Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb

[Joshatdot]

I am looking for a $100-$125 upgrade from my 9800 Pro.

My system right now is:

Asus A7N8X-X Rev2 with v1.09 BIOS
AMD 3200+ Barton Core 400mhz FSB (non overclockable)
2x512mb Geil DDR400/PC3200
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb w/Radeon Omega Driver 2.6.83
SB Live! 5.1 (SB0100)
Windows XP Pro SP2 (custom WinLite/nlite install)

Yeah it's an older technology system, but it works fine for what I do now. I can tell my 9800 is showing its age, so I am looking for a "shot in the arm" upgrade. I'll do a complete upgrade sometime, probably at the beginning of next year.

I would like to get a vid card with lifetime warranty, which is only from EVGA, XFX, and BFG as far as I know. On Newegg I see:

eVGA 128-A8-N350-TX GeForce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $95.99
eVGA 256-A8-N542-TX GeForce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $145.99
XFX PVT73DUAL3 GeForce 7300GT 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $119.99
XFX PVT42KVDE3 GeForce 6800XT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $126.99

If you have any other opinions or suggestions please tell me.

 

[pauldh]

If you go for any of those because of a lifetime warranty, you are getting less performance for the money compared to buying a X800GTO or X850 pro.

Forget the 6600GT, 6800XT, or GDDR2 7300GT...they are not much of an upgrade form a real (256-bit) 9800 pro. 7600GS is the best choice of yours listed but IMO it's not worth the money. This would be better for less money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102606

 

[Joshatdot]

Hmm...that looks like a great card, thanks Pauldh 8)

 

[Dahak]

Ya i would try to find an x850pro.Seems to be a good card but sometimes difficult to find.Goodluck on your search and purchase.

Dahak

AMD X2-4400+@2.4 S-939
EVGA NF4 SLI MB
2X7800GT IN SLI
2X1GIG DDR IN DC MODE
WD300GIG HD
EXTREME 19IN.MONITOR 1280X1024
ACE 520WATT PSU
COOLERMASTER MINI R120

 

[billystringer]

Just a suggestion, I don't know if I could say upgrading any AGP system is a wise idea at this point. AGP is truly on it's deathbed, and you will vastly limit your upgrading options if you intend to keep this card for your new rig. Plus AGP variations of the same PCI-e cards cost more. Short answer...save your $$$ and let it go farther when you are ready to take the big plunge!

 

[casewhite]

I am looking for a $100-$125 upgrade from my 9800 Pro.

My system right now is:

Asus A7N8X-X Rev2 with v1.09 BIOS
AMD 3200+ Barton Core 400mhz FSB (non overclockable)
2x512mb Geil DDR400/PC3200
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb w/Radeon Omega Driver 2.6.83
SB Live! 5.1 (SB0100)
Windows XP Pro SP2 (custom WinLite/nlite install)

Yeah it's an older technology system, but it works fine for what I do now. I can tell my 9800 is showing its age, so I am looking for a "shot in the arm" upgrade. I'll do a complete upgrade sometime, probably at the beginning of next year.

I would like to get a vid card with lifetime warranty, which is only from EVGA, XFX, and BFG as far as I know. On Newegg I see:

eVGA 128-A8-N350-TX GeForce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $95.99
eVGA 256-A8-N542-TX GeForce 7600GS 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $145.99
XFX PVT73DUAL3 GeForce 7300GT 256MB GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $119.99
XFX PVT42KVDE3 GeForce 6800XT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $126.99

If you have any other opinions or suggestions please tell me.

The "lifetime " warranties of these two manufacturers is either as long as
the card is in production in EVGa's case or as long as there is inventory in the case of XFX. Read the fine print at the web sites. Both are in the middle of an enforcement action on misleading warranties with the FTC. ATI has been selling the X800XT All in Wonder for $179 with a $50 trade in credit. I got that for an old Soltek 939 board. The absolute best is the HIS X1650 pro with a $15.00 rebate through 10/31. Part number H165pro256an-r. performance is about like the X800XT but without the frequent heat related failures that the X800XT and the X850XT seemed to have. That is why I don't recommend the X800XT. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Category=38&N=2000380048+50002058+106790809+1067923258+1069609639&Submit=ENE&Manufactory=2058&SubCategory=48
Even though these are AGP cards they will ultimately allow GPU acceleration for floating point when ATI gets the drivers out.

 

[raven_87]

frequent heat related failures that the X800XT and the X850XT seemed to have.

funny, I had an X800se, X800pro vivo, X850XT and an X800XT ( still got it around here I think) never once did I have an issue with heat.

 

[redwing]

<125$ range

Personally, I'd consider :

x800 (Pro or GTO or whatever other model there is)


From the Nvidia camp, I'd have to say a 7600GS (some of these ship with passive coolers, which may be a blessing or a curse, depending on whether you like to OC your card).

In your situation, unless you're completely set on your price range, you'd benefit from considering slightly pricier cards, as these offer more bang for the buck. I'm talking about the 7600GT and the x850 or x1800GTO.

If you're willing to go even higher, there's a x1950PRO looming on the horizon, as well as the (remaining) 7900GTO that can be had in the 200-250$ Price range. Thats really as much as I'd advise anyone spending on a DX9 card at this time.

Be sure to read at least a few reviews before you make your pick.

Cheers

 

[Joshatdot]

Huh...it's been awhile since I checked THG video card reviews, thats why I posted here. I just checked today, and found a new guide/review. The Best Gaming Video Cards for the Money: October 2006, says:

Best AGP Card For Under $100
Radeon X700
Geforce 6600

Best AGP Card For ~$125: 3 Way Tie
Radeon X1600
Geforce 6600 GT
Radeon X800 GTO 128MB

Out of the three for ~125, I would pick the X800 GTO, seems to have best overall bang for buck.

Best AGP Card For ~$130
Geforce 7600 GS
Radeon X1650 PRO

I would go for the 7600 GS here, as it has best overall bang for the buck.

 

[Joshatdot]

In your situation, unless you're completely set on your price range, you'd benefit from considering slightly pricier cards, as these offer more bang for the buck. I'm talking about the 7600GT and the x850 or x1800GTO.

If you're willing to go even higher, there's a x1950PRO looming on the horizon, as well as the (remaining) 7900GTO that can be had in the 200-250$ Price range. Thats really as much as I'd advise anyone spending on a DX9 card at this time.

Be sure to read at least a few reviews before you make your pick.

Cheers

I just want a nicer update to my 9800 128 Pro...once I have enuff for a full system upgrade, I'll go for the latest and greatest I can afford get.

I am looking at THG VGA Charts to compare X800 GTO, X850 XT, etc..to see which one performs the best.

 

[raven_87]

Out of the 125$$....I'd grab the 6600gt. Only because I've had experience with them.

In the $130...I'd grab the X1650, only because I know what potential they have

 

[Joshatdot]

I wish Newegg or TigerDirect or whoever sells em online would cross reference their cards with THG. So one could match up what they are selling and what scores they got in THG VGA Chart.

or the VGA Chart have clickable links to that card and who sells them.

Well the X800 GTO is one of the best for the $88~$150 price range. The X850 Pro is a better? for about ~$135. The X800 XT is a nice one for ~$149. ... oh wait the X800 XT is a AIW card =\

 

[Wildfox25]

I had a system almost like yours!

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD 2600+ Barton Core @ 1.9 GHz
2x512Mb Corsair Twin-x DDR400 2-3-3-6 Dual Channel
ATI Radeon 9800Pro 128MB
SB Audigy 2 ZS
WinXP Home SP2
35Gig Raptor Main Drive, 2 storage drives 20Gig/Maxtor & 80Gig/Western Digital
Antec True Power 430watt PSU

I tried to upgrade my video card just 3 weeks ago, went to Newegg (awesome shipping) I 1st order the :arrow: XFX GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128Bit 400/266 (533) DDR2 and I had to say I was very disappointed not only did it not run my games faster but it seem to perform worse, didn't run as smooth in my games, so I did the drill down and a fresh install of winXP just to make sure, so I sent that back and got a :arrow: Sapphire x800 GTO 256MB 256Bit 400/540 (980) GDDR3 it did a little bit better than the GeForce but I was wishing for my Radeon 9800Pro back but I had already given that to my little brother it just was not worth the hassle to upgrade I got either the same or just barley extra from it I felt that the bottle neck was on my CPU and my AGP and a newer AGP Card was not going to fix it, seems that the 9800Pro was perfect for it’s time, not sure but I was not happy, so in the end I sent that back and got a :arrow: XFX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128bit 590/800 (1600) GDDR3 PCI Express x16 :arrow: DFI LanParty UT nF4-D :arrow: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ @ 2.2Ghz San Diego, which is very over clock-able but I don’t over clock it seems when you over clock and if you’re a heavy gamer it throws the timing off a little don’t know but it just don’t feel right even thou I see the extra FPS and the faster boot, just don’t feel right when playing games when system is OC’ed

Well I have to say I’m happy can run all my games on max and still have head room, for the price of 2 AGP video cards I upgraded and got a better CPU, Mobo, and Vid Card all for $340 shipping included, Mobo was about 90bucks, CPU was about 90bucks and Vid Card was about 150bucks, was able to keep my memory, popped in my SB, and Drives a was good to go.

BTW
I all most forgot, I got the Mobo and I couldn’t use my PSU, because it had the 20pin ATX power and not the 24pin that is required for new Mobo’s mainly for all that SATA and PCI-E stuff, so I had to run out and get a new PSU which I was not happy about, so I had gone to one of those over priced comp stores and something told me to go to Staples and low behold they had a close out on some Antec True Power 500watt PSU for 60bucks.

If I were you I would either wait and do it big it will be worth it and you will be a lot more happy with a PCI-E upgrade, also for the future I can upgrade to any of the Athlon’s FX’s or Dual Cores, and a faster vid card in about a year or 2 when they become cheaper, but I plan on building a new system 2 or 3 months into the new year or when ever Vista and DX10 works out all the bugs and the hype and the price become reasonable.

Hope that helps

 

[cleeve]

That list is a month old already dude, which is an eternity in the video card world. Paul is right.

 

[kaotao]

If you go for any of those because of a lifetime warranty, you are getting less performance for the money compared to buying a X800GTO or X850 pro.

Forget the 6600GT, 6800XT, or GDDR2 7300GT...they are not much of an upgrade form a real (256-bit) 9800 pro. 7600GS is the best choice of yours listed but IMO it's not worth the money. This would be better for less money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102606

I agree.

 

[thefishdude]

yeah 850pro is my sugestion aswell if you can get one i got an 800xl in mine its good. allthogh i am bout to a do a dull upgrade.

my 800xl is held back by my 2600xp barton. but as you have a 3200xp you should see a better improvement. how ever you may still be cpu limited in some sitiations.

 

[ikaz]

I would go for the x850pro as well (actualy I did a while back), I went from a 9800np (Oc to pro levels) running on a AMD 1.7gig barton and it was a very good jump in graphic at that time (about a year or so ago). Even the with the slower processor I recieve a very good boost in performance.

I ended up replacing my MB and processor with a arock duel and amd 64bit processor and I still run my 850pro (OC to PE levels however pipes wouldn't unlock =/) and I plan to upgrade to a PCIe (maybe 1900xt) but I really haven't the need since I just play my games in 10x7 or a few 12x10.

 

[pamewan]

Thanks everyone for these ideas, it's good to see so many of us in the same boat. My rig is:

Athlon64 3000
Asus A8V Deluxe
Radeon 9800 Pro + Arctic Silencer
Audigy 2ZS Platinum
etc...

I built it about 18 months ago and ignored the advice of ppl to upgrade to PCIE to hold on to my 9800 Pro a little while longer. Probably a bad idea - could have hocked that thing on Ebay for more than I'd get for it now, and would have had more choices today. Of course, the thing is, you always get caught in the upgrade game. I mean, what should I do with my 939 CPU now? Upgrade that, too?

Anyway, helpful to hear the real experiences of ppl here. Let me ask a very specific question that I posted elsewhere: on THG's current VGA cards, which don't list the 9800 Pro, what's the best comparison card that IS on the chart? I'm told x800 -- thoughts?

 

[MRetired]

I just went through same thing last month. AMD64 3400, radeon 9800 pro, 1 gig pc3200 memory.

Thought it would be simple, just replace radeon 9800 with Sapphire x1900xt 256mb pci-e vid card ($240). I had to replace mb as well and now have ABIT NV8.

Going from socket 754 AGP motherboard, to socket 754 PCI-e MB was a lot of work. I even bought a new power supply because the x1900xt takes a 6pin plug. Basically meant rewiring, adding mb, vid card, and reinstalling xp. A royal pain in the butt.

Before I started out, my old system build had 3mark06 score of 853, now with new x1900xt pci-e vid card score is 4300, however the cpu score is still about 850. 3dmark05 score is now 9200, I did not test 3dmark05 prior to rebuild.

Personally I am now wishing I upgraded entire system to new conroe.
3dmark for that would be in 25,000 range. A few folks on here post a cheapo 6300 conroe system for around 700. I spent over 500 already, but of course did not really need the $200 power supply, only an adapter. Mwave.com has same ABIT MB NV8 for 36 dollars now, I paid $69 a month ago.

With the new DX10 vid cards coming out, quad core, and Vista in January, you may want to save up and wait a few more months.

Keep in mind whatever vid card you get now, is toast soon. Best wishes.

 

[Joshatdot]

eventuly I plan on getting a AMD 64 X2 4400+ AM2, 2x1GB OCZ DDR2-800, AuzenTech BGI-HDAXP-D HDA X-PLOSION 7.1 DTS Connect, Cooler Master Ammo 533 Case, Cooler Master iGreen Power 600W PSU, WD Raptor 150GB 10k RPM HDD,

For mother board, I'll need to more research on these, and what video card I go with:

* Asus M2 Crosshair
* Asus M2N32 SLI Deluxe
* Biostar TForce590 SLI Deluxe
* Epox MF570 SLI
* Foxconn C51XEM2A
* Gigabyte M59SLI S5
* MSI K9A Platinum
* MSI K9N Platinum

As for the Video Card..that I would like your input on too. If I can save enuff, is it worth it to get dual SLI/Cross Fire video cards?

 

[randomizer]

Dont bother with CS/SLI just buy a single better card for <= the amout you would pay for CS/SLI of a lower model card. Whats the point in buying 2 cards for more than the price of 1 card (although not by alot) that performs better than both of the lower cards together? For example I could buy 2 x1650pros for about the price of an x1900gt (in AUS its about $300), but take a look at this:

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/962/6/page_6_benchmarks_half_life_2_lost_coast/index.html

Keep looking thru it to get a better idea of what I'm talking about. Sure you arent going to notice a difference between 140 and 200fps but why not take the higher performing card anyway if its the same price? It means you can pump the graphics a bit more. And you will only have 1 heater in your case instead of 2.

EDIT: This page show where that extra performance is going to be really handy, once you start dropping below 40fps:

http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/962/8/page_8_benchmarks_f_e_a_r/index.html

 

[GeneticWeapon]

This would be better for less money:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102606

Reported :roll:

 

[randomizer]

Hey GW when did you change your avatar?

 

[Joshatdot]

Heh funny you pointed that avitar out...BF2142 is the main reason I want to upgrade my video card. It played decent enuff on my current rig, yeah I know its very dated for BF2142, but it played smooth, that engine is very adaptive for older rigs.

 

[randomizer]

Its basically a modified bf2 engine. They were too lazy to make a new engine for 2142