Upgrade path suggestions?

[Insomniator]

Right now I have a P4 3.0 northwood, 9600XT and a gig of DDR400.

I want to get a new video card, but I dont know if spending 200 or more on an AGP card makes sense right now.

I can get ~160 on ebay for my 3.0 and that alone is enough to get a 939 3200+.

So the price would basically be a hundred bucks more for a new motherboard. Right now I'm thinking about getting a 7800GT, but If I end up getting some card that could also have been bought for AGP (say a 6800GT/GS), was my motherboard upgrade a waste of money?

Any thoughts?

thanks

 

[DaveSimmons]

It's a pain to decide. My P4 3.2C and 6800 are still fine for gaming at 1024x768 so I can get by waiting another year but that 9600XT is really holding you back.

Do you "need" to game at resolutions above 1024x768?

If not, you can spend $150-200 on an AGP card, and keep your current system another year. No need to replace motherboards, upgrade the PSU, etc. and probably no need to reinstall Windows (especially if you get an ATI midrange card).

If 1024x768 is just not shiny enough, then sell your parts and go A64.

 

[Insomniator]

I want 1280x1024 to match my LCD. I cant really get Fear or COD2 to be playable even at 1024 however.

It just kills me that if I spend ~260 on perhaps an X800XT, 20 dollars more gets a 7800GT on the PCI express side of things.

I've yet to see the 6800GS available in AGP, and the GT is still 280 bucks if you can find one. What is the 200 dollar AGP card to get nowadays? X800GTO? How is the performance of that card?