Card upgrade: Will it be worth it?

[HookeyStreet]

Hi, my m8's son has a Sony Vaio system (2.8 P4, 1GB RAM) that came with a GeFORCE 4 Titanium GFX card as stock but we replaced this with a Radeon 9800 XT 256mb a few months ago. Hes now got some money saved (£150) and wants a better GFX card. As he wants a brand new one (not second hand off eBay) and he must have an AGP card I suggested this BFG GeFORCE 6800 GS OC (@ £150 including VAT & P+P) :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_This_Week_Only_25.html#aGX_2d013_2dBG

Do you guys think this upgrade would be worth it and he would notice a good performance increase (as I did when I swapped my Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb for a GeFORCE 6800 GT 256mb )

 

[dolf]

6800 is dirrect competition to the X800 serie from ATI and for sure should be app. 2 times faster than 9800XT.

I currently have 9800XT 128MB (the same results like 9800XT 256MB with exception of few tests which requires bigger memory buffer), X800XT PE and X850XT PE and can say (based on experience that X800 and X850 are app. 100% faster than 9800XT. From the other hand all the reviews that I have seen shows that X800, X850 gaves comparable results with 6800Ultra (most cases ATI has little advantage). The only difference is the lack of SM3.0 on both ATI cards (I will not comment the quality of SM3.0 on 6800 Serie but it is present there). 6800GS should be less powerfull than 6800Ultra but for sure better than 9800XT. If you can afford such upgrade "without filling pain in the stomach" go for 6800GS .

 

[zOaib]

Hi, my m8's son has a Sony Vaio system (2.8 P4, 1GB RAM) that came with a GeFORCE 4 Titanium GFX card as stock but we replaced this with a Radeon 9800 XT 256mb a few months ago. Hes now got some money saved (£150) and wants a better GFX card. As he wants a brand new one (not second hand off eBay) and he must have an AGP card I suggested this BFG GeFORCE 6800 GS OC (@ £150 including VAT & P+P) :

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_This_Week_Only_25.html#aGX_2d013_2dBG

Do you guys think this upgrade would be worth it and he would notice a good performance increase (as I did when I swapped my Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb for a GeFORCE 6800 GT 256mb )

if you can get a sapphire x800gto2 , that would be a better performace choice than a 6800gs , i recently bought my brother a 6800gs , which is pretty good but has only 12 pipes , but i regret not buying him a x800gto2 which u can easily unlock 4 extra pipes and is a very good overclocker , .............. and they are both in the same price range too here in USA .

though the 6800gs is a considerable leap over a 9800 xt definately !

 

[bruins004]

Isnt £150 = almost $300 USA? If so I would just keep saving up and try to get a 7800GT while they are available or go for a 7900GT. Remember the more he is able to spend on a GPU, the better it will be and longer it will last. Might as go for top of the line then settle for mid range. Also, be on the look out for an x850xt for $200 USA. I found it about a month ago (might be on newegg). That would def. be better than both the x800gto2 and 6800gs

 

[Dynamic]

If he goes for a high end video card he will bottleneck his system with his low end CPU and possibily memory as well. Besides if he goes for the 7800GT he'll have to purchase a new Motherboard/PSU and possibily memory if the speed is not up to specs. I think it would be a better choice for you to invest in the 7800GS which is a better performer then the X800XTPE/X850XTPE right now. It's also in your price range and it only comes in AGP8X.

Here is a listings of the 7800GS that Newegg has....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...TR13=&ATTR14=&ATTR15=&ATTR16=&ATTR17=&ATTR18=

 

[trog100]

the fastet agp card is the is the 7800gs.. most modern games are pretty much grfx card limited..

a super fast cpu will show a slight improvement but not as much as is often made out.. a cheaper 6800gs might be a better option.. he will be able to play recent games with either of em.. i recon it would be good for another year perhaps.. then its time for slightly bigger upgrade.. he he he

trog

 

[zOaib]

yeah sinc eu have agp , so either a 7800gs or a 6800 gs would be a smart choice , and the chocie depends on how much u want to spend !