Upgrading system...need a budget PCI-e card

[Tullphan]

I currently have an AGP Tyan Tachyon 9800 Pro w/Zalman cooling.
I've seen the 7600GT's for < $90 AR & that's what i'm tempted to get, but i'm curious as to the other budget cards that'll perform as good or better...whether they be "current models" or not.
Also, i'd prefer to stick with nVidia chipset for Ubuntu reasons.

 

[kalrith]

Here's a 6600GT for $45 shipped AR. It's comparable to your 9800pro, but you wouldn't get a performance boost except in certain games like Quake 4 and Doom 3.

 

[GTOnizuka]

Theres a deal going on at Fry's for a EVGA 7900GS KO 256MB PCI-E ~ $119 AR.

A much better upgrade and a significant boost in performance imo.

Meh. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules, but here is the link to the deal.
Link

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: GTOnizuka
Theres a deal going on at Fry's for a EVGA 7900GS KO 256MB PCI-E ~ $119 AR.

A much better upgrade and a significant boost in performance imo.

Meh. Hopefully I'm not breaking any rules, but here is the link to the deal.
Link

That's a good deal, however the upfront cost is too high.

 

[kalrith]

If you're willing to go used, you might be able to pick up an X850XT, 7800GT, or something like that for around $100 in the FS/FT forums. Here's an example, although the sale is pending.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: kalrith
If you're willing to go used, you might be able to pick up an X850XT, 7800GT, or something like that for around $100 in the FS/FT forums. Here's an example, although the sale is pending.

Guess I need to lurk around here more.
I have a thread here looking to do some trading, but perhaps what I have for trade isn't interesting enough.

 

[AVP]

As far as AGP goes, to get a considerable upgrade from your 9800 pro you have to look above a 7600gt and then you are spending almost $200 or more if I am not mistaken. A 7600gt will definitely net you higher frames and settings though it will not blow your card out of the water i do not believe. The 9800 pro is one of the longest lasting cards for the money ever made.

A 7800gt an x850xt or 1950pro will be a huge boost but as agp cards they net a huge price premium because of the lower demand over pci-e. What are you looking to play exactly? You could always snag an Asrock 4core-vsta intel 775 mobo, an e4300 and plug that 9800 and your old ram back in while you wait to upgrade your videocard. Instead of buying another agp card, that would net you more performance, albeit not a great amount in games while leaving you in a much better position when you do finally grab that next graphics card.

 

[Raider1284]

im gonna agree with AVP, even though agp still seems to live on, the market is pci-e now and I wouldn't see the reason to spend money on a "dead" system. By dead i mean the market is pci-e and very few companies make agp cards anymore, which is what causes the price premium for them.

 

[Tullphan]

I'm going to be going the AM2 route for budget reasons.
I've already got the CPU & the ram is on the way.
I'm looking at the Biostar TForce 550 for a motherboard.

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Tullphan

Originally posted by: kalrith
If you're willing to go used, you might be able to pick up an X850XT, 7800GT, or something like that for around $100 in the FS/FT forums. Here's an example, although the sale is pending.

Guess I need to lurk around here more.
I have a thread here looking to do some trading, but perhaps what I have for trade isn't interesting enough.

I'd recommend switching your trade to a sale. If you put a price on it, then you'll probably get a lot more interest in it. You could then put the money toward a video card.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Tullphan

Originally posted by: kalrith
If you're willing to go used, you might be able to pick up an X850XT, 7800GT, or something like that for around $100 in the FS/FT forums. Here's an example, although the sale is pending.

Guess I need to lurk around here more.
I have a thread here looking to do some trading, but perhaps what I have for trade isn't interesting enough.

I'd recommend switching your trade to a sale. If you put a price on it, then you'll probably get a lot more interest in it. You could then put the money toward a video card.

I've been thinking about doing that, but it's difficult to come it with a price that would be fair to both me & the buyer. It seems most places are selling these CPU's OEM & I have no idea what the premium would be for a sealed retail box cpu.

 

[kalrith]

Here's a retail 3500+ s939 for $60. It doesn't sound like it's sealed though. Newegg has the OEM 3500+ for $57 shipped. I would say somewhere around $60-$65 shipped would be a good price to start with. Since it's sealed, you might do better on eBay. The new, sealed processors like yours seem to be going for $65-$80 with shipping.

 

[Tullphan]

Thanks...i'll keep that in mind.
I'd probably try selling here first than having to deal w/eBay, their fees & deadbeat bidders.

 

[v8envy]

8500GT for $70 shipped AR

There you go. As cheap as it gets for modern tech.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: v8envy
8500GT for $70 shipped AR

There you go. As cheap as it gets for modern tech.

That's a good deal, I guess. But I must admit i'm not sure where that card fits in as far as comparable performance with other cards.

 

[kalrith]

It doesn't look like the performance is that great: review. I wish they had thrown in a 7600GT to see how it performs compared to that. From AT's 8600GT/GTS review, the 8600GT sometimes beats the 7900GS and sometimes only barely beats the 7600GT. Because of this and the numbers on the other review, I would expect the 7600GT to be a better card than the 8500GT. This is mostly speculation though.

 

[Tullphan]

I've found a brand new eVGA 7600GT KO for $119, but don't know if it's worth the extra $30 over a regular 7600GT (after rebate).

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Tullphan
I've found a brand new eVGA 7600GT KO for $119, but don't know if it's worth the extra $30 over a regular 7600GT (after rebate).

This page shows that you would get roughly a 10% increase in performance. $119 is about 33% more than $89, so I would say it's not worth it. If I were you I would try to scrape some extra money to get up into the 7900GS/X1950Pro range of video cards, as you will see a very substantially performance increase over the 7600GT.

 

[Tullphan]

I guess it'll be a 7900GS if I go that much.
Something about ATI & Ubuntu don't mix.

 

[nealh]

Originally posted by: v8envy
8500GT for $70 shipped AR

There you go. As cheap as it gets for modern tech.

anyone know if this card is loud?

 

[kalrith]

Originally posted by: Tullphan
I guess it'll be a 7900GS if I go that much.
Something about ATI & Ubuntu don't mix.

Sorry, I forgot you said that you wanted to stick with nvidia. Newegg has the evga 7900GS for $155 shipped before the $20 MIR. It's not as good of a deal as the frys.com one after the rebate (especially since it's the KO), but at least you wouldn't have to put $200 up front.

 

[Captante]

I'd suggest listing your 3800+ for sale @ $75 OBO shipped ... Newegg currently has OEM skt 939 3800+'s for $81 with free shipping in stock.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: Captante
I'd suggest listing your 3800+ for sale @ $75 OBO shipped ... Newegg currently has OEM skt 939 3800+'s for $81 with free shipping in stock.

That must be a different one than what I have. Newegg's showing the OEM version of the one I have for $57 shipped.
Perhaps i'll list mine for $65 or so shipped.

 

[Tullphan]

Originally posted by: kalrith

Originally posted by: Tullphan

Originally posted by: kalrith
If you're willing to go used, you might be able to pick up an X850XT, 7800GT, or something like that for around $100 in the FS/FT forums. Here's an example, although the sale is pending.

Guess I need to lurk around here more.
I have a thread here looking to do some trading, but perhaps what I have for trade isn't interesting enough.

I'd recommend switching your trade to a sale. If you put a price on it, then you'll probably get a lot more interest in it. You could then put the money toward a video card.

Well, I took your advice.
Here's my thread of things for sale.

 

[Tullphan]

I've found a new 6800GTO for $68, but I don't know if that's a good deal or not.