Comparing older AGP cards....

I'm currently running an NVidia FX5700LE 256mb AGP video card. I want to upgrade, but dough is a bit tight (I need to buy a standalone DivX player first for the big screen ). I have access to a Radeon 9550 256mb AGP card (a friend just upgraded to a 512mb x1650 and is willing to donate). So, what do ya'll think? I'm not a huge gamer, but I recently found Serious Sam II in my game stack and I checked the specs; it says for best results to use FX5900 or better, or Radeon 9500 or better. I have the CPU covered, and plenty of RAM (Athlon64 3200+ and 1.5gb DDR400). Would I notice a difference in game play? I've always been partial to NVidia, and when I finally upgrade, I'll probably go with a 6800XT 256mb (good bang for the buck; and the buck is gonna be scarce).... any thoughts? Ideas? Suggestions? Personal experience? All input is welcome

hd2k

 

rather than a 6800XT check out a 7900GS. on newegg it's $150 after rebate right now

I have the XFX 6800XTreme Edition (256 ram, 256-bit interface, ramped up clock speeds) and ive been VERY happy with it until it just recently died; i had it super overclocked and it ran like a champ until the end lol, only problem game i ran into was supreme commander, oooooooo boy that was pathetic lol, it dominated my rig. And it ran Serious Sam 2 full settings perfect framerate

 

The 6800XT is a joke. I seen some slightly oc'ed 6600GT's smack those around. Deff. go with atleast a 6800GS. Most of them unlock to 16/6 but if you got about $150 i would grab a 7900GS.


dont get a 6800XT your just going to regreat it. I was looking at them when i neeeded a new card but glad i went with a BFG 6800GS since the XT's pipes are laser cut so their is no hope of unlocking the extra pipe lines.


but we got pretty close rigs and i seen a huge jump when i went from my 5700 to my 6800gs. system specs are

GA-K8NS
1gig PC3200
Athlon 64 3000+ "clawhammer" at 2.44ghz



Since you know about gpu overclocking and want some bang for your buck pick up a 6600GT and a old p4 heatsink. drill and tap the heatsink and mount it on the 6600GT pencile mod it and oc the crap out of it.


thats my old 6600GT with a old athlon heatsink. ran cool and dident take crap from any 6800xt lol. I loved that card but i upgraded and she couldent haing with the unlocked 6800GS.

 

i know, most 6800XT's suck big time but this one is an exception. It has MUCH higher clock speeds and a 256-bit interface while most have just a 128-bit. After OCing it i got over 11k in 3dmark03 (up from mid 9000s); ive seen the 7900GS get around 13-14k. I consider it VERY impressive for a mere 8 pipeline card.

6800GS AGP are near impossible to find anyways and for the price id just get a 7900GS. I paid about $130 for my card a while back and i dont regret it one bit

 

My main obstacle here is money. It's tight. REAL tight. A good friend owns a small PC store where I work part-time so I can get wholesale pricing on just about anything. The 6800 I was looking at has these specs: 8 pipes, 300mhz/533mhz, yeah, not great, but at about $55.00 brand new, I figured what the heck.... Even tho' I'm pretty much an NVidia man to the core, I am looking at the Radeon x1650 256mb (12pipes,500/800) or the x1650Pro 256mb (12p,600/1400). The 1650 is about $75; the Pro is about $90. I can't really spend more than that (even $90 is pushing it a bit :cry ). At least I can get wholesale pricing on these, otherwise I would even be entertaining the thought of a new card.
So- back to one of my original questions: should I install the Radeon 9550 until I actually get the new card? Or do I stick with FX5700 for now? And avoid the hassle of swapping cards and drivers 'til I get the new one.
Thanx for the info guys- I truly appreciate it!

hd2k

 

If you have the time, swap the cards. If not, it wont be a big change anyways

with that new card, seeing as its a 6800 with only 8 pipes, im guessing its a 6800LE? (or something like that) Some (i may even say most) of those unlock to 12 or sometimes even 16 pipes. They are hard to find though

 

The only 6800's I can find are the 6800XT and 6800XE, both from BioStar. The XE has slightly lower speeds. There's also an XA (it's still called an XT but there's the XA in the mfr part number that sets it apart) but the wholesaler I plan on ordering from is out of stock on that one. It runs at 325/700 which is quite a bit faster than the std XT..... If I do go with one of these (instead of the Radeon x1650 or x1650Pro), how would I unlock the extra pipes? I'm familiar with the whole overclocking concept, and have dabbled in OC'ing a little bit, but unlocking extra pipes seems a bit different than a simple overclock....

 

depending on the core u get you may or may not be able to unlock the extra pipes. These lower model cards are usually normal 6800s or Ultras that dont come up to spec and thereforce get the possibly bad pipes masked or sometimes physically laser cut. If you can get your hands on a masked pipe card you should have at least a normal 6800 or maybe even an ultra, depending on how far you can OC it. Sometimes you can flash the BIOS as well so it thinks its a different card and tries to use the masked pipes.
I can go into more detail if you have any more questions

Unlocking pipes is done via RivaTuner, a very nifty program. You can find tutorials all over, google to see if biostar 6800xt/xe's unlock

And for those hatin' on the XT, the XFX one runs at 350/1000 core and memory, respectively