6800GS AGP discontinued already?

[Chriz]

I am looking to get a decent agp card for 200 dollars or under to upgrade my 9800 Pro until I can afford a new system later on, and I was looking at the 6800GS. Now I thought the card had only been out for a couple months, but I am already showing that Newegg has none and I can't find any on pricewatch either. I am just wondering if Nvidia has discontinued this, or it was just a short limited time thing?

The 7800GS looks really nice, but 300 seems a bit much for a card that I probably will only keep for at most a year, maybe more like 6 months. I was hoping prices on them would drop to 250 or under, but that didn't really happen.

 

[slappynutz]

I'm looking at the exact same situation, and I've been looking at the 7800 GS models a lot. The eVGA 7800 GS CO can be had for $270 after rebate, and it's very tempting. It's just hard to justify sticking with AGP when the money will net more for PCI-E.

What I really want is something that will run Age III and WoW at something near 1920 by 1200, and it doesn't look like anything short of a complete rebuild will accomplish that. And even then, it's not going to be very future-proof. Might just stick with my 9800 AIW until Christmas, unless a good deal comes along (or NVidia releases an un-neutered 7900 for AGP).

 

[orangat]

Its hard to justify the 7800gs when it has a slower core and 8 less pipes than its pcie version for nearly the same price.

I wonder if Nvidia is going to release 76xx cards for agp. Hopefully it won't be gimped versions but it looks like both companies are eager to retire agp.

 

[Chriz]

I was also thinking of the Radeon x800GTO, but I am not sure how it compares performance wise to the 6800GS agp. I know the price is very nice. There is also the Radon x850Pro which is 219, but again I am unsure how it performs vs 6800gs agp and x800GTO (on Newegg it doesn't even show the core and memory speed for the 850pro). Links

X800GTO

X850Pro

 

[Remedy]

The x800GTO AGP seems to be unlockable to X850XT PE via a BIOS upgrade.

YMMV.

 

[secretanchitman]

yeah i noticed this too...even the 6800nu's dont look that appealing to me anymore. i saw one by asus that had gddr2 512MB of ram. and a couple that had a 128bit memory interface with a 6800ultra cooler on it. even the 6600GTs are still kinda high in price.

it doesnt fare well for us agp users...>.<

 

[Chriz]

Originally posted by: Remedy
The x800GTO AGP seems to be unlockable to X850XT PE via a BIOS upgrade.

YMMV.

So how difficult is this bios upgrade, and where can it be found?

I am still curious on the performance different between a default X800gto, x850pro and 6800gs agp.

 

[Powermoloch]

x800GTO is the top dog on value atm.

 

[NoStateofMind]

Want a 6800GS? well my friend, remember me when you have an answer for something I need.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications...item-details.asp?EdpNo=1782292&CatId=0

 

[vegabros]

This is ridiculous! How can they discontinue a product so soon. I just got an e-mail from BFG and they said in fact that the 6800GS AGP is discontinued. So basically, all AGP users have to go for the 7800GS if they want to stick with nVidia.

I don't want to change my mobo because I recently got it. It was intended for a budget PC... but later I decided to convert it to a mid-range gamer's PC.

Also, I don't want the PNY version, read negative reviews on it.

Oh woe-is-me... AGP has bit the bullet.

I was considering a 7800GS but the $300 price tag is a bit steep... and I don't think my Sempron 2800+, 1GIG RAM, ASUS K8V-MX will do it justice anyways.

Any thoughts?

- Leo

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: vegabros
.........
I was considering a 7800GS but the $300 price tag is a bit steep... and I don't think my Sempron 2800+, 1GIG RAM, ASUS K8V-MX will do it justice anyways.

Any thoughts?

- Leo

The 7800gs is a lousy pos for its price. It costs about the same as a pcie 7900gt ($300), has 8 less pipes and about 40% slower in some games. AGP is abandoned and no good mid-priced cards like the 7600gt/x1800gto exist for agp.

I would get the x850xt for your sempron.

 

[vegabros]

I have a Sapphire x800gto coming tomorrow... I figure why spend money on AGP if it's dead. Hopefully it will tie me over till my next build.

Although I do have the option of RMA'ing my MOBO/CPU back to newegg (I bought it on 4/24/06). But not sure.

A PCI-E mobo (Asus A8N-SLI is $105 + AMD 64 Athlon 3000 which is like $115, that's a total of $219) is going to be a bit more expensive than my original setup (K8V-MX $55 + Sempron 64 2800+ $75 = $130). It's about a $90 difference.

Plus the restocking fee for all opened items returned to Newegg (15% of the price, so returning my mobo/cpu will cost me another $15) + shipping (let's say $10)... and lol... I wonder if it's worth it.

Also, I look at my budget 430w Thermaltake PSU, cheap $20 case and I feel guilty sticking a Asus SLI / Athlong combo in it :disgust:

But then again... the fact that I bought a AGP system recently, and finding out it's practically dead is pretty bad too :shocked:

Tough choice...

- Leo

p.s. Do you think the X850xt would perform much better than the x800gto? It's about $70 more. I was in between a BFG 6600GT OC and x800gto. But never thought of the x850xt.

 

[Munky]

The x850xt would be noticeably faster than the x800gto. 16 pipes, 520mhz vs. 12 pipes, 400mhz. It's about the same performance level as the 7800gs, but depending on the price it may or may not be worth it. If it's over $200, then you might as well just save some money and get the gto. Most gto's also OC well, so you could bump the clocks up to 500mhz or more and see nice performance gains.

 

[vegabros]

Thanks! So far I haven't seen a x850xt AGP for less than $240. My favorite games now are:

- Star Wars : Republic Commando (ran ok on my ATI Radeon 9200 Mobility Notebook, so I'm hoping for some BIG improvements lol!)

- Star Wars : Empire at War

- Age of Empires

- Battlefront 2

- Knights of the Old Republic 1 & 2

- All racing games

So... I hope my x800gto will perform well. I have a 15" NEC monitor, so I don't mind playing games at 800x600.

BTW, is it easy to overclock my card? I've heard that it can be done with software without flashing the BIOS. Although, I sometimes wonder why the manufacturers to make them maxed out to begin with lol.

- Leo

 

[Munky]

Overclocking the x800 series can be done with a program like AtiTool. No need to flash the bios.

 

[vegabros]

Will this require me to replace my stock HSF with a aftermarket one like a Zalman's?

- Leo

 

[Munky]

It depends on the temperatures you're getting, how far you want to clock it, and if you want a quieter cooler. I used to have a x800gto unlocked to 16 pipes and running at 580mhz with a zalman vf700. It was quiet and the temps never went above 60C. But the card could still run perfectly fine at 500mhz with the stock cooler, the temps were about 75C, and it wasn't too loud either. An aftermarket cooler may help you OC higher, but there are no guarantees with OC'ing. The card may just top out at ~500mhz even with low temps.

 

[vegabros]

I must admit that I'm confused about the whole R430/480 thing. How can there be two versions, and how can some be overclocked and some not?

Aren't all Sapphire x800gto AGP's the same? Some pics show it having a purple heart HSF, some a square-like black/red one. Did Sapphire update it's card or something?

I ordered the this Sapphire x800gto AGP card.

I hope I got the right one... there was another one from Sapphire that is missing the "L" from the model# and is stated as being OEM. I went for the retail, because it's actually cheaper with the rebate.

$150 (retail) vs $170 (OEM), seemed like a no-brainer to me.

- Leo

 

[vegabros]

I just found this GeCube x800xl AGP at Tiger's Direct. It's a GeCube, so I'm not too sure about the brand, but it's a x800xl.

What do you guys think?

- Leo

 

[Noema]

I recently had to choose between the 7800gs and the X850XT, and I ended up getting the 7800GS, mostly because I knew I'd be playing a lot of Oblivion and HDR is a big selling point for me. I get good performance at 1280x1024 and I'm overall satisfied with it.

However, I do agree that the price is steep. And if not having SM 3.0 and HDR is not a problem for you, the X850XT offers a better bang for the buck, as it offers comparable performance to the 7800gs.

And of course overclocking an X800XL works as well.

 

[vegabros]

I can get a eVGA 7800GS for $230 (if you discount the rebate and the price for Age of Empires).

But I'm concerned that my system is too weak for it.

Between the Sapphire x800gto ($170), geCube x800 xl ($185) , eVGA 7800gs ($290 - Age of Empire cost and $15 rebate... about $230), which is the best for my Sempron 64 2800+ 1gig RAM system?

Thanks,
Leo

 

[Bronxkid]

Originally posted by: vegabros

Also, I don't want the PNY version, read negative reviews on it.
- Leo

I was about to buy the PNY 6800gs; where did you read negative reviews?
Anyone hear bad reviews about the gecube x800xl?

 

[evenmore1]

The X800GTO is good but spend as little as possible if you are planning to upgrade to Conroe or AM2....An X1600Pro for $121 before rebate on newegg.com is good if you are looking to save money...

edit: Linkage

 

[BassBomb]

im pretty sure they were just using overstock chips from the 6 series rather than making new ones to finish them off and get some money from the leftovers hence them running out

isnt that what ati did with x800gto?

 

[vegabros]

Bronxkid: I know I read some stuff, because it turned me off from buying it. But maybe it was about another PNY AGP card. The reviews on Tiger Direct are actually good.

Although I did not like how the card does not even show up in their products page. I think just as a whole, I'm a bit worried about buying their card.

My personal choice for nVidia is BFG, followed by XFX & eVGA. For ATi, I like Sapphire.

The fact that you can't find a BFG 6600GT or 6800GS today shows how well and quickly they sold out.

Choosing video cards is so frustrating. These ppl change them up every few months. All the AGP cards that I REALLY want are no where to be found. No I have to settle for something less than I wanted

But anyways, anyone think the PNY 6800GS is a smart buy?

I thought about the x1600pro, but I felt it was a tad on the low-end. I want a mid-range card. Something to hold me for 2-3years. My sweet spot was the BFG 6800GS I think (for my setup atleast).

- Leo

p.s. I'm also thinking about the geCube x800 xl.... just wish I knew how good geCube was as a company.