Which route should I go?

[Sniper82]

Have about $200-$250 to spend. I had a 9800np a while back and had to sell it. Anyway heres my setup:

1800+@2.2
512mb OCZ Performance Gold PC3200
Abit NF7-S
60gb 7200/2mb
Radeon 7200(which blows)

I will be buying my stuff off these forums first of all to save. Question is I want to play HL2 and maybe some upcoming games at 1024x768 with half or most eye candy if possible(minus FSAA and stuff).

Was thinking wait till 6600GT and get that alone. Or get a 9700/9800 off the forums,another stick of 512mb and maybe a 80gb 7200/8mb. Which would be the better option? Or maybe someone can mention a different route?

I really miss UT2k4

 

[DaveSimmons]

Yeah, 9700/9800 are it. 9600XT is good enough for HL2 but weak for Doom3 and more importantly for all the D3 engine games that will be coming out.

 

[Sniper82]

dang

I been into computers for several years but have never had to wait for something to come out to upgrade till now. How long does it normally take for other companies to start releasing cards after the first company?

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: ^Sniper^
dang

I been into computers for several years but have never had to wait for something to come out to upgrade till now. How long does it normally take for other companies to start releasing cards after the first company?

The most recent release from both sides have been huge vaporware problems. The 6800 Ultra and X800XT PE were announced in April and still have availability shortages out the wazoo. It's ridiculous.

 

[cheesehead]

The 6600's are having their prices drop rapidly, so in 3 weeks you should be able to get one for that price.

 

[knyghtbyte]

just like to say, the 9800XT ( i understand you can flash a lot of 9800 Pro's to XT, but if u can find one cheap enuff get an actual XT) runs Doom 3 fine, ok you might not be able to play at 1600x1200 with full AA, but if you play at 1280 or 1024, most things set to high with 2xAA or no AA you will be fine...i have a Dell P4 3ghz with 512Mb RAM in the other room that has a 9800XT and runs it nicely........its only if you want the fullest bestest most sparkling eye candy that u need more......with Doom3 the biggest problem is that technically the game would want graphics cards to have 512mb of memory onboard the card, so having 256mb is a good bonus....

 

[Sniper82]

ttt

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: ^Sniper^
ttt

ttt? To the Top?

Anyway, I say wait for the 6600GT to fall. It's killing me, but that's exactlly what I'm doing. I'm guessing by the last week in Dec., it'll be near the $200 mark.

 

[n7]

You don't wanna be too long without UT2k4 man. No UT2k4 = withdrawals for me after a few days

On that note, & considering your budget is quite small, i would say go for a 9800 Pro + another 512 of DDR400.

HL2 will still run alright with the 9800 series, & then when you can afford it (later down the road), sell the 9800 & go A64 + 6800 series

 

[knyghtbyte]

if u go for a 6600GT, make sure its a 256Mb version, thats Doom3 and HL2's stumbling blocks, they like plenty of RAM on your card to run things sweetly.....

 

[Sniper82]

are they gonna make a 256mb AGP version?

 

[knyghtbyte]

i would imagine some company will do a 256Mb version in AGP flavour.........just keep searching around...

 

[uOpt]

Clearly, I would wait for the NVidia card.

Harddisk effect on games will be NIL except for loading, and you have enough RAM that you don't see a FPS slowdown from lack thereof.

You seem to be a person who reuses his stuff for a long time and in all honesty I admid that ATI cards have the faster hardware for the money for same games but their drivers and politics suck more than NVidia's. If you change to a brand new card every year then fine but not if you keep stuff for a long time and want reuse flexibility.