Possible Video Card Upgrade Path?

[Hardtarget]

Hey all,

Haven't posted in a bit but whenever I've turned to you guys for help I've always gotten many many good replies, so hopefully today that is the same

I had originally planned to built a new rig last month as my PVR was dieing and I was going to turn my current machine into a new PVR. Well I managed to fix my current PVR and then I also ended up buying an entire new 5.1 Home Theater and Receiver so I don't really want to spend the coin to get a new top rig at this point, plus Conroe is comming out, and prices will be changing and what not.

Here is my problem, I have a P4 2.4b with a gig of ram and a 9800pro. This is AGP obviously, also I have a Asus P4PE mobo so I can only do AGP 4 and not 8 (although I beleive in real world time there is almost no difference).

My video card is really starting to hold me back, I've noticed there are a few new AGP cards still comming out, do you guys think I can upgrade to anything, and if so will my CPU really bottleneck me or will I still notice big gains? Finally if I can upgrade what card should I upgrade to?

 

[Bobthelost]

I wouldn't bother going up to a cutting edge AGP card. It'll be difficult to find a nice conroe capable motherboard with AGP so it's a stopgap measure.

However assuming a 6800 or X850 will work in a 4x slot then you would either get a nice fps boost, or if you are CPU limited a hell of a lot more eyecandy instead.

 

[Hardtarget]

anything that works in 8x will work in 4x, same slot. (2x is a different story). As far as i know, and corect me if I'm wrong, there is not exactly a huge real world performance difference between agp 4 and 8 though

 

[Ika]

you COULD upgrade to a 6800GT, but then you would probably be limited by your CPU. You should probably wait a bit and upgrade your entire PC once conroe is rolling.

 

[Hardtarget]

6800/x800 type stuff doesn't really seem like a ton of bang for the buck upgrade wise from a 9800. dang heh

 

[Arcanedeath]

The 6800 / x800 stuff is a large upgrade from the 9800Pro, I went from a 9800Pro to a X800XL and noticed huge gains.
Also noticed huge gains from going from an x800xl to my X1900Xt but for AGP a 6800GS or 7800GS are really your only options for decent performance.
I'd prolly go w/ a 6800GS in your price range or if you can find a cheap used X800/X850 series card that could be a good option as well.

 

[Powermoloch]

x800/6800 series will do fine for ya.

 

[Hardtarget]

a 6800GS seems like the way to go but I can't seem to find any in my area of Canada :

 

[Hardtarget]

I just ordered a x800XL from ATI's Store. they are pre-ordering for refurb models (and ati store has been known for actually sendin gout normal retail models) for only $130 Canadian! Plus i have a 5% off coupon code

So with shipping the entire thign came to $160CDN which I think is a hell of a deal and should tide me over until I do a full system upgrade.