Decision time on graphics card upgrade

[Don Burnette]

I currently have the following system specs that I built a few months ago:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Nforce3 mb socket 939
Athlon 64 bit 3500+
1 gb pc3200 Corsair LL ddr ram running in dual channel
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 mb agp video card
Creative Audigy2 ZS soundcard

I have the system overclocked, running at 2.55 ghz
I have the Radeon overclocked in 3d, running at 410/372

The system is very stable, and runs fine. However, i feel the Radeon 9800
Pro is holding me back somewhat, and am strongly considering adding
something like the X800XL.

Now, my dilemma. I can go ahead and get an agp version to put in this. The
pci express versions are a little cheaper. I know pcie is where the market
is headed, you see more and more pcie video cards available now than ever,
and fewer agp ones. I would like to get a good video card with 256 mb of
memory.

I am debating, whether to just go ahead and invest in a Nforce4 board to
accomodate a pci-e videocard and get that, or to go ahead and get an agp and
hold off on the motherboard upgrade. Should I upgrade the motherboard, I
would probably go wtih the MSI Nforce4 board. Or, I could wait a few more
months for the dust to settle, and do nothing.

Would appreciate any advice.

 

[Bobby]

You have one hell of a system already so my advice is keep what you've got,
wait 12-18 months and upgrade when Longhorn comes out.

In the meantime, you can spend your money on all other sorts of goodies
(such as 19" TFT).

Bobby

 

[Augustus]

I currently have the following system specs that I built a few months ago:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum Nforce3 mb socket 939
Athlon 64 bit 3500+
1 gb pc3200 Corsair LL ddr ram running in dual channel
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128 mb agp video card
Creative Audigy2 ZS soundcard

I have the system overclocked, running at 2.55 ghz
I have the Radeon overclocked in 3d, running at 410/372

The system is very stable, and runs fine. However, i feel the Radeon 9800
Pro is holding me back somewhat, and am strongly considering adding
something like the X800XL.

It may be holding you back in the benchmark game, but the 9800 Pro will only
hold you back if you're gaming in newer 3D DX9 titles at resolutions over
1024x768. As for Longhorn, for it'll probably need 2gig of RAM, an FX57, and
an X850XT PE for it to run at the same speed as XP Pro on a Barton 3200 with
1gig RAM and a 9800 Pro.

 

[Don Burnette]

Thanks for the info.

Funny, I was contemplating a 19" tft to replace my older 19" sony crt, I may
do just that!


Don Burnette

 

[johns]

In Far Cry, my 9800 won't display distant trees very
well, and frogs are very few unless AA is set to high,
and then frame rate takes a hit. I think the X800 AGP
will go to all very high settings without taking the fps
hit that the 9800 shows. It is just that the blasted X800
is still very expensive ... $330 . I want one. I've also
looked at the LCD monitors a lot. They are getting there,
but they still lack line density side to side.

johns