Worth the upgrade?

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: DLeRium

Originally posted by: blckgrffn
But are you going to get a 7800GT? With your Athlon? Not trying to talk down, but some of us get the itch a lot more often than others

Nat

Obviously not... PCI-e, meaning I finally get to go for an Athlon 64 3700+ =)

Yay for that! I have been trying to make the case for one of those myself... obviously haven't built up enough steam, yet

Your new comp is going to kick you a$$ performance wise! That'll be an upgrade you can really feel!

 

[ND40oz]

Originally posted by: Pete
Plus, the AGP XL is a looong card. The GT gives you dual DVI

Yes it is, I just bought this exact card from Bestbuy, same price, had $130 in rewards certificates. I upgraded my 5900XT, but I had to switch my harddrive to the second sata port because the card was so long. If I even end up putting a second hard drive in my media center, I'm going to have to buy a 90 degree sata cable.

That being said, I bought this as the last upgrade (besides hd space) to my shuttle. I figured this would be the last time I wanted to invest any money in an AGP card. The X800XL would be an upgrade for you, but is it worth it to spend 250 now, or 250 in 4 months on an R520 or 7x00 card that will outperform it? Depends on how long you want to make your 6800 last.

 

[Munky]

SM3 is no argument for the 6800. The x800xl will blow it out of the water with or without sm3. However, the x800xl is about to be replaced by a bunch of next gen cards, so if you can wait a few months, I'd wait and pick up a newer card.

 

[blckgrffn]

I don't think the x800xl is that much longer than a 6800 anyway, if at all...

And you will be spending way more than $250 in four months on the R520 or 7800 series. That'll be more like year, IMHO.

Nat

 

[Staz]

I wouldn't be spending $250, but rather the difference between selling my existing card and the price of the new card. I think I can get at least $150 for my old card, so we are talking a little over $100 for the upgrade. I have until the 30th as that's when the Comp USA sale ends, so going to ponder it some more.

 

[Pete]

$100 to upgrade to a 6800GT? Very tempting. I think the GF6 series' SM3 support may give them slightly higher resale value than comparable Radeon X-series cards.

blckgrffn, I guess I forgot how much shorter the X800s are than the high-end 6800s. The X800XL AGP is pretty long, but apparently not much longer than a 6800U (which is the same size as a 6800GT and 6800, IIRC).

 

[tbradsha]

I personally think it's worth the $100 upgrade for the 256MB and 16 pipes, but it really depends on your cash situation. Source-based games like HL2 really fly on my X800 XL at max settings (although my projector is limited to 1024x768). IMO $250 for an X800 XL is the best bang for buck in the higher-end video card segment at the moment. Also, I don't see the X800 XL dropping much below $220 or $200 in the next six months, so this is a good time to buy.

Fyi, if you're lucky you might find an X800 XL AGP at Best Buy this weekend for $232 on clearance:
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1649343&enterthread=y

(And if you're in the Best Buy rewards zone program, you get a $5 gift certificate for every $150 you spend.)

Don't feel rushed on the purchase. New deals are constantly popping up all the time, and the imminent release of the 7800 GT will likely bring even more deals on last year's cards.

 

[tbradsha]

Even better, get an X800 XT PE refurb from the ATI store (with 3-year warranty) for $221.71 shipped (using 10% off coupon found elsewhere):

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1649742&enterthread=y

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

 

[KevinH]

Originally posted by: tbradsha
Even better, get an X800 XT PE refurb from the ATI store (with 3-year warranty) for $221.71 shipped (using 10% off coupon found elsewhere):

http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=40&threadid=1649742&enterthread=y

http://shop.ati.com/searchresults.asp?dept_id=39

If you're looking to move from a 6800 Vanilla ...this is a no brainer. 221shipped for a x800platinum PE? Refurb or not that's a 3 year ati warranty it comes with.