Another question about what to get

[ww2u]

Well, there are numerous topics already on this subject. My head is hurting from reading some of them. Please forgive if this sounds all to repetitve or boring.

Looking to upgrade my home made workstation. Built about two years ago and it is showing signs of being old.

What I have....

MB - A7N8X Deluxe
CPU - AMD 2800/333 Athlon XP Barton
VGA - ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128M 8X AGP
Mem - DDRAM 256MB x 2 Corsair Value Select
PS - 400W


When I put this together I had planned on upgrading and now it is time.

A new video card would be nice, and maybe the Mem. After reading a little on this board and some other places, leaning toward the 7800GS.

Will not be going to a new rig anytime soon, even though the 64 bit and PCI express sound fun. So a new video card and maybe some memory to last 3 to 4 years is what I am looking for.

Thanks in advance.

 

[ww2u]

bump

 

[JPB]

What is your budget if you have one?

 

[ww2u]

$300 or so for a video card.

$100 or so for some memory.

 

[CapaJC]

At around $300, those new geForce 7900GT cards hitting today look mighty nice...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi...=geforce+7900gt&Submit=ENE&Ntk=all&N=0

--James in S.D.

 

[TheCanuck]

I'm was in the same boat as you -- XP 3200+, 1GB Ram etc. But I think with whats left in AGP land you'll be looking at extending its life by about 1.5 to 2 years. The 7800GS isn't really that much faster than the 6800GS (which I just purchased) especially if you unlock the extra pipes and clock it up a little. $100 for an extra 5 fps is just too much $$$.

You can get the BFG 6800GS for $198 shipped:
BFG

www.chiefvalue.com/app/productdetails.asp?submit=search&item=14-143-045

The extra $100 for the 7800GS just isnt worth it. Also, DX10 hardware and games should be coming out by 2007 - 2008 and none of the cards available are DX10 compatible. The 6800GS should allow you to play all the current games that are out at close to max settings.

 

[ww2u]

I have an AGP interface, so it looks like the 7900 series would not be compatable with my rig. At least, I did not see any 7900 AGP interface.

The 6800GS will be kind to my wallet and looks good on paper. My question is, what do I have to do to unlock the pipelines? Is this a software unlock or hardware unlock?

 

[TheCanuck]

You need to use Rivatuner to unlock the pipelines. Here's a guide:

Unlocking 6800

Boosts performance about 15% -- although there's no guarantee you won't get artifacts.

 

[ww2u]

Is the 6800 card compatable with my A7N8X Deluxe motherboard?

I went to the BFG site and checked system requirements, one of them is "An available AGP 2.0 slot or higher". Not sure if I have this.

Went to the ASUS site but could not find anything definite about the version of the AGP slots. I am thinking that it will be OK, but don't want to buy something I can't use.

I see more reading in my future.

 

[TheCanuck]

Actually your board is AGP 3.0 so you're fine. Any 8X AGP board is going to be able to use the newer cards.

 

[ww2u]

Parts on order.

Have a BFG 6800GS and 2x512 of Kingston memory coming my way. After the mail in rebate on the memory I will have spent $301.55. Not bad.

Canuck, thanks for your time and info. The 6800 ought to be better than my 9600 Pro and cheaper than the 7800, and yet still provide a good upgrade to my rig.

Thanks again!

 

[TheCanuck]

No problem. Just received mine today (shipping only took 2 days). Can't wait to try it out -- would've put it in my work computer but it's a Compaq EVO and the PSU would choke.

I figure this will last me another 18 months and by that time I'll be ready to upgrade to dual / quad core & PCI express when prices come down.