Advice - Video Card or Video Card and CPU

[XtreemeChaos]

I currently have an AMD 2500+ Barton with an Asus A7N8X MB (AGP only) and a Radeon 9600 video card. I have about $300 to spend.

At first, I was thinking of getting an nVidia 6800 Video Card, but then got to wondering if then my CPU would be holding me back. Then I thought about upgrading to a 3000+ Barton ($125 from newegg) and then getting either a 6600 or a 6200 (and try to unlock the pipes) with the rest of the money.

What would you do if you were in my situation?

 

[McArra]

OC your 2500 and go for the 6800.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Agreed with McArra.

 

[KayKay]

Absolutely No Point going from barton to barton.

get a good vid card like 6800 or 6600GT, maybe x800xl on agp when it comes out

 

[nitromullet]

I would go with a 6600GT for $196 shipped, and bank the extra $100 towards a future upgrade.

 

[Actaeon]

McArra hit the nail on the head. If you can OC your barton safely to 3200+ speeds (2.2ghz), then you are good to go.

I am on a similar system with a 2500+ OCed to 3200+, but I am using a 6800 Ultra. While the GPU is slightly bottlenecked, it isn't much, and is not a big deal to me. Sure I could get an extra 5fps if I blew money on a Socket939 system, but to me, its not worth it for 200 extra mhz, or whatever A64s are running at now.

However, even if you couldn't do OC, a 2500+ w/ a 6800 will be faster than a 3000+ w/ a 6600. I believe a 6800 would be a perfect match for your system, overclocked or not.

 

[XtreemeChaos]

I tried to overclock my cpu when I first got it a year or so ago, and got frustrated and put it back to default and haven't messed with it since. At the time, I had the stock heatsink/fan and a cheapo PowerMagic 450W PS that came with my case. I've since upgraded to a copper/aluminum heatsink/fan combo and an Anteck 350W PS. I'll give it another try and see what I can do with it now.

Is Leadtek a good manufacturer?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-193&depa=1

In the comments, they mention unlocking the 6800. Would that be basically the same procedure as unlocking a 6200?

 

[Fenuxx]

Leadtek is good, but I would save a few bucks and get THIS. It is as good as the Leadtek, and its cheaper. It has the same clock speeds as well, and as I said, its cheaper. Go for that, or the Leadtek. Either one will be great. Also, you may be able to unlock the pipes and OC to a 6800GT or even a 6800U. I don't know whether that card uses the NV41 GPU (pipes can't be unlocked, as it is ONLY 12-pipes), or if its a standard NV40 (extra pipes CAN be unlocked). Either way, it'll be much better than what you have.

 

[Munky]

If you're primarily interested in playing 3D games, then a 6800 video card is a much better option, since you'll get much higher fps than a A64 + 6600/6200. I wouldnt worry about the bottleneck issue, because something will always be a bottleneck for something else, either your cpu, or your memory, or your video card. As long as all components are reasonably fast, it's not a problem.

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: geforcetony
Leadtek is good, but I would save a few bucks and get THIS. It is as good as the Leadtek, and its cheaper. It has the same clock speeds as well, and as I said, its cheaper. Go for that, or the Leadtek. Either one will be great. Also, you may be able to unlock the pipes and OC to a 6800GT or even a 6800U. I don't know whether that card uses the NV41 GPU (pipes can't be unlocked, as it is ONLY 12-pipes), or if its a standard NV40 (extra pipes CAN be unlocked). Either way, it'll be much better than what you have.

After seeing the price on that ($244), I'd have to say go with this card as well. Nice card at a nice price.