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Thread: Video Card Advice

  1. #1
    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    Video Card Advice

    My reconditioned 9700Pro has just gone kaputt, a couple of weeks outside the 30-day warranty period. Should I go for a 9800pro second hand, or should I go for something new?
    Is the x800 GTO worth considering? I'm still on AGP, is it worth shelling out for a PCI-E motherboard and new GFX card together? I'm trying to not spend a lot of money...

    Any help would be gratefully received, although I'm steering towards paying a bit extra for getting the peace of mind of a new GFX card...

  2. #2
    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    The GeCube X800 GTO seems to go for about £115 inc VAT, is this worth considering?

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    Ah, Mrs. Peel! mike_w's Avatar
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    It depends on how happy you were with the 9700 Pro - if you don't mind turning settings down, then a 6600GT or, if you want something more expensive, a plain X800 on AGP should be fine.
    "Well, there was your Uncle Tiberius who died wrapped in cabbage leaves but we assumed that was a freak accident."

  4. #4
    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    I was fairly happy with the 9700, it played Far Cry at a decent rate, and that's about as far as my gaming goes. Is the 9700 Pro really better than the 6600GT?

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    Quote Originally Posted by Smudger
    The GeCube X800 GTO seems to go for about £115 inc VAT, is this worth considering?
    Possibly, but what about those new 6800GS cards ?

    best thing to do is set yourself a budget

  6. #6
    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    That £115 is probably the very top of my budget. I don't really want to spend too much, but after my previous experience of doing things to a budget, I'd rather fork out a bit more now, than twice as much a few months down the line. And while people may think £115 isn't much of a budget, I've got rather a large mortgage to pay...

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Just thinkin I was in the same position about a month ago when my 9600xt died on me. I bought a 6800 off dabs (the dabs value card, but its made by inno3d) for £130 ish. Then unlocked pipelines/shaders, and its running quite happily at 6800gt speeds

    Dave

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    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by dave87
    Just thinkin I was in the same position about a month ago when my 9600xt died on me. I bought a 6800 off dabs (the dabs value card, but its made by inno3d) for £130 ish. Then unlocked pipelines/shaders, and its running quite happily at 6800gt speeds

    Dave
    Is that something that's easy to do?

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    Banned Smokey21's Avatar
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    A 6600GT can be had for 99quid online, good card for price. Might be worth getting a GT0 instead though. You could even look for a 6800NU online, or even a 6800GT 2nd hand, if it's AGP people will sell em cheaper.

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    Ah, Mrs. Peel! mike_w's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Smudger
    I was fairly happy with the 9700, it played Far Cry at a decent rate, and that's about as far as my gaming goes. Is the 9700 Pro really better than the 6600GT?
    A 6600GT should be a fair bit faster than a 9700 Pro, although it wouldn't be a huge jump.
    "Well, there was your Uncle Tiberius who died wrapped in cabbage leaves but we assumed that was a freak accident."

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    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    Really easy to do smudger. Jus need to download rivatuner and unlock the hardware masked units. Then have a bit of a play with the clock and memory speeds and you should be up to GT standard. I'm looking at getting an arctic cooler to run it a bit further, but the cooling on the card is pretty good none the less.

    Dave

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    Smile

    Is it a standard 6800 to unlock the pipes?
    Iam also looking for a card for Christmas hope the 6800gs comes out if not a X800xl but the 6800gt to expensive and not many around but if i could unlock the 6800 to gt speeds that sounds good.
    Also if you break the card doing the unlock will the tec guys know?

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    Senior Member theslasher@ntlw's Avatar
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    Smile

    Is it a standard 6800 to unlock the pipes?
    Iam also looking for a card for Christmas hope the 6800gs comes out if not a X800xl but the 6800gt to expensive and not many around but if i could unlock the 6800 to gt speeds that sounds good.
    Also if you break the card doing the unlock will the tec guys know?

  14. #14
    Senior Member Smudger's Avatar
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    Actually, I thought I had a 30-day warranty, but checking the site, it would appear it's 90 day. Wahey! No shelling out. On the downside, I was looking forward to having a shiny new card...

    I might ask them if I can upgrade to one of their 9800Pro or XTs, by way of compensation...

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    If you want to stay on AGP and want "high" performance a 6800gt is your best. Then lower down a standard 6800 or 6600gt should perform simillar a 6800. The 6800gs is not likely to be released on AGP, they really seem adamant on phasing it out quickly/

  16. #16
    radix lecti dave87's Avatar
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    6800 will overclock well given the right cooling, so no need to shell out the extra for the GT imo.

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