New Video Card - should I wait?

[Zang]

I currently have the following system:

AMD Barton 2500+ OC'ed to 2200MHz
Asus A7N8X mobo
512MB DDR2700 stick of crap
GeForce4 Ti4400 non-8x AGP

Should I be even bothering to look @ say a 9800 Pro or 9700 Pro right now or should I just wait until I get some better RAM?

 

[Jeff7]

I think that would be enough to support a Radeon 9700 Pro. I went from a GF4 Ti4200 128MB card to a Radeon 9700 Pro, and there is a definite improvement. I can actually run antialiasing in all my games at 1024x768 or higher, in 32 bit color, without dropping much below 40fps. I can even run Giants at those settings, with 2xFSAA and 4xAnisotropic with all quality settings maxed, and it plays quite smooth, except when there's a lot of Reapermen running all over the place. I guess that taxes the AI too much, so it slows down to 35fps (it would be more like 15 at the same places with the GF4). Most of the time, the game runs around 50-60fps.
I've got an XP2100@2600(2.16GHz), 1GB PC3200, and an Epox 8RDA+. Yours is comparable; I am using Geil Value RAM from Newegg; the sticks are $69 each last I checked, 512MB each.

 

[Schadenfroh]

dude, what do you need the power for? just wait. your system is already way more powerful than my a7n8xdeluxe/1700

 

[classy]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
dude, what do you need the power for? just wait. your system is already way more powerful than my a7n8xdeluxe/1700

Kinda agree. I don't see a real need for upgrade right now given his system.

 

[NYHoustonman]

Same, I plan on running my Ti4400 till the big 2 come out (HL2, Doom 3).

 

[nutxo]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
dude, what do you need the power for? just wait. your system is already way more powerful than my a7n8xdeluxe/1700

dude! run yer 1700@2200 like everyone else!

 

[Schadenfroh]

i have Tbred A, the multiplyer on my mobo will only let me hit 2000 levels, otherwise it comes up as 733mhz

 

[gramboh]

I would suggest waiting for HL2 and Doom 3 as well, you will see a nice increase if you get a 9700/9800 now, but the real test will be those two new games. If you buy the fastest possible card you can afford next fall you will be set since I imagine many games will try to license their engines (as was the case with Quake 3)