Look at this card comparison please

[MONOLITH]

The left column is an X800 Pro, the right column is an X1600 Pro. I was going to upgrade to the 1600, but when I saw it was only $200, and the X800 still sells for $350, I figured something was wrong. I thought the extra 512 memory would be a big deal, but does it make up for the other things.... clock speed, memory type, the memory interface....?





It looks like I'm better off sticking with my X800?

[BajaBravo]

I haven't been that happy with my X1600. It does the job i.e. I can play any title currently availible, but I had higher expectations on FPS performance. I went with the X1600 because it was AGP. If I had to do it again, I'd go for the X1900 and a PCI-express motherboard.

[Lazerblade]

I'd see if I could find a framerate comparison. The slower memory and weaker interface kinda make me wanna say "pass" on that x1600. I have an x700 that I paid very little for and I'm happy with the performance. If you can live with what you have and your other options don't seem to be worth the investment just yet, hold off a bit.

[MindlessOath]

the x800 i belive is faster regardless... memory doesnt matter any bit.  if you have a lot of it, on a slow card, it wont matter one bit.

more memory just means you can likly run at higher resolutions with better quality textures... ie doom3 on ultra mode... but then there is exceptions, like the actuall speed of the core and memory.  if its to slow then it wont matter.

512 on a slow card or 256 on a faster card (tho how much faster, ehhhh)  its not going to make a differnce really, the faster card is still going to be better.  tho the x1xxx serise of cards does offer alot more features, like shader model3 support.

i have found x800 cards for cheaper than 350$ you just have to do some shopping. i bought myne straight from ati, referbished for 280$ i belive.  and that was a while ago, and since then i have seen deals for it around 300$ give or take just a few dollers. but myne was an X800XT PE, the top of the line before the x850(and up).

dont factor out nvidia prices, im not sure what they offer in price since i havent looked lately.  but if you wait a while, when the new chips release, prices will go down.  this will happen around october give or take a month.

annother note, i would just start a new computer from scratch.... now this would take time, but would be great because of all the upgrading being done, like AMD's AM2 motherboards with pci-express and pci-express videocards.  when amd gets a new chip, called AM3, you will be able to use that chip in your AM2 motherboard, they are pin compatible and should only need a bios update - however they wont be as fast (because hyper transport2 is what those boards use as a bus technology, and AM3 is designed with hypertransport3, but will work with the older technology - just an update).

new DDR2, even tho i dont like it one bit, is out and its here to stay, and getting faster and faster every week it seems.

and the final point of upgrading is to be vista capeable.  now... this you would have to wait a little while longer.  basially vista requires 1 or 2 gigs of memory, working just ok with 512mb's minus the flashy 3d display... the faster and higher bandwidth the memory the better ie ddr2.

faster processor = better for vista, and more cores will benifit - intel is comming out with a new dual core duo to rival amd, and its looking very practical, i have been an AMD fan because it is cost effective and the performance leader, now intel is looking to make a change to their buisness and it MIGHT be for the better (highlight MIGHT, its not out yet).

pci-express is probably going to be needed, i belive with directX 10 in vista, its probably going to be some what manditory, i dont see much legacy stuff thats going to benifit. so a new video card is needed, this wait is off by 3 to 6 months (seeing that we have to wait almost 6 months for vista to release (hey mabe longer)... directx 10 is vista only... and a great gaming platform... vista's only real point to buy is for gaming, otherwise no one would buy it its winXP with directx10 and then bloat on top of it all (they want us to spend money on hardware, which is good, but... you get the point, a bad for every good).



why waste the money now if we will just have to do it later... save the money now and collect interest for a better system later (thats why they have a bank).

anyways... here are some prices...
x800XT all in wonder... $243.69
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=190667&AFFIL=pricewatch&NR=1

ATI All-In-Wonder X800 XT 100-714200 Radeon X800XT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
$269.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102492&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=14-102-492

Connect3D  Radeon X850 XT Platinum Price - $259.69
http://www.pricewatch.com/public/info.aspx?i=37&z=1674&ro=2&aid=5670269

VisionTek  XTASY Radeon X850 XT $155
http://www.pricewatch.com/public/info.aspx?i=37&z=1674&ro=1&aid=11740632

Connect3D  Radeon X850 Pro 256MB AGP $210.99
http://www.pricewatch.com/public/info.aspx?i=37&z=1674&ro=1&aid=8291873

so those are all under 300$ and... they are all pritty fast, THO do your research first!!!!!!!! an XT vs an XT PE or 800xt pe vs x850XT ... you have to know the differnce, tho one is faster in specs on paper, in real world performance it may DIFFER GREATLY... do the review thing, and SEARCH! dont get ripped off, if your going to pay ABOUT the same amount of money for a card then choose the right one.

[Aramis]

I'm surprised no one suggested Tom's Hardware... he's got an awesome VGA comparison chart here:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Select the cards you want to compare and then look at the benchmarks. What I like is that you can even select resolutions and AA/AF in some titles allowing you to tailor it to how you like to play.

[Mofoka]

Well I don't claim to know a whole lot but in my recent quest of upgrading my new rig I have gone through the following.

I went with the A8R32-MVP Deluxe which has the newest crossfire (RD3200) and supports a wide variety of overclocks both to the memory and to the CPU along with the PCI-e, in fact on the box it say's I can clock a CPU as much as 60% and the PCI-e as much as 35%.

The card I won, was a Diamond, X1600 Prowith the 512mb memory. I was happy with the card as with everything else combined I can run games like BF2 on the highest of settings including AA @ 6X, with a resolution @ 1280 x 1024 and still get a average of 50fps.

I have not been dissatisfied with the card until recently, I saw an ad in the BestBuy circular which stated a ATi X1600 PRO for $179.99. I had the wife drive out to get it while she was running her normal errands.

You see the nice thing about the X1300 and X1600 is that they do not require a master card I.E. a Crossfire Edition card to use crossfire.

I installed the card and ran the driver install and then opened 3dmark 06 and let it run while I went to bed, To my amazement when I woke up my score was a lousy 3000 something and I was like WTF!

I signed up for ATi tech support and went through the ordeal only to find out Diamond is not on thier supported card list for crossfire. I tried the cards in reverse and still the same thing. As I see it my friend madman has a X1900 XTX that I will get from him as he will upgrade to the newer chipset of nvidia when that comes out.

Mono, if you come across the X850 then by al means get it, because the X800 and 850 of that series are the most powerful. In fact yyou could actually get a X1900 for that cheap of a price and still have a good card on your hands.


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102025

SAPPHIRE 100149L Radeon X1900XT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail  for $355

Now all you need is the crossfire edition which costs more but it has the composite chip and then you'll have dual X1900's capable of playing any game at the highest of resolutions.

You could even get the GT version for very cheap. But I have to ask is it for AGP or PCI-e? And does your motherboard support crossfire, because if so you can add an addtional card later on when you have time.

I subscribed to PC Magazine and just got through reading this article on the "Fastest PC Ever".

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1978581,00.asp

Interesting article.

Edit: Found something for you BJB.

[MindlessOath]

http://www.pricewatch.com/video_cards/
enjoy... not sure if you seen the site before, they have revampt the site since along time ago, it includes customer ratings and comments about the stores etc.