Graphics Been bitten by the upgrade bug

Ok, so I just got this new vanilla 6800 about 3-4 months ago, but now that I have gotten a taste of F.E.A.R and other next gen titles, I've been stuck with the urge to splurge

Being able to run BF2 and F.E.A.R on moderate settings is great, but I want more! Right now I have my card as OC'd as it's gonna get without volt-modding, with an AC Silencer5 Rev.2 on there and although I am very impressed by my current card, I can see that it's gonna lag on "next gen" titles. I'll admit, I love eye candy and F.E.A.R just about made me cream my pants when I cranked up the graphics.

Now upgrading means buying a new mobo, as my current one is AGP. I was forced to buy AGP when I last upgraded beacause I didn't want to replace my 9800 Pro (which promptly died on me about 2 months later ) thus I got the 6800.

So back to my point, I've been eyeballing something in the 7800 line up. The GTX is awesome, but runs about 100 more than a GT. I really don't know which one I would get if I were to even get one.

By the way, does anyone know if the AC Silencer 5 Rev.2 fits onto the 7Series GeForces?

So, should I just give in and buy the damn card, or am I just C.R.A.Z.Y?

7800GT or 7800GTX?

 

Well, I think if you bought the GT you will regret not saving that little bit more and getting the GTX. I think the GTX will last you longer in the terms that you wont feel the desperate need to upgrade for quite a while.

 

That is true. And if the time does come to upgrade, I can just slap another GTX in there , which im sure will be much cheaper at that time, and see huge gains in SLI.

This is gonna take some though....but I am an enthusiest........oooh if only I were rich haha!

Time for bed now (yes I work nights) but I will come back this afternoon after I wake up and check some more responses.

 

I'd go the whole hog and get a GTX. I can recommend the XFX extreme gamer's edition. It's not cheap, but this thing clocks like a demon! I've had it upto 560MHz on air, but the temps get out of hand... the new waterblock should sort that out tho when it's fitted. It's happily running at 520/1400 now, on the stock cooler, and never gets above 75 under full load, and idles at 50.

 

have you unlocked any of the pipelines on your 6800 using rivatuner? you mention you have overclocked the card but unlocking as many pipelines as possible would give you a pretty tidy boost in performance and may allow you to get a bit of extra life out of your current setup. My 6800LE unlocked to 16x5 pipes can play BF2 on high settings with 2xAA, not sure what frame rate i get but its perfectly acceptable with no jerking so must be upwards of 35.

 

Yes I have unlocked, as seen in my sig. That was a good boost, but as I said, its starting to show its age in games like F.E.A.R with all the pretty options turned on. when games like FarCry 2 and UT2007 hit the shelves I'm gonna be feeling the hurt.

 

7800GTX > *

'nuff said.

 

yup I'd say the GTX deffo, though have nvidia got any more 7800 cards coming? 7800 Ultra??

Also I got Q; Gainward GTX or XFX Extreme gamer ?

-Fr4nk

 

The Gainward Golden Sample is clocked 20mhz lower on the core at the same memory speed as the XFX EE. You could probably get the Gainward to the same frequency as the XFX, but you void the warranty, and it's not guaranteed to run at that speed.

In the end, it's your choice... save the money and try to get the overclock, or get one guranteed to run at 490. Either way, it's going to be ****ing fast

 

I'd possibly wait until Wednesday unless you are really desparate to buy now - I don't think you'll be disappointed with a 7800 GTX, but you just don't know what ATI might come up with on Wednesday (and if it is available on the day, even better).

 

I keep getting this weird idea of ATI leaking lower than expected performance figures and then releasing a card which trumps the 7800GTX... should be interesting to see.

 

Whats your CPU like? With BF2 i can play at 1280x960 w/4xAA everything maxxed perfectly fine on a 6800GT @ stock (should be similar perf to an unlocked, oc'ed 6800NU). Thats with my A64 @ 2.6, at stock 2.0ghz those settings are unplayable.

Either way, if you must get a new card, i'd wait to see what the ATI X1800 can do, then decide which is best (between it and the 7800GTX)

 

Wait to see what ATI has coming up.

 

I was thinking the same thing. I'm hoping with the release of R520 the GTXs will see a price cut, so for now I'll play the waiting game.