Is it really worth upgrading my Radeon 9700?

[Stu L Tissimus]

Hello, first time posting here... but I've been a lurker for a while. Anyway, I'm the not so proud owner of a computer with an AXP 2100+ overclocked to 2400+ speeds, a Radeon 9700 overclocked to Pro speeds, 512MB DDR400, and an nForce2 mobo. I'd like to upgrade my computer. Soon. I am positive that I'm going to get another stick of RAM, but I'm also considering upgrading my video card.

Here's the thing - Is it really worth it? I'm on a pretty tight budget, so the choice to buy a new video card is a hard one... If I buy a new card, it'll most likely be PCIe, meaning I'd need to get a new mobo and CPU as well. Does the performance increase between a Radeon 9700 Pro and, say, the X1800XL or a 7800GT, justify the price of the upgrade?

Oh, and speaking of which, I'm admittedly an ATi fanboy, but the 7800GT's price is very appealing..... Anybody know if ATi plans to drop prices on the X1Ks any time soon?

 

[coomar]

you will see the boost if you upgrade the whole system

a 3000/3200/opteron 144/146 for the processor
epox nf4 ultra board
7800gt
pick up another stick of ram

supposedly higher-end stuff is coming out early next year, its possible this will result in pricedrops (but its speculative)

 

[Griswold]

I've went from a 9700pro on a NF2 board with a AXP2400+ overclocked to 2.2GHz to what I got in my sig now. The difference between your 9700 and a 7800 or x1800 class GPU will be like night and day. The 9700pro, while being a great card, was the first DX9 card on the market. Today, we have the 3rd generation of DX9 cards...

 

[Malladine]

You'll see a massive performance boost going from an AXP/9700 system to a A64/7800 system. The question is, how much do you want to spend right now? If the answer is $300 or less you're looking at buying an X800XT in agp flavour to get you by. If you can afford an upgrade in the $500-600 range 939/7800 is in sight. You could also go for a performance mid range PCIe card like the X800GTO with a 939 upgrade for $450 or so.