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Best bang for buck GPU for around $200-$230 -- Now with poll

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You might want to bite the bullet and upgrade to a PCIE motherboard, keeping your current CPU if possible. You could then get a better video card for less money, like the 7600GT or maybe even something better. If you sell your old motherboard you will hardly be paying any extra.

Edit: Just checked, and there really aren't many socket 478 motherboards with PCIE. Only found one at NewEgg and was very expensive. Guess you'll need an AGP card.
 
Thanks RussianSensation for all the info. I'll have to go through it all.

I was originally leaning toward the 6800 GS, but now I think I'm more confused than before. I had eliminated the X800 GTO, but two people here say it's faster than the 6800 GS, with the only difference being that it's a bit cheaper than the GS and doesn't support SM 3.0 (only SM 2.0?). So it's back in the equation.

I'll just have to digest all the info and then hopefully decide.




kmmatney,

As for upgrading the whole system, I'm mainly waiting for AMD to release their M2 socket processors and for them to adopt DDR2. I'm also curios to see what Intel's Conroe will be like. So much good stuff on the way. Can hardly wait.

 
X800 GTO has same specs as X800Pro. I am not sure if those unlock and overclock to become X800XTs. If they overclock, they'll likely get to X850Pro speeds or slightly faster. If you dont overclock or unlock 6800GS AGP, it'll be the slowest card. If you overclock 6800GS it'll be about as fast as 6800GT = X800XL > X800Pro/X800GTO for the most part or slightly faster. If you unlock and overclock 6800GS, it'll be faster than the 6800Ultra which is about as fast as X800XT PE. So $50 extra X800XT PE means no gambling. Between GTO and 6800GS both are 12 pipes so they'll roughly be same but 6800GS has SM3.0 you want.
 
Originally posted by: RussianSensation
X800 GTO has same specs as X800Pro. I am not sure if those unlock and overclock to become X800XTs. If they overclock, they'll likely get to X850Pro speeds or slightly faster. If you dont overclock or unlock 6800GS AGP, it'll be the slowest card. If you overclock 6800GS it'll be about as fast as 6800GT = X800XL > X800Pro/X800GTO for the most part or slightly faster. If you unlock and overclock 6800GS, it'll be faster than the 6800Ultra which is about as fast as X800XT PE. So $50 extra X800XT PE means no gambling. Between GTO and 6800GS both are 12 pipes so they'll roughly be same but 6800GS has SM3.0 you want.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info. From what I've read so far (NewEgg reviews, posts at overclock.net), the AGP version of the X800 GTO is overclockable, but can't be unlocked. Only the PCI-e version (especially the GTO2 version) can be.

As for the 6800 GS, it seems to be about as overclockable as the GTO. But the odds of unlocking the other 4 pixel pipes are very good. So if I overclock the 6800 GS a bit and am successful at unlocking the other 4 pipes, it'll beat the overclocked but locked GTO. If the 6800 GS can't be unlocked and is only overclocked, it seems like it'll be as fast as or maybe even slightly faster than a overclocked but locked GTO. And since the 6800 GS has support for SM 3.0, HDR, etc. it's the better buy.

So it looks like the 6800 GS is the winner. As for the X800 XT PE, I think I'd rather save the $50 and use it toward the full system upgrade in a year or so. Don't think it's worth it since this will just be a hold over card until then.

Besides, my monitor's native res is 1280 x 1024 so the 6800 GS should be fine. It's not like I'll be gaming at 1600 x 1200 or whatever it is so the X800 XT PE doesn't really seem necessary in this case, right?

Guess I'll put in my order in the morning.

Thanks everyone.
 
quote:

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Originally posted by: RussianSensation
X800 GTO has same specs as X800Pro. I am not sure if those unlock and overclock to become X800XTs. If they overclock, they'll likely get to X850Pro speeds or slightly faster. If you dont overclock or unlock 6800GS AGP, it'll be the slowest card. If you overclock 6800GS it'll be about as fast as 6800GT = X800XL > X800Pro/X800GTO for the most part or slightly faster. If you unlock and overclock 6800GS, it'll be faster than the 6800Ultra which is about as fast as X800XT PE. So $50 extra X800XT PE means no gambling. Between GTO and 6800GS both are 12 pipes so they'll roughly be same but 6800GS has SM3.0 you want.

The 6800GS is as fast as the X800 PRO depending on the type of game, generally the X800 PRO will have the overall edge particularly with FSAA and high resolution gaming, the X800 XT PE is faster than the 6800 Ultra, the latter one have a pixel fillrate deficit of 1.9Gps giving the X800 XT PE an advantage with FSAA in high resolutions, but if you are not gonna play in high resolutions the 6800 GS will do very well, it is a fast card anyways.
 
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