512 MB AGP 8X video card, $400-$500 range?

[Kevin Fishburne]

I've been reading articles on ATI's latest offering, the Radeon X850 XT
512MB, but apparently it's not yet available retail. Does a comparably
fast video card exist that meets the specifications stated in the
subject? I have no preference as to manufacturer, although DVI,
component, and HDMI outputs are preferable as well as an MPEG2 chip.
Using the video card with a 1080p DLP television will be its secondary
function. Primarily I will be using it to develop a graphic-intensive
mod for the game Far Cry. Thanks in advance.

 

[Gnu.Raiz]

Why are you looking for a AGP card right now? Most cards in that price
range will not be AGP for a long time. How does your current system
play high definition video, you might want to check out Apple, download
some HD movie trailers.

Most systems right now will choke on these movie trailers, unless you
have a very modern cpu, lots of ram. Also remember that most video
cards are cpu limited at those price ranges, if you put it in a low end
system you will be even more limited.

Good luck with your FarCry mod, as a suggestion you might want to join
a current mod in development that way you will be able to see how
others are doing it. It might make your mod more visible to the
community if they know you a little bit better.

Gnu_Raiz

 

[Kevin Fishburne]

Thanks for the reply. My current motherboard is an ASUS P4C800 Deluxe,
w/ built in SPDIF audio and SATA RAID controller capable of RAID 0-1.
I'm running it with 2GB PC3200 RAM, dual channel, and a Pentium 2.8 GHz
CPU overclocked to 3.36 GHz. It doesn't have PCIe, only AGP 8x. If a
motherboard exists that would support my current CPU, requirement for
SATA RAID0, SPDIF audio out, and PC3200 RAM and also has PCIe or PCIe
x16 slots the problem would be partly solved. I basically don't want to
build a new PC just to support a good video card. Because of the nature
of the Far Cry Sandbox editor, 512 MB of RAM on the video card is
mandatory.

Although I will be occasionally playing DVDs/DVD rips, I'd like to be
able to play games in 1080p. My current video card, an ATI AiW 9700 Pro
has a component output capable of 1080i at 30 Hz and 720p at 60 Hz. I'm
hoping an HDMI output on a new card will allow 1080p at 60Hz, which is
the television's highest mode.

I've been working on my mod (http://ultima5.dyndns.org) for a while now
and will probably abandon Morrowind as a platform for the superior Far
Cry engine. I'm in the process of learning about its capabilities and
limitations before making a final decision.