AIW X800 XT 256MB vs AIW 9800 Pro 128 (Both AGP)

[Anonymoose]

I have an AIW 9800 Pro AGP now, was thinking about upgrading to the AGP AIW
X800 256 but its kinda pricey. Don't really wanna go all out and dump my XP
3200+ right now tho. Is the AIW X800 worth the steep price tag in order to
move from the AIW 9800? Thanks.

 

[Augustus]

I have an AIW 9800 Pro AGP now, was thinking about upgrading to the AGP AIW
X800 256 but its kinda pricey. Don't really wanna go all out and dump my XP
3200+ right now tho. Is the AIW X800 worth the steep price tag in order to
move from the AIW 9800? Thanks.

I guess it depends on the purpose of the upgrade. The AIW features are
identical. The X800 XT will give you the ability to play Far Cry or Doom3 at
1600x1200 with max features on, and is definitely a faster card, but the
9800 Pro is not overly taxed by these games at lesser resolutions with
features on. (Although I must admit 1280x1024 with Doom3 on a 9800 Pro is a
slideshow in some areas) My games are run at 1152x864 with 4x FSAA and high
details. I consider an upgrade important when the games or software I use
are compromised in speed or quality.

 

[OneActor1]

I just built a PC with an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ processor and ATI's X800
XT Platinum Edition video card. So far, I haven't found anything the
system can't run on full-settings. There's a good comparo between the
ATI cards and the Nvidia cards with specs for most all of the models at
anandtech.com that may be of use to you. The Nvidia cards are slightly
quicker on 1 or 2 of the test games because they are optimized for
OpenGL, but the ATI chipsets, which are Direct3D optimized, blow them
away more often than not. As a side note, don't use 3DMark as a
benchmark test if you're getting an ATI card, 3DMark is OpenGL based
and favors Nvidia cards.

 

[Brian Dickens]

As a side note, don't
use 3DMark as a benchmark test if you're getting an ATI card, 3DMark
is OpenGL based and favors Nvidia cards.

Excuse me, but 3DMark is Direct3D-based. After all, it's a DirectX
benchmark.

=- Brian Dickens, the Netherlands

 

[Brian Dickens]

Excuse me, but 3DMark is Direct3D-based. After all, it's a DirectX
benchmark.

Further more, using Direct3D, ATi cards are favored as ATi cards are
generally better in Direct3D than their nVidia counterparts.

=- Brian Dickens

 

[OneActor1]

Well then I was told incorrectly. Nontheless, my system is as fast or
fatser than most others, but 3DMark definitely seems to favor Nvidia
systems, as I noticed MUCH slower machines posting MUCH higher numbers
than mine, many of them using NVidia cards, with 3DMark.

 

[Anonymoose]

Dam, you twisted my arm! I'm all over it now. Thanks for the post!