Upgrading from Geforce 3...Need help!

[Blurry]

Well after five years, I am finally sick of my geforce 3. I need something faster, but my budget is limited to max of $180. In addition, I'm stuck on the AGP bus and won't be buying a new PCI-E motherboard. I've looked around and seen these three:
GF 7600GS
GF 6600 GT
and ATI X850XL?
Any other suggestions? Thanks a bunch

 

[sisq0kidd]

Well, IMO I think it's a bad time to move to AGP right now. The premium you pay for the interface over pci-e would cover a new motherboard if you were to move to pci-e.

But if you are set on AGP, I would get a minimum of a 6600gt. Anything above that would blow you away compared to your Geforce 3 you currently own.

For $180, you can get an x800gto and still have some change left over.

Get this this and overclock it to the moon.

 

[Blurry]

I know it is pretty pointless to continue on with agp..but i'm a poor college student P) and I already have a 3.4ghz Pentium 4 so I really can't justify in buying a new motherboard and a new cpu just so I can get a new video card (not to mention new ram as well).

That x800GTO looks interesting...how does it perform in comparison to say a 7600 GS?
And how is its overclockability?

 

[tuteja1986]

x800GTO got a faster memory

It can compete with 7600GT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102002

Sapphire has unlocked this GTO pipeline to 16 , no more 12 .. read the users comments

YOu can then overclock it to speed of X850XT PE

 

[Blurry]

I appreciate all the help so far....I didn't expect such quick responses!
So it looks as if two people are rooting for the x800GTO....I just need a couple more opinons before I pull the trigger. BTW, for those of you who have the x800GTO by Sapphire, how likely is it to overclock it to X850XT PE speeds? Thanks in advance

 

[Powermoloch]

Lol are you serious man? it's your lucky day then.

You can grab an ati refurb x800xl agp for $ 119

or a brand spankin' new x850pro for $ 139

Just right here

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39


I copied from another post ... you can't go wrong with the x800GT0

 

[Blurry]

Don't underestimate the geforce 3 lol. I was able to play Doom 3 @1024x768 medium settings with acceptable framerates. That card lasted me for quite a while...still the best $300 ever spent on electronics.







...by acceptable i mean like ~15fps

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: Blurry
Don't underestimate the geforce 3 lol. I was able to play Doom 3 @1024x768 medium settings with acceptable framerates. That card lasted me for quite a while...still the best $300 ever spent on electronics.







...by acceptable i mean like ~15fps

yeah I don't mind that kind of framerates when I was younger. But games these days...especially online competition..FPS is essential

So far I had spend lol... probably around $ 750 on video cards within 2 years


2005

FX5200 ($ 49.99 )
6600 AGP (used it for a few months) ($ 139.99)
X850XT AGP while it was on sale last year ($ 349.99) bought it on impulse lol...I never looked back and kicked ass on the games out right now.

2006
7600 GT KO w/ zalman vf 900 ($ 200)

 

[tuteja1986]

X800XL would totally own

 

[Blurry]

Wait...why did u buy a 7600 Gt when u already have a X850XT? Sorry if it was a stupid question...I have been living under a rock for the past 2 years (the whole radeon 9700 vs geforce 5800 is still fresh in my head).

 

[tuteja1986]

maybe he has 2 Gaming machine ;?

 

[Raincity]

I ordered a 850 Pro from ATI today. What kind of performance difference will I see from my 9700 Pro. The most demanding games that I have are Doom 3, Far Cry and Quake 4. Will I be able to run Oblivion with the 850 pro at 1024/768 with medium settings. The rest of my system is a Pentium D 820 on a 865 board with a gig of DDR400.

 

[GeeFizzleDizzle]

Originally posted by: Blurry
I know it is pretty pointless to continue on with agp..but i'm a poor college student P) and I already have a 3.4ghz Pentium 4 so I really can't justify in buying a new motherboard and a new cpu just so I can get a new video card (not to mention new ram as well).

That x800GTO looks interesting...how does it perform in comparison to say a 7600 GS?
And how is its overclockability?

Why would you have to buy a new mobo? You can't find a mobo that will support your current CPU that has PCI-E?

 

[Powermoloch]

Originally posted by: Raincity
I ordered a 850 Pro from ATI today. What kind of performance difference will I see from my 9700 Pro. The most demanding games that I have are Doom 3, Far Cry and Quake 4. Will I be able to run Oblivion with the 850 pro at 1024/768 with medium settings. The rest of my system is a Pentium D 820 on a 865 board with a gig of DDR400.

Bench x800xl vs x850pro

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2290&p=8

looks like a close match.

Assuming that the x800xl is more or less represents an x850pro (just keep that in mind). According to the Oblivion article http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2746&p=7

It should perform like a champ.

 

[hmorphone]

X800GTO FTW if you're willing to do your research, unlock, overclock, and roll the dice
X800XL FTW if refurbs don't bother you, I loved mine
X850pro FTW if refurbs really bother you

BTW, I still have my Geforce 3 in my family computer, I think I prob. paid as much as you did, and it still rocks

 

[secretanchitman]

hi there! i also upgraded from a geforce3 to a geforce 6600GT AGP. best investment ive made hands down.

though the card is old/outdated (6600GT AGP came out in november 2004), its still a solid choice for a mid-range AGP card.

you can also opt for a 7600GS/7800GS for AGP. if you want to overhaul your system, get a 7600GT/7900GT.

 

[Blurry]

Just bought the x800GTO from newegg...crossing my fingers in hopes that it will have 16 pipes by default. I just want to thank everyone that has helped me with my decision. Now my geforce 3 can finally rest.