AIW9700, what to upgrade to?

[bimbs]

Hey All,

It looks like its finally time to upgrade my graphics card as its about 4 years old and having some problems with newer games. I looked on ebay and saw that the card is still going for about 100+. I've been out of the loop lately and have no idea what my best option is. I figure if I have 100 dollars (if I can sell my old AIW9700) and I can spare about 75-100 more so that puts me at about a 200 dollar price range to buy a new card. Is it even worth upgrading or should I try to hang onto my 9700 for a bit longer? Also, I hear ati is having a lot of problems as of late and its better to go with Nvidia? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks a lot,

Bimbs

 

[BlacKJesuS]

for $99 you can get a 6600GT...for $150 X800GTO....$200 6800NU/GS....$250 x850XT

 

[bimbs]

thanks for the reply. do you think its worth the money to upgrade? I know new things are always coming out but do you think if I upgrade now to say a 6600GT or x800GTO it would last for a while? Or would I be better off getting something more high end or waiting all together? thanks again.

 

[Ezza]

I have an overclocked GeForce 6800 myself and I think it wouldn't be worth going for anything slower than a 6800. Also consider that AGP cards are slowly getting phased out so you could buy one now and keep your current motherboard but if you wait too long there might not be many good AGP cards around so you'll have to get a new PCI Express motherboard.

 

[BlacKJesuS]

Originally posted by: bimbs
thanks for the reply. do you think its worth the money to upgrade? I know new things are always coming out but do you think if I upgrade now to say a 6600GT or x800GTO it would last for a while? Or would I be better off getting something more high end or waiting all together? thanks again.

wut are your complete system specs?....easier to answer your questions after i know that

 

[bimbs]

Thanks for the replies. My specs are: 2.8ghz pentium 4, 1 gb ram. I didn't realize that PCI was phasing out. I dont have to much money and doubt I could afford a complete rehaul (mobo, graphics card, ram, processor) but I could prolly come up with around 450 after I sell some stuff one ebay. WHat do ya think. Wait a bit to do anything, upgrade just the vid card or try to do a complete rehaul with limited funds? Thanks a lot.

 

[BlacKJesuS]

Erm.....i think....all you need is a new MB and a video card....try to OC the processor if you want..keep the ram...and get a cheap PCI-E board....they have some on newegg agp/pci-e for like $90

 

[bimbs]

okay sounds good. However, if I buy a new motherboard (PCI-E), wont it go obsolete rather quickly since it will support the pentium 4 2.8 which is an older model to begin with? thanks again

 

[duragezic]

Don't upgrade the mobo unless you are getting a new chip to go with it. I have a 3200+ and the AMD chips have changed sockets twice since I got this, so I'm thinking P4 must've too. I would wait a couple of weeks because there has a been a lot of talk of the 6800GS coming to AGP for around $200. This will be HUGE for the million people who post with a ~$225 budget but need AGP.

If the 6800GS AGP never comes to be, I'll be pissed. I learned over the past few weeks while looking to upgrade myself (around the same specs as you) that us AGP users are fvcked. The cards are severely overpriced and supplies keep getting lower. If you can snag a X800 series of 6800 series uses from FS/FT or elsewhere, this would probably be the next best, reasonably priced choice.

 

[phaxmohdem]

My honest opinion is to see if you can hold out until February or so next year, as Intel and AMD will be duking it out most likely, resulting in great buys for everyone. Alo by then the future of CPU socket types and upgrade paths should be a little clearer. Thats what I would do personally. From all accounts though it looks Like PCIe (PCI Express) is here to stay for quite some time. I think it is a pretty future proof upgrade at this point.