AGP Card Recommendation

[Jack]

I currently have a Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro 256mb agp video card and would
like to know what would be one or two steps up in quality with the same
chipset?
I want to start playing a few video games and think I need a bit more speed.
I also may want to overclock the card.

Current Setup:

GA-7N400 PRO2
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ Barton 333MHZ fsb chip
Two Kingston HyperX 512mb 184pin DDR 333 (pc 2700) Unbuffered memory
Saphire Radeon 9600 Pro 256mb
19" Polyview Flat Panel
Soundblaster Audigy2
160 gb Maxtor Drive
DVD +R-R
DVD ROM
Multi Card Reader -- Internal
Windows XP-HOME SP2

 

[Glitch]

Jack wrote:
/cut/

A 9800Pro would be a big upgrade to your system but as technology
progresses you now have an X700Pro that is cheaper and even a little
faster than a 9800Pro.
Or if you really want an upgrade to your system try the X800Xl(cca 299$)
that is about 2-3 times faster than a 9800Pro.

 

[Augustus]

I currently have a Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro 256mb agp video card and would
like to know what would be one or two steps up in quality with the same
chipset?
I want to start playing a few video games and think I need a bit more
speed.
I also may want to overclock the card.

Go for the X800XL. The 9800 Pro is a big jump over what you've got, but the
X800XL will literally kill it at 1280x1024 and above with options on. The
9800 Pro really is a slide show at these resolutions on new DX9 games even
without options on.

 

[JT]

Go for the X800XL. The 9800 Pro is a big jump over what you've got, but
the X800XL will literally kill it at 1280x1024 and above with options on.
The 9800 Pro really is a slide show at these resolutions on new DX9 games
even without options on.

I'd have to agree with this. I've just gotten one of these, and where Doom3
and FarCry used to be choppy in spots, it's now totally smooth and at higher
resolutions with AF/AA.

 

[Jack]

I'd have to agree with this. I've just gotten one of these, and where
Doom3 and FarCry used to be choppy in spots, it's now totally smooth and
at higher resolutions with AF/AA.

Guys, I don't think I can afford the x800xl right now. I'm probably going to
go with the 9800pro as I am just a beginner when it comes to the gaming
scene. I'm sure the 9800pro will be more than enough for me to begin with. I
also just recently downloade the ATITOOL to overclock my 9600pro and got
some decent results.

Baseline Card Specs using Aquamark 3
CM 398 / 223 MHZ
24,811 Total AQ3 Score

CM 481 / 257 MHz
29,183 Total AQ3 Score

CM 486 / 260 MHZ
29,345 Total AQ3 Score

I started to see some artifacts around 487.93 for Core Memory and 266.63 for
Memory in the ATITOOL. I still trying to figure out the ATITOOL, so I've
still got some tweaking to do, before I have reached my maximum settings.
I'm sure I'll be using this tool when I get my 9800Pro. Thanks for the card
recommendations.

 

[Augustus]

Guys, I don't think I can afford the x800xl right now. I'm probably going

to go with the 9800pro as I am just a beginner when it comes to the gaming
scene. I'm sure the 9800pro will be more than enough for me to begin with.
I also just recently downloade the ATITOOL to overclock my 9600pro and got
some decent results.

I run a 128Mb 9800 Pro @ XT clocks (412/ 730) on my 1 gig dual channel
Barton 3200 system and it runs everything with options on at 1024x768. The
limitations are only at higher resolutions. Like you, the X800XL is just too
steep for me. Best deal here in Canada if you can find a decent sale is
about $399Cdn. You can buy a brand new Sapphire 128Mb 9800 Pro for $175Cdn
on sale.