Video card conversions

[MikeyC]

Hey all,

I have a connundrum. Here's my current setup:

P4 3.2Ghz
Abit AS8 AGP mobo
6800GT
2gb ddr400
and harddrives and other junk. Anyhow.

I've had this system for almost two years (I got the P4 right before the Athlons became super awesome hot and missed that boat, I know) and it's now showing it's age. The 6800GT is still a fine card; it does stutter occasionally in BF2 but I was ok with that, and then I picked up Oblivion. You can guess the rest.

So I'm shopping for parts, and it dawned on me that I've seen articles in the past where people were able to "unlock" higher performance out of less expensive vid cards, like turning a GS into a GT or somesuch. I'm leaning towards a 7900GTX but the GT is about $200 cheaper and I was wondering if:

a) It's possible to convert a GT into a GTX
b) If anyone's done it
c) If anyone's done anything with other cards like this.

Having two 7900GT's "unlocked" into GTX's in SLI would be uber "leet" and cost $400 less than two GTX's...

Anyhow, thanks in advance for any advice you all have to offer.

Cheers!

p.s.: I'm planning on getting a mobo that offers SLI at true 16x per channel and a new proc as well; I just haven't narrowed down what I want yet. I also play all of my games at 12x10 (the native spec on my LCD) if that matters at all.

 

[Powermoloch]

a) It's possible to convert a GT into a GTX

Not really, as far as I know, but there's a volt mod guide in this forum

b) If anyone's done it

Only for the volt mod

c) If anyone's done anything with other cards like this.

not sure lol

Anyways, volt modding takes risks. Because what ya handling especially 7900GT are no cheap cupcakes you see, you'll be satisfied w/ a normal 7900GT or a factory OC'ed one. Well, it depends on the size of resolution and Image Quality you're planning to set up for oblivion.

 

[MikeyC]

Power, thanks for the reply. I'm torn between getting top-of-the-line, bleeding edge hardware and going for one or two notches below that. I'm going to buy one card initially and then buy another in about a month or so (I wish I was made of money ) and I know that the 7900GTX won't be king of the hill for long, but I'm ok with that--I didn't get the 6800GT until about a year ago, and it wasn't the top card then; I simply wasn't really to shell out for SLI yet.

Volt modding, you say? Risky, especially with pricey hardware, I agree. I miss the old days of unlocking cache on processors with pencil lead...

 

[drpootums]

i'd go for a X1900XT if your going for Oblivion....heck, get 2 for a Crossfire setup that will get you much more performance (at a much higher cost) than the 2x7900gt's in Elder Scrolls 4.

 

[MikeyC]

Originally posted by: drpootums
i'd go for a X1900XT if your going for Oblivion....heck, get 2 for a Crossfire setup that will get you much more performance (at a much higher cost) than the 2x7900gt's in Elder Scrolls 4.

Interesting. I found this benchmark:
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_high-end_performance/page3.asp

It seems the ATI card does trump Nvidia's best offering at this point. I'm still undecided as to how much I'm willing to shell out for one card though.

Thanks for the reply.