Next step from FX5900XT OC?

[Slackfumasta]

Well, that's my question. What is the next logical upgrade from a 128 MB BFG FX5900XT OC? The card currently runs at 460/740 and performs quite well.

The 6200 doesn't look like much. The 6600 looks like it might be about the same. 6600GT? That seems like it has possibilites over the FX5900XT.

Or should I go all the way up to a 6800 model?

Which one will be a worthwhile upgrade and won't break the bank?

Thanks!

[brakezone]

I really like my evga 6800, I leave it at 350/700 cause it runs good there and I don't need any more power than that. It runs fairly cool so I know it will last awhile as well. It did cost me about 260$ which is a little bit more expensive than the 6600GT's. The main advantage to a 6800 over a 6600GT? 256-bit memory bus! The gpu on the vanilla 6800's doesn't seem all that great compared to the 6600GT GPU. Infact the 6600GT GPU clocks up pretty high and although it has less processing units its ability to stay cooler is probably allowing it to clock up higher and it can hang with the 6800nu's although I think the 6800nu's are definitely slightly better. From what i've seen on average the 6800's are beating the 6600GT's.

I had a fx5900XT as well and glxgears, a linux or freebsd graphical benchmark it would score about 6000fps, while the 6800 scores nearly 10000. That benchmark seems to me to express how quickly a gpu can do a small job. In 3dmark2001 you have the same type of situation, where the memorybandwidth isn't the bottleneck but instead the GPU's ability to quickly render frames. IN 3dmark2001 you see many frames per second in some of the tests (above 400 in dragothic for sure). The great thing about glx gears is it only takes 2 seconds to run and sure enough my 5900XT scored about 15k in 3dmark01 and my 6800 scored about 22k. So there you can see that the 6800 offers enhanced gpu power from the 5900 versions. I believe the 6600GT also has a great gpu that delivers a sure amount of power. The only benifit really of taking a 6800 is that you get a good deal more memory bandwidth. Or if your lucky you can unlock the pipes and the gpu will become considerably more powerful.

I'd say to go with the 6800 or 6600GT at least. I think the 6800 vanilla gives you about a 30-50% increase in performance from the 5900xt depending.