Hey, what would you choose:
A nVidia 256MB 6600, Leadtek chip, with 20GB/s (about 300 euros, about 400$)
vs
nVidia 256MB 7800PX, Leadtek chip, 35GB/s (500 euros, about 700$)
I really need a video card.
What do you choose?!
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Hey, what would you choose:
A nVidia 256MB 6600, Leadtek chip, with 20GB/s (about 300 euros, about 400$)
vs
nVidia 256MB 7800PX, Leadtek chip, 35GB/s (500 euros, about 700$)
I really need a video card.
What do you choose?!
Until BKS moves this to the Apocathery, I'm keeping it here 'cause I'm a video card junkie.
The 7800 blows everything away. Period. (If you have the money.)
I have a Radeon 9800Pro. Excellent card but it's starting to show its age with F.E.A.R. and my heavy IL2-Pacific Fighters missions.
Computer tech never decelerates.. Every single brand new component of your system may be outclassed the other day.. But graphics cards have a special agility award for that.. (..hmm..sounded weird..whatever..)
If you have the money to buy one piece of component with the latest tech for your system, always go with your graphics card (assuming you are a gamer)..
So if you have the money, of course, spend your whole at the latest tech, according to your question, on 7800PX..
I'm a gamer..:duel:
Blows everything away.... At 500 euros, it isn't surprising.....Quote:
Originally Posted by Beirut
It's extremely expensive.... I need to raise about 150 euros more to get it....
Obviously you want it, but do you really need it?Quote:
Originally Posted by edyzmedieval
What speed CPU and how much RAM do you have? What size screen? And what games do you want to play?
You might (and probably would) be better off splitting up the cash you would spend on a 7800 and get perhaps a 6800 or 800-850 series card and a faster CPU or more RAM, or a bigger screen. You would still have a smoking hot system.
2.8 GHZ with HT and 256MB RAM
And I want it because I always play new games. NFS Most Wanted will surely destroy my nVidia GeForce FX5200 128MB.
BI doesn't work properly. I have to set at low and medium to work at least acceptable!!!! ~:eek:
I really need it.
bla bla bla bladibladibla i'm chatman superfast with msn tadatatadara
weird my 128mb works fine on the highest settings with BI and all other games
Stranger,
Son! Be quiet.
Edyz,
Honestly, forget about the 7800. First and foremost, get more RAM. You need at least 512 total for today's games. Second, get an ATI 800 or 850 series card or a 6800. Third, if you still have cash, get the fastest CPU that will fit on your present motherboard. (Why buy new MB if you don't have to?) Compare how much all the components I mentioned will cost compared to the 7800 alone.
With either of the cards I mentioned and the 512 RAM, (not to mention a faster CPU if you can afford it) you'll see a blistering increase in performance.
The 7800s are for people with super fast CPUs and full Gigs of RAM. Not only don't you need it, it won't help you as much as you think because the rest of your system won't be able to keep up.
no problem dad! can i have a cookey now
Beirut is right you know, hes quit smart for a guy that has been ripped of by 2 guys in a minivan (ill never forget that ~D)
edzy,
Beirut is right.. Modernd day's games will torture your 256 MB RAM, so that you'll generally be seeing your HDD LED blinking while playing - which causes FPS decreases and skips..
Get 1 GB of RAM (included your current 256) and bring in a 6600 GT gfx card.. That would differ much for you, trust me..
It was only one guy, and he was in an SUV.Quote:
Originally Posted by The Stranger
There were two of us, in a F350 dumper and towed chipper, with five chainsaws, several axes and knives, a sledgehammer, and a crowbar.
And he left with... my... money...
Oh dear.
Get a gig of RAM, modern games will torture 512 of RAM, or at least a gig will offer vastly increased performance. After that the performance gains will drop off though. I'd suggest trying to get an Athlon64 3200+, but that requires a new mobo and you probably can't afford it, so get the best Intel CPU that will fit.
well i was close, you know how mind scrambles things up ~;)Quote:
Originally Posted by Beirut
How'd you find out?!
Thanks for the advice Beirut. I'll keep it into account. ~:cheers:
Today, someone I was working with gave me an unqualfied, high recommendation for BFG brand graphics cards. Anyone else ever heard of it?
Beirut, since you mentioned FEAR... how harsh are it's system requirements? I have a p4 2.4ghz, 1GB RAM, with an ATI9600(256MB). So far, it runs most modern games pretty well- but the specs for FEAR look pretty intimidating, think it'd run acceptably? Generally, I assume what's listed as recommended requirements are more like minimum reqs- whereas you're lucky to get a game running with the listed minimum reqs....
Further, at this point, would a graphics card update be a waste of money? My system is AGP, so no PCIexpress cards which means I wouldnt really be able to use it after a system update....Is there anything affordable out there that would be a cost-effective upgrade on my ati?
BFG's are great. I have a 6800GT made by BFG and they factory overclocked it 20mhz and warranteed it for that. Cost maybe $10 more for that small, yet somewhat noticeable boost in performance. It has a LED light on it iirc and works extremely well. I would reccomend them.
I think I read that the BFG cards were pretty good. If it's the one I'm thinking about, PC Gamer gave them very good reviews. Sorry, can't remember for sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiahou
How harsh? Like stuffing-your-head-in-a-blender while Kaiser kicks you in the *** with steel toe boots harsh. This game absolutely kills my AMD64-3000/512RAM/9800Pro. I can play everything else at 1024x768 but I have to play this at 800x600 with the options at 50% or less. And I still get slowdowns. Mind you, it still looks amazing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiahou
From what I know, a card upgrade would certainly help you out. I've been talking to the tech-gurus at one of the flight sim sites and he says that it would definitely be worth it for me to go up to an X800XL AGP ($299 Cdn.). Going to an X850XT series would be better, but that's too much $$$ for me right now ($549 Cdn.). You would also see improvements I'm sure.Quote:
Originally Posted by Xiahou
I'm not doing the PCI-E thing until next summer. If I can throw in another 512 RAM and an 800 or 850 series AGP card, I'll be cooking along nicely all winter. The only game I play regularly (very, very regularly) that taxes my system is the IL2 flight sim series. M:TW runs like Carl Lewis on my machine. I don't play R:TW very much at all.
Kills such a good system?!
If that's a bad one, then my PC is really old....
Looks like I'll buy a new PC. What do you think of the following specs:
Intel Pentium IV 3.4 GhZ with HT
1024MB RAM(double 512)
100GB HDD
2X nVidia 7800PX(might be only 1, because this is really expensive)
DVD-RW
Floppy
If it's good, the nearest ocassion that I'll get this super-computer is after I take my exam......
What do I think of the specs?Quote:
Originally Posted by edyzmedieval
I think I'm going to buy a plane ticket and come over to your house just to play on your machine.
If you have the cash for two 7800s then more power to you. (Speaking of which you'll need one helluva power supply to run them!)
Mind you, if you've got the coin and the inclination to upgrade like that, forget about the Pentium chip and get a top of the line AMD FX series chip (FX-55 or FX-57). They destroy the Pentium chips. If you had an FX series CPU and a 7800 you'd have enough power to run any program. You don't even need the second 7800. Use the cash for a great screen.
With those specs you'd have probably the nicest machine of anyone posting on these forums. (Shmuck.)
Woow.. Thanks for the input.
Pray to God!!!
If I get very good marks at the big exam which is waiting for me(3
exams) in June, then the specs which I said will be mine. ~D ~:cool:
Or even better.... ~D
[QUOTE=Beirut]With those specs you'd have probably the nicest machine of anyone posting on these forums. (Shmuck.)[/QUOTE
He could do better. Gigabyte has a motherboard capable of using four graphics cards, the GA-8N SLI Quad Royal. So instead of two 7800s he could have four!~:eek:
4 7800PX?! ~:eek:
Oh my, that'll cost about 5000$ the whole comp.....
What Beirut said...listen to Dadydy~DQuote:
Originally Posted by Beirut
Since this hasn't been moved yet maybe one of you fine gentlemen would like to help me out, I'm in a bit of a quandry.
Last year I upgraded my PC to 1Gb RAM (with another fan), 9800Pro card, some new speakers and an optical mouse and I now have
P4 2.5GHz
1Gb Ram (2x512 sticks)
80Gb HDD
Radeon 9800 Pro
CDR
Done it myself, not bad for a Mech Engineer.
My quandry is that I want a 19" TFT monitor which will run in at about £150-£170 as well as a DVD-RW and more HDD (160-250 if poss), now I was planning on upgrading a bit at a time but my motherboard is getting on for 4 years old. SO what do you reckon the best option is?
- Wait till next year (when my bike is paid off) and buy a new system
- Upgrade a bit at a time, or even list some as Crimbo pressies
The monitor should be about £150, the DVD about £30 and the HDD I can get 320 Gb for £100ish. My main problem is that I know nothing about motherboards, what should I be looking for and what size/type of chip to go on it? Also, is there anything else I should be looking at renewing or upgrading?
Thanks in advance
Get a new motherboard. 4 years old...Wow...
An AMD64 or AMD FX as Beirut suggested are very good options. If you have the cash.
Sometimes it's a better idea to upgrade than to buy a new one. Plus, you have good specs.... ~:)
I would hold off the single-core CPUs, especially with the price of over $1000 US. Even though they are great for gaming (and I hope that is not all people do on their comps.), the new dual-core CPUs would be a better choice. No game today uses the dual-core ability, but when they start doing that, bye bye single-core... AMD's X2 series or Intel's EE do better on everyday tasks and multitasks, but for now looses slightly on gaming.Quote:
Originally Posted by Beirut
Be sure to use motherboards with the right chipset for the CPUs or they will not run optimally (e.g. i955x for Intel EE dual-core with hyper threading).
I can't keep track of all the freakin vid card models out there anymore- it's practically a full time job in itself... Could someone explain to me what kind of improvement a x800 is over my 9600? Are we talking a slight improvement or orders of magnitude?Quote:
Originally Posted by Beirut
I obviously know that 9600<X800<X850, but by how much difference between them? Further, what about the different flavors of x800 or 850? Many of them vary widely in price.
No kidding, all the card variations is ridiculous.
One of the big differences is pipelines. That means how many pixels your card will pain on the screen at one time. Your 9600 probably does 4. The 800 series and better will do 12 or more depending on the specs and settings of the game and card. This means speed.
Also, the cards are simply more powerful, faster, have more memory and are able to work with newer DX codes. Mind you, the Radeon cards don't do version 3 shaders, meaning in games like IL2-Pacific Fighters and Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory, you simply cannot access some of the game's highest graphics settings. This is a big one for the IL2 flightsim series because only the new Nvidia cards will allow you to use the "Perfect water 3" setting in the game which gives you incredible graphics of the ocean and waves. You can't get it with the ATI cards. Though the ATI cards are said to have overall better picture quality.
Good info. :bow:
I've done some searching, and I'd definitely say that a X800XL is a good move for an upgrade. It could offer huge performance gains over my current card, and while the high end ones are faster, they're not enough so to justify the expense imo.