BFG 6800 GT VS. ATI X850XT AGP UPGRADE

[Chucko]

I currently have a BFG 6800GT AGP card that serves my purposes fine. My friend just bought a Dell 2005 monitor and needs to upgrade his aging ATI 9700 pro. I have the opportunity to sell him my card and upgrade to a X850XT or maybe a 6800Ultra.

I like the idea of having dual DVI on the 6800, but they are a little more expensive than the X850XT's. I primarly use it for CS: Source and WOW.

Would this be a worthwhile upgrade, or should I have him get his own card.

Current System
2405 @ Native Resolution
P4 3.4 (550)
2 gigs PC3200
Asus AGP 865 Socket 775 MB
Raptor/Maxtor Diamondmax 10 300gig

I don't want to upgrade my system yet, as I plan to wait for 2nd gen dual core processors to hit the market.

TIA,

Chucko

 

[SynthDude2001]

How much would you end up paying for the upgrade after selling your card? Assuming the price difference is not too great, I'd recommend the X850XT over the 6800 Ultra...as far as I know, it's faster in everything.

 

[Malak]

X850XT PE is faster than a 6800U and has dual DVI. If it's also cheaper, well that's the nail in the coffin.

 

[Chucko]

bump for more suggestions

 

[imported_Noob]

Definitely the X850, depending on how much you can sell yours for. And since you play CSS then ATI is definitely the way to go.

 

[fstime]

Jesus, x850XT for source is KILLER.

x850xt.

 

[scsi drv1]

I would side with everyone else on this one. The x850xt is a 6800u killer. I am currently running a x800xt now and i have a 6800gt pcie and i can say that my x800xt for most games is much better.

 

[Gamingphreek]

PLEASE SEARCH THE FORUMS BEFORE DOING THIS. Now the flamewars begin.

Before i make any recommendations, are you going to be keeping this card for a year or possibly longer (ie Skipping the next generation). Or are you going to get this card to merely tide you over until the new cards come out (Upgrade early to mid next gen).

-Kevin

 

[Chucko]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
PLEASE SEARCH THE FORUMS BEFORE DOING THIS. Now the flamewars begin.

Before i make any recommendations, are you going to be keeping this card for a year or possibly longer (ie Skipping the next generation). Or are you going to get this card to merely tide you over until the new cards come out (Upgrade early to mid next gen).

-Kevin

I probably won't upgrade again until I upgrade my processor and motherboard. I won't do that until maybe spring of 06.

 

[Gamingphreek]

In that case i would simply get another 6800GT or keep what you have. The X8x0's are incredibly cards with performance aboce that of the the Geforces in most cases. However, the Geforce 6's are more future proof than the X800's as they suppport 32bit FP buffers, SM3, programmable video etc...

Now if you were upgrading early next gen or sometime this christmas or something, i would say just get the X800's because you will want all the speed you can get, without too much worry about games coming out in the future because you will have another card by then.

I recommend a Geforce 6 series card in this situation.

-Kevin

 

[JBT]

I had a 6800 GT Oced to 420/1150 I recently traded this to somone for an 800XT which I now have Oced to a little above X800XT-PE speeds. I pretty much play CSS and I'll say the difference isn't THAT noticible but regardless it is there. Esspecially since I now can force triple buffering with ATI Tray tools and vsync is actually usable.

Either way def get a X850XT-PE over the 6800U. My X800XT is noticibly faster than my GT was Oced past Ultra so an X850XT-PE should be even more so.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: JBT
I had a 6800 GT Oced to 420/1150 I recently traded this to somone for an 800XT which I now have Oced to a little above X800XT-PE speeds. I pretty much play CSS and I'll say the difference isn't THAT noticible but regardless it is there. Esspecially since I now can force triple buffering with ATI Tray tools and vsync is actually usable.

Either way def get a X850XT-PE over the 6800U. My X800XT is noticibly faster than my GT was Oced past Ultra so an X850XT-PE should be even more so.

Why pay more for 15 more fps when neither of the cards are anywhere near unplayable?

-Kevin

 

[imported_DaveA]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: JBT
I had a 6800 GT Oced to 420/1150 I recently traded this to somone for an 800XT which I now have Oced to a little above X800XT-PE speeds. I pretty much play CSS and I'll say the difference isn't THAT noticible but regardless it is there. Esspecially since I now can force triple buffering with ATI Tray tools and vsync is actually usable.

Either way def get a X850XT-PE over the 6800U. My X800XT is noticibly faster than my GT was Oced past Ultra so an X850XT-PE should be even more so.

Why pay more for 15 more fps when neither of the cards are anywhere near unplayable?

-Kevin

agreed.

 

[Pete]

Assuming you can get a decent price for it, sell him your 6800GT and buy one of those $330AR AIW X800XTs at NewEgg or Buy.com. You get a slightly faster card, TIVO functionality, and the chance to play with the GT's competition.

I'm thinking the integrated tuner will give the AIW X800XT a somewhat higher resale value than a 6800GT if you develop an itch in your wallet before you upgrade your CPU.

But if it turns out you'l pay a lot more for the X850, I'd just stick with what you've got and point him to the Hot Deals forum to find a good price on a GT (or AIW X800XT--they seem like a really good deal at $330) of his own.

 

[JBT]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek

Originally posted by: JBT
I had a 6800 GT Oced to 420/1150 I recently traded this to somone for an 800XT which I now have Oced to a little above X800XT-PE speeds. I pretty much play CSS and I'll say the difference isn't THAT noticible but regardless it is there. Esspecially since I now can force triple buffering with ATI Tray tools and vsync is actually usable.

Either way def get a X850XT-PE over the 6800U. My X800XT is noticibly faster than my GT was Oced past Ultra so an X850XT-PE should be even more so.

Why pay more for 15 more fps when neither of the cards are anywhere near unplayable?

-Kevin

I didn't pay more. It was an even trade and when I run 1920x1200, occasionally even with 2xAA on it is helpful to have the few more FPS with low dips during action. If I had a smaller monitor or planned on just running 1600x1200 or lower I would have just stuck with the GT there really was no difference. But highier than that it WAS unplayable while the XT can manage to play.

Also with Vsync on my GT would dip to 30FPS because there was no way to force tripple buffering. With the XT I can force it and it will stay at 60.

 

[Creig]

X850XT is currently the fastest single video card available. That alone will ensure that it will keep you happy until Spring '06 (and most likely even later).

Another vote for the X850XT.

 

[Munky]

Ok, the x850 is faster, but the 6800gt is not exactly slow either. I'd say if you're happy with it, just keep it. Besides, it has sm3, and I know it's not that important yet in current games, but still it's better to have sm3 than not have it, just in case it does become important in half a year or so. But if you're planning to upgrade to next gen anyway, in that case sm3 doesn't matter, just get the x850 and enjoy the speed demon.:evil:

 

[Chucko]

The old American Express card took a $400 hit from ATI's online store. Now hopefully they will ship soon.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: munky
Ok, the x850 is faster, but the 6800gt is not exactly slow either. I'd say if you're happy with it, just keep it. Besides, it has sm3, and I know it's not that important yet in current games, but still it's better to have sm3 than not have it, just in case it does become important in half a year or so. But if you're planning to upgrade to next gen anyway, in that case sm3 doesn't matter, just get the x850 and enjoy the speed demon.:evil:

i would have to agree with munky here....the X850XT isnt like twice the speed of the 6800GT, just probably 10fps in every game xcept HL2...big deal u wont even notice the difference...i would say just keep what u have

 

[imported_DaveA]

Originally posted by: Chucko
The old American Express card took a $400 hit from ATI's online store. Now hopefully they will ship soon.

Thanks for the advice everyone.

advice that you seem to have ignored. ah well. enjoy.

 

[DfiDude]

Get teh 6800GT and flash it to 6800 Ultra, then u got an ultra w00t.

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: Gamingphreek
Why pay more for 15 more fps when neither of the cards are anywhere near unplayable?

-Kevin

How can you say this after suggesting him buying another 6800GT for SLI? 2 6800GT's is less performance than one x850XT in CS:S.