Need some help choosing a new video card

[whitewarrior11]

Hi! I know this is a frequent topic but I just want to have all the information I can get in one place.

I have a 1 and a half year-old computer and am planning to upgrade my video card. My budget would be around 200$. I will be upgrading mainly to be able to play most of my games at 1280x1024, with full settings (I am thinking of HL2, Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion, Doom 3, Civ IV . Here are the specs of my machine:

ASUS P4P800E Deluxe
Intel Prescott 3.0 GHz
1 GB Ram
Windows XP SP2 on a RAID array
ASUS ATI Radeon 9600xt 128mb

I've been looking for a lot of reviews on the Net lately and I am totally lost in my choice. Here are the possible choices; can you help me with them?

1. 6600GT 128mb
2. 6800 128mb (would unlock it to more pipelines and shaders)
3. ati 9800xt (can have one from Jetway (what is this brand?) for the same price as the other cards
4. x800 gto (sapphire)

As far as I understand, 9800xt and 6800 would be on par (almost) for most games, except 6800 supports Pixel Shaders 3.0 and since it is newer, it could be a better choice for upgrade. So, can you help me out? Keep in mind I can't buy from Newegg or a lot of US stores since I'm living in Canada Also, I am thinking of overclocking capabilities; I know the unlocked 6800 doesn't have any. What about the others? Do you think they can perform really better when OC'd? Thanks!

 

[sundev]

The 6800 matches or beats the 6600GT in everything, especially with AA/AF, so you can eliminate the 6600GT right away (I'm assuming your price range of $200 is USD).

Anyways, between the 6800 and 9800XT, you're right that they perform similarly - but between them I would go with the 6800. It's newer, potentially unlockable, and destroys the 9800XT in Doom3, while keeping up in HL2. So you can eliminate the 9800XT as well...

So basically you are left with a choice between the X800 GTO and the 6800. The X800 GTO beats the 6800 in most games by a fair margin, especially when AA/AF are turned on. Even in Doom3, the X800 GTO matches the 6800 when AA/AF are turned on. Benchmarks. Those benchmarks are for PCIe, but I assume they offer similar performance in AGP (someone will correct me if I'm way off on that).

So if you can get a good deal on either the 6800 or the X800 GTO, go for it.. personally I would be willing to spend a little more for the GTO.

One last thing.. seeing as you want to play all of those games on "full settings", I would consider investing another $50 or so to get an X800XL or a 6800GT.

 

[secretanchitman]

wow right on sundevb!

i agree 100% with him.

 

[whitewarrior11]

Ok; sounds good to me. I can get either a 6800 or a x800 gto for roughly the same price (260$ Cdn). I was wondering though, if unlocking the 6800 would result in better performances over the x800 gto. Any clue on this?

 

[Kogan]

The 6800 is faster in opengl games, while the gto will be faster in directx games. If you unlock the 6800, it will be a bit faster (5% or so), but not fast enough to beat the gto in directx games.

Also consider the x800pro and x800xl. You may find a good deal on one of these for under $200 and they're both faster than the x800gto.

Between the 6800 and gto, I'd pick the gto, but that's because I play more directx games and have faith that eventually ATI will increase their opengl performance