New gfx card ? Suggestions ?

[mrchuck]

Guys and girls,

Having just got a copy of Doom 3, may Radeon 9500 pro seems a little long in the tooth. Looking for any excuse for new hardware, I think I could do with a new gfx card.

My current system is basically an Athlon XP 3200, 1gb Corsair XMS3200, Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo. Any ideas as to what I can replace the 9500 Pro with ? I don't reckon it'd be worth putting an X800 in because of my current cpu.

Thanks

Chuck

[joely]

i would have thought an x800 should be ok on that, personally i have just got a 6800GT and it is lush. ATI are bringing out the choped down version of the X800 the X600 although i read a review of one the other day and it doesnt seem that great. Personally i would go 6800 as it support DX 9c and shader model 3

[Stewart]

A 100% perfectly and completely legal copy of Doom III, of course?

I think you might be right about being CPU limited, although thats a pretty decent CPU mate. The sweet spot would be a 9800pro. £120 for a nice, shiny new one, flash it to XT speeds, and its still a pretty nice runner.

[joely]

I have just stuck a a64 3000 with a gig of 3200 in with my 6800 gt and doom ran sweet as, still need to oc the lot though!

[mrchuck]

Oh yes ;-)

Reading though the forums a 9800 pro certainly seems to be a popular choice at the moment and for around £125 or so it's a great deal.

Would it be worth flashing to an XT or just spending a little more and getting a real XT with the extra ram though ?

joely - that spec and you still need to oc ? Wow ! That must run as sweet as !

[joely]

joely - that spec and you still need to oc ? Wow ! That must run as sweet as !

well the processor runs so cool that i might as well stick a little on it see how it does, apparently you can get another .45 ghz out of the 3000 and will turn the gt into a U

[Nomadd]

re: "Reading though the forums a 9800 pro certainly seems to be a popular choice at the moment and for around £125 or so it's a great deal. Would it be worth flashing to an XT or just spending a little more and getting a real XT with the extra ram though ?"

Maybe consider second-hand? Must be quite a few 9800's out there going cheap(ish) at the moment? Would have thought you could knock ar least £20-30 off the new price? Or am I dreaming again?.. :-)

Nomadd

[mrchuck]

re: "Reading though the forums a 9800 pro certainly seems to be a popular choice at the moment and for around £125 or so it's a great deal. Would it be worth flashing to an XT or just spending a little more and getting a real XT with the extra ram though ?"

Maybe consider second-hand? Must be quite a few 9800's out there going cheap(ish) at the moment? Would have thought you could knock ar least £20-30 off the new price? Or am I dreaming again?.. :-)

Nomadd

A quick look on Ebay gives me the choice of an XT from anything £50.00 to £280. Hmmm might have to put in a sneaky bid, but then you never know if someone has run it on stock cooling oc'd to the max. Plus I'm not patient and I really want a new card now

[ed^chigliak]

This is a good link might help you decide

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQ0LDc=

Nvidia 6800 with 128mb looks good if you don't want to spend more than 9800XT prices.

[FootballFanatic]

I had this same problem but ive ordereed 1 of these today. It should be here 2mos

http://www.microdirect.co.uk/Product...ProductID=6902

[mrchuck]

Controversial... It's looking like the 6800 is just swinging it slightly for me here. I could go for an 9800 XT for £200 but for just a little more I can get a 6800 which looks like on my system will play Doom 3 and Half Life 2 (he hopes) like a gem.

Dare I switch back to NVIDIA from ATI ?

[joely]

Dare I switch back to NVIDIA from ATI

i must admit that i was a bit reluctant as i was always an ATI man but the 6800GT was too tempting as they seem to be more readily available and better for overclocking (you can turn it into a U with no worries) than the x800 pro

[GiB]

think the 6800GT would be best for Doom maybe a BFG as its clocked a bit higher 370core.

[mrchuck]

My brand new all-singing and dancing Galaxy GT 6800 should be arriving today !
Yay !

Doom 3's black screen is going to be lightning fast.

Thanx for the suggestions everyone.