seeking upgrade advice for AGP system

[helkoid]

Hi techPowerUp members,

I've been sort of lurking on this forum for a few days now, and have been impressed by the amount of knowledge and help that the forum members give out. I'm trying to figure out what might be the best route of upgrading for my system, and hoped to get some advice, as I have not kept up with the latest in hardware for quite some time now. This is what I have been running for a few years now:

AthlonXP 2500+ (1.83ghz) Barton core oc'd to 3200+ (2.2ghz), 200mhz fsb
1 gig Crucial ram
Powercolor Radeon 9800se 128mb soft-modded to pro, not oc'd, AGP of course
ASRock K7V88 RAID Socket A (Socket 462) VIA KT880 motherboard
400watt ps

From what I have read, it seems that I can keep most of my system and get a big performance boost by replacing my vid card with something like a x800gto and hopefully being able to open up the last quad of pixel pipes. I do not have a lot of money and so am hoping for something under $200, preferably a little less. I don't think I really need to jump to a pci-e system and replace everything just yet (I couldn't anyway with my current budget), but I'm open to hearing what others have to say about possibly waiting until prices come down or until newer tech emerges.

I want to be able to play Oblivion with a few more of the goodies turned on and with a better resolution that I'm currently stuck at. I don't need anything close to top of the line; I just want a smooth gaming experience with a few nice things to look at. I doubt that I would play any game at higher than 1024*768 resolution if that helps. Any advice that people could give me would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[pt]

Get a 7900 gs, it is the best agp card avaiable

 

[helkoid]

Get a 7900 gs, it is the best agp card avaiable

Did you read my post? Please note the budget limit. Suggesting a top of the line card does not help.

Anyone else?

 

[cjoyce1980]

to be fair on 'pt' a 7900gs would be nice for anyone with a large budget but with $200 you still can do alot. with your current system specs you can still get alot of gaming out of it till vista appears but lets consider your options.

newegg.com has a few nice option depending if you wanna spend all the $200

option 1 - ASUS Geforce 6800 512MB GDDR2 AGP $179.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121216

option 2 - DIAMOND Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 AGP $176.00
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103005

take a lot and see what you like.

p.s. just got a barton and a 6600 myself till socket AM2 am i'm not disappointed

 

[pt]

IF you want to play oblivion, forget the x1600 pro, the 6800gs isn't bad, and if for your budjet a 7900gs is too much, consider a 7800gs

 

[helkoid]

cjoyce1980, thanks for the options. Any thoughts on the x800gto?

pt, please keep suggestions in the $200 or below range. A 7800gs is still about $300.

 

[KennyT772]

the gto is an awesome card if it is unlocked. but it is after all last generation not current. i would go for the 6800u if u want good support now or a x800gto. either will work real nice.

 

[cjoyce1980]

the x800gto is a nice card but you get model shader 3.0 with this card, unlike the nvidia 6 series and the x1600pro in my previous post.

the x800gto is similarly priced to the x1600pro. if i have the choice between the x800gto and the x1600pro and a 6800, i would choose the x1600pro, more bang per buck (looking at the specs). mainly because of resell value when it comes to getting a new pc, as this card is meant to be vista ready and there will be a load of peeps that wont be able to afford a nice vista pc come dec/jan.

 

[pt]

ok, so under 200 get a XFX 6800gs xxx, if there is a agp one

 

[cjoyce1980]

here are some benchmarks to look at

http://www.digital-daily.com/video/x1600_x800_6600gt/index05.htm

 

[VulgarHandle]

under $200, x800gto, you won't miss the sm3.0, quake4/doom3 @ 1600x1200 high quality goodness

 

[KennyT772]

x800 = high end card 5th gen
x1600 = mid range card 6th gen

all you are paying for is the newer generation aka sm3
get the x800 card u wont regret it

 

[helkoid]

Thanks everyone for the replies. They are appreciated.

 

[_33]

Hi techPowerUp members,

I've been sort of lurking on this forum for a few days now, and have been impressed by the amount of knowledge and help that the forum members give out. I'm trying to figure out what might be the best route of upgrading for my system, and hoped to get some advice, as I have not kept up with the latest in hardware for quite some time now. This is what I have been running for a few years now:

AthlonXP 2500+ (1.83ghz) Barton core oc'd to 3200+ (2.2ghz), 200mhz fsb
1 gig Crucial ram
Powercolor Radeon 9800se 128mb soft-modded to pro, not oc'd, AGP of course
ASRock K7V88 RAID Socket A (Socket 462) VIA KT880 motherboard
400watt ps

From what I have read, it seems that I can keep most of my system and get a big performance boost by replacing my vid card with something like a x800gto and hopefully being able to open up the last quad of pixel pipes. I do not have a lot of money and so am hoping for something under $200, preferably a little less. I don't think I really need to jump to a pci-e system and replace everything just yet (I couldn't anyway with my current budget), but I'm open to hearing what others have to say about possibly waiting until prices come down or until newer tech emerges.

I want to be able to play Oblivion with a few more of the goodies turned on and with a better resolution that I'm currently stuck at. I don't need anything close to top of the line; I just want a smooth gaming experience with a few nice things to look at. I doubt that I would play any game at higher than 1024*768 resolution if that helps. Any advice that people could give me would be most appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Hi! For your budget,n I'd opt for a 6800GS, or if you can find a cheap 6800GT in AGP form, that could be great for you as it has 16 pixel pipelines already activated.

I don't know much about ATI AGP models that are recent. Good luck!

 

[bigboi86]

There's not even a 7900GS lol.. it's a 7800GS. The 6800 with DDR2 only has a 128bit memory bus, and slow memory clocks for 128bit bus, it sucks(less memory bandwidth than a 6600GT).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102609

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143045

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140067

These are the only AGP cards under 200 bucks worth messing with for AGP(that newegg has anyway).

6800GS being the best of course. Chances are 50/50 for getting the 6800NU to unlock. The chances are slim to get the GTO to unlock, and the x1600 should just overclock like a champ.. so.. do the math.

Also, a 6800GT would be worth looking at like mentioned above, but newegg doesn't carry them.

 

[_33]

There's not even a 7900GS lol.. it's a 7800GS. The 6800 with DDR2 only has a 128bit memory bus, and slow memory clocks for 128bit bus, it sucks(less memory bandwidth than a 6600GT).

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102609

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143045

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140067

These are the only AGP cards under 200 bucks worth messing with for AGP.

IMHO the 2 I'd opt for if I had to upgrade in AGP, would be X800GTO or 6800GS. X1600 I read benchmarks and it really isn't that fast, only + is SM3.0. 6800 with 128MB suxxx imho

 

[bigboi86]

6800 with 128MB suxxx imho

Hey it's not that bad if you can unlock it.. and I hit 6800GS speeds with the core and mem on it.. so....

But I agree it is the lesser of those cards listed.

 

[_33]

Hey it's not that bad if you can unlock it.. and I hit 6800GS speeds with the core and mem on it.. so....

I didn't check your system specs sorry

LOL well that's good news then if it unlocks that well !

Benchmarks?

(didn't want to sound like a smart alek, but I guess I did heh)

 

[bigboi86]

Benchmarks?

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4740090

This is on my AXP system at the moment, when I get my A64 back up and running I'll get wayyy better scores

I score about 5k on 3dmark05 with my AXP too. This is with 12pipes, mine didn't unlock fully. Memory is non vmodded and is running somewhat tight timings. I should run up to about 950-1000mhz with current timings with some more volts.

I hit 1125mhz with loose timings, it yielded no performance boost, but was pretty amazing for DDR1 that isn't voltmodded.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1401075&postcount=12

I'd still rather have a 6800GS or X800GTO though.

 

[_33]

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=4740090

This is on my AXP system at the moment, when I get my A64 back up and running I'll get wayyy better scores

I score about 5k on 3dmark05 with my AXP too. This is with 12pipes, mine didn't unlock fully. Memory is non vmodded and is running somewhat tight timings. I should run up to about 950-1000mhz with current timings with some more volts.

I hit 1125mhz with loose timings, it yielded no performance boost, but was pretty amazing for DDR1 that isn't voltmodded.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=1401075&postcount=12

I'd still rather have a 6800GS or X800GTO though.

Damn fine score considering the specs! Excellent!