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View Full Version : 9800se 128mb agp to nv 6600 256mb agp. Worth the upgrade?

Simon
07-18-2005, 03:41 PM
Hi guys.

I'm a little stuck on a decision I need to make tonight.

I want to upgrade from a sapphire 9800 se as it has overheating problems and I am running a via chipset. The 9800 range has serious issues with the via mobo of mine and randomly resets. This is very frustrating so I've decided to throw the towel in on the card, as upgrading my mobo would be problematic.

The 9800 se only has half the pipes of a 9800 pro anyway and was only supposed to be a stepping stone card. I would naturally go for a ati card upgrade, but I'm worried that the clash might carry through into the newer models.

I'm going to try and get a 256 card as I work with some high res textures and want to be playing the next generation game that come out this christmas.


Heres what I want to buy. http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfoZoom.asp?WebProductID=170228

Heres what I had before : http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9800se.asp

I know for a fact that the new card is 100mhz faster, and has the extra 128 mb. It probably has the shader 3 technology that should be good for future games.

Will I notice an increase in framerate? Is it worth the cost or should I wait a while and get a better card. I shy away from the 6800s because they have higher prices for not much more spec over the 6600s. (Can you tell I spend too much time on this forum?) The mid range cards have better value for money.

I have a budget of £150 inc vat and p&p if anyone has any other suggestions. Otherwise I'll order this tonight.

Cheers in advance guys.

Simon
lots
07-18-2005, 03:54 PM
Well, for one, a Geforce 6800GT will perform about on par as TWO 6600GTs in SLI. Thats roughly 1.5-1.9 times faster (depending on game and how optimized it is for SLI ;)) On the workstation side, it will offer a noticable ammount of speed in comparison to the 6600GT, at least from what I have noticed from people on this forum..

Personally I'd go with the 6800GT if you can afford it. Its significantly faster, even if it only has a few more MHz than the 6600GT. The main reason for this is it has double the pixel pipes that the 6600GT has.
andytw
07-18-2005, 05:06 PM
Within your £150 budget the choice is really between the card you've chosen or a 128mb 6600GT as ATI don't make any AGP cards within your budget that are better than the 6600's.

There is a 256mb version of the 6600GT available but it costs around £177 (from Scan) but (unless the £187 price is an error) I'd suggest this (http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=132390) is worth the extra if your budget will stretch.

There is a useful comparison of AGP graphic cards here (http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html), it's gaming based but gives an indication of the sort of performance gains you can expect for different cards.

Looking at the comparison a 6600 is unlikely to give you much (if any) performance boost over your current 9800SE, if you must have a 256mb card then the 6800GT I linked is worth saving for. If you can live with 128mb then get a 6600GT as it will play all last Xmas's games at up to 1280x1024 wheras a 256mb 6600 won't.
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