Video card depression...

[boatillo]

After looking at all of the anadtech video card comparisons...I'm depressed

Not even a year old and my MSI Geforce5600fx VTDR128 card is like 10x slower than the "mainstream" cards being offered now. To compound this it seems Ati and Nvidia are both nearly ready to throw out AGP forever (cept in supervalue crap and the 6600GT) right when I am ready to upgrade my CPU, motherboard, Ram, BUT NOT gpu

I was going to get an Asus A8v dex motherboard and maybe the 3200+ Winchester, but then I will just have to buy a whole new motherboard when I actually DO want to upgrade my gpu since it won't have the almighty pci-e (which as far as I can see still does nothing in realworld apps except video editing).

To compound this problem...the MSI card was a xmas present from my fiance last xmas...she is under the impression that unless it blows up I must use it for a minimum of 3 years. Whats a guy to do!?!?



Buy a sli motherboard and pci-e card...then another when next gpu upgrade comes...forever incurring the wrath of my bride-to-be...say the hell to bleeding edge and hang on to AGP for as long as possible...ask for a free MSI geforce 5950 ultra that someone has laying around collecting dust and sneak it into my case in the hopes she cannot tell the difference....

 

[Gurck]

5600 was never a good choice for a gamer, the ti4600 in my HTPC is 3 years old and faster. Don't take offense, we all make bad buys, just learn from it.

 

[BullsOnParade]

how's she going to know if you chuck it out the window ?

 

[boatillo]

By the large new box that would show up on the doorstep...hehe and the big window on my case, oh and the ole bank account


Oh and to the first poster....to think this card was Tom's Hardware Video Card of 2003, last time I believe their bs

 

[ts3433]

[[stupidity edit; invalid input]]

 

[frankierx]

Originally posted by: ts3433
AGP will still be around for a while (probably 2 years), so don't fret and get first-generation PCIe stuff when there's no performance increase from that itself. Just get a better AGP card, like a 6600 GT or vanilla 6800; maybe a lower-end X800 if you find one cheap enough.

nice to see your input. I dont want to upgrade to sli pci-e when that would entail a higher psu like 500 Watts, as per the sli/psu thread here. (do a search). I want to still keep my 350W enermax psu.

I will go agp mobo next month with my A64 upgrade.

 

[ponyo]

Build or give her your computer with that FX5600. Problem solved.

 

[pennylane]

Originally posted by: ts3433
AGP will still be around for a while (probably 2 years), so don't fret and get first-generation PCIe stuff when there's no performance increase from that itself. Just get a better AGP card, like a 6600 GT or vanilla 6800; maybe a lower-end X800 if you find one cheap enough.

I've heard otherwise. People saying PCIe is coming in faster than they expected. I plan on going with a cheap temporary (as in, 1 - 1 1/2 years) AGP solution because of my vid card situation (stuck with vanilla 6800 AGP), then doing a bigger upgrade later.

I say... if you can be patient, wait for nForce4 and don't worry about SLI. No point in buying AGP now unless you're stick with it like me I would think.

 

[ponyo]

Originally posted by: frankierx

Originally posted by: ts3433
AGP will still be around for a while (probably 2 years), so don't fret and get first-generation PCIe stuff when there's no performance increase from that itself. Just get a better AGP card, like a 6600 GT or vanilla 6800; maybe a lower-end X800 if you find one cheap enough.

nice to see your input. I dont want to upgrade to sli pci-e when that would entail a higher psu like 500 Watts, as per the sli/psu thread here. (do a search). I want to still keep my 350W enermax psu.

I will go agp mobo next month with my A64 upgrade.

You don't have to go SLI. It's an option. Just stick in single PCIe card like 6600GT or Radeon X800XL. Buying new AGP mobo in the future is a mistake IMO unless you already have something like 6800Ultra or X800XT PE AGP that you want to carry over.

 

[Blain]

Why are you crying about percentages? IF your card handles the games you play, don't worry about benchmarks and percentages.

If your card is lagging on the games you play, try...
Setting the resolution a little lower,
Turning down some of the game's visual detail,
OCing your card

It all boils down to... If it's working fine for YOU, it's fine.

BTW, In life... people will always have...
Faster cars than yours...
Better looking women than you...
Bigger houses than you...
More money than you...
On and on and on...

 

[dennisjai215]

Originally posted by: boatillo
By the large new box that would show up on the doorstep...hehe and the big window on my case, oh and the ole bank account


Oh and to the first poster....to think this card was Tom's Hardware Video Card of 2003, last time I believe their bs

SOUNDS like you are getting pwned by the gf

 

[frankierx]

okay, I will stay with patience and wait on an epox nf4 mobo and pci-e gpu, and not sli.

 

[boatillo]

I still don't know what to do, but I don't want to get a new card for a good year or more so buying an AGP motherboard now should be ok.

I wish DFI would come out with a socket 939 board that had AGP and not pci-e, but doubtful so I am probably getting this after prices deflate postxmas

3500+ Winchester & Asus a8v for 939

 

[Blain]

Originally posted by: Blain
Why are you crying about percentages? IF your card handles the games you play, don't worry about benchmarks and percentages.

If your card is lagging on the games you play, try...
Setting the resolution a little lower,
Turning down some of the game's visual detail,
OCing your card

It all boils down to... If it's working fine for YOU, it's fine.

BTW, In life... people will always have...
Faster cars than yours...
Better looking women than you...
Bigger houses than you...
More money than you...
On and on and on...

What he said

 

[KB]

I will try to cheer you up. I own a POS Geforce 5200 and can't afford the better Video Card I want. See your problems aren't so bad.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: Blain

Originally posted by: Blain
Why are you crying about percentages? IF your card handles the games you play, don't worry about benchmarks and percentages.

If your card is lagging on the games you play, try...
Setting the resolution a little lower,
Turning down some of the game's visual detail,
OCing your card

It all boils down to... If it's working fine for YOU, it's fine.

BTW, In life... people will always have...
Faster cars than yours...
Better looking women than you...
Bigger houses than you...
More money than you...
On and on and on...

What he said

:thumbsup:
So true... look at the rig in my sig... it is only a month old to me. It may be 2 years old to the hardcore community at large, but do you think I care? nuh-uh. this thing plays everything just fine. i'm a gamer that's pretty easy to please. if i can play the games @ 800x600 on medium, i'm happier than a pig in you know what. screw the bleeding edge. it can bleed all it wants.

 

[Regs]

I got depressed (and shocked) when my A64 2.0 GHz Newcastle 754 was listed as a budget CPU. Though paired with a 6800GT I can play any game above 1280x1024 in high quality.

My poor choice this season was not waiting for the K8T800 Pros with a AGP/PCI lock and right now I do not feel like ripping my system apart for a few percentages on a benchmark program.

Do the games you want to play perform the way you want to? The reason why I spent the cash on my computer is so I can play games at high resolution and in high details at a somewhat reasonable price point. However, I always have that itch to keep kicking my system up a notch.

 

[meltdown75]

I know how you feel about wanting to kick things up a notch. Personally all I really want now is another 512 of ram (I'm convinced that it will improve gaming performance) and to mod up my case a little.

I treat computers kinda like my cars... i just run em into the ground. I'll be driving my '96 grand am probably until 2010.

 

[jamesbond007]

Stick with it until you can't bear it...

Also, do what I do and let it be known to all who give you presents...NEVER LET THEM BUY YOU ELECTRONICS! (minus game console titles) Always tell them to make it a gift card or money.

 

[obeseotron]

At this point I would strongly recommend against AGP unless you do your upgrading in major jumps. x800's and 6800's are already the end of the line for native AGP GPU's. Another AGP GPU will never be designed. How long high end cards will be back ported using bridge chips is something up for debate, but I wouldn't count on it. I'm sure 3 years down the road you will be able to buy an AGP version of nVidia's lowest end chipset that has a huge amount of very slow RAM for $200 at comp usa, but as for something significantly faster than a 6800 ultra... probably not. Even if the good chips are put together with bridge chips for a little while it's still going to take forever for them to come out and even then be hard to find.

I rebuilt over the summer right after the 6800gt became available on an AGP socket 939 platform and I don't exactly regret it, but that's because I spent $400 on a video card. By the time my 6800gt o/ced past ultra can't keep up with games it will be time for a major rebuild anyway.