last AGP video upgrade

[PhoenixOrion]

I'm giving my main box it's last video upgrade and I'm keeping this rig for a minimum of two years. I have this opportunity for an upgrade so cost is not a factor.

Should I go for:

A) eVGA Geforce 7800GS CO Superclock (256MB DDR3, 16 pixpipes, 460mhz/1350mhz)

or

B) BBATI Radeon X850XT VIVO (256MB DDR3, 16 pixpipes, 520mhz/1080mhz)

Thanks!

 

[BassBomb]

7800GS ... and oc it even more good ol e-vga warranty

 

[jim1976]

7800GS for SM3.0 ...

 

[Vinnybcfc]

As money is no object the 7800GS and its eVGA

 

[apoppin]

go for the 7800GS


[i'm an x850xt owner]

 

[keeleysam]

7800GS...

But you say cost is not an object... the 7800GT costs less than the GS, so if I were you I'd spend another $30 or so and upgrade to PCI-E.

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: apoppin
go for the 7800GS


[i'm an x850xt owner]

thanks for reply. i guess i posted question because i'm undecided since i'm more of a half life 2 gamer than a doom3/call of duty fan. with the ATI card being faster on the games that I like to play and minimal fps hit with nice aa/af settings, i really want to see whats the bigger upside with the 7800GS besides being cutting edge and new.

i game on 24" widescreen by the way.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: apoppin
go for the 7800GS


[i'm an x850xt owner]

thanks for reply. i guess i posted question because i'm undecided since i'm more of a half life 2 gamer than a doom3/call of duty fan. with the ATI card being faster on the games that I like to play and minimal fps hit with nice aa/af settings, i really want to see whats the bigger upside with the 7800GS besides being cutting edge and new.

i game on 24" widescreen by the way.

there really isn't a "bigger upside" with the GS over the XT.

it is just slightly faster and has a more robust feature set [think SM 3.0 . . . . which isn't a big deal].

i got my x850xt last month on that MicroCenter $200 Hot Deal . . . it is an awesome upgrade from my 9800xt and O/C's past PE speeds . . . if i had it to do all over again today, my choice would simply depend on price [i don't think SM 3.0 is a big deal yet].

either card will be great . . . what are you running now?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: keeleysam
7800GS...

But you say cost is not an object... the 7800GT costs less than the GS, so if I were you I'd spend another $30 or so and upgrade to PCI-E.

:thumbsup:

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Originally posted by: apoppin

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion

Originally posted by: apoppin
go for the 7800GS


[i'm an x850xt owner]

either card will be great . . . what are you running now?

rig has visiontek x800 pro (500mhz core/1000mhz mem) with 2.8C @ 3.4Ghz.

the opportunity to replace current card came up so I just want to brainstorm (more like speculate) about 7800GS or x850xt will suit my needs in playing FPS games which will come out next year. I know 7800GS and x850xt are great cards for "current" needs as the x800 pro has held fine with my playing on 24" widescreen.

PCI-e upgrade path won't be easy for me at this point so I'm not considering that. Probably will look into it when feature-filled socket AM2 boards are under $80.

 

[will889]

AsRock Dual 939 and the Sapphire X850XR PCIe card for $198.00 - that's what i would do.

 

[Acanthus]

Personally, if youre going to go that long on it, Id go for one of the evga 7800GT + free SLI motherboard offers.

 

[bjc112]

I would say the GS as well.. But I saw a fex x850xts for like $190 on a Monarch Email blast..

 

[PhoenixOrion]

After reading sooo many threads and more web reviews it seems that there is a general consensus that the 7800GS will "future-proof" me for about a year or so but only warrants it to be a justifiable upgrade if the price dips below the $300 mark for its performance delta over my current card. it truly becomes a viable upgrade path to so many people still on AGP systems. as always, the longer it settles in the market the more of a price difference from the AGP king X850XT that the feature sets of SM3.0, etc will demonstrate its worth with next-gen games coming out in 2007 and 2008. good enough rationale for me coz thats all i really need: get me through 1 to 1.5 years with the same setup.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
thanks for reply. i guess i posted question because i'm undecided since i'm more of a half life 2 gamer than a doom3/call of duty fan. with the ATI card being faster on the games that I like to play and minimal fps hit with nice aa/af settings, i really want to see whats the bigger upside with the 7800GS besides being cutting edge and new.

i game on 24" widescreen by the way.

the xt is NOT faster than the GS in HL2; it's a wash, and the GS bests the XT in HL Lost Coast. the GS pretty much bests the XT everywhere else, with a big exception in FEAR, which the XT wins handily.

the GS also has better AA modes, and mine (BFG 7800GS OC) is running stable at 480/1.4, so they are wonderful overclockers.

if you can get a good buy on the XT, it's certainly a fine card, however if they're the same price the GS is the better card.

 

[Skott]

Also one needs to realize that although the ATI card does better in FEAR its not by a huge wide margin. 5-7fps I think it was. To some thats big. To me its not. Its not like you cant still play FEAR with the nVidia card. You can. To me the biggest legitimate argument between the 7800GS CO Superclock and the x850XT/PE is price vs performance. If it was a performance only issue the 7900GS wins overall. But some folks are very cost concious and wont pay extra for performance. Nothing wrong with that IMO. Just depends on what you need, want, and willing to pay. I dont see ATI putting out another card so if you want best in AGP performance go with the 7900GS CO Superclock. If money is the factor then buy whichever cheapest deal you can find.

 

[CaiNaM]

Originally posted by: Skott
Also one needs to realize that although the ATI card does better in FEAR its not by a huge wide margin. 5-7fps I think it was. To some thats big. To me its not. Its not like you cant still play FEAR with the nVidia card. You can. To me the biggest legitimate argument between the 7800GS CO Superclock and the x850XT/PE is price vs performance. If it was a performance only issue the 7900GS wins overall. But some folks are very cost concious and wont pay extra for performance. Nothing wrong with that IMO. Just depends on what you need, want, and willing to pay. I dont see ATI putting out another card so if you want best in AGP performance go with the 7900GS CO Superclock. If money is the factor then buy whichever cheapest deal you can find.

actually i was wrong. i must've been thinking 7800gt vs x1800/1900...

the 7800GS also beats an x850xt in fear - with AA and without: Anandtech Test

 

[evolucion8]

posted by: CaiNaM
quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by: PhoenixOrion
thanks for reply. i guess i posted question because i'm undecided since i'm more of a half life 2 gamer than a doom3/call of duty fan. with the ATI card being faster on the games that I like to play and minimal fps hit with nice aa/af settings, i really want to see whats the bigger upside with the 7800GS besides being cutting edge and new.

i game on 24" widescreen by the way.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



the xt is NOT faster than the GS in HL2; it's a wash, and the GS bests the XT in HL Lost Coast. the GS pretty much bests the XT everywhere else, with a big exception in FEAR, which the XT wins handily.

the GS also has better AA modes, and mine (BFG 7800GS OC) is running stable at 480/1.4, so they are wonderful overclockers.

if you can get a good buy on the XT, it's certainly a fine card, however if they're the same price the GS is the better card.

False, the X850XT PE in many web pages like Anandtech and Xbitlabs, shows that the 7800GS generally as fast or a bit slower than the X850XT PE (Unless if you use the 7800GS OCed version), particularly with FSAA and AF on. In a very few test the 7800GS beat the X850XT by a margin. And by the way, if you activate the Adaptive Anti Aliasing (Super Sampling with Multi Sampling) on the X850XT PE via Registry Tweak the image quality will be the same or even better, (Like the X850XT PE, the 7800 GS have Gamma Corrected FSAA also). The sparse sample patterns on the ATi's cards are just amazingly efficient.

Anandtech says: Even though the X850 XTPE is generally faster than the new NVIDIA part, the price tag is a little steeper as well, at about $400. This leaves ATI holding onto a claim for the fastest AGP solution out there, but the feature set of the 7 series part is a bit more refined than that of the venerable X850.

 

[Maxspeed996]

what do you think of the X850xt pe ? Because I'm in the same boat right now. looking at costing $450 though....that's a lotta loot for my last card. But I'm willing to spend it on something that will last me for the next year.

 

[PingSpike]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
what do you think of the X850xt pe ? Because I'm in the same boat right now. looking at costing $450 though....that's a lotta loot for my last card. But I'm willing to spend it on something that will last me for the next year.

At $450...buy a new motherboard/cpu/video IMO. AGPers are getting raped with the price gouging on their remaining parts. Hell, I bought a x850xt pcie yesterday for $165 AR that'll probably overclock to PE without much trouble.

 

[Skott]

The eVGA 7800GS CO Superclock sells for well less than $350 so why buy a x850XT PE for $400? Unless your a huge FEAR fan I dont see the reason for the ATI card when the overclocked nVida is better.

 

[RussianSensation]

I dont think upgrading from X800Pro to 7800GS is worth $300.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Maxspeed996
what do you think of the X850xt pe ? Because I'm in the same boat right now. looking at costing $450 though....that's a lotta loot for my last card. But I'm willing to spend it on something that will last me for the next year.

for you, the x850xt would be an amazing upgrade . . . its way over 2x faster. . . . however, it is way overpriced now . . . i got mine in January from MicroCenter for $200.

for the OP it not such a significant upgrade from an o/c' X800p to the x850xt or the 7800gs.