7600 GT vs. X800 GT - Age of Empires 3

[The Mutha]

Howdy folks,

I live in Brazil, and over here the latest cards that come out in the US are super expensive since import taxes are very high (at least 2x the price you get them there). What happens is we get graphics cards smuggled into the country from Paraguai. Go figure.

Anyway, I'm a bit of an Age of Empires 3 addict and would like to get a graphics card that will let me play Age of Empires 3 at either 1024x768 or 1280x1024 with all high quality features enabled and still play at a descent frame rate. Obviously, it would also be nice if the card could still play games in a year's time without suffering too much.

My processor is an AMD 64 3700 (939)

Cards I can get, with prices in R$ (reais, our local currency here).

MSI NX 7600 GT 256 MB - R$ 777
ATI X800 GT 256 MB - R$ 555
ATI X1600 XT 256 MB - R$ 617

so, what should I get?
I'm inclined towards the X800 GT.

 

[hans030390]

I think the 7600gt would be the best buy. Sure it costs more, but you really get what you pay for.

 

[Munky]

If you can stretch for the 7600gt, I'd recommend it over the other cards. It's faster than the other 2 cards in basically every game. In benchmarks of AOE3 you may see the x800gt get higher fps than the 7600gt, but that's because it runs the game using lower detail SM2 shaders, since the x800 cards do not support SM3.

 

[Cookie Monster]

P.S 3.0 show big difference in this game compared to P.S 2.0.

The 7600GT is faster than a 6800GT/GS which is similiar to performance of that X800XL.

I suggest the 7600GT.

 

[The Mutha]

Thanks for the help guys. How about SLI, does the 7600 support SLI, and if so, does SLI really double the performance, or is it just a waste of money (i.e. better save money and buy a better graphics card in the future than getting a second 7600 in SLi mode).

Currently, what is considered the best cost/benefit graphics card in the US that supports the latest shaders?

 

[Munky]

Most ppl would agree that 1 fast card is better than 2 midrange cards. And neither SLI not CrossFire actually double performance. The best you can hope for is about 90% improvement, and in some games it's much less than that. But the 7600gt offers plenty of performance for the money it costs (in the US), so just pick one up, and a year or 2 from now replace it with a newer, faster card.

 

[Cookie Monster]

Originally posted by: The Mutha
Thanks for the help guys. How about SLI, does the 7600 support SLI, and if so, does SLI really double the performance, or is it just a waste of money (i.e. better save money and buy a better graphics card in the future than getting a second 7600 in SLi mode).

Currently, what is considered the best cost/benefit graphics card in the US that supports the latest shaders?

Sli shows more performance gains than Crossfire in general (funny how 7900GTX SLi is most of the time faster than X1900XTX, although crossfire has its own advantages), but buying 2 7600GT is not a smart move.

Just hold onto the 7600GT, and then upgrade that to a better card, OR if you have a SLi motherboard, i heard the 7600GT was an ideal GPU card to become a PPU. (Such as you later buy a high end card such as 7900GT/X1900GT, you can slot the 7600GT on your second PCI-e slot on your SLi mobo, and then use your 7600GT as a PPU , i.e Havok FX)

 

[hans007]

the x800gt is by far the slowest card there with only 8 pipes at 475mhz.

the x1600xt woudl be faster, but the 7600gt might actually be twice as fast as the x800gt at somethings. if you can save up and get that 7600gt, get it.

 

[Kromis]

7600GT now. If you find another 7600GT for a REALLY cheap price (like $90 USD or something, I'm crazy), go for it!

 

[martinez]

+1 for 7600GT

 

[hardwareking]

7600 gt,no question about it.

 

[A554SS1N]

Another vote for 7600GT - shame there isn't a greater selection though - I'm sure alot of people would mention the X1800XL or X1800XT if they could be found cheap enough where you are.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

as a proud owner of the x800gt i recommend.................... 7600gt.
infact i hope to get one myself this summer.

 

[The Mutha]

I was looking at some Age of Empires 3 benchmarks over at TomsHardware... (interactive charts) but the 7600 GT ain`t there. At maxed out settings for the game, would it still be faster than the x800 gt?

 

[akshayt]

x800gt and 6600gt are competitors and x800gt may be tad faster
7600gt is much much faster than both

 

[n7]

Yeah 7600GT as everyone has already stated...

 

[hans007]

well xbit labs has a mini comparo.

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/powercolor-x1800gto_22.html

at AOE3 in particular the 7600gt is even faster than the x1800xl.

and its a lot cheaper than a x1800xl (i had an x1800xl before, and they are pretty comparable in RTSes, just for me the x1800xl was noisier, and used up a lot more power so i sold it made some cash and got the 7600gt)

 

[Avalon]

The 7600GT would smoke the other two options.

 

[Captante]

Another vote for the 7600GT here ... that card is a great performer for the money & as a plus for AOE3, Nvidia cards do a lot better then ATI for whatever reason.

 

[bpt8056]

I execute the following statement.

7600GT++;

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

Definitely a 7600GT.

 

[Munky]

execute the following:

total = votes[x800gt] + votes[x1600xt] + votes[7600gt];
if(total > votes[7600gt]{
votes[x1600xt] = votes[x800gt] = 0;
votes[7600gt] = total;
}

 

[akshayt]

I would want to tell you that in games like FEAR and Quake 4, a 7600gt doesn't perform well.

 

[Captante]

Originally posted by: akshayt
I would want to tell you that in games like FEAR and Quake 4, a 7600gt doesn't perform well.

Neither does any other sub-$200 card @ higher resolutions.... I played both those games with a somwhat slower 6800GT @ 1024x768 with full details & it was ok... right now the 7600GT is available for approx $170 & again, for that money its tough to beat.

 

[hans007]

Originally posted by: Captante

Originally posted by: akshayt
I would want to tell you that in games like FEAR and Quake 4, a 7600gt doesn't perform well.

Neither does any other sub-$200 card @ higher resolutions.... I played both those games with a somwhat slower 6800GT @ 1024x768 with full details & it was ok... right now the 7600GT is available for approx $170 & again, for that money its tough to beat.

the pny one is $149 after rebates at newegg.

i picked up my evga 7600gt ko for less than that in anands very own fs/ft forum.