AGP better value for money: 7800GS or X700 Pro?

[Sarke]

I know, the 7800GS by a mile. However, I'm looking for a deal and through work I can get these prices (Canadian dollars):

BFG 7800GS OC $250 (local retail about $330)
ATI X700 Pro $90 (local retail about $130)

Is the 7800GS worth the extra $160 + tax? Both are 256 MB.

 

[slicessoul]

I would say 7800gs is worth the 160$.

 

[pauldh]

The X700 pro is about equal to a 6600GT...a $100 (USD) AGP card. For $90 Canadian, that is a very good price. But if you have a high end system and hope to play the latest games at a higher resolution with more details, then the 7800GS is the one to get. Keep in mind, that the 7800GS is about like a $125 (USD) PCI-e card (7600GT, X850XT) and nowhere's near a $200 PCI-e card or the upcoming X1950 pro AGP.

Anyway, to give the best answer we need to know:
1) your system specs
2) the resolution you game at
3) what games you play

 

[cleeve]

Yeah, both are good deals in canada but if you really want performance you might want to hold off for the X1950 PRO AGP, especially if you can source one cheep through your work.

MSRP should be close to the 7800 GS.

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

I know, the 7800GS by a mile. However, I'm looking for a deal and through work I can get these prices (Canadian dollars):

BFG 7800GS OC $250 (local retail about $330)
ATI X700 Pro $90 (local retail about $130)

Is the 7800GS worth the extra $160 + tax? Both are 256 MB.

Why such extremes? There are numerous cards inbetween. Even the 7600GS or x1650Pro would offer massive improvements over the x700 and would be about $70 more.

 

[Sarke]

Why such extremes? There are numerous cards inbetween.

Those are the only two cards I can get right now through work.

My specs:

P4c 2.4 GHz
1G DDR400
GF5600 (I know...)

The higher end games I'll be playing are games like Caesar IV (unplayable right now) and Oblivion (haven't bothered installing yet).

I'm thinking maybe I should just go for the x700 and wait a bit and thengo the PCIe route. I want the 7800GS too though...

 

[Mach5Motorsport]

Why such extremes? There are numerous cards inbetween.

Those are the only two cards I can get right now through work.


wow, the only two cards? Heck through work....then I would get the 7800GS

 

[pauldh]

With a P4 2.4GHz and a FX5600, I would go for the X700 pro. 7800GS simply isn't worth that much extra. If you had an A64 or P4 3.2GHz and a 19" LCD with native 1280x1024 resolution, then the 7800GS would be better, although really Oblivion would still hammer that card bigtime.

 

[Sarke]

I went with the 7800 GS, and I'm happy with that decision. I figured if I went with the x700 then I'd be upgrading my comp in about 6 months anyways, while the 7800 GS gives me at least another year.

I should also have mentioned I'm using a 21" widescreen with 1680x1050 native resolution. The extra bandwidth comes in handy.

Thanks for the input everyone!


Oh and Mach5Motorsport I should clarify that those were the only two AGP cards worth considering that I could get a good deal on.

 

[pauldh]

With your gaming resolution the 7800GS was the better choice. You may find out you are CPU bottlenecked in many games, and a good CPU overclock will help.

Is that a P4B(533 bus) or a P4C(800 bus). What motherboard? Dual channel Ram? Reason I ask is a i865pe P4 2.4C running dual channel is quite a bit faster than a P4B running single channel mem. Both will struggle in some games.