Really need some insight on getting a new card

[Tuscani]

Hello everyone,

First off I am brand new to anandtech.com. I'll get right to the point, I am excited about all the new games coming out, I.E. Doom3, MOH Pacific Assault, Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft etc.. so I feel it is time to upgrade the PC, however I am not a crazy gamer, but I like to run games well, so I am know I am not looking for a GT/ULTRA solution because I don't want to spend $600+ on a video card. I have always been a Nvidia fan, and am currently running; A MSI Geforce 3 Ti200 128meg card, that has served me oh so well, but now it is really starting to struggle, I.E. I bought Doom 3 and can barely get 25fps at 800x600 medium detail. My debate is between going with an MSI 9800 Pro or a Leadtek/MSI NX6800, my system details are as follows: Athlon XP 1800+(Running at stock speed), ASUS A7V333 MB, 512RAM. What I am looking for is basically some advice, oh what you guys would do. (Preference between Leadtek 6800 vs. MSI?? Very curious to hear your thoughts on this one, as the Leadtek seems to be selling cheaper). Also am thinking about moving to a Athlon XP2500+ and a newer socket A MB, Like an ASUS with NFORCE 2ULTRA, And faster PC3200 Ram, thoughts please, I apologize for this being wrong, but I have been debating this over and over.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me.

 

[Avalon]

Whoops, didn't see your last line where you said you were updating your rig. The 6800NU in this case shouldn't be bottlenecked too much, and will fare better than the 9800 pro. If it's worth the $75 price addition, go for it. If I were to buy one of the two 6800 cards, I'd choose the Leadtek, because I hear their quality is excellent.

 

[legatech]

leadtech 6800 is the better card

 

[Tuscani]

Couple people are saying the Leadtek is the better card, but saying why? I expected the MSI to be the better card, love to hear some more discussion around the 6800 vs. 9800 pro and msi vs. leadtek, you guys are the experts I assume this is why I came here to post!

Cheers

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Tuscani
Couple people are saying the Leadtek is the better card, but saying why? I expected the MSI to be the better card, love to hear some more discussion around the 6800 vs. 9800 pro and msi vs. leadtek, you guys are the experts I assume this is why I came here to post!

Cheers

if you're looking for gaming on the "cheap" that'll probably serve you for the next year (mayby 18 more months), the 9800p will do fine . . . you'll get 10x7 and MedQ . . . maybe HiQ if it can be flashed to a 9800XT. You can expect to spend ~$180, maybe less for a 9800p.

the 6800Standard is a newer and faster card for around a hundred bucks more. It will give you a noiticeable improvement over the 9800p - especially in Doom III, less in most other games . . . performance is maybe ~15-30% faster overall in newer games . . . it'll be a bit more "future-proof" in that newer games will be playable a bit longer than the 9800p . . .

for me, the 9800XT was the perfect choice - for cheap - i only game at 10x7 or 11x8 and the 9800p will easily handle ALL current games at that res. By the time i upgrade - in a year to 18 months when games are straining it - most 6800 owners will too.

IF you can wait a month or so longer (i'd bump your Ti4200's res DOWN to 6x4 to get higher FPS in Diii), prices are CERTAIN to drop on the 9800p (to ~$150) and i bet we see the 6800 closer to $200 as the 6600 videocards are released by nVidia (along with the competing radeons)

 

[Tuscani]

So I take it the consensus is then to go with a 6800vanilla over a 9800 pro ?

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Tuscani
So I take it the consensus is then to go with a 6800vanilla over a 9800 pro ?

Depends on what you want and how much of a premium youre gonna pay for it . . .
but "yes" the 6800 is the faster card.

 

[df96817]

Originally posted by: Tuscani
Hello everyone,

First off I am brand new to anandtech.com. I'll get right to the point, I am excited about all the new games coming out, I.E. Doom3, MOH Pacific Assault, Half-Life 2, World of Warcraft etc.. so I feel it is time to upgrade the PC, however I am not a crazy gamer, but I like to run games well, so I am know I am not looking for a GT/ULTRA solution because I don't want to spend $600+ on a video card. I have always been a Nvidia fan, and am currently running; A MSI Geforce 3 Ti200 128meg card, that has served me oh so well, but now it is really starting to struggle, I.E. I bought Doom 3 and can barely get 25fps at 800x600 medium detail. My debate is between going with an MSI 9800 Pro or a Leadtek/MSI NX6800, my system details are as follows: Athlon XP 1800+(Running at stock speed), ASUS A7V333 MB, 512RAM. What I am looking for is basically some advice, oh what you guys would do. (Preference between Leadtek 6800 vs. MSI?? Very curious to hear your thoughts on this one, as the Leadtek seems to be selling cheaper). Also am thinking about moving to a Athlon XP2500+ and a newer socket A MB, Like an ASUS with NFORCE 2ULTRA, And faster PC3200 Ram, thoughts please, I apologize for this being wrong, but I have been debating this over and over.

Cheers and thanks in advance for any help you guys can give me.

I would say go with the 6800. Also are you on a really really tight budget? If not, Athlon 64, at least 3200+, would be a lot better upgrade and you'll see better performance in gaming.

 

[RussianSensation]

1. Upgrading socket A motherboard is A WASTE OF TIME REALLY. Going from KT333 to Nforce 2 ultra will give you maybe 5%-10% improvement in speed and a new Nforce 2 mobo costs at least $50 - simply not worth it, especially since you cant upgrade it later.
2. I am sure you current motherboard supports AXP 2500+ so if you could upgrade that on the cheap. But for the price, I'd probably go with 2800+ or 2700+ unless you intend to overclock the 2500+.
3. Do not upgrade the ram if you already have PC2700 (333) because again you are wasting money for measly performance increases. I'd even keep the 333 ram for A64 system as well or try to overclock it to 400mhz.

Think of it like this, on pricewatch.com.....XP2500+ => $64, Nforce 2 Mobo on the cheap is around $50-60. That is a total of around $120

Now for $160 you can pick up A64 3000+ and for $75 Chaintech VNF3-250 motherboard

So 160+ 75 - $120 (you were going to spend already) = $115 you will get a SIGNIFICANTLY FASTER computer that is worthy of an upgrade. I personally wouldn't go with XP at this point and A64 prices so low.

oh yeah.....since more games will utilize doom 3 performance and become more shader intensive, 6800 is a better card since it is only $270 and $70 gives you more performance than 9800Pro in the latest games, esp doom 3. If you can wait a little, 6600GT should be a better alternative too for $200.

 

[lament]

BFG 6800 OC + Doom 3 + FarCry for $299 at Best Buy.

I'd link it up, but the site is in maintenance mode right now.

but if you can afford it (about $100 more), the 6800 GT will keep you happy as long as your Ti4200 did.

 

[Avalon]

The 2D and 3D quality on the Leadtek card are supposed to be superior to other brands. That's what I meant by quality. I probably should have said visual quality, and I apologize. Unfortunately, as I'm not speaking from first hand experience here, I can't say this is always a true case, but just the general consensus I seem to be getting.

 

[Tuscani]

Still looking for some more advice on this one, I thought it would generate a little more debate, I know it seems to be a frequently asked question. I am litterally sitting on the verge of buying any one of these cards, just waiting for some more advice, I'm in Canada, so here's my choices,
Leadtek 6800 - $415
MSI 6800 - $430
MSI 9800 PRO - $300
MSI 6800GT - $600 (TOO MUCH)

I am still in debate over what to do about the Leadtek 6800/MSI 6800/9800 Pro whole scenario, I need to know if going to the 6800 is justified, keep in mind I am also going to be buying a new CPU Athlon XP 2600+ Barton Core.

Cheers, thanks again

 

[lament]

Originally posted by: Tuscani
Still looking for some more advice on this one, I thought it would generate a little more debate, I know it seems to be a frequently asked question. I am litterally sitting on the verge of buying any one of these cards, just waiting for some more advice, I'm in Canada, so here's my choices,
Leadtek 6800 - $415
MSI 6800 - $430
MSI 9800 PRO - $300
MSI 6800GT - $600 (TOO MUCH)

I am still in debate over what to do about the Leadtek 6800/MSI 6800/9800 Pro whole scenario, I need to know if going to the 6800 is justified, keep in mind I am also going to be buying a new CPU Athlon XP 2600+ Barton Core.

Cheers, thanks again

The GT for $600 has to be a price mistake. The GTs are $399 retail - any more and they're gouging.

The MSI 6800 (if it's the plain vanilla 6800) should be no more than $299 - again, any more and they're gouging.

If you're going to be buying a better computer, you might as well get a better video card - the GT.

NewEgg has an eVGA 6800 GT (including FarCry) for $399 with free shipping (tax if you live in CA).

edit: ahh, forgot you were in Canada. I still recommend the GT, but you say it's too much. The next lower would be the vanilla 6800 for $430 Canadian ($330 US).

The 9800 Pro is a waste of money if you plan to play today's games on yesterday's hardware and want decent framerates, AA/AF and higher resolutions.

The vanilla 6800 will get you decent framerates at higher resolutions with lower AA/AF, but I've read some people complaining that it's just not enough for Doom 3 - they want to play at higher framerates and higher resolutions and turn on AA/AF.

So again.. get the GT and you'll be happy for a really long time.

Is there anything else in Canada besides the overpriced MSI 6800 GT? they don't make any other brand in Canada for the 6800 GT?