Upgrade question

prav1980 · Jun 9, 2005, 11:17 AM

Hi

I am new to this forum.... I am planning to upgrade my graphics card, but not so sure if it would be right thing to do..because of this AGP Vs PCI-E war going on...

My machine spec is as follows
Pentium 4 2.66
ABIT IT7-MAX2 Mainboard
1GB DDR
120X2 HDD
Sapphire ATI Radeon 9700 All In Wonder 128 MB - AGP
Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX.

I am not happy with the perfomance of my ATI card, which is giving me a frame rate of 5-6 FPS around busy sceneries in FS2004 (FS is loaded with all kinda of AI and sceneries). So i am planning for an upgrade. I am looking at 2 cards the ATI X800 XL (256) or ATI X850 XT PE(256), both AGP.

I am bit confused with this AGP PCI-E thingy going on now a days. My Mainboard does not support PCI-E so buying a PCI-E card which will give me better performance is out of the question. otherwise i should go for a PCI-E Mainboard as well..

I would appreciate if you guys could give me some advice on which card i should go for in case of a card upgrade...

thanks in advance
Cheers
Prav

transam · Jun 9, 2005, 12:12 PM

Both those cards will run fine on agp so I would not worry about upgrading your mainboard just yet. as far as which card, both are good but if you want the best performance you should go with the X850XT PE although I am not sure your cpu is fast enough to use it to its full potential.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 9, 2005, 03:59 PM

The CPU is fast enough.

I'd say go for the XL if you don't mind overclocking, however, if you've got cash to burn and want to stick with a sure thing, go for the X850.

As well, don't worry too much about PCI-E. I'm not making the plunge 'till I see some R520's Crossfire'd

riles9262 · Jun 9, 2005, 08:07 PM

The xl...the money you save outweighs the performance gain of the xt.

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 9, 2005, 08:20 PM

Or if you can find a really good price on a 6800 GT that might be good too.

To be honest the X850 XT PE is a bit ridiculous to begin with, you're paying a hell of a premium for it. The X800 XT isn't so bad, the X800XT PE is where I'd draw the line.

Even if you get an XL you can probably overclock it and get 98% the performance of an X800 XT

Necrosis · Jun 9, 2005, 09:17 PM

X800XL definitely, and with the mone you save you could get a P4 3.0e.

prav1980 · Jun 10, 2005, 11:29 AM

Thanks for all the replies guys... So I think X800 XL is the best option available...

Necrosis: I am not sure my MB can take P4 3+ processors...

One more doubt i have is about the different vendors in the market... I have seen X800XL from Sapphire, connect3d, Asus etc. Currently I am using Sapphire and I am thinking of getting the same one... Does the vendor really matter? if so can you please tell me which one is the best among them.

Thanks in advance
Cheers
Prav

H3X4D3C1M4L · Jun 10, 2005, 04:29 PM

Sapphire = ATI, ATI = Sapphire.

They had a sapphire one with a Zalman heatsink on it, *think* it was the ultimate edition, that may be a good one to check out

Necrosis · Jun 10, 2005, 05:46 PM

It should be able to take this...

http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=121

Jun 9, 2005, 11:17 AM	#1
prav1980 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Upgrade From 9700 AIW to X800 XL Hi I am new to this forum.... I am planning to upgrade my graphics card, but not so sure if it would be right thing to do..because of this AGP Vs PCI-E war going on... My machine spec is as follows Pentium 4 2.66 ABIT IT7-MAX2 Mainboard 1GB DDR 120X2 HDD Sapphire ATI Radeon 9700 All In Wonder 128 MB - AGP Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum EX. I am not happy with the perfomance of my ATI card, which is giving me a frame rate of 5-6 FPS around busy sceneries in FS2004 (FS is loaded with all kinda of AI and sceneries). So i am planning for an upgrade. I am looking at 2 cards the ATI X800 XL (256) or ATI X850 XT PE(256), both AGP. I am bit confused with this AGP PCI-E thingy going on now a days. My Mainboard does not support PCI-E so buying a PCI-E card which will give me better performance is out of the question. otherwise i should go for a PCI-E Mainboard as well.. I would appreciate if you guys could give me some advice on which card i should go for in case of a card upgrade... thanks in advance Cheers Prav Last edited by prav1980; Jun 9, 2005 at 11:34 AM.

Jun 9, 2005, 12:12 PM	#2
transam DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 54 Rep Power: 0	Both those cards will run fine on agp so I would not worry about upgrading your mainboard just yet. as far as which card, both are good but if you want the best performance you should go with the X850XT PE although I am not sure your cpu is fast enough to use it to its full potential. __________________ 2.8GHz P4 Northwood @ 3.4GHz : Thermal Take Big water Gigabyte 8IPE1000Pro 2 GIG GeIL DDR 500 Sapphire X800XT @ (520/560) : Thermal Take Aquarius II VGA Water Block

Jun 9, 2005, 08:07 PM	#4
riles9262 Driverheaven brewmaster Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: British Columbia, Canada Posts: 4,842 Rep Power: 72 System Specs	The xl...the money you save outweighs the performance gain of the xt. __________________ A beer a day keeps the doctor away.

Jun 9, 2005, 03:59 PM	#3
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	The CPU is fast enough. I'd say go for the XL if you don't mind overclocking, however, if you've got cash to burn and want to stick with a sure thing, go for the X850. As well, don't worry too much about PCI-E. I'm not making the plunge 'till I see some R520's Crossfire'd

Jun 9, 2005, 08:20 PM	#5
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Or if you can find a really good price on a 6800 GT that might be good too. To be honest the X850 XT PE is a bit ridiculous to begin with, you're paying a hell of a premium for it. The X800 XT isn't so bad, the X800XT PE is where I'd draw the line. Even if you get an XL you can probably overclock it and get 98% the performance of an X800 XT

Jun 9, 2005, 09:17 PM	#6
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	X800XL definitely, and with the mone you save you could get a P4 3.0e.

Jun 10, 2005, 11:29 AM	Thread Starter #7
prav1980 DriverHeaven Newbie Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 2 Rep Power: 0	Thanks for all the replies guys... So I think X800 XL is the best option available... Necrosis: I am not sure my MB can take P4 3+ processors... One more doubt i have is about the different vendors in the market... I have seen X800XL from Sapphire, connect3d, Asus etc. Currently I am using Sapphire and I am thinking of getting the same one... Does the vendor really matter? if so can you please tell me which one is the best among them. Thanks in advance Cheers Prav

Jun 10, 2005, 04:29 PM	#8
H3X4D3C1M4L DriverHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2005 Posts: 6,794 Rep Power: 0	Sapphire = ATI, ATI = Sapphire. They had a sapphire one with a Zalman heatsink on it, think it was the ultimate edition, that may be a good one to check out

Jun 10, 2005, 05:46 PM	#9
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 131 System Specs	It should be able to take this... http://www.starmicro.net/detail.aspx?ID=121