Would you upgrade from 6600gt to x800xt pe (AGP)?

[Adam8281]

Relevant system info:

P4 2.8C (800Mhz FSB)
ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe
2x512 Geil Ultra Platinum PC3200
eVGA 6600GT AGP

I'm just wondering whether you guys would make the upgrade from the 6600gt to an x800xt pe. I don't want to upgrade my system to PCI-E until probably a year from now; I'm waiting on some developments in CPU technology. I think my out of pocket for a used x800xt will be a little under $100 taking into account the sale of my 6600gt. I'm playing Oblivion these days, which runs fairly decent on the 6600gt, but settings are pretty low. I'm wondering whether this upgrade is a good one that makes sense, or if it's a waste of money. Thanks!

 

[Adam8281]

poll added

 

[SynthDude2001]

My first thought is that $100 seems a little high for out of pocket cost on that upgrade, but at the same time it should be easily ~2x as fast, and the X800/6800 levels of video cards are almost certainly the fastest you'll ever be able to get for AGP at any reasonable price (not counting newer "high-end" AGP cards that cost way more than their PCI-E counterparts and/or don't perform that much better).

 

[JBT]

I'd do it esspecially for oblivion.

 

[apoppin]

absolutely . . . a change from a 9800xt to an x850xt was incredibly worth it . . . and it cost me $200 since my 9800xt died outta warranty

your 6600gt is just a bit faster than my 9800xt was . . . but you pay less . . . so Yes

and my x850xt plays Oblivion perfectly fine for me at 11x8
[300 hours into the game and still loving it]

 

[Adam8281]

nice, I think I'll jump for it. Wow, 300 hours My wife will kill me if I put that many hours into it - but then again, that's why I play at night after she's asleep!

 

[Amplifier]

I'd go all out for the x850pe for ~190 from FS/FT

 

[Adam8281]

Where are you seeing a price like that on FS/FT? I see prices in that range for PCI-E, but nothing close to $190 for an AGP x850XT

 

[Amplifier]

ygpm

 

[Firsttime]

Right here. $200 shipped, (it's not mine )

 

[fliguy84]

I think it's a good jump in performance. But I won't buy new, but instead try to find some used cards.

 

[Cookie Monster]

I would save money to jump to PCI-e.

The new Intel Core CPUs are coming in july, and so too is AM2 in june/May.

 

[Adam8281]

Yeah, Core is what I ultimately want (or possibly AM2), but I don't want to jump on it in July. My plan is to let it cool off a little, and maybe upgrade a year from now. But if I care about gaming in this next year, and if I can expect more intensive releases like Oblivion, then I need a step-up now. I like the idea of getting a used X850XT in the ~$200 range, because since new AGP cards aren't coming out of the woodwork, I might be able to resell the X850 (when I DO upgrade to PCI-E) for decemt money - maybe in the $100 range.

 

[Cookie Monster]

You have to remember that the X800XT PE is S.M 3.0. From what i see, next gen games are all based on S.M 3.0 or OpenGL (quakewars, prey etc) and its these that the X800XT PE will suffer either in IQ loss (i.e S.M 3.0 compared to S.M 2.0, or performance loss i.e OpenGL)

 

[Munky]

The x800xt or x850xt is about 2x as fast as a 6600gt. If you plan to build a whole new system this summer, then keep the 6600gt and save your money. If you dont plan on upgrading again soon, then the x800xt will easily last you another year, and dont worry about the lack of SM3. So far in every game there is, SM3 is only used to add extra effects, or give a slight performance improvement to existing effects. Since a 6600gt has no power to run modern games with all shader effects enabled, then SM3 is of no relevance to it. Even a 6800u, which is about as fast as a x800xt, struggles in modern games with all the eye candy enabled, so SM3 will be of little use to it also.

 

[Adam8281]

I really appreciate the advice here - I tried jumping on an X850XT PE earlier today - some guy on AT was selling it for $200!!! Unfortunately, I missed by minutes, but I think I am about to jump on an x800xt pe for $175, which should suit me very well until I upgrade in a year or so

 

[CFP]

You'll see a nice little performance boost.

 

[Adam8281]

I bought the X800XT PE