View Full Version : what is the best AGP gfx card?
CompSci
30-09-2005, 02:26 PM
i think it time to swap my aging 9800 pro, for a new card, so guys
what is the best AGP gfx card?
RoadKill
30-09-2005, 02:28 PM
Damn, you make me feel inadquete.
I have a Radeon 9800 Pro and I'm not upgrading anytime soon.
As for your question, probably a 6800 Ultra or X800 XT.
Honestly though, I'd suggest you save up some more pennies and buy a new system, chances are you'll get CPU limited quicker than GPU limited... That is unless you have a really fast machine.
What's the spec of the rest of your machine?
Jordan
30-09-2005, 02:29 PM
The best money can buy is probably a X800 XTPE.
CompSci
30-09-2005, 02:47 PM
Damn, you make me feel inadquete.
I have a Radeon 9800 Pro and I'm not upgrading anytime soon.
As for your question, probably a 6800 Ultra or X800 XT.
Honestly though, I'd suggest you save up some more pennies and buy a new system, chances are you'll get CPU limited quicker than GPU limited... That is unless you have a really fast machine.
What's the spec of the rest of your machine?
asus a78nx delux (bios rev 1008 for PCB 2.0)
amd athlon xp 3200+ @ 2.21ghz
1.5gb Pc3200 ram
9800 Pro 128mb (256bit) With omega 5.9's
Win Xp pro sp2 (LEGIT :indeed: )
p.s i will be properly buying a new machine when Windows vista specs or when the o/s is itself is released
Offerman
30-09-2005, 03:33 PM
The best money can buy is probably a X800 XTPE.
I'l second that.
christophicus
30-09-2005, 06:29 PM
yeah you will deffinatley be wanting to get a new cpu before a gpu
Choze
30-09-2005, 06:49 PM
The best is a Geforce 6800 Ultra.
Avoid the ATI as they lack SM3.0 and are still on 2.0. Which means you cant do things like HDR lighting in many games or turn all graphics features on.
Also his CPU is fine provided it is 64bit. AMD 3200 kicks more expensive P4's arses. He has most to gain from upgrading his graphics card.
Blackfox
30-09-2005, 06:51 PM
p.s i will be properly buying a new machine when Windows vista specs or when the o/s is itself is released
Put up with your Radeon for the time being then.
Choze
30-09-2005, 06:53 PM
His pc is more than enough for vista. Vista requirements are very low. Its not like Battlefield 2 :P
Its wiser to wait for hardware releases rather than software to buy a pc
Vista requirements wouldnt even make a low end laptop struggle its alot like xp.
With an AthlonXP 3200, anything more than an X800 XT PE is overkill, as you'll be bottlenecked by the processor. Overclockers.co.uk have ASUS's X800 XT PE on their sale this week for £205. It's a fantastic card - I've got one sitting in my machine overclocked to 540mhz core and 590mhz memory, and it runs very well.
RoadKill
30-09-2005, 07:09 PM
The best is a Geforce 6800 Ultra.
Avoid the ATI as they lack SM3.0 and are still on 2.0. Which means you cant do things like HDR lighting in many games or turn all graphics features on.
Also his CPU is fine provided it is 64bit. AMD 3200 kicks more expensive P4's arses. He has most to gain from upgrading his graphics card.
It's an Athlon XP. No Athlon XPs are 64 bit.
Don't talk about what you don't know.
You are correct about the Radeons lacking Shader Model 3, but you are VERY INCORRECT about it limiting HDR.
Grebe
30-09-2005, 09:04 PM
Il make a complete switch to linux before i even touch vista.
CompSci
30-09-2005, 09:52 PM
With an AthlonXP 3200, anything more than an X800 XT PE is overkill, as you'll be bottlenecked by the processor. Overclockers.co.uk have ASUS's X800 XT PE on their sale this week for £205. It's a fantastic card - I've got one sitting in my machine overclocked to 540mhz core and 590mhz memory, and it runs very well.
£205 are you sure?
so what should i do then, i want to play fear at high, £205 is very appealing...
CompSci
30-09-2005, 09:56 PM
update , i just checked £174.95, so what should i do?
Jordan
30-09-2005, 11:08 PM
Buy, thats very cheap :)
Also, As far as i'm aware Pixel Shader 3.0 is exactly the same as 2.0, just faster. And my X800 XTPE can run the HDR on DoD: Source just fine Choze ;)
That £175 doesn't include VAT. Either way, go for it - it's a solid card and the stock fan is nigh-on silent most of the time.
Cheapshot
01-10-2005, 09:41 AM
Why do you feel the need to ditch you're 9800 pro? It's a good card and can run the latest games piss easy.
CompSci
01-10-2005, 02:34 PM
Why do you feel the need to ditch you're 9800 pro? It's a good card and can run the latest games piss easy.
it is a good card I do not denigh it (heck it provided me with valuable halo experience at high fsp to which i will never forget) but dude have u ran fear? the damn game near melted the 9800 pro, (literally), secondly x800xtpe for £175, is a damn near steal
Furthermore i have a mate who may buy the 9800 pro off me for a £100, to which i just a £90 more and get the x800xtpe
RoadKill
01-10-2005, 02:51 PM
If someones going to buy the 9800 Pro for £100 straight up and then it's just £90 more for the X800 XT PE, go for it. There's no point even thinking about this.
Apple_NdiB
01-10-2005, 04:41 PM
General graphics card question for those who are in the know on such matters...
I recently got a new computer, which has an "Intel Extreme" graphics card inside. I can only presume it is called extreme because that's how pissed off people get with it when Doom 3 crashes at the same bit every time I, I mean they, play it because the card can't handle it. In my old PC I had a "Connect3D Radeon 9600 Pro 128 MB" which ran most games splendidly, what I'd like to know is, would it be worth putting my 9600 in my new PC or is there a good card around the £100-£150 mark which will last me at least until UT2007?
Ta alles.
RoadKill
01-10-2005, 04:45 PM
If your new computer has a slot for the 9600 Pro, put it in.
The Intel Extreme graphics are the cheapest, nastiest onboard basic graphics you can get.
The 9600 Pro is pretty sweet.
Something like a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce 6600 GT would last you for a while.
CompSci
01-10-2005, 05:09 PM
lol guys i just spend £250 of my student loan :indeed: , on a brand new tft monitor, check it out what a Beauty
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=11459109106&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=97258
will post a review on it once it comes
mario114
01-10-2005, 07:24 PM
I only got my 9800 pro about 6 months back, i will keep it for another year or 2. It works fine on hl2, rome total war, and cs:source, and thats all i care about for now.
RoadKill
01-10-2005, 07:58 PM
Something like a Radeon 9800 Pro or a GeForce 6600 GT would last you for a while.
Wait did you even read the thread, at all?
Wait did you even read the thread, at all?
Did you? I suggested an X800 XT PE for the guy at the start, and a 9800 Pro for the guy asking about his integrated graphics machine.
RoadKill
02-10-2005, 01:16 PM
Did you? I suggested an X800 XT PE for the guy at the start, and a 9800 Pro for the guy asking about his integrated graphics machine.
In which case you can batter me around the head, because I didn't get your train of thought.
Yeah 9800 Pro is good but it's not a HUGE upgrade from a 9600 Pro which he already could put in it.
I'd suggest something like a 6600GT if you were going to buy a new card at this point in time.
Choze
03-10-2005, 11:56 AM
6600GT if you arent into overclocking/modding etc. Geforce 6800 or 6800LE if you are.
www.overclockers.co.uk have some good AGP deals on the 6 series cards. Also have a peak in the b grade section where you could nab possibly a 6800GT for little over a hundred. :) Geforce 6800GT will blow these out of the water.
Buy, thats very cheap :)
Also, As far as i'm aware Pixel Shader 3.0 is exactly the same as 2.0, just faster. And my X800 XTPE can run the HDR on DoD: Source just fine Choze ;)
No SM3.0 uses new effects and features that include stuff on the next gen consoles. A good example the Nvidia Luna demo. HDR on DOD isnt full HDR so it could run on ATI cards(Valve and ATI promo remember). Far Cry is a good example of real HDR. Big difference in quality and many people get annoyed with DOD HDR.
RoadKill
03-10-2005, 01:48 PM
I was pretty sure Shader Model 3 only sped things up and simplified and a bunch of instructions, but you could still do the same effects in Shader Model 2.
Choze
05-10-2005, 03:33 PM
I was pretty sure Shader Model 3 only sped things up and simplified and a bunch of instructions, but you could still do the same effects in Shader Model 2.
NO you cant enable certain effects in games without SM3.0
An example is HDR in games like Far Cry. Splinter Cell chaos Theory , Age of Empires etc. Other more advanced effects to be used in future wont be working on non sm3.0 cards.
It would be stupid to buy a SM2.0 card now that prices are dropping all across the board.
Jordan
05-10-2005, 03:48 PM
Choze, its 2 versus one. Give up. You are wrong.
RoadKill
05-10-2005, 04:34 PM
PC Perspective has posted an interview with the CEO of the makers of FarCry. We found that answers to questions 7 and 8 fully support our conclusions on the subject we have put forth here in our article.
Q: 7) What aspects of the screenshots seen at the launch event are specific examples of the flexibility and power of Shader 3.0?
A: In current engine there are no visible difference between PS2.0 and PS3.0. PS3.0 is used automatically for per-pixel lighting depending on some conditions to improve speed of rendering.
Q: 8) Is the same level of image quality seen when using Shader 3.0 possible using Shader 2.0? If so, what dictates which Shader you decide to use?
A: In current generation engine quality of PS3.0 is almost the same as PS2.0. PS3.0 is used for performance optimization purposes.
Offerman
05-10-2005, 06:06 PM
I explictely saw on Toms Hardware that Shader Model 3 is indeed a Code Streamlining tool - which enables for more processes to be completed in one whack, exactly as Piro and Jord said. Its a total miff that it sports new rendering techniques.
So yes, Choze you are incorrect.
EDIT : -
Taken from THQ....
'As you know ATi's X series of cards fails to sport Shader Model 3.0, however this is not a problem for this generation because SH3 is mearly to process more graphical tasks within one rendering pass - and is not something thats benefical for this graphics generation, nor something thats impossible to easily implement in the future'.
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