got the itch, what to upgrade?

System Specs:

ASRock P4V88 Socket 478 VIA PT880 ATX Intel Motherboard
CHAINTECH SA5900X Geforce FX5900XT 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card
Intel Pentium 4 3.0E Prescott 800MHz FSB Socket 478 Processor Model BX80546PG3000E
HD 300G|MAXTOR SATA 150 6L300S0
PQI DUAL 1G(512X4) 2GB total ram running DDR 400mhz Dual Channel

I want to be able to get graphics as good as xbox 360 if I can. I ran fear demo other day and was a litle choppy. I'm THINKING my video card needs to be upgraded. Think everything else should be fine. I'm all ears. Please let me know what video card to go with for the money. Thank you.

 

OK give me your limit and we'll go from there!!!

I'm agreeing, definitely graphics.

 

Limit as far as money? I'm thinking no more than $200

 

I have got a lot of bargains on ebay Graphics Card GeForce 6600 256mb for $70 made a real difference and aim for at least 1.5gb RAM

 

Can anyone take a mintute and list cards for me in this order to help me decide? For ex:

DDR 400 is best
DDR 333 is next
Blah
blah
blah


Like _____ Is the best card out right now
_____ is next
______ is next
then comes the 5900XT

There's a LOT of 6600GT cards on Newegg.com. Please help.

 

how much difference is there REALLY between the 6600 and 6800? I like nvidia products, and newegg has the 6800 for around 215.00. Is the 256MB 6800 a LOT better than the 6600? Opinions?

 

for what it's worth my aquamark 3 score is:

Gfx: 1,581
Cpu: 6,923

Total: 14,183.

 

How much are you gonna spend for the card? If you have a 5900XT, a plain 6600-6600GT wouldn't do you much good. If anything try to aim for a 6800GT so you can "Feel the diffrence"

 

Found a 6800 GS for 215.00 off newegg.com. Is a GS better than GT? This card sounds NICE!!! What do you think of below card?

Brand XFX
Model PVT42GUAD7
Chipset
GPU Geforce 6800GS
Core clock 485MHz (vs standard at 425MHz)
PixelPipelines 12
Memory
Memory Clock 1.1GHz (vs standard at 1GHz)
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
OpenGL OpenGL 2.0
Interface
Interface PCI Express x16
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out HDTV/S-Video Out
General
Tuner None
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported Yes
Cooler Heatsink and Fan
Operating Systems Supported Windows 2000/XP

 

from what I was reading, only real benefit seen would be going with 6800 with sli??? Please help me here. In dummy terms, go with the 6800? I know quite a bit about computers, I just don't read a lot about video cards. THey make them confusing. What do you think of the 215 newegg.com video card below?

Brand XFX
Model PVT42GUAD7
Chipset
GPU Geforce 6800GS
Core clock 485MHz (vs standard at 425MHz)
PixelPipelines 12
Memory
Memory Clock 1.1GHz (vs standard at 1GHz)
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
OpenGL OpenGL 2.0
Interface
Interface PCI Express x16
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out HDTV/S-Video Out
General
Tuner None
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported Yes
Cooler Heatsink and Fan
Operating Systems Supported Windows 2000/XP

 

will I see a big gain in a 6800GS over 6600GT? Is it worth $65 more? Please reply

 

Not at all, maybe 1% diffrence if at that.

 

omega, you said in an earlier post I would not "Feel the difference" going from a 5900XT to 6600GT. Now your saying the 6800GS isn't worth it.

Also, will my motherboard ( ASRock P4V88 Socket 478 VIA PT880 ATX Intel Motherboard) support PCI Express? Was just about to order the 6800GS but looks like they don't make that card in a AGP.

I don't think my motherboard even supports PCI Express. Please help me choose which card.

 

I just said you wont see a diff between a GS and a GT maybe 1%, what are you talking about? And no, you don't have PCI-e on your board.

 

I think your missing the 8. I'm considering a 6600GT or 6800GS.

Bottom line, sorry for being dumb, I really am. What card will give me better performance over a 5900XT? Sorry again.

 

You need to consider the best vid card you can afford for FEAR, BF2, COD2 etc and the coming games. Personally I would go with the 6800GT in your position and OC it to Ultra performance. I have a 6800 Ultra in another system that Plays FEAR fast (with slight degration in graphics over the 7800GTX SLI). I think the added $'s would be well spent if you do not plan on a PCI e system upgrade in the near future.

 

dogin, just did some searching. It seems that they don't make many 6800's in AGP. There are a couple 6800 128MB's with Following specs:

Core clock 325MHz
PixelPipelines 12
Memory Clock 700MHz
Memory Size 128MB
Memory Interface 256-bit
Memory Type DDR
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
OpenGL OpenGL 1.5
Interface
Interface AGP 4X/8X
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported No


The 6600GT however seems to have the following specs:

GPU Geforce 6600GT
Core clock 500MHz
PixelPipelines 8
Memory Clock 1120MHz
Memory Size 128MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API
Interface AGP 4X/8X
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536

And the regular 6600 which SHOULD be the bottom of the barrel card seems to have the most memory:

GPU Geforce 6600
Core clock 300MHz
PixelPipelines 8
Memory Clock 500MHz
Memory Size 256MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type DDR
3D API
Interface AGP 4X/8X
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out S-Video/Composite Out
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz


So in summary, the 6600 seems to have the most ram, but the 6600GT, has the highest clock speed, while the 6800 has a 256-bit memory interface. So they have succeeded in making it confusing as hell to pick a video card. above 6800 specs seem to be my ONLY choice, as my mobo does not support pci-express.

What of the above specs makes one video card faster than the other? More ram? More pixel pipelines? Please explain, and let me know which card to purchase. Thank you

 

6800 AGP's come in different flavors, 6800(128mb/256mb)/6800GT/6800Ultra

 

so which flavor and how much ram? I usually say the more the merrier, but not all 128 cards are worse than all 256mb cards. Please I'm researching, but need a solid answer. I've searched ALL the cards at newegg.com and in 256mb agp 6800 only seem to have 6800 regular. Couldn't find the GS, GT, or ultra.

 

So a 256 MB 6600GT will work fine?

 

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=324522

zipzoomfly is just as good in prices as newegg. thats a 6800GT; one of THE BEST gt's in the market if not the best.

oops sorry out of stock, I cant believe all major retailers are OOS on 6800 above GT's...wow, just wow.

 

what about this 6600GT card? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150113

 

IMO 256mb is overkill on a 6600GT, I think you'd be better off with a 6800 128mb/256mb, (plain, no gt since you cant find it) reason being is because you can unlock pipelines (i believe 16) while the 6600GT only has 8 and no more then 8. More pipelines assist in newer games that you'd want to play by sending more information out to get all the hard work done. plus 8 rendering pipelines is bout' 4+ years old.

 

so a 6800 regular 8x agp is way to go?

 

Check here and google other reviews. I think you need to see the figures from several sources when picking a card. I also go to the manufacturer's forums just to chek out success's and failures etc. I picked my XFX's by reading reviews, checking forums (even gaming ones on the games I Play). I also waited for the first major price drop and saved a lot.
http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/article/1755/

 

I'm gonna go ahead and get the 6800 regular card and overclock it a little. Does that sound like a bad idea? This is what I found:

Geforce 6600 GT 500Mhz 1Ghz (DDR) 128-Bit 256Mb
Geforce 6800 325Mhz 700Mhz (DDR) 256-bit 256Mb

Geforce 6600 GT 16Gb/s Dual 400Mhz 4 Billion
Geforce 6800 22.4Gb/s Dual 400Mhz 3.9Billion


In short the 6800 SEEMS a little slower than the 6600GT, but you overclock it a little, and it'll far outperform the 6600GT. So I think that's the smarter way to go