Where would you go from a Radeon 9700?

[Chaotic42]

My system is in my sig, but here are the basics:

Dual 2800 Athlon MP
1.25GB PC2100-R
SCSI
Radeon 9700

Now I flashed my 9700 with the Pro BIOS (it wasn't related to overclocking, it was a SCSI boot /ROM size issue). It can hang at 340/560 speeds. It overclocks well.

When the time comes (is the time now?), what would be your next ~$200-250 upgrade? This card was $259, way more than I had ever spent before, but I think I got my money's worth out of it.

I play quite a few games, and will no doubt be purchasing both Half-Life 2 and Doom 3 not long after their releases. I'm a big antialiasing user, and Linux drivers are a must.

I appreciate your thoughts and comments.

:beer:

 

[Dman877]

For 250$ you're not gonna find anyuthing significantly faster then the 9700 Pro. IMO, it's not worth upgrading that to anything less then a X800P or 6800GT and both of those are 350+ atm.

 

[Corporate Thug]

sell the card for $100-150, add the $200-250 and get a 6800 GT

 

[Cawchy87]

nope, 9700 pro is still a very very good card. people don't realize how close it is to the 9800pro (would take 9800 > 9700 any day but just isn't worth the upgrade). Wait a few months, see how the 9700 playes the games and by then 6800's and x800's will come down to a price that won't cost an arm and a leg.

 

[Dman877]

A 9700 flashed to Pro is prolly worth 100$ right now so yeah, if you add that into your budget, you're in X800/6800 territory...

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Dman877
A 9700 flashed to Pro is prolly worth 100$ right now so yeah, if you add that into your budget, you're in X800/6800 territory...

Like I said, it's a great overclocker and I put a CPU fan on it, so that might help its value. The question is, is it worth $250 plus the selling hassle to get a newer card?

Maybe I should just wait until Doom 3 and HL2 come out and see how well they play.

 

[Cawchy87]

wait. that card has a lot more life left in it!

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
wait. that card has a lot more life left in it!

Yeah, I agree with your recommendation. When school starts, I'll have a lot less time to play video games, so maybe I can skip this X800/6800 generation.

 

[apoppin]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: Dman877
A 9700 flashed to Pro is prolly worth 100$ right now so yeah, if you add that into your budget, you're in X800/6800 territory...

Like I said, it's a great overclocker and I put a CPU fan on it, so that might help its value. The question is, is it worth $250 plus the selling hassle to get a newer card?

Maybe I should just wait until Doom 3 and HL2 come out and see how well they play.

You have the perfect solution for yourself.

Doom III (and hl2) will be showcased nicely on the 9700p.

r500 and nv50 are NEXT year ('05)

:roll:

 

[blazerazor]

sell the card for $100-150, add the $200-250 and get a 6800 GT

... Don't you love the way we can rationalize our selves into spending TOO damn much money on 'video games'

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: blazerazor

sell the card for $100-150, add the $200-250 and get a 6800 GT

... Don't you love the way we can rationalize our selves into spending TOO damn much money on 'video games'

Yes. There is nothing better in terms of price/value of what your budget is than a 9700. A 9800 pro for 200 dollars will add 5-10 FPS to a game. While 6800 could add up to 30+ FPS with a lot less of a performance hit with AA/AF.