Upgrade question

[prav1980]

Hi Guys

I am new to this forum, but not to this website.... I am planning to upgrade my graphics card, but not so sure if it would be right thing to do..because of this AGP Vs PCI-E war going on...

My machine spec is as follows
Pentium 4 2.66
ABIT IT7-MAX2 Mainboard
1GB DDR
120X2 HDD
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9700 All In Wonder 128 MB - AGP
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX.

I am not that happy with the perfomance of my ATI card at the moment, So i am planning for an upgrade. I am looking at 2 cards the ATI X800 XL (256) or ATI X850 XT PE(256), both AGP.

I am bit confused with this AGP PCI-E thingy going on now a days. My Mainboard does not support PCI-E so buying a PCI-E card which will give me better performance is out of the question. otherwise i should go for a PCI-E Mainboard as well..

I would appreciate if you guys could give me some advice on which card i should go for in case of a card upgrade...

thanks in advance
Cheers
Prav

 

[imported_rod]

Yeah, if you want to go with PCI-E, you basically have to upgrade your MoBo, CPU and since your intel, your RAM aswell. So I guess you'll want AGP them.

The Radeon X800XL is probably the better choice, as it offers better value for money. The GeForce 6800GT is another option, although the Radeon performs the same and it's cheaper.

Im guessing you dont mind spending a fair bit on the graphics card. Otherwise, the 6600GT/9800Pro are both cheaper options.

RoD

 

[prav1980]

Thanks for the quick reply Rod.

I am kinda more into 3D and Games especially Flight Simulator 2004, my ATI card is giving me a framerate of 5 when i set all the graphics option in FS to the max which is really bad. I have been reading a lot of reviews on the net and found that the best G card out there at the moment is the X850 XT PE and the X800 XL, to be honest i havent read a review on 6800GT , so i am not sure about the performance.. I guess i should have a look at that one too now...

Does X850 XT PE have something more that the X800 XL cant offer? and if chose to go with ATI is there any specific brand i should be looking for or any brand will do (Sapphire, ASUS etc)

Thanks
Prav

 

[imported_rod]

The X850XT PE is better than the X800XL. In most benchmarks, it performs 5%-10% better. It may even be upyo 15% better at high resolution with lots of AA and AF. The thing is, the X850XT PE costs about twice as much as the X800XL. I would go with the X800XL if I were you.

The 6800GT seems to perform between the two radeons. It is also price between the two.

RoD

 

[biostud]

The X800XL is a better choice, as the X850XT will in most cases be limited by your CPU so the extra cost would be money out the window

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Get the X800Xl now, it's a great bang for your buck. Then with the extra money you saved, wait til next-gen cards go down to reasonable prices and get your hands on one of those

 

[prav1980]

Thanks a lot for the information guys... I guess I will go for X800 XL in that case ...

Any tips on which vendor would be a good choice? Is sapphire a good one to go for or is there any better ones out there..

Thanks Again for your inputs

cheers
Prav