Best AGP Card for ~200 bucks

[LoungeAct404]

The eVGA 6800 nu looks really nice, but I want to know what you guys think, seeing as you know more about this kind of stuff than I do.

 

[Rock Hydra]

6800 is a good choice. I bought one for about $180 at Newegg.

 

[Patrick Wolf]

You mean one like this one?

 

[LoungeAct404]

yeah, that's the one, but I'm willing to shell out maybe 230 or maybe even 250$ for one that's better for the price, if you know one one.

 

[Corporate Thug]

6800

 

[WhipperSnapper]

Radeon X800xl at Best Buy or CompUSA for $250 (possibly $220 with a price match to Circuit City + $30 rebate) might be teh best buy right now. It's a 16 pipe card taht can compete with the 6800 GT.

 

[Ramsez]

^^^ What he said. Other than that it is 6800. 6800GT are about 290 so I guess it's not an option.

 

[Rock Hydra]

Originally posted by: wolfman579
You mean one like this one?

That's the one.

 

[zendari]

Text

Better than 6800.

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: zendari
Text

Better than 6800.

more than $200 also

but for $180, the 6800NU is probably a better deal, has the ability (maybe) to unlock as well

whereas with the X800 Pro you need the VIVO card which costs more. (in order to attempt unlock)

 

[zendari]

I don't think so. A $220 x800 pro is a better deal than a $180 6800 nu. Even if you can unlock, you're still stuck with slow 128 mb of ram. Better to have almost 6800 GT performance out of the box IMO.

 

[bamacre]

I agree, I'd go with the x800 pro over the 6800 Vanilla.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Originally posted by: WhipperSnapper

Radeon X800xl at Best Buy or CompUSA for $250 (possibly $220 with a price match to Circuit City + $30 rebate) might be teh best buy right now. It's a 16 pipe card taht can compete with the 6800 GT.

 

[intogamer]

Originally posted by: zendari
Text

Better than 6800.

thats a refurb

 

[hans030390]

do not get any x800 cards...if you read the article that rollo found, it clearly says "there appears to be little sense, in terms of graphics quality, in buying an ATI card at the moment" just because of sm3

i'm not gonna go into details about sm3, you can read that thread/link on your own

so just get a 6800...its the best for the money. and if you're lucky, you can softmod it to a 6800 gt. enough said.

 

[gac009]

there are some performance gains that can be made with sm 3.0, however the games that take advantage of this as far as I know consist of far cry.
there are also effects that are currently supported with sm 3.0 (hdr and soft shadows for example) and the few games that use these will slow to a crawl if you enable them on a 6800 nu.

at this level dont worry about SM 3.0, look at the benchmarks and go with that.

If you can get a x800xl for 40-50 more than a 6800nu and you have the cash, do it.

if you are absoultely limited to 200$ the a 6800.

 

[gac009]

Originally posted by: hans030390
so just get a 6800...its the best for the money. and if you're lucky, you can softmod it to a 6800 gt. enough said.

you cannot softmod a 6800 into a 6800gt.

its not the same as the 9500pro to a 9700pro or the x800pro vivo into a x800xt, whose only practical difference is the bios and maybe the cooling. when you say card X can "softmod into" card Y this is the image they are likely to get. this is misleading.

if you are lucky you can turn a 6800 into an unlocked overclocked 6800 without a warranty that performs well and also might go kaput on you.

you also might get a 6800 that dosnt unlock or overclock well and performs like a 6800.

pretend that you are buying the latter card.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: LoungeAct404
yeah, that's the one, but I'm willing to shell out maybe 230 or maybe even 250$ for one that's better for the price, if you know one one.

Well, there's an XFX 6800 for around $155 at NewEgg, and an XFX 6800GT for around $285 - $30 rebate = $255 at ZipZoomFly. If you have the money and the CPU to back it up, the 6800GT probably won't disappoint. I also think a GT is a smarter buy than an XL at this point (SM3 counts for more now that we're a month away from both ATI and nV being SM3 across the board and closer to UE3 and the attack of the SM3 game engines), but I have heard some negative things about XFX cards, so do your research (e.g., search these forums).

The 6800GT can be twice as fast as a 6800 at high res with AA, IIRC, so you will be getting your money's worth if you like those settings.

 

[LoungeAct404]

Ah, about the CPU to back it up...how well do you think a 2800+ Barton Athlon XP would fare?

Otherwise, thanks a ton for the advice on the 6800GT. That's probably what I will be purchasing.

 

[bay]

Originally posted by: CraigRT

Originally posted by: zendari
Text

Better than 6800.

more than $200 also

but for $180, the 6800NU is probably a better deal, has the ability (maybe) to unlock as well

whereas with the X800 Pro you need the VIVO card which costs more. (in order to attempt unlock)

that and tiger direct is a terrible retailer.

 

[Pete]

Eh, Athlon XPs are getting long in the tooth. It should be decent enough, but you can check Anandtech's, Firingsquad's, and Gamespot's various game guides to see how slower CPUs limit newer games. That said, you'd most likely see a bigger improvement upgrading your video card (what do you have now?) than upgrading that CPU. Don't forget newer games like 1GB RAM.

The way I see it:

XFX GT AGP
+: fast, 256MB, SM3, dual DVI, two-year warranty
-: not the best reputation, possibly noisy (or at least not silent) fan

ATI XL AGP
+: fast, 256MB, HDTV component out, three-year warranty, ATI RMA service (commendably quick, IME)
-: long, possibly noisy (or at least not silent) fan

I don't have an HDTV, so the GT looks more attractive to me despite the shorter and possibly more troublesome warranty. I don't have experience with either card, though--I'm still using a 9800P. But I doubt you'd feel bad about getting either. I don't think you'll see a faster card for the same price from the next gen (if there'll even be AGP versions this year), so the only thing you may be giving up by buying the GT now is maybe a more power-efficient, thus cooler card.