Graphics how much of a diffrence will this card make

just wondering cause loads of theses sites are telling me about fps what type of fps i should be looking for . so what’s a rubbish frame rate what’s a good frame rate and what’s a great frame rate

if u could display your anwsers in like a boundarie type way that would be great like for example

10-16 =rubbish (just an example )

 

>30fps will generally appear as smooth and is your target, but you can often get away >15fps for short periods.

 

Well, I'm finally getting around to the upgrade, thought this one will also displace an FX5200. For the same price, would a 7300GT with 256MB be a better buy than a 6600GT with 128MB? They have the same #of pixel pipes, but the 6600GT has higher clock speeds. Any thoughts on the difference between cores?

 

Do you mean a 6800 or a 6600?

Roughly speaking, the 6800 will beat the 7300 which will beat the 6600....

 

7300GT is actually slower than the 600GT which is slower than thew 6800 based cards (esp the 6800GT which is one of the fastest GF6 cards and pretty close to the 7600GT). A 6600GT is the slowest card I would recommend while the 7600 cost very little more and are much better too. Speeds of core and RAM are:

7300GT core=2800+437 RAM=11.5
6600GT core=4000+375 RAM=16.0
7600GS core=4800+500 RAM=11.2
7600GT core=6720+700 RAM=22.4

EDIT: Forgot you're on AGP, you need to be extra careful what's available and how fast it really is. With simplified specs, good options are:

$80 6800XT 512MB 325/700 (8pipes 256bitDDR so effectively 325/1400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141026R

$92 6600GT 128MB 525/1050 (8pipes 128bitDDR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143083

$97 X1650Pro 256MB 600/800 (12pipes 128bitDDR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814161053R

$99 X1650Pro 256MB 450/1300 (12pipes 128bitDDR) could actually be 450/650
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057R

$100 7600GS 256MB 400/800 (12pipes 128bitDDR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145135R

I would aim for 256MB if possible although be warned that 512MB is pointless while a faster 128MB card could still be a good choice. The 6800XT may have dormant pipes which could be enabled, it's a gamble but if you got 12-16pipes working it would be a seriously fast card. The X1650Pro and 7600GS are about even and decently faster than the other cards listed (unless the 6800XT unlocks).

 

Sorry, it is indeed a 6600GT, not a 6800 as my ham-fisted typing skills kludged out. Thank you for the prompt responses!

Perhaps a few more details would help narrow the choices:

DFI Lanparty NF2 Ultra B mobo
1GB RAM (2x512 333mhz)
athlonXP (2600 currently, upgrading to 3000 range)

I'm not a big fan of ATI cards in general, but not opposed to trying them if the performance/$ ratio is better. The only caveat with that is, all of my mobos are currently nForce northbridges. Does that make a big difference with driver/hardware conflicts?

My main rig currently has a leadtek 6200 (was unlocked by rivaTuner) and after months of lockups and crashes, i bit the bullet and disabled the extra pipes. Stability has returned from the gfx end of things (thermals are another issue with all the dust in my house). I'm both aware and leary of the benefits/risks of unlocking dormant pipes, so I won't be choosing soley on their availability or potential.

So as Austin recommends, a 7300GT (256MB) is better than a 6600GT (128MB), but not as good as a 6800GT (256MB)? I was shying away from the GS and XT versions based on the conclusion that they're crippled versions of their GT brethren, but again, price/performance ratio is more important to me than raw power. My price point is pretty much fixed at US$100, and I prefer mainstream vendors, but if someone finds a good deal on pricewatch or froogle, please feel free to post.

 

Yes I agree the 6800XT is a gamble and I'm not a gambling man. If it's 6800GT based there's 2 sets of dormant pipes (2 sets of 4) so chances are pretty good that you'll end up with at least 12 pipes. If it's 6800GS based (which is less likely) there's only 1 set of dormant pipes (1x4) but it should have loads of o/c'ing potential. As you found before, unlocking the pipes isn't just about them being available, it's about them working 100% reliably once unlocked so you should always perform stress tests before deciding to keep them. Anyway if the 6800XT doesn't unlock it should still be close to 6600GT speed thanks to the acres of memory bandwidth it has. The 6600GT is a little starved so can't take full advantage of its effective 8x500mhz power. That said the 6600GT is a smaller card and may have a quieter cooler too.

Anyway the 6800GS is actually a reworked 6800GT which uses faster clocks to off-set the 4 pipe deficit, it's VERY nearly as good and way better than 6600GT, in fact it's often faster than 7600GS. On the other hand the 7600GS have more o/c'ing headroom and are cooler running cards (hence more likely to be quieter). Out of the Newegg options above I'd recommend you go for the 7600GS, which given your budget and preferences seems to be the best choice out of all available cards.

Be careful not to pay too much for a faster AthlonXP, Skt754 or even 939 are now cheap and the bottom-end ones are often faster than the fastest AthlonXP. Have you tried o/c'ing your existing CPU?

 

Ok, i think that points me in the right direction GPU-wise. The reason I'm upgrading the CPU is because the box I'm completing only needs a CPU*: i.e. the xp2600 from this box along with the 6200 card, both of which will be replaced by upgrades. I would go with a new 939 board, but again, this is all on a budget, and I have the 492 board already. I'm pretty satisfied with the performance of my XPs, and the only games I play regularly are GPU heavy, not CPU heavy. Admittedly, the prices for a 3200 barton are pretty outrageous considering their age...

A quick perusal of the mobo and cpu sections at newegg reveal that the last 2 years since researching upgrades has left me largely ignorant of what is available. The prices for the sempron, and even ath64X2s are tempting though. Yikes. Ugh. My brain hurts from browsing =(

[update]
Ok, just going by lowest cost and a minimum of investigation into the new technology, does:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103035
plus
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136162
for US$81 seem like a decent deal? That opens up more possibilities for vid cards, but also further complicates the researching process for me =(




*the FX5200 currently squatting in the AGP slot needs an eviction notice so I can flip the property

 

The S754 A64_3200+ @2.2ghz is way faster than an AthlonXP3200+ and loads cooler running too. If you're happy to tweak you could expect to get 2.4-3.0ghz in the right motherboard. In fact you shouldn't be afraid of the S754 Sempron, eg $27 S_2800+ 1.6ghz 256K which should be close to an AthlonXP_3000+. Again it will run cooler and is very tweakable, with many mobos happy to hit 300HT even the low 8x multiplier should get it to 2.4ghz (and hence actually faster than that A64_3200+ when stock). The nForce4-4X chipset that DFI uses is a good one and DFI are also a very good brand. As I'm sure you're aware it uses PCI-E rather than AGP which opens up more choice and longevity. For some ideas:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125156
$82 6600GT 128MB (unknown clocks, should be 500/1000)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170106
$83 6800XT

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141015
$83 6600GT 256MB (lower RAM speed; 510/800)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142082
$95 X1650Pro 256MB (600/400, I assume this means 600/800?)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130075
$95 7600GS 256MB (400/800)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127272
$99 X1650 256/512 (500/800)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130063
$99 6800GS 256MB (425/1000 but 256bitDDR so effectively 425/2000)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130062
$110 7600GT 256MB (560/1400)

I'd go for the 7600GT which is decently faster than the 6800GS which in turn is decently faster than the 7600GS or X1650Pro. I know it all pushes up your budget but just food for thought.

If your budget is tight you may want to consider tweaking your AthlonXP2600+. It should get near XP3200+ speed and this coupled with that 7600GS AGP would still be a massive upgrade from an FX5200, heck even with your stock XP2600+ it would be.

 

Well, for simplicity's sake, I've decided on the DFI board, the 3200+ Venice, and the 7600GT. The big hassle that I was dreading was the cursed Winblows license. Even with an upgrade XP Home disc (the cheapest way to go) it's still US$90! So a quick jump to Google for 'windows directx games on linux' brought me to Cedega. Not free, but at US$15 for a 3 month membership, I can play most all of my current games on Linux. w00t! In yer face, Billy boy. I still need to throw in a HSF, and a new keyboard and mouse--and I'm very choosy about those things--so the whole bundle will only hit me for about US$300 delivered.

GPUs have long been a struggle for me to choose, so a tip of the hat goes out to Austin for his wisdom and advice.