AGP card comparison

[Maxspeed996]

My brother is looking at buying the Saphire Radeon X800 from Newegg for his machine....he doesn't game a lot , but he wants a decent card to throw in it. Just in case he decides he wants to try some gaming.
I have an ATI X700 that I used for a year , and I've got it packed away back in it's original box , I told him I'd sell him for $50. For $150 he can get that Saphire X800 AGP card. Now how much better is this card over the older X700 card that I have? He's wanting something like the Nvidia card that I have but he doesn't want to spend the money. I've told him that for AGP systems , I've got about the best card you can get. But the X800 was a very good card for it's time , and plenty capable of playing most of the newer games. (He likes the fact that my card has SM 3.0 support on it though) This isn't that much of an issue as there still aren't many games out that utilize this feature yet.
Either way , do you think he would be ok with the X700 card or like the X800 more. I used the X700 for Doom3 and Oblivion until I got the superclock card a while ago. (which I love by the way) and it treated me pretty well.

Opinions?

 

[akshayt]

6600GT/6800GT/GS

atleast get sm 3.0 and hdr if you are not very serious about gaming much, why get it so outdated soon?

 

[Fraggable]

an X700 has 8 pixel pipelines at 400MHz, memory at 700MHz and a 128-bit interface.

an x800 has 12 pipelines at ~400 MHz and memory at 700MHz and a 256-bit interface.

I think it's safe to say the x800 is a good 40% faster than the x700.

 

[akshayt]

a 6600GT or 6800GT/GS is a good option imo

 

[Maxspeed996]

Originally posted by: Fraggable
an X700 has 8 pixel pipelines at 400MHz, memory at 700MHz and a 128-bit interface.

an x800 has 12 pipelines at ~400 MHz and memory at 700MHz and a 256-bit interface.

I think it's safe to say the x800 is a good 40% faster than the x700.

This is the kind of information that I'm looking for. I think that my mom would like my X700 better than my brother. LOL! I'll give it to her! It's just hard to believe that when I bought this thing I paid $250 for it!!

 

[Ika]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996

Originally posted by: Fraggable
an X700 has 8 pixel pipelines at 400MHz, memory at 700MHz and a 128-bit interface.

an x800 has 12 pipelines at ~400 MHz and memory at 700MHz and a 256-bit interface.

I think it's safe to say the x800 is a good 40% faster than the x700.

This is the kind of information that I'm looking for. I think that my mom would like my X700 better than my brother. LOL! I'll give it to her! It's just hard to believe that when I bought this thing I paid $250 for it!!

$250? did you buy it immediately after it came out? I only remember these things selling at $200 or under.

anyway, if your brother doesn't do any real serious gaming, the X700 *should* be okay (low settings, low to mid resolution). If he likes his eye candy, though, the X800 would be a better choice. however, if you can find a used 6800GT/GS for less than $150 (generally happens on the FS/T forum, look around), go for it - the 6800GT/GS overclocks better and has SM3 for the future.

 

[secretanchitman]

i would even go to say that a 6600GT would be nice for your mom, but a 6800GS/GT would be better.

 

[orangat]

SM3 for 6 series cards like the 6600gt/6800gt mean very little to nothing since the cards are not fast enough overall to make a difference.

 

[Maxspeed996]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
i would even go to say that a 6600GT would be nice for your mom, but a 6800GS/GT would be better.

Just what she needs I'm sure!! I got her hooked on Diablo LOD a few years ago....and when Guild Wars came out , she was addicted. She now has the expansion pack for it , and plays daily. I can't remember what version , but I gave her an Nvidia Card 128 meg....I think it was the MX4000.....and god she was just so happy. I think the X700 will blow her mind. It will run GuildWars with all of the candy turned on at a pretty decent resolution. It just couldn't cut it in Oblivion. (she wants it now after seeing it on my machine)
Little brother needs something more than mom does at this point , He's just now upgrading from a p3 machine that I slapped together for him to burn DVD's on!! To a P4 2.4 with a gig of Kingston Ram! And he's in heaven!! LOL!

 

[Running]

wow a mom who plays video games O_O. kinda cool haha

 

[Maxspeed996]

well , I just got off of the phone with my brother. He said that he's on Newegg looking for a card right now and he found a HIS X1600 card for $150. I'm waiting for him to shoot me a link in my messenger so I can see what he's getting.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161005

Ok , just got the link from him....I don't know what to think about this card at all in comparison to his first idea for a buy of the X800.....this card has a lot of memory (512) but its only using GDDR2 memory , and a 128 bit interface..... now that's still better than my old X700 , but will the larger amount of the slower memory be equivalent to the X800 cards GDDR3??????

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
well , I just got off of the phone with my brother. He said that he's on Newegg looking for a card right now and he found a HIS X1600 card for $150. I'm waiting for him to shoot me a link in my messenger so I can see what he's getting.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161005

Ok , just got the link from him....I don't know what to think about this card at all in comparison to his first idea for a buy of the X800.....this card has a lot of memory (512) but its only using GDDR2 memory , and a 128 bit interface..... now that's still better than my old X700 , but will the larger amount of the slower memory be equivalent to the X800 cards GDDR3??????

256megs is plenty for midrange cards today. That card lists 12 pipelines, but really only has 4 (to be very simple). Google a review of the X1600 HIS and you will find many not very kind ones.

The x800 will blow that card away, sorry. $150 on that would be a waste. Did you know that if you check out the hot deals forum here you can get an x850 Pro new from ATI for your budget? That would surely be better than anything else under $150 in AGP. Too bad you are constrained by that...

Nat

 

[Modular]

SM3 for 6 series cards like the 6600gt/6800gt mean very little to nothing since the cards are not fast enough overall to make a difference.

?

Where are you getting your info from?

I have a 6600gt AGP. It's a pretty good card when SM 3.0 is enabled. Heck, it even does HDR in FarCry and runs BF2 at medium/high settings with AA.

The 6800le is an awesome card (especially if the pipes are unlocked and the core/memory are overclocked).

The above card is run by my brother in a rig that I built for him. It runs SM3 games at considerably high FPS (average of 60) with only the vertex shaders unlocked and no overclocking.

Comparitively, a 7 series card will be better at SM3 than a 6 series (this should be obvious) but for the AGP side of the equation, 7 series card selection is limited.

I would have to recommend a 6- series card, preferably 6800gt if it can be found for a decent price.

If not, search for a 6800nu/le (Leadtek made the best ones).

Happy gaming.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Modular

SM3 for 6 series cards like the 6600gt/6800gt mean very little to nothing since the cards are not fast enough overall to make a difference.

?

Where are you getting your info from?

I have a 6600gt AGP. It's a pretty good card when SM 3.0 is enabled. Heck, it even does HDR in FarCry and runs BF2 at medium/high settings with AA.

The 6800le is an awesome card (especially if the pipes are unlocked and the core/memory are overclocked).

The above card is run by my brother in a rig that I built for him. It runs SM3 games at considerably high FPS (average of 60) with only the vertex shaders unlocked and no overclocking.

Comparitively, a 7 series card will be better at SM3 than a 6 series (this should be obvious) but for the AGP side of the equation, 7 series card selection is limited.

I would have to recommend a 6- series card, preferably 6800gt if it can be found for a decent price.

If not, search for a 6800nu/le (Leadtek made the best ones).

Happy gaming.

HDR is not available in enough games to really have this as a primary concern, IMHO. More important to the 6 series, IMHO, is Doom3 engine performance. The x800 series offers much more in the way of Source performance though, so it is a toss up. Both engines are going to be powering many apps in the near future.

HDR on nvidia means no AA, and I feel that AA is much better to the over all game immersion than HDR right now. Further more, the x800 series with 256 megs of high speed DDR3 with simply be able to do much more AA at higher detail settings & resolutions than any of the cheaply available AGP nvidia cards.

Nat

 

[Maxspeed996]

Thanks Blckgrffn for the reply....
Modular , I told him to check out some reviews of the HIS X1600. He was stuck on a review on newegg where someone said that it is getting faster clock speeds than my card. (That put a grin on his face I'm sure) Anyhow , I don't think it would have as many raster operations , or even close to the fill rate of my 7800gs co Superclock. That thing is mean.
Either way , the HOT DEALS forum , is listing a PCI-Express card for $150. He's looking for his AGP rig. And that's about what he's wanting to spend. There are countless threads about this I've noticed. But my main question was.
How does the X700pro AGP card compare to the X800 series of cards (they are in his price range) And then he found the HIS X1600 , and I'd have to admit , on paper , it looks like a decent deal for most people. Heck , it vents the hot air outside the case too. An added benifit maybe....to bad they didn't make a GDDR3 / 256 bit version of the card for that kind of money, it would be a good deal. Either way , I think it's better than the X700 he wanted to buy off of me.

 

[Maxspeed996]

Actually , I just showed him that the X1600 really does suck , it isn't much better than the old X700 card of mine....here is a side by side comparison...

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=369&card2=103


that is just insane to cut the nuts off of an X1k series card like that by putting GDDR2 memory on it like that .......I almost feel like it's marketed towards people that really don't know what the heck they are doing when they upgrade video cards.....
the grazers at best buy and circuit city that walk the isles looking for something cool..

OH LOOK MOM , A 512 MEG. VIDEO CARD!!! THAT'S BAD!! I MUST HAVE IT!!!

LOL! That's crazy.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
Actually , I just showed him that the X1600 really does suck , it isn't much better than the old X700 card of mine....here is a side by side comparison...

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=369&card2=103


that is just insane to cut the nuts off of an X1k series card like that by putting GDDR2 memory on it like that .......I almost feel like it's marketed towards people that really don't know what the heck they are doing when they upgrade video cards.....
the grazers at best buy and circuit city that walk the isles looking for something cool..

OH LOOK MOM , A 512 MEG. VIDEO CARD!!! THAT'S BAD!! I MUST HAVE IT!!!

LOL! That's crazy.

Bam, you got it. Dumb, I agree. It is really a 4 pipe card, with 12 shader pipelines, similar to the x1900 layout. This means way tiny fillrate that is what truly castrates the card.

Check this out...

That x850 Pro AGP is a great deal and a pretty good card to boot. Look up some reviews of it, it plays most games pretty well. It isn't an x850xt or anything, but I doubt you would find that for the price

Nat

 

[orangat]

Originally posted by: Modular

SM3 for 6 series cards like the 6600gt/6800gt mean very little to nothing since the cards are not fast enough overall to make a difference.

?
Where are you getting your info from?

I have a 6600gt AGP. It's a pretty good card when SM 3.0 is enabled. Heck, it even does HDR in FarCry and runs BF2 at medium/high settings with AA.
The 6800le is an awesome card (especially if the pipes are unlocked and the core/memory are overclocked).

The above card is run by my brother in a rig that I built for him. It runs SM3 games at considerably high FPS (average of 60) with only the vertex shaders unlocked and no overclocking.
...........
If not, search for a 6800nu/le (Leadtek made the best ones).
Happy gaming.

6xxx cards are somewhat slower than x800 cards in newer shader heaver games. AOE3, Oblivion are examples.

 

[nemesismk2]

Originally posted by: blckgrffn

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
Actually , I just showed him that the X1600 really does suck , it isn't much better than the old X700 card of mine....here is a side by side comparison...

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=369&card2=103


that is just insane to cut the nuts off of an X1k series card like that by putting GDDR2 memory on it like that .......I almost feel like it's marketed towards people that really don't know what the heck they are doing when they upgrade video cards.....
the grazers at best buy and circuit city that walk the isles looking for something cool..

OH LOOK MOM , A 512 MEG. VIDEO CARD!!! THAT'S BAD!! I MUST HAVE IT!!!

LOL! That's crazy.

Bam, you got it. Dumb, I agree. It is really a 4 pipe card, with 12 shader pipelines, similar to the x1900 layout. This means way tiny fillrate that is what truly castrates the card.

Check this out...

That x850 Pro AGP is a great deal and a pretty good card to boot. Look up some reviews of it, it plays most games pretty well. It isn't an x850xt or anything, but I doubt you would find that for the price

Nat

I've got an x850 Pro, wipes the floor with my Geforce 6600 GT.

 

[Maxspeed996]

That's not a bad deal at all for that card. I just sent him the link to the page with the Card on it so he can check it out. But it's not shipping for 3 weeks. He's impatient! I think if he had to choose between the following.

$150.00 Budget

My old X700pro - $50 to him
Sapphire Radeon - X800 - $149
Radeon X850 pro - $140

I would go with the X850 for the money....it's the best card in the bunch. The X800 overclocks , and I've heard good things about unlocking the extra pipes on the card...but side by side. I think the X850 is going to be his best bet. I'll see what he thinks.

 

[Ika]

I thought the X850pro was equivalent to the X800XL, which was slower than the X800XT.

oh, the sapphire card is the x800 vanilla.

go for the x850pro!

 

[big4x4]

I almost just bougt a x800xt pe @ newegg for 159.99 with a $20 rebate. Monarch also has a 7600gt for 139.99 after a $30 rebate. Look at the benchmarks and you will see that the 7600gt is about the same performance of the x850xt pe while having the newer technology

Edit- it was actually an x850xt and it was 149.99 with a rebate

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: big4x4
I almost just bougt a x800xt pe @ newegg for 159.99 with a $20 rebate. Monarch also has a 7600gt for 139.99 after a $30 rebate. Look at the benchmarks and you will see that the 7600gt is about the same performance of the x850xt pe while having the newer technology

Edit- it was actually an x850xt and it was 149.99 with a rebate

AGP man, agp...

 

[xSeongminx]

Just so you know, the eVGA 7800GS AGP is on sale at CC for 230$ AR. However, if you are on the mailing list, there is a 10% off coupon that they sent out.

Btw, if you really want the card and aren't on the mailing list, I can make arrangements...

 

[Modular]

What about the X800gto2

I remember reading alot about this cards unlock/overclock ability. It was getting better 3Dmarks than the X850XT PE....