Sell 9800 Pro, get X800 Pro?

[Terminat.]

Okay, I have had my MSI RX9800 Pro 128MB since October - I bought it just after a 9800 Pro price-drop for £150. Accompanied by an overclocked 3200+ Barton and 1GB PC3200 memory, it has played all the latest games so far at 1280*1024 (max. res on 17" Samsung TFT) and max. detail, including HL2 and Rome: Total War.

Now, someone I know is interested in buying my 9800 Pro for £100 ($188). If I do sell it, I'll get this vid. card (UK ebuyer site): http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=4906841137&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=64953

It's £290 ($545), so I'll still be spending £190 ($358) if I get this video card, even after the sale of my great 9800 Pro (clocked at 417/370Mhz)

So should I go ahead with it? After all, I can play all my games at max. res/max. settings on my 17" LCD, so what will this X800 get me (apart from a quieter pc, due to the Iceq quiet fan, based on the Arctic VGA Silencer design - that stock 9800 fan is quite noisy!)

How long will my 9800 Pro last, assuming I must play all the latest games at 1280*1024, max. detail settings with no AA or AF?

[Sevin7]

Sell 9800 pro - Get X800XL

[Terminat.]

X800XL? Nah, thanks but if I'm going to upgrade, I want to upgrade my pc to the lovely Hightech X800 Pro :)

So is it a good idea to sell my 9800? I guess it all depends on how long my present vid. card will play games at 1280*1024/max. settings

[hkh]

The X800XL is faster then the x800pro unlike the pro it has all 16 pipes, but you caint use it since it is only PCIE so yea go for the x800pro.

[Terminat.]

The X800XL is faster then the x800pro unlike the pro it has all 16 pipes, but you caint use it since it is only PCIE so yea go for the x800pro.

Yep - doesn't the X800XL also have a better core too? But, anyway, I'm perfectly happy with AGP for now, so an X800 Pro will be fine. :)

So, then, you reckon it's worth upgrading to then? How long exactly would my 9800 Pro play the latest games (max. settings/1280*1024 res) if I didn't choose to upgrade my pc?

[DamienKC]

Why a hightech? because of the VGA silencer...? Just get a sapphire x800pro vivo for $415 then spend another $20-$30 on a VGA silencer and you'll have yourself a x800xt-pe.

[Terminat.]

Why a hightech? because of the VGA silencer...? Just get a sapphire x800pro vivo for $415 then spend another $20-$30 on a VGA silencer and you'll have yourself a x800xt-pe.

No thanks... you might think it cowardly but I'm not about to risk destroying a £290 video card. Besides, the Hightech is reasonably priced in comparison to the other X800 Pro's with stock coolers.

[felinusz]

I would not upgrade from a 9800 Pro, unless you plan to migrate to a PCI-Express platform at the same time you upgrade your video card.

The upgrade will indeed net you some large performace gains, but I would question the practicality, when your brand new AGP X800 Pro video card will be no good to you once you do move to a PCI-Express platform.

Look at it this way, the 9800 Pro card will quite likely last you untill you migrate to PCI-Express, you can also always upgrade your cooling, and overclock it a little bit more later on.

[bsfalcon]

um, unless youre a diehard ati fan, ive heard that the nvidia 6800's and 6800gt's are cheaper and can be softmodded/flased to full 6800ultra. and doesnt the x800pro have 12 pipes, and the others8/12 that can be opened top 16?

[Yuriman]

The 6800 is 12pipe, the Gt is 16pipe and clocked slower than the ultra. If I were in your shoes, I would sell the whole rig and move to pci-e, OR live with what I had until prices come down...at which time your current pc would not be worth as much.

[Darkstorm_13]

yea, the 9800 pro is a good card, and will last u until u have to updgrade to pic expres.

[WildMonkey]

I have a 9800 pro myself and I'm itching to upgrade as well but I'll be damed if I'm going to spend money on a dying technology (AGP).

I'm going to wait until the dual core AMD's come out (hopefully end of Q2) and buy a dual core system with a x800 xl better.

[Grov]

£50 cheaper:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800_Pro.html

And thats just the first one i came accross. Don't pay almost 300quid for a X800Pro.

Id only pay that if it was a Vivo, and you were gonna mod to XTPE.

Hell the vivo there is only 258quid.

Hell overclockers do one for 240quid. Thats almost a saving of 60quid. :clap:

Shop around. If you want some other online retailers, PM me, i know loads.

[Overclocker550]

well your 9800pro does overclock crappy but its still great for your games. If you upgrade, get a pci-e x800xl, dont bother with another agp card

[Terminat.]

well your 9800pro does overclock crappy but its still great for your games. If you upgrade, get a pci-e x800xl, dont bother with another agp card

Nah, my 9800 Pro overclocks pretty well - it's just getting a bit dated.

£50 cheaper:

Thanks for the link. I might go for that one, but I'll have a look round first :)

um, unless youre a diehard ati fan, ive heard that the nvidia 6800's and 6800gt's are cheaper and can be softmodded/flased to full 6800ultra. and doesnt the x800pro have 12 pipes, and the others8/12 that can be opened top 16?

I'm not a super-fan of ATI, though my last few cards have been only theirs - in part due to the failure of the FX series. However, I hesitate to upgrade to an Nvidia 6-Series because of 1) their very high power consumption (min. 400W, I have a Nexus NX-3500 Special Edition 350W PSU) and 2) From what I have heard, they are very loud.

So, the conclusion seems to be that an X800 Pro would be a good upgrade, which brings me to my next question:



You all say I'll need to upgrade to PCI-E/64-bit, but when? I was hoping to wait for DDR2 next year, so I can upgrade to 64-bit/PCI-E and DDR2 all at the same time. Also, there's the question of what to upgrade to - just look at people who upgraded to the state-of-the-art 64-bit Socket 754 at the beginning of 2004, and now it's been outdated by the 939 that has double the memory performance.

However, I only really want to upgrade when high-end graphics cards stop being sold in AGP form. When will that be = when I will upgrade.

[Overclocker550]

if your set on sticking to agp a while longer then I guess get the cheapest x800pro you can get, forget the vivo, not all mod and some die after modding, they were never made to have 16 pipes. I am sticking with my current graphics(equivalent to a stock 9800p) as im not a super hardcore gamer nor do I use aa/af

[Grov]

well your 9800pro does overclock crappy but its still great for your games. If you upgrade, get a pci-e x800xl, dont bother with another agp card

Don't listen to him my freind. If you ask a few people, they will tell you his track record. :clap:

Yeah good advice, upgrade to a x800xl, with a new board and new CPU, :rolleyes: doh.

I think for 240quid you can't beat a X800Pro, though id have a look at some 6800GT's as well. Id google for some benchmarks to compare.

I can say that AT drivers are quite impressive, and i love my XTPE. I imagine the X800Pro is a quality card if it's anything like this. They overclock really well to, usually.

Seeing as your gonna game at 1280x1024 a X800Pro or 6800GT would be perfect.

Good luck in your choice. Again if you want loads of UK links, PM me.

[Overclocker550]

the x800xl is 16 pipes while the x800pro is 12. If he chooses to stick with agp, hes gonna have to go pci-e sooner or later, might as well go sooner and get the better x800xl card too

[Grov]

the x800xl is 16 pipes while the x800pro is 12. If he chooses to stick with agp, hes gonna have to go pci-e sooner or later, might as well go sooner and get the better x800xl card too

He obviously does have a braincell. He manages to get his point across without flaming -- Oni :sn:

[Overclocker550]

the x800xl has been proven to outperfom the x800pro, thats a fact

[felinusz]

Terminat. - S939 will be AMDs standard for quite some time.

An S939/PCI-Express upgrade is a future-safe one (at least, everything I have read indicates this), so there really isn't too much to worry about in terms of DDR2 causing reason for another upgrade prematurely. It will be a while untill AMD implements DDR2 into their platform anyhow: an S939/PCI-Express upgrade will easily hold you off.

When S754 first became popular, there was much discussion about it being a dead-end upgrade avenue, as far as a future-proof computer is concerned. People knew that S754 was not going to go anywhere, starting right around now (Q1, '05), and most accepted this fact when they purchased their S754 machines.

[mtb856]

I think I might agree with Felinusz this time..... if you want a gaming PC with PCI-E and DDR2, I'd go Athlon 64..... Intel's switching over to LGA775 right now, and I would imagine that you could get a very decent A64 gaming system for a lot less than a high performance LGA775 system right now. With the strained silicone process in the A64's, they're starting to overclock quite a bit better from what I've heard.

[Terminat.]

Terminat. - S939 will be AMDs standard for quite some time.

What about the mainstream dual core processors that are supposedly coming at the end of this year or the beginning of next? I don't want to spend loads of money on incredibly new technology for it to be outdated really quickly.

[deception``]

What about the mainstream dual core processors that are supposedly coming at the end of this year or the beginning of next? I don't want to spend loads of money on incredibly new technology for it to be outdated really quickly.

All upcoming dual cores are scheduled to be compatible with socket 939; One more reason why it remains the most attractive upgrade.

deception``

[Terminat.]

All upcoming dual cores are scheduled to be compatible with socket 939;

Nice! :)

But, one more thing, you all seem to be of the opinion that a motherboard upgrade is necessary. But why? Is it because:

1. A 64-bit processor will give much better performance in games (over a Barton 3200+) - somehow doubtful

2. Future-proofing - soon you will no longer be able to buy high-end AGP Cards

Since PCI-E gives absolutely no benefit over AGP at this present point, I'm assuming it's one of the two options above, and I assume it's option 2 since the video card is more important than the cpu in gaming.

[mtb856]

Applications right now aren't designed to take advantage of the 64-bit compatibility and the larger cache of the new cpus that are coming out, but they are coming out...... so it would be better IMO to wait and save your money for an upgrade to the new technology that these applications can take advantage of.

[Terminat.]

Applications right now aren't designed to take advantage of the 64-bit compatibility and the larger cache of the new cpus that are coming out, but they are coming out...... so it would be better IMO to wait and save your money for an upgrade to the new technology that these applications can take advantage of.

I guess - but am I going to use it?

Bearing in mind that I use my desktop for several things:

1. Microsoft Office

2. Internet Surfing

3. Games

Now - while I can imagine more niche software, like video encoding etc. going 64-bit - can you really imagine games going 64-bit within the next 3 years? I doubt it, simply because so few of the population have 64-bit machines - it would wipe out most of the PC games market.

[deception``]

Applications right now aren't designed to take advantage of the 64-bit compatibility and the larger cache of the new cpus that are coming out, but they are coming out...... so it would be better IMO to wait and save your money for an upgrade to the new technology that these applications can take advantage of.

It's true that 64-bit extensions are worthless at the moment, but it has been proven on many occassions that applications such as games take advantage of increased cache sizes. Hell, if you haven't noticed this was Intel's entire strategy for their Prescott lineup.

deception``

[Terminat.]

It's true that 64-bit extensions are worthless at the moment, but it has been proven on many occassions that applications such as games take advantage of increased cache sizes. Hell, if you haven't noticed this was Intel's entire strategy for their Prescott lineup.

Yes, but:

A. Wasn't the 478 Prescott line-up a failure, and the new Socket 775 Intel Extreme Edition with 1Ghz FSB also failed against the 64-bit AMDs, despite their huge 2MB of L2 cache

B. So should I really spend hundreds of pounds for more cache?

Sorry if I seem like I'm arguing against you. Please be assured, I'm not. I just don't know much about the benefits of 64-bit, and am trying to justify spending a large sum of money.

[Mr.Guvernment]

Well just think though - ocne you go PCI-E will you be able to sell the 9800PRO for $188 ? or more like $100.....

WHen do you plan to do other upgrades? a year, 2 years...

[Terminat.]

Well just think though - ocne you go PCI-E will you be able to sell the 9800PRO for $188 ? or more like $100.....

WHen do you plan to do other upgrades? a year, 2 years...

Well, I've only had the 9800 Pro since October (got it brand-new) so it's still worth around £100 or so.

Other upgrades? Do you mean if I went with an AGP X800 Pro? Well, in that case I'd stick with my present motherboard as long as I possibly could i.e. as long as an AGP video card existed that could play all the latest games at 1280*1024/max. details/no AA or AF

[deception``]

Yes, but:

A. Wasn't the 478 Prescott line-up a failure, and the new Socket 775 Intel Extreme Edition with 1Ghz FSB also failed against the 64-bit AMDs, despite their huge 2MB of L2 cache

B. So should I really spend hundreds of pounds for more cache?

Sorry if I seem like I'm arguing against you. Please be assured, I'm not. I just don't know much about the benefits of 64-bit, and am trying to justify spending a large sum of money.

A: Prescotts are considered failures in that they provide little of a clock-for-clock performance increase from a Northwood. Additionally, they consume about 30% more power, which leads to their high temperatures. It is these reasons why the Prescott would be considered a "failure." On the other hand, they are known to overclock much better than Northwoods, which has given many Intel enthusiasts a little renewed faith. But yes, the P4 3.46EE is a failure any way you look at it.

B: No. You should be willing to spend a marginal amount of money, but hundreds is not necessary. There is about a 150-200 Mhz difference between a 512K and 1MB cached Athlon 64.

The big gaming benefit of the Athlon 64 is the on-die memory controller. By moving the controller onto the processor itself, AMD has managed to remove their dependency on memory latencies; hence, the memory often interacts with the system at a much faster pace. This translates to very nice gains in memory-intensive programs such as games. To give you a good idea of a performance benchmark, my processor is roughly comparable to a stock 3200+.

deception``

[Terminat.]

The big gaming benefit of the Athlon 64 is the on-die memory controller. By moving the controller onto the processor itself, AMD has managed to remove their dependency on memory latencies; hence, the memory often interacts with the system at a much faster pace. This translates to very nice gains in memory-intensive programs such as games. To give you a good idea of a performance benchmark, my processor is roughly comparable to a stock 3200+.

Sorry, what is your processor? It says in your sig. that you've got a Mobile 2600+, is that 64-bit or something?

Anyway, now that I'm considering it - I'll need to work out all the costs. For a gaming machine with an X800 Pro or XL, what kind of cpu and NForce4 motherboard would you recommend?

[deception``]

Sorry, what is your processor? It says in your sig. that you've got a Mobile 2600+, is that 64-bit or something?

Anyway, now that I'm considering it - I'll need to work out all the costs. For a gaming machine with an X800 Pro or XL, what kind of cpu and NForce4 motherboard would you recommend?

1. A mobile barton is a 32-bit processor. It takes about 2.6-2.7 Ghz on an Athlon XP to equal a 2.0-2.2 Ghz Athlon 64.

2. My suggestion would be an upcoming DFI, but there are others such as the MSI K8N Neo4 and Asus A8N SLI.

deception``

[felinusz]

But, one more thing, you all seem to be of the opinion that a motherboard upgrade is necessary. But why? Is it because:

1. A 64-bit processor will give much better performance in games (over a Barton 3200+) - somehow doubtful

2. Future-proofing - soon you will no longer be able to buy high-end AGP Cards

Since PCI-E gives absolutely no benefit over AGP at this present point, I'm assuming it's one of the two options above, and I assume it's option 2 since the video card is more important than the cpu in gaming.


It is mainly #1 that motivates my advice against buying a high-end AGP video card.

A64s, and indeed intels newest offerings as well, are head and shoulders above Socket A processors (Socket A chips all use AGP motherboards as well, forcing a platform upgrade, if you want to use a PCI-Express video card).

Not only that, but the newest, latest and greatest A64s are S939 processors. The newest, latest and greatest S939 chipset, the nForce4, will likely be mostly (if not entirely) PCI-Express based, rendering a high-end AGP video card semi-useless to the up-to-date overclocker, whom will be interested in a platform upgrade (and as such, leave AGP behind) within the next year or two. A high-end AGP video card will be left behind and wasted when such an upgrade occurs.

If you want your new video card to have a good long lifespan, and survive several upgrade waves, you'll future-proof, and go PCI-Express. While it is true that PCI-Express offers no real benefit over AGP, it IS the new standard.


Mr.Guvernment

Well just think though - ocne you go PCI-E will you be able to sell the 9800PRO for $188 ? or more like $100.....

Right now, a fully voltage modified 9800 Pro sells for ~$150, stock cards for less money. In two months, you'll get way less then that. But is the ~$80 you save now, worth wasting ~$400+ on a very high-end AGP video card, that will be obsolete when you do decide to change platforms (whether AMD's latest and greatest or intel's)?

Personally, I would wait, keep your 9800 Pro, and get a PCI-Express card at the same time you change platforms.

The 9800 Pro is a solid card, and will last you. It seems to me that many people are forgetting that we are not talking about upgrading from a ~9600. A 9800 Pro is still a very solid video card, and many, many people still use one in their gaming machine.

[Terminat.]

1. A mobile barton is a 32-bit processor. It takes about 2.6-2.7 Ghz on an Athlon XP to equal a 2.0-2.2 Ghz Athlon 64.

Sorry, let me re-phrase that: I know what a Mobile Athlon is, I was just confused when you related it to 64-bit processors. I thought - is there a 64-bit version of these or something?

. My suggestion would be an upcoming DFI, but there are others such as the MSI K8N Neo4 and Asus A8N SLI.

A DFI? What do you think of these three (they're very expensive though):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html

[deception``]

Sorry, let me re-phrase that: I know what a Mobile Athlon is, I was just confused when you related it to 64-bit processors. I thought - is there a 64-bit version of these or something? There are some Mobile 64 processors, but they are all currently s754 (single-channel). AMD also has plans to release more s754 mobile chips that consume even less power (about 25-35W I believe).



A DFI? What do you think of these three (they're very expensive though):

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Socket_939.html They're all good boards. For a breakdown of the motherboards, look at my sticky in the AMD CPUs section.

deception``

[Terminat.]

Sorry, I was kind of rushing and didn't get time to read your post properly about mobile cpu's.

If I do go for one of those boards, it'll probably be the cheaper one at £90 - since I don't care much for SLI. You'd have to be an absolute performance-lover to buy two top-of-the-range vid. cards.


Does anyone know how cheap you can get new nForce4 boards? I don't care much about features like SLI, but want one for under £70. Is that possible, because if it isn't, then I guess I'll settle for the £89 DFI.

[deathman20]

Get the X800Pro or the X800XT (16 pipes). At least where I've seen they are around the same price about 2 months ago that is.

I had a 9800pro and upgraded to my X800Pro Vivo, it was a nice welcome to my system. Games run nicely at 1280x1024 since I have an LCD it was a requirement.

Now everyone saying go PCI-E and upgrade the whole system your nutz. Yes the card will be good for the system but your leaving something out. Those CPU's might be top of the line right now but if you want a newer cpu in a year, you'll have to upgrade to a different board probley due to the chipset changes. At least Intel is for sure, with the dual core CPU's.

I got my card for 3 reasons.

1) It was top of the line card and would last me another 1-2 years.

2) I didn't want to upgrade my whole system to a PCI-E board because I didn't like the heat the newer CPU's where putting off.

3) Hopfully my next upgrade will be to a BTX board, at least thats what I'm trying to hold out for.

You have to get your priorities set of what you want to do for future upgrades. Getting a AGP card will guarrenty that it will be nearly the highest Video Card for the slot. It will last for a while and does really well in today's lineup of games.

[Grov]

the x800xl has been proven to outperfom the x800pro, thats a fact

Telling somebody to 'STFU' is clearly against the rules. You don't seem to care much about them, do you? You've had three warnings and a 3-day for flaming already.

Gather your information somewhere else from now on. Permanent ban.

-- Oni :sn:

[deception``]

I hate to break it to you, but Oc550 is right. Not only is the x800XL faster than a Pro but it should retail for less, too. So if you were looking to buy any next-gen card that should be your choice.

However, know that the 9800 Pro is far from a slouch. As felinusz wisely stated, the 9800 Pro still can and will hold its own even in today's newest games. So there really is no immediate need to upgrade at this point and time.

Having said this, I still feel that an Athlon 64 would be your best bet. But you should not make any moves until you are willing to make more of a complete upgrade; In other words, you shouldn't spend a dime on your current system and instead save toward a s939/PCI-e combo.

deception``

[Grov]

I hate to break it to you, but Oc550 is right. Not only is the x800XL faster than a Pro but it should retail for less, too. So if you were looking to buy any next-gen card that should be your choice.





Lets got some things straight shall we. Yes a XL is faster? SO ****ING WHAT JESUS IN ON PCI EXPRESS. So in order to get the XL he has to also buy a new motherboard and CPU, which frankly, i don't see the point. An XP3200 is no slouch, and a video card upgrade alone is easily the better and cheaper option.

Total upgrade so he can get an XL i don't see the point at all. **** PCI Express.

You guys don't seem to think that money is ever a problem, can't just throw in a new CPU/mobo, maybe even ram, geesh.

[deception``]

Actually Grov, had you have carefully read my post then you would have found out that I recommended against upgrading at this time. However, if he is going to spend any money down the road, then an Athlon 64 PCI-e system is his best bet.

deception``

[Grov]

But how on earth can you reccommend to someone with a AGP system, to overhaul it, just to get a PCI Card, which quite frankly can be got for AGP.

Whats gonna get the biggest increase in games? A X800Pro, there 1 thing upgraded. :attn:

[deception``]

But how on earth can you reccommend to someone with a AGP system, to overhaul it, just to get a PCI Card, which quite frankly can be got for AGP.

Whats gonna get the biggest increase in games? A X800Pro, there 1 thing upgraded. :attn:

Once again, I am stating that his current system is fine, and that no such upgrade should be necessary for several months. You're thinking way too short-sighted here.

deception``

[Grov]

Not really, he's a gamer, im sure he wants to play games. Like i always say, why build a PC for the future, with upgrades paths and bull **** build one now and enjoy HL2, Far Cry, D3, like they should be. :clap:

[deception``]

Not really, he's a gamer, im sure he wants to play games. Like i always say, why build a PC for the future, with upgrades paths and bull **** build one now and enjoy HL2, Far Cry, D3, like they should be. :clap:

All he wants to do is play games at 1280x1024 without any IQ, which is more than possible with his current setup. It is for this reason why he does not need to spend any additional funds on an AGP video card, and should not purchase anything for his current system in lieu of a nice Athlon 64 setup months down the road.

deception``

[Runner30]

I'm sorry if I repeat someone's words, I skipped last post.
Here are my few thoughts.

1.If you spend money on a high end hardware (such as your 9800pro) you want to benefit from it as much as you can. ( replace 'you' with 'I' if you don't agree)

2.Always think budget. Better card isn't always budget wise.
Many guys over here can suggest you sertain things because a.it won't cost them and b. they're hardware inthusiasts. I don't htink you should change all your platform only because you can get a good price now for your 9800 card.

[felinusz]

Grov

Lets got some things straight shall we. Yes a XL is faster? SO ****ING WHAT JESUS IN ON PCI EXPRESS. So in order to get the XL he has to also buy a new motherboard and CPU, which frankly, i don't see the point. An XP3200 is no slouch, and a video card upgrade alone is easily the better and cheaper option.

Total upgrade so he can get an XL i don't see the point at all. **** PCI Express.

You guys don't seem to think that money is ever a problem, can't just throw in a new CPU/mobo, maybe even ram, geesh.

Au contraire, money is really tight, at least for me personally, and I suspect for many of the other people here on these forums. A lot of us cannot afford to upgrade every time a new standard like PCI-Express replaces the old one. I sure can't, I'm a very poor high school student. This is why I try to make the most intelligent upgrades that I can to my computer.


Grov

Like i always say, why build a PC for the future, with upgrades paths and bull **** build one now and enjoy HL2, Far Cry, D3, like they should be.

Because I am a poor high school student, I need to worry about upgrade paths, and future proofing, to get the most out of my money.

If I didn't worry about future-proofing, I would be spending my $400 on an unnessacery high-end, pre-obsolete AGP video card upgrade, from my perfectly fine 9800 Pro, limiting myself later on, and taking valuable resources (what little money I have) away from where it will be needed: a full-platform upgrade to an S939 A64/nForce4/PCI-Express machine later on this year.


Grov

Total upgrade so he can get an XL i don't see the point at all. **** PCI Express.

I sympathise with your apparant dislike of PCI-Express. The AGP bus was never even saturated, and they go and replace it with a new standard so we all have to spend more money.

Yet, the fact is, part of the computer world (for the last 20+ years), is standards being constantly changed, the bar raised every few years. AGP is no longer the standard. PCI-Express is the new standard.

My advice to you, and to everyone else, is to avoid putting your money into upgrades based on these obsolete standards. It is a bad investment every way that you look at it, especially if you are tight on cash.


Grov

Total upgrade so he can get an XL i don't see the point at all. **** PCI Express.

The point is not to upgrade in order to get an X800 XL, but rather to hold off on an entirely unnessacery and wasteful video card upgrade, untill there is a need for a full-platform upgrade, at which point an X800 XL will be the smartest and best purchase decision.

The X800 XL is also less expensive then the X800 Pro, faster then an X800 Pro, and uses a newer, more advanced core process that should be a lot of fun to overclock once it matures out of its infancy.

Why buy an X800 Pro that you don't need, now, instead of saving money for a full-platform upgrade to the new standard, later on?



deception``

All he wants to do is play games at 1280x1024 without any IQ, which is more than possible with his current setup. It is for this reason why he does not need to spend any additional funds on an AGP video card, and should not purchase anything for his current system in lieu of a nice Athlon 64 setup months down the road.

deception``

The above is a succinct and thorough summation of why to wait, and keep your 9800 Pro for now.



Grov

....**** PCI Express....
....with upgrades paths and bull **** build one now and....
....SO ****ING WHAT JESUS IN ON PCI EXPRESS....

Grov, I'd also like to respectfully ask you to watch what you type, in favor of less offensive language use in the future. This is a "G" rated forums after all.

[KKAT]

I'm also tight on cash and own a 9800p. I am think about buying a 6800gt or x800p (agp).
I will prob. move to a 939 system soon. i figure, if i really do need pcie later on, sli boards will be cheaper, and still good performers.
I don't need the lastest and greatest stuff, although if i had the money it would be cool.
for example, my system isn't exactly the greatest, but i can still run hl2, doom3, and far cry at high settings with some eye candy.

[Oni]

Grov, I'd also like to respectfully ask you to watch what you type, in favor of less offensive language use in the future. This is a "G" rated forums after all.

No need to worry about that anymore. ;)

Lets put that behind us and let the thread continue in the same helpful vein it started in, ok?

[Overclocker550]

It is mainly #1 that motivates my advice against buying a high-end AGP video card.

A64s, and indeed intels newest offerings as well, are head and shoulders above Socket A processors (Socket A chips all use AGP motherboards as well, forcing a platform upgrade, if you want to use a PCI-Express video card).

Not only that, but the newest, latest and greatest A64s are S939 processors. The newest, latest and greatest S939 chipset, the nForce4, will likely be mostly (if not entirely) PCI-Express based, rendering a high-end AGP video card semi-useless to the up-to-date overclocker, whom will be interested in a platform upgrade (and as such, leave AGP behind) within the next year or two. A high-end AGP video card will be left behind and wasted when such an upgrade occurs.

If you want your new video card to have a good long lifespan, and survive several upgrade waves, you'll future-proof, and go PCI-Express. While it is true that PCI-Express offers no real benefit over AGP, it IS the new standard.




Right now, a fully voltage modified 9800 Pro sells for ~$150, stock cards for less money. In two months, you'll get way less then that. But is the ~$80 you save now, worth wasting ~$400+ on a very high-end AGP video card, that will be obsolete when you do decide to change platforms (whether AMD's latest and greatest or intel's)?

Personally, I would wait, keep your 9800 Pro, and get a PCI-Express card at the same time you change platforms.

The 9800 Pro is a solid card, and will last you. It seems to me that many people are forgetting that we are not talking about upgrading from a ~9600. A 9800 Pro is still a very solid video card, and many, many people still use one in their gaming machine.


well said. Buying a $400 high end agp card, especially for an old athlon xp platform which would be outdated soon anyway.

"If I didn't worry about future-proofing, I would be spending my $400 on an unnessacery high-end, pre-obsolete AGP video card upgrade, from my perfectly fine 9800 Pro, limiting myself later on, and taking valuable resources (what little money I have) away from where it will be needed: a full-platform upgrade to an S939 A64/nForce4/PCI-Express machine later on this year."

I couldnt agree more. Keep your 9800pro, its a perfectly fine card. If you want to upgrade, wait for pci-e to become cheaper and more mainstream then just build a new rig from the ground up and sell your old rig entirely. I am waiting for Venice cause ill stick with agp longer but once I make my move to pci-e I may just sell my old pc intact and start from scratch

[Terminat.]

Thanks for your help so far everyone :)

I understand what you're saying, it's just that this is likely going to be the only opportunity to sell my 9800 Pro - because a friend wants to buy it for their new system. If I upgrade later, it'll probably just go away in storage or something.


But... there is the possibility of my friend (who is getting a new pc) buying my entire computer, my 17" TFT included, for around £600 ($1127.) I could then buy an entirely new pc, upgrading to PCI-E for effectively much cheaper

Should I take advantage of this opportunity? This is a maybe, however, it is far from certain whether my friend will buy an entire used system, or just wants the vid. card.

[deathman20]

Well if you want to upgrade the rig that is one way to go :)

Surely you'll probley be paying a little more then that for a newer system, but you know it was 1 easy way to get rid of the old system for a whole upgrade instead of selling parts seperately.

[deception``]

If you can sell your current system, I'd say go for it by all means. All you would need is a couple extra hundred dollars (U.S. $) for a wonderful Athlon 64 system. However, I still would not make any moves for a couple of months. It would be smart to upgrade, but you should do so once it becomes more technologically and financially advantageous to do so.

deception``