Tooo many GFX cards to choose from!

[poindextermatic]

There are just too many cards out there, I need to buy a new one to replace my ageing GeForce6800, but I don't nkow where to start and have not been keeping up for the pat 12 months on whats hot and not etc...

ATI or GeForce?
Needs to be AGP 8x
£170 budget

Would very much like some suggestions as to what I could get.
Anyone got a card recently for this amount?

[teachmech]

As you need AGP your options are limited
Nvidia
6800GS £180 (not really much of an upgrade from 6800 depending on your current overclock)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

7800GS £220 (bigish upgrade from 6800)
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

Ati
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...Thumbnails=yes

Not really sure about upgarde performance from your 6800.

Most people will probably say go PCI-E but I managed to pickup 6800GT from gainward (as my system) huge improvement from 6600GT.

Possibly ebay for second hand 6800GT.

Its your call

[arthurleung]

Your 6800 aren't that old. IMO there is little need for you to upgrade your gfx since your CPU wasn't that fast to go with a 7800GS, and your 17' LCD can only output up to 1280x1024, which your 6800/3200+ can handle without much problem

[poindextermatic]

MMmmm I like the Gainwards. Thanks for that little bit of GFXporn!

I think there may well be a decent performance increase. My current card dosen't support DirectX9 and as a result I can't play games like FEAR and CoD2 at fullblast!

Hmmmm....

[arthurleung]

MMmmm I like the Gainwards. Thanks for that little bit of GFXporn!

I think there may well be a decent performance increase. My current card dosen't support DirectX9 and as a result I can't play games like FEAR and CoD2 at fullblast!

Hmmmm....

Why not? I believe all Geforce 6xxx series support DX9 mode (both my 6200TC and 6600GT does). CoD2 was okay on my 6600GT (about 1/2 the fps of a 6800 I think?). It was so smooth at 1600x1200 2xAA DX7 mode (about 15fps in DX9 mode no AA, your 6800 should do better than this). But seriously 1280x1024 is only 68% size of 1600x1200, you got a card almost twice as fast as mine, and only need to render 68% screen size (or even less?), I don't see much problem for you to run FEAR/CoD2 smoothly (but your CPU is definitely pulling you back).

[herulach]

CoD 2 should be no problem, neither should fear, i assume its a 6800 Vanilla? Tbh, your best bet if you desperately want to upgrade is an x850, but there really isnt a lot of point, youll maybe only get about 15% better frames, which sounds like a lot, but if its a jump from say 20 to 23, there isnt a lot of point

[PenguinJim]

Is that a Leadtek 6800 Vanilla? Mine unlocked the other four pipes and the 6th vertex shader no problem I dub it a 6800GTM (as it has the core of a 6800GT, but still only DDR1 - hence 'GTM' for GT Modified. I couldn't see another short-hand for it online ).

That should give you a decent performance boost. Just use Riva Tuner, unlock the fourth quad first, and run 3DMark to check for artefacts and graphical glitches. If you have any glitches, disable the quad again.

Then unlock the 6th VS, and run 3DMark again to look for any errors. Some 6800 Vanillas just have a perfect 6th VS, some just have a perfect fourth quad, but some have both. Keep your fingers crossed, and good luck!

[arthurleung]

CoD 2 should be no problem, neither should fear, i assume its a 6800 Vanilla? Tbh, your best bet if you desperately want to upgrade is an x850, but there really isnt a lot of point, youll maybe only get about 15% better frames, which sounds like a lot, but if its a jump from say 20 to 23, there isnt a lot of point

Be aware that that X850 does not support DX9 shaders (SM3.0?)

[merlin2001]

i can't really see anything out there offering you a decent boost to justify the expense. The only card out there that is prob. worth thinking about in AGP land is the 7800GS to give you a reasonable increase, but that's a bit more than your budget and will then leave you with a card you can't really easily take with you when it's time to upgrade the rest of your machine. my advice is to wait a while, save and then make the leap to PCI-E...

[herulach]

Be aware that that X850 does not support DX9 shaders (SM3.0?)

And? Its still a damn sight faster than my 6800GT, and not a considerable amoutn slower that a 7800GS. SM3 is mostly superfluous imo, basically all it gets you is HDR in farcry.

[arthurleung]

And? Its still a damn sight faster than my 6800GT, and not a considerable amoutn slower that a 7800GS. SM3 is mostly superfluous imo, basically all it gets you is HDR in farcry.

Try force your 6800GT into SM2.0 mode, it will be quite a bit faster too

[poindextermatic]

I just don't know what to do - some ppl say replace card, some say RAm some say CPU...

Looks like I may have to wait a while and go PCI-E...

: o (

[Sumanji]

Wait until you can do the whole kaboodle and go PCI-E. There will be little gain moving from your 6800 to a 7800GS (even less so if you have unlocked the extra quad).

Suman

[dureth]

I agree with the advice that you should wait and do a bigger upgrade later. With only a 17" monitor there is little point in an upgrade just yet. Wait for the latest Unreal to come out then start looking.

Also your 6800 does fully support DX9. Don't know where you got the idea it didn't.

[poindextermatic]

CoD2 frame rate is really slow when I use dx9 to render so I thought it wasn't dx9 supporting...

Yes, thankyou hexus ppl you have once again influenced my decisions on my PC upgrading!
Always for the better though... just need to save all those pennies now!!

I tried unlocking the extra pipes but was unlucky

So new mother board, new PCI-E card, can still use old RAM and 64 chip for now also.

Need about £300.....?

Cheers.

[Sumanji]

Solid mid-end board is about £80, and a GeForce 7800GT you can get for about £200 (should give you a large boost from a 12-pipe card). Wait a few months and the new 7900GT will eventually drop to that price. But yeah about £300 would be cool

SUman