Im running a 2500+ athlon with 768mb of ram. I know this isnt a great system but i was thinking i could get a new card to get my computer the newer games that are coming out. My budget is around $130 but i can strech it if there is something out there worth it. Im guessing that buying something really powerful would be a waste on my system due to the slow cpu bottleneck but im not exactly sure. At this point im thinking that anything will smoke my 4800se that ive been using. What should I get?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125139 Don't think you will get any better than that for the price. What PSU do you have? The X800 will require a fair bit more juice than your Ti 4800SE.
I just bought a gecube x1600pro from newegg... seems to better my performance in all the games I play, but then again, i went from a 9600XT to a x1600pro... and I'm also running an athlon64 3000+ with 1gb of good ram
From what i have read the x1600 has newer technolgy (sm 3.0 or something like that) where the x800 smokes it on all current stuff. If i upgrade to the x800 will i be left in the unsupported category 6 months down the road or will it just not support all the shiney effects that a game can offer?
That sounds about right Jathm, but you'll be slightly better off for future-playing if you have full SM3.0 support etc. The X800's are a great card though, you won't go wrong if you buy one of those.
Could somone recommend a good agp sm 3.0 in the range of 150 or so? Sorry if im being difficult but this is something i dont want to screw up.
Just doing a quick search on Newegg, I see two cards that might fit the bill. Further searching may be required to find better manufacturers or deals. I have no personal experience with these cards but they seem to have good reviews. The X1600PRO on the other hand does offer SM 3 at a much lower price. So that may be the one to go for. btw my home system is of a very similar spec to yours with a 2500+ and R9600XT. I've been debating whether to upgrade gfx or to just save up for a new PCIe rig. Sort of academic really as I have no access to that computer and it will be another year before I do. Stupid school work.
GAH!! Im torn between the fact that the x1600 is more future proof while the x800 is faster at todays games. Will lack of sm 3.0 hinder my ability to play games for the next year or so, or will it just limit the amount of eyecandy that is attainable?
Well this might be a big stretch but I would get the 6800 GS AGP. I have an Athlon XP system similar to yours (Athlon 2500+ w/ 512mb of ram) and this card smoked my old card completely. My Old card was an FX5700 256mb (not a bad card for the day). After installing the GS I can play BF2 with all settings on high or medium. If you want some exact performance numbers read this. http://www.overclockers.com/articles1309/
The 9800 Pro was/is still a decent enough card... but I wouldn't recommend it, when he can get a much newer card like the Nvidia 6600GT (AGP) on his budget
