agp graphics

[Vega]

Ive got a BFG 6800GS 'AGP' if i wanna upgrade what option is the best ...dont mind between ATI or NVIDIA... thanks to any replies

[Blitzen]

Ive got a BFG 6800GS 'AGP' if i wanna upgrade what option is the best ...dont mind between ATI or NVIDIA... thanks to any replies

Upgrading to AGP or moving to PCI-E.

If its AGP then THE best is the Gainward Bliss 7800GS

[0iD]

I have a 7800GS AGP currently & it's very good if you're not quite ready to cross over to PCI-E. But make sure you're not going to be restricted by lack of CPU speed or RAM.
But you can also get the x1950 on AGP which is also pretty darned nippy.

[aidanjt]

I got a Gainward 7800GS, and it just died on me the other day, so I'm back on my more powerful but less well supported ATi X1950 Pro, so.. no Linux desktop (although ATi released new drivers the other day, maybe it's fixed).

[ikonia]

did you not manage to flog the card aidanjt ?

[aidanjt]

ikonia: nope, seems that AGP is on the verge of total death, although I suppose I'm lucky I didn't, or I'd be stuck with the 9600XT as fallback :/

[ikonia]

very surprised at that, unlucky, sorry you got stuck with it.

[aidanjt]

Cheers, well I've been thinking, I might just send the Gainward back and get a PX, maybe a case and PSU for a new build, would be a moitivator to scrape cash together to get it done.

Anyhow, in an attempt to not hijack the OPs thread, if you're only using WinXP/Vista, the X1950 Pro is a fine, very powerful card. I can't fault it on that.

[ikonia]

sorry to the OP - didn't mean to divert the thread, I was just a tad taken back that aidanjt hadn't had any interest in the card.

[Vega]

X1950 Pro or the 7800GS ?

[aidanjt]

It's up to yourself, the X1950 Pro is more powerful and probably the best choice if you only use Windows, if you dab with Linux (or think you might in the future), the 7800GS is much better for that.

[Blitzen]

It's up to yourself, the X1950 Pro is more powerful and probably the best choice if you only use Windows, if you dab with Linux (or think you might in the future), the 7800GS is much better for that.

Its not more powerful than the Gainward Bliss 7800GS sorry.
It better than a standard 7800GS though.
With 'No Eye Candy' the X1950Pro just edges it. As soon as something like AA is switched on the Gainward 7800GS runs away with it.

Basically, if you want eye candy go 7800GS...If not, go X1950Pro

The X1950Pro is also very loud as the cooling solution on it is far far inferior the GB 7800GS one.

It's up to yourself, the X1950 Pro is more powerful and probably the best choice if you only use Windows, if you dab with Linux (or think you might in the future), the 7800GS is much better for that.

I run Windows Ultimate RTM and when launching games such as Oblivion my 7800GS defaults to Ultra High settings and plays the game perfectly. To say it doesnt run WIndows applications well is a very misleading and incorrect statement.
Or maybe its just your sales pitch.

[aidanjt]

Well I got the Gainward 7800GS+ (Goes Like Hell), and it does lag behing the X1950 Pro in performance, even with FSAA, not that I need it with native resolutions.

But I'll agree with you on the cooling end, it does tend to get loud when it heats up, but when that happens you tend to be playing games, so music, audio effects and such will mask it, so it's a null point.

I ran Vista, XP, and Linux on both cards, I have to say that Vista does hurt gaming performance, which makes sense due to the overhead of context switching of the new WDDM. My comment "the X1950 Pro is more powerful and probably the best choice if you only use Windows", is not to say that the 7800GS doesn't work in Windows, it's that the X1950 Pro doesn't work in Linux, ATi has a horrible history of official Linux support, I'm guessing you've never used Linux before so I won't go off on one, but you could have read my prior posts in this tread to figure out the context of my statement if you bothered.

Anyhow, I have both GPUs, so I'm in the unique position to compare them both, I'm not Pro-ATi or Pro-nVidia, I did hate nVidia for years for killing off 3Dfx with FUD, although it was bad management on their part too, now I don't mind. And I'm not selling the X1950 Pro anymore, so no sales pitch.

I'm just saying it as it is so the OP has subjective opinions on his best choices.

As far as I'm concerned, ATi for raw performance, and nVidia for wide compatibility, which is why I bought the 7800GS after getting pissed off with a never-ending batch of broken fglrx drivers.

A less hostile reply would be nice in the future.

[Vega]

512MB Gainward 7800GS GLH Bliss @ £214.99
512MB Sapphire Radeon X1950Pro @ £153.51

X1950 pro is ALOT CHEAPER!!

[aidanjt]

Indeed it is.

[Vega]

HIS ATI Radeon X1950 Pro ICEQ3 Turbo 512MB @ £158.61 from OCuk
512MB Sapphire Radeon X1950Pro @ £153.51 from Scan