Looking for new AGP gfx card

[chinny]

Hi All,

I'm looking for a new graphics card to replace my Ati 9600 Pro. I've found that BF 2 doesn't play well with a large map (everything to medium - distance 100%), smaller maps are ok.
My PC has the following spec:

CPU - Athlon XP 2500+ Mobile - running at 2.4Ghz
Mobo - Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
Ram - 1Gb
HDD - Seagate Barracuda 120Gb SATA
OS - Win MCE 2005

A mate is going to lend me a 9800 Pro which has been reflashed to a 9800 XT and had a replacement heatsink fitted - what would be a fair price for this if I went with that?
The other card I'm looking at is a GeForce 6800XT. Maybe the XFX one - which make is the best?
As I've got MCE the nVidia one would also let me use the PureVideo Decoder with hardware support - would this be worth it? As this will probably be the last AGP card I get for my PC before going 64 bit I'd like to make it last as long as I can without spending a stupid amount on it.
I'm not sure which route to go down so any advise would be very welcome!

Cheers.

[dave87]

The 6800s are pretty good - I got a standard one and within 5 minutes had it running as a gt The 6800 or x800 would probably be your best bet if you're wanting to keep that rig for a while, though possibly consider getting extra ram? BF2 plays much more smoothly with 2gb apparantly, and memory prices are falling pretty quickly.

Dave

[sawyen]

6800GT, if u can find one.. or 6600GT for a quick purchase. X800GT is pretty decent as well, fair slightly better than 6600GT on certain titles abeit the lack of SM3 and HDR. Or you could always wait for XFX to release their AGP verion 6800GS. These will be as good as 6800GT, but might not go as easily to Ultra speeds as the GTs.

Again, I might be wrong.. If some PCI-E junkies might fill me in on the OCed performance of a 6800GS versus that of a GT (Oced to Ultra) that would be great (3dmrk05 aside due to optimisation on a newer chip)..

The 6800GT AGP goes on street for about £180-220, on flea for £130-160 ish..

6600GT can be had on high street for about £140ish and £100 online. Used ones will go for about £60..

[chinny]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I think that the nVid is the clear fav here. As Dave said - extra 1Gb ram not a bad idea as it's quite cheap at the moment.
Which manufacturers do you guys thinks are the best for overclocking?

Thanks!

[killkoy]

i current ly have my 6800gs at the speeds you cna see in the dropdown menu although i do think i was very lucky with my card

[chinny]

Hi killjoy,

which brand have you got?

[sawyen]

525MHz is pretty tops tbh... I wonder how well does it stack up with a GT running at 445/1200 (highest core I ever went without artifacts)?

But anyways, 6800GS (overclockers are taking preorders at £180ish) will serve you well.