How much will i need to spend for better GFX?

Hello all :)

Im in a bit of a quandry at the moment...
ive got it into my head that i need a new computer, altho my current one is pretty respectable (amd barton running 2.2gig, half gig of xms2700, mildly clocked 9700pro, 2xraptors in a stripeset)
ive recently bought a dell 2001Fp.. which has a native rez of 1600x1200... and my computer is beginning to flag on modern games at that rez.

Question is: im upgrading to a a64 3500 and probably a pciexpress mobo. how much money am i going to have to spend on the graphics card to get a noticeable "value for money" increase over my 9700pro.. ive looked at the 6600gt but that doesnt seem much faster for the money. and i cant understand what the hell ati are doing with their model lineup... i presume i need at least a x800... but which one?

thanks in advance :bowdown:

x800xl/6800gt should suit your needs methinks.

I wouldn't go for anthing less than a 6800GT.

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Originally Posted by mike_w

I wouldn't go for anthing less than a 6800GT.

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ditto

at 1600x1200 anything less than a 6800GT is going to stuggle in the future, maybe now a 6800nu could cope (not speaking from experience) but i doubt it would in the future.

if you like eye candy you may want to look into getting an SLi mobo and 1 6800GT. This will play 1600x1200 with decent framerates. Then later you could add another GT and SLi the blighters and turn on the AA/AF eyecandy :rockon:

All depends on how many readies you've got/want to spend.

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Originally Posted by [DW]Cougho

ditto

at 1600x1200 anything less than a 6800GT is going to stuggle in the future, maybe now a 6800nu could cope (not speaking from experience) but i doubt it would in the future.

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But from what I've seen, a 6800 wouldn't give a big enough performance increase from a 9700 Pro to justify spending £170+.

Hmmm
So im looking at around £260-280 for a 6800gt.
is a X850 XT PE better? :shocked2: (i tend to sway towards ATI cards due to previous good experience on my part, and horrific experience on my bros part with a fx5800ultra) :crazy:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike_w

But from what I've seen, a 6800 wouldn't give a big enough performance increase from a 9700 Pro to justify spending £170+.

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true, i was just putting it in for a comparison of the power needed for 1600x1200.

the step up from a previous generation high-end card should always be the next high-end card.

i.e. ti4400/ti4600 - 9700/9800/5900 - 6800/X800

otherwise as you say, the performance to price ratio is just not that attractive.

EDIT: and yes an X850XTPE is better, but you pay alot for the relatively small difference (esp. if you intend to overclock)

a 6800GT (or above) for nvidia or a X800XT/X800XL (or above) for ati would be worthy of 1600x1200

Quote:

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Originally Posted by mike_w

But from what I've seen, a 6800 wouldn't give a big enough performance increase from a 9700 Pro to justify spending £170+.

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Not sure on how much it would be, but the step from 9800 pro to 6800GT was very noticable for me.

its quite a big step from a 9800 to a GT - http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.c...ml#3dmark_2003

You should be able to get £50 plus for your 9700pro, so that might soften the blow.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by rubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishrubbishey

if you like eye candy you may want to look into getting an SLi mobo and 1 6800GT. This will play 1600x1200 with decent framerates. Then later you could add another GT and SLi the blighters and turn on the AA/AF eyecandy :rockon:

All depends on how many readies you've got/want to spend.

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I second that,that is probaly the best thing you can do.Play games at 1600x1200 until your card struggles and then add a second GT,by the time the 6800GT will struggle with games they would of probally dropped by a £100 so it wont be so hard for you to add a second one.

In a AGP slot I would go for a GF6800 GT simply because there is no X800XL available on AGP. With PCI-E i would probably also go for 1 GF6800 GT in SLI... and then get another later on.
X800XL is meant to be cheaper than the 6800Gt but i've yet to see any significant price difference.