What is the next round of Cards coming out? 8xxx and ATI 2xxx?

[Bottomsup]

i'm looking to upgrade my rig this summer and am wondering what the next best thing will be and when it will be available. I have a 6800GT now and would like to stay in the $250-400 range for video. I don't have a brand preference

TIA

[Special7]

Just get a 7900GT, it offers about 3x the performance.

[Hipcrostino]

i wouldn't upgrade at all yet. Things are about to change in the computing world with conroe and AM2 on the way. Then there is physics processing and dx10 and vista. Seriously, you upgrade now and it will be as good as the computer gets, because it will be outdated by this new wave.

[Fronic]

i wouldn't upgrade at all yet. Things are about to change in the computing world with conroe and AM2 on the way. Then there is physics processing and dx10 and vista. Seriously, you upgrade now and it will be as good as the computer gets, because it will be outdated by this new wave.
PPUs are a waste because all they do is slow down the gameplay by introducing that many more things to render. DX10 will not be fully implemented for a while. Vista is just a pile with no actual improvements in computing (pay attention MS, the OS is there just to run my applications and manage my hardware), AM2 is just a 5% increase.

Conroe is the only thing that is worth while that you mentioned... Even though I got my stuff just 2 months ago I will probably upgrade again if its as good as they say it is.

Get a 7900GT and enjoy it for the next year or two.

[Captain Helghas]

PPUs are a waste because all they do is slow down the gameplay by introducing that many more things to render. DX10 will not be fully implemented for a while. Vista is just a pile with no actual improvements in computing (pay attention MS, the OS is there just to run my applications and manage my hardware), AM2 is just a 5% increase.

Conroe is the only thing that is worth while that you mentioned... Even though I got my stuff just 2 months ago I will probably upgrade again if its as good as they say it is.

Get a 7900GT and enjoy it for the next year or two.

QFT

[Bottomsup]

PPUs are a waste because all they do is slow down the gameplay by introducing that many more things to render. DX10 will not be fully implemented for a while. Vista is just a pile with no actual improvements in computing (pay attention MS, the OS is there just to run my applications and manage my hardware), AM2 is just a 5% increase.

Conroe is the only thing that is worth while that you mentioned... Even though I got my stuff just 2 months ago I will probably upgrade again if its as good as they say it is.

Get a 7900GT and enjoy it for the next year or two.

Yeah the problem is i'm going to get conroe when it comes out and i have an AGP card. I'd keep it since it plays my games fine, but I'll be forced to move to PCIX

[Special7]

Yeah the problem is i'm going to get conroe when it comes out and i have an AGP card. I'd keep it since it plays my games fine, but I'll be forced to move to PCIX
PCI-X is the Server form of PCI-E, the consumer name for it is PCI-E. ;)

[PWatterson]

A 7900GT would be a good choice.

On another note, many guys are selling thier 7800GTs. If you can find a good deal on one, that may be the way to go.

[Highendtoys]

Wait for Direct X 10 to come along.

[stockwiz]

I probably won't go to conroe myself... it's going to take some time before good boards come out for it... I figure I'll let those with the money field test the things and use my overclocked opteron for a while. As for directx 10, dont' expect full support by games for quite some time... I'll bet it's 15-18 months before the card really shows it's stuff over directx9 in games.

[fordsierra4x4]

PCI-X is the Server form of PCI-E, the consumer name for it is PCI-E. ;)


Wrong - PCI-X and PCI-E are UNRELATED. PCI-X is a 64-bit, 66Mhz PCI slot.

[Tipycol]

I probably won't go to conroe myself... it's going to take some time before good boards come out for it... I figure I'll let those with the money field test the things and use my overclocked opteron for a while. As for directx 10, dont' expect full support by games for quite some time... I'll bet it's 15-18 months before the card really shows it's stuff over directx9 in games.

Very true. I remember when nForce2 boards came out, it took another year or so for the NF7-S rev 2 (that many AXP chips loved to oc on) to come out. And directx9 came out around fall '02, I got Midnight Club II in summer '03, and IIRC it told me to install dx9. Course I had a dx8 card then, but I installed it recently, and I can't see anything that looks like it'd need dx9 for.

But to the OP, I would look at the 7900GTs. From what I read around here, many oc to give you near GTX performance for $200 less. Or if you hold off on that upgrade, you could get that extra gig of ram (helps alot in BF2), a new hard drive, or a new monitor (but with that you'd probably want to upgrade your vid card afterwards :))

[Kemon]

It's kind of one of those things... It's impossible to upgrade to a system that won't be out-dated within a years time. If you wait for all the new technology to come out then you'll be waiting forever because it all comes one after another. Just get the upgrades you want and enjoy them... you spend too much time looking for the best of the best then you'll never be satisfied with anything you buy.

[damarble]

PPUs are a waste because all they do is slow down the gameplay by introducing that many more things to render.

Maybe we should all still be playing Pong? No frivolous graphics to render there. Maybe PPU's will turn out to be a short lived novelty, but not for your reason. Gameplay and graphics will continue to improve until what you see on screen is indistinguishable from watching a movie. The next and final step will be making the game indistinguishable from real life. That's what consumers want to see...

@OP, as others have mentioned the 7900GT is an excellent choice, that could last you 2 years or more, if the DX10 games have a compatibilty mode.