8 pipelines enough?

[jb20thae]

I'm considering replacing my Powercolor Radeon 9700 evil commander 2 (or whatever it's called) with my first nVidia product, a 6600gt. The radeon 9700 has 8 pipelines, 128mb, and 256bit addressing... the same as the 6600gt.

How much of an improvement would I see going to a 6600gt (agp)? Is 8 pipelines enough if the vpu and memory are fast enough?

With the next gen of games, which will be most important... pipelines or mhz (if you can only chose one)?

 

[BW86]

Look over some of the benchmarks here.

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

the 6600gt would kill the 9700 pro in just about anything except half life 2 maybe. i think it is a worthy replacement. i suggest waiting until the 7800gt comes out so you can get a 6800nu for cheaper and get more bang for your buck.

 

[munchow2]

It seems 8 pipes won't cut it for next gen games if you want to play on more than medium. There are some really good deals on X800XLs, 6800GTs, 6800s right now. Try one of those.

 

[bunnyfubbles]

What you're forgetting about the 9700Pro vs. the 6600GT, is that the 6600GT's core runs @ 500MHz vs. the measly 320MHz (something like that, been so long I'm not sure) 9700Pro. That along with other core improvements and efficiencies, the 6600GT is clearly a better card for the games you will be able to play with each.

But as a replacement it isn't THAT great, unless you're getting a really good deal I'd say you'd probably want to wait until you have more money for a better card, or a better card comes down in price.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: jb20thae
I'm considering replacing my Powercolor Radeon 9700 evil commander 2 (or whatever it's called) with my first nVidia product, a 6600gt. The radeon 9700 has 8 pipelines, 128mb, and 256bit addressing... the same as the 6600gt.

How much of an improvement would I see going to a 6600gt (agp)? Is 8 pipelines enough if the vpu and memory are fast enough?

With the next gen of games, which will be most important... pipelines or mhz (if you can only chose one)?

6600GT has a 128-bit memory interface but its clocked insanely high.
I would see about getting a 6800nu before a 6600GT. Maybe you can find one for just about the same price. Dunno with the price changes lately. Maybe not.

 

[n7]

X800XL/6800GT would be the next logical upgrade.

 

[jb20thae]

I don't think I'd ever want to spend more than $200 on a graphics card and if I'm forever waiting for prices to come down, I'll always be chasing. I guess if I bought high end card then sold it to buy a newer one every 3-6months it would cost maybe $200 a year (kinda like leasing, I guess). Or could spend $400 up front and stick with it for 2yrs. Or could spend $150 every year and stay ahead of obsolescence. Or...

 

[BFG10K]

is that the 6600GT's core runs @ 500MHz vs. the measly 320MHz

Yes but the 9700 series has 256 bit memory while the 6600GT has 128 bit.

X800XL/6800GT would be the next logical upgrade.

Agreed; I wouldn't bother with the 6600GT. Save your money and get something better.

 

[Wreckage]

You can pick up a 6800 for under $200 and it's got 12 pipes. You may even be able to "unlock" 2 more.

 

[Unkno]

Originally posted by: BFG10K
Yes but the 9700 series has 256 bit memory while the 6600GT has 128 bit.

doesn't matter, they aren't capable of utilizing the 256 bit, 6600gt is still better.

Anyways, OP should save his cash then just buy like a $250 bucks X800XL from monarch and that would last about 2 or 3 years, depending on resolution, game and quality.

 

[jb20thae]

Two more questions...

1) whats a 6800nu.... non-ultimate?

2) where does the regular x800 fit into benchmarks.... doesn't seem to appear anywhere, just the xl, xt, etc

 

[BFG10K]

doesn't matter, they aren't capable of utilizing the 256 bit,

What the hell are you talking about?

6600gt is still better.

Well yeah but that's because most games are shader bound these days and the 6600 GT's higher clock speed comes into play. In terms of memory bandwidth though even the vanilla 9700 has slightly more (17.3 GB/sec vs 16 GB/sec).

 

[hans030390]

get a 6800 or 6800gt

 

[GoSharks]

Originally posted by: jb20thae
Two more questions...

1) whats a 6800nu.... non-ultimate?

2) where does the regular x800 fit into benchmarks.... doesn't seem to appear anywhere, just the xl, xt, etc

2. the x800 is actually better than the 6600gt in almost every game (doom 3 is one where the 6600gt is better). the 6800 is about the same as the x800, but is slightly more expensive. when i get my new setup at the end of the month, i will be getting a x800 (msi x800 at zzf for $145 after 30 rebate).

see firingsquad, techreport or tomshardware for good comparisons.

 

[Powermoloch]

It's not about core speed, it's the GPU's design. Although gpu clocks speed is depended, 2 different generation cards with the same clock speeds would give different results...blah blah. it's like chicken versus a chicken with bionic legs.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: Powermoloch
It's not about core speed, it's the GPU's design. Although gpu clocks speed is depended, 2 different generation cards with the same clock speeds would give different results...blah blah. it's like chicken versus a chicken with bionic legs.

lol good comparison

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: jb20thae
I'm considering replacing my Powercolor Radeon 9700 evil commander 2 (or whatever it's called) with my first nVidia product, a 6600gt. The radeon 9700 has 8 pipelines, 128mb, and 256bit addressing... the same as the 6600gt.

How much of an improvement would I see going to a 6600gt (agp)? Is 8 pipelines enough if the vpu and memory are fast enough?

With the next gen of games, which will be most important... pipelines or mhz (if you can only chose one)?

Inno3D 6600 GT v R9700 Pro v R9600 XT v FX5900 XT

According to the above review the Geforce 6600 GT is:-

? 31% faster than a Radeon 9700 Pro.
? 39% faster than a Geforce FX5900 XT.
? 44% faster than a Radeon 9600 XT.

I noticed that you have the R9700 and not the R9700 Pro so you will see a bigger performance increase than 30% unless your very cpu limited ofcourse!

 

[dguy6789]

A 9700 to a 6600GT is not a good upgrade at all.

The MINIMUM upgrade you would want would be a 6800. Preferably a 6800gt.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: BFG10K

doesn't matter, they aren't capable of utilizing the 256 bit,

What the hell are you talking about?

6600gt is still better.

Well yeah but that's because most games are shader bound these days and the 6600 GT's higher clock speed comes into play. In terms of memory bandwidth though even the vanilla 9700 has slightly more (17.3 GB/sec vs 16 GB/sec).

He is confusing Megabytes of memory with bus width. He probably meant that a 9700 pro could not fully utilize 256 Megabytes of memory, not a 256-bit memory bus. He just got it mixed up.

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: jb20thae
Two more questions...

1) whats a 6800nu.... non-ultimate?

2) where does the regular x800 fit into benchmarks.... doesn't seem to appear anywhere, just the xl, xt, etc

If we are talking AGP cards, then:

6600GT = 8 pipe 500MHz core and 128MB of 128-bit GDDR3 memory @ 1000MHz
145.00 at newegg

6800nu = 12 pipe 325 MHz core and 128MB of 256-bit DDR memory @ 700MHz
164.00 at newegg
(BETTER BUY THAN THE 6600GT)(Might be able to unlock 4 piplines for total of 16)

X800 = 12 pipe 392MHz core and 256MB of 256-bit GDDR3 memory @ 700MHz
245.00 at newegg
or 209.00 for passively cooled at newegg.
(GENERALLY a bit faster than a 6800nu with 12 pipes.)

 

[kmmatney]

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320827

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320827

ZipZoomFly Part#: 320827
Lead Time: Out of Stock
Manufacturer: SAPPHIRETECH
Manufacturer SKU: 100592
Our Price: $219.00
Quantity Limit 20 Per customer

I have to laugh at the quantity limit per customer.

 

[GoSharks]

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=321949

the 256mb version is $40 more.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003

Originally posted by: kmmatney
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320827

ZipZoomFly Part#: 320827
Lead Time: Out of Stock
Manufacturer: SAPPHIRETECH
Manufacturer SKU: 100592
Our Price: $219.00
Quantity Limit 20 Per customer

I have to laugh at the quantity limit per customer.

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=320815

Sapphire Radeon X800 XT AGP 8X 256MB

ZipZoomFly Part#: 320815
In Stock:
Manufacturer: SAPPHIRETECH
Manufacturer SKU: 100592
Our Price: $219.00
Quantity Limit 20 Per customer