look at this X850XT AGP on newegg for $240.

 

[Powermoloch]

you'll be happy with x800GTO for 160 or x850xt 240 @ egg

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: ElvishFrost
How do you guys feel about the PNY GeForce 6800 GS? (I've been reading this thread because I'm in the same boat...Except the card that nutcasert is replacing is better than the one I am..lol (Radeon 9200) /cry Tigerdirect has it in stock for $179 and it's got pretty good reviews from those who bought it..

I'd switch to pcie by getting a cheap pcie mb like the $70 asrock and the msi 7600gt (faster than the 6800gs) for $160 AR shipped - total $230.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127095

 

[nutcasert]

Well guys, thanks for all the advice. I actually ended up getting the PNY 6800gs. The pipes unlocked fine and it's OCing like mad 400/1100 (okay, not THAT mad)

I found the card to be a bit long. I had to move my hard drive. I think it's a nice card for only $180. I'm going to play GRAW now. I speak in very short sentences.

 

[hooflung]

You will not get 2gigs of ram on that CPU to work at DDR 400mhz most likely. The Clawhammer and Newcastles are notorious for having very quirky memory timings. My 3000+ 754 would only run 2gig of DDR 400 ( OCZ 2-2-2-5) at DDR333 2-2-2-5. It wouldn't run stable even at DDR400 4-4-4-8 which was NOT going to happen anyways if it did run stable.

DDR333 2-2-2-5 IS ok on Athlon64 because of the tech... but your better off investing in a good Video card.

 

[ElvishFrost]

That's cool Nutcase...lemme know your opinion on it after gaming for a while

 

[nutcasert]

My opinion now is that I needed a better processor. I am running a 3000+ athlon 64. Well after playing i noticed a little lag still. I went and gave my cpu a 10% OC to 2.2 ghz and its FLEW in GRAW. It's like I needed it to not get good fps, but to reduce my mouse lag.

Definite improvement over 660Gt

This thing ALMOST rolls in FEAR with max everything. Soft shadows kill it.

Yeah it unlocked, but i hear a lot of them don't.