Best AGP video card for around $250?

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soxx

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I'm looking to upgrade my 9800 Pro, and these two cards look like the front-runners:

Gigabyte x800xl - $252
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814125186

XFX 6800gt - $289
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814150102


Is one of these cards my best bet, or are there other options? The x800xl is closer to my budget, but the 6800gt seems to be a better card--is the extra money worth it? I'm just looking for best overall game performance.

Also, would there be any compatibility issues with my Asus A7N8X Deluxe and AMD XP "Barton" 3000+? Would this CPU keep up with one of these fast GPUs?

Thanks!
 
I'd go with the 6800 for it's Shader 3.0 support, that what I'm going to do.
Funny, I got a 9800 that I'm wanting to upgrade as well.
Small world I guess.
 
Oh, and one more question: Should I expect any major price drops in the next month/6 weeks, due to the release of ATI's new line of cards?

WhiteZero said:
I'd go with the 6800 for it's Shader 3.0 support, that what I'm going to do.
Funny, I got a 9800 that I'm wanting to upgrade as well.
Small world I guess.
Click to expand...

I thought Shader 3.0 was just an optimized 2.0, thus making it less critical...no?

That's one vote for teh 6800...
 
soxx said:
Oh, and one more question: Should I expect any major price drops in the next month/6 weeks, due to the release of ATI's new line of cards?



I thought Shader 3.0 was just an optimized 2.0, thus making it less critical...no?

That's one vote for teh 6800...
Click to expand...

no your talking about shader 2.0b the only difference between 3.0 and 2.0b is openfx or something like that
 
no your talking about shader 2.0b the only difference between 3.0 and 2.0b is openfx or something like that
Click to expand...
The main Diffrence bteween 2.0b and 3.0 is Open EXR, but companies that have Nvidia logo's and stuff will not use 2.0b. Thus if you are looking for HDR effects and such the 6800 is the better choice.
 
Minerel said:
The main Diffrence bteween 2.0b and 3.0 is Open EXR, but companies that have Nvidia logo's and stuff will not use 2.0b. Thus if you are looking for HDR effects and such the 6800 is the better choice.
Click to expand...

So the x800xl can't do HDR? Or just not as well as the 6800gt? Or just not advanced HDR stuff?
 
soxx said:
So the x800xl can't do HDR? Or just not as well as the 6800gt? Or just not advanced HDR stuff?
Click to expand...

depending if the card can do hdr or not depends on the software farcry uses OpenEXR for its hdr and hdr wont work on x800s but what im saying is any x800 or 6 series gfx card is cabable of doing hdr and like i said depends on the software(the game engine)
 
So the x800xl can't do HDR? Or just not as well as the 6800gt? Or just not advanced HDR stuff?
Click to expand...
It can do HDR just as good. The thing is this:
Nvidia companies will not implement 2.0b for Nvidia so Nvidia can say "We can do HDR and u can't haha fuxors!".
I do think 2.0b is a tad bit slower and 3.0 is more flexible. If the company making the game takes the time to optimize HDR to it's fullest(which Valve did) you can get it to work on any Dx9 card that has good support for DX9.

So the x800xl can do it just as fast, but less games will support it because most of the games that do are Nvidia based.
 
I'd think Shader 3.0 enables some other effects as well. Like some stuff that Obivion uses.
 
So what is the best 6800gt version then? Is the XFX good?

Thanks for the info guys.
 
soxx said:
So what is the best 6800gt version then? Is the XFX good?

Thanks for the info guys.
Click to expand...

they arent called version its brands and EVGA is the best for the best warranty its lifetime and it covers overclocking and lots of other stuff i do not know of
 
I have an XFX 7800GTX, came factory overclocked and im more than pleased. My whole system runs more silent and cooler than my old one,
(My old specs were an Athlon 2400+, Ati Radeon 9600XT, gig of ram)

Though EVGA is usually a little mroe expensive ive heard great things about them...but either way my XFX came with BF2 for $10 more :). What a deal :)
 
The 6800GT is an awesome card and so is the X800XL. I'd go with the 6800GT unless you have a reason to like the X800XL better. The price isn't much of a difference. The X800XL will do better in HL2 and perhaps BF2 though.

There isn't too much difference between SM2.0b and 3.0. All DX9 cards can do HDR. With Farcry's patch for HDR they used OpenEXR to do HDR which is only with SM3.0. HL2's HDR works great on SM2.0 and SM3.0 cards.

The latest Splinter Cell game is really the only game that comes to mind that didn't put out 2.0b support right at launch among the newer games. There is a patch for 2.0b support now FYI. It looks the same as it does with SM3.0. It was a time thing for SM2.0b support from them.
 
y does everyone say x800xl will do better in hl2 then the 6800gt they both do extremely well
 
giant384 said:
y does everyone say x800xl will do better in hl2 then the 6800gt they both do extremely well
Click to expand...
Because most ppl don't play all the games out there but they want the few they do play to do really well in. So if someone played only HL2 and similar games why would they pick the 2nd best card for that game when they can get the 1st best card for less? No one said it was bad. *points to sig and sees 6800GT
Just gotta give both point of views or else ppl won't know what the other stuff can do for them. That isn't a smart buying choice then.
 
soxx said:
I'm looking to upgrade my 9800 Pro, and these two cards look like the front-runners:

Gigabyte x800xl - $252
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814125186

XFX 6800gt - $289
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814150102


Is one of these cards my best bet, or are there other options? The x800xl is closer to my budget, but the 6800gt seems to be a better card--is the extra money worth it? I'm just looking for best overall game performance.

Also, would there be any compatibility issues with my Asus A7N8X Deluxe and AMD XP "Barton" 3000+? Would this CPU keep up with one of these fast GPUs?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

6800GT for better performance, sm3.0, and fp16 hdr! :)
 
I have a new comparison for you guys.......

x850xt vs 6800gt

The reason for the change is that I've found (I think) the 850xt being sold underclocked and with 4 of the 16 pipes locked as a "x800gto2" from Sapphire. It looks like a bios flash and overclock of this new card will make it an x850xt. I'm assuming for about $250 that would be better than a 6800gt at $280-290?

I've found plenty of info on the pci-e x800gto2, but haven't found much on the AGP version, which Sapphire supposedly just released.
 
soxx said:
So what is the best 6800gt version then? Is the XFX good?

Thanks for the info guys.
Click to expand...

I think the bfg brand overclocks the card for you and they add a heatsink.
 
I've always had a good experience with PNY myself.
I'm looking at a 6800gt PNY right now.
 
Newegg doesn't have the PNY, eVGA, or BFG brands. Any other good internet retailers with good prices?
 
soxx said:
I have a new comparison for you guys.......

x850xt vs 6800gt

The reason for the change is that I've found (I think) the 850xt being sold underclocked and with 4 of the 16 pipes locked as a "x800gto2" from Sapphire. It looks like a bios flash and overclock of this new card will make it an x850xt. I'm assuming for about $250 that would be better than a 6800gt at $280-290?

I've found plenty of info on the pci-e x800gto2, but haven't found much on the AGP version, which Sapphire supposedly just released.
Click to expand...

x850pro has 12 pipes
x850xt has 16 pipes
 
giant384 said:
x850pro has 12 pipes
x850xt has 16 pipes
Click to expand...

Cool didn't know that, although I'd have to say that the 6800GT would be the best AGP card for price/performance ratio.
 
WhiteZero said:
And the 6800 has 16 pipelines after you unlock it.
:thumbs:
Click to expand...

Oh, I see. But how does performance compare with 128mb ram instead of 256mb? And are 100% of 6800's unlockable to 16 pipes or only certain brands?
 
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