ATI vs. ATI question.

[StormbringerGT]

Okay here it goes. I suppose this is more of an opinion question than a request for technical support, but if you look at it different I am asking for technical help.

I currently have a Radeon 9800 XT. Specs here
I am looking to upgrade to Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition. Specs here

I would have to get the AGP version as my Motherboard is an Intel D865PERL, which does not support PCI express. Now on to a few questions.

Is the jump from 9800 XT to the X800XT worth it? Money aside, at this point that is not a factor.

Is PCI express worth getting a new motherboard, are the speeds that much better, will it be noticable?

The next generation of games is due out soon, and I would like to be able to enjoy them with all the bells and whistles.

So some advice would be helpful, at this point I am ruling out the new NVIDIA, as in the benchmarks I have seen it is slightly faster only in some instances. It also requires a 480 powersupply! Yikes! it also takes two seperate power inputs from your power supply! Thanks for reading!

David

[StormbringerGT]

Oh yeah for those whose care, Doom 3 comes out August 4th, not far off. Here are the specs to Run Doom 3 at the three different levels, Low - Everything off, Medium - About half on, High - Most. Stated by Robert Duffy lead programmer, ID software, in PC Gamer Magazine.

Low-End System
CPU: 1.5GHz P4 or AMD equivalent
RAM: 512MB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4800 or ATI RADEON 9500

Wow! Thier low end system with all graphics options turned off, does not sound so low end at all! It gets better

Mid-Range System
CPU: 2.4GHz P4 or AMD equivalent
RAM: 1GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 5950 or ATI RADEON 9800 Pro/XT

This is where I fall into, my computer of tomorrow is now a Ford Pony of yesterday..

Robert didn't offer any current-generation high-end suggestions. Instead he tolds us, "Doom 3 has settings that will make the game look even better on hardware that doesn't exist yet (beyond just upping the resolution, like in most games)." That sounds really cool, and we can't wait to see how the game looks on the hardware of tomorrow. But in case you're wondering what to buy today, here's what we say:

High End Recommendation
CPU: 3.4 GHz P4 or AMD equivalent
RAM: 2GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra or Radeon X800 XT.

Now that is a fat machine.

Unfortunatly that system they recommend is far away for me, as the girlfriend views dumping money into my computer as waste of money...

For those midly interested here are my general Computer specs.

Intel Pentium 4 Processor 2.6 Hyper Threading Technology
Intel D865PERL Motherboard
ATI Radeon 9800 XT 256 RAM
1.5GB DDR Ram
420GB Hardrive space
Soundblaster 5.1 Live!

Feel free to post your system settings as and comments as well! Don't forget my original questions on the post above!

[Catweazle]

Yes, the performance difference between the 9800 XT and the X800XT are quite dramatic, and if you can afford to do so, I'm quite sure that you'd be happy with the upgrade.

There would be little appreciable difference in performance between the AGP version of the card, and a PCIE version of the card, unless of course you had a much more powerful CPU in the PCIE motherboard.

And there's a point.

To more adequately 'future-proof' yourself, you'd need to go a bit beyond that 2.6GHz processor. When PCIE becomes the established standard, as it eventually will, the AGP interface format will have a very limited lifespan left. I highly doubt that processors for Socket 478/AGP motherboards will ever go beyong the 3.4GHz ones which are currently available. I also doubt that you'll see Socket 478/PCIE motherboards.

A jump from 2.6GHz to 3.4GHz isn't really enough of a performance increase to warrant the expense, and as the Radeon 9800 Pro is quite capable of handling any game currently available or slated for release in the near fture, perhaps a wait until the new standard is more widely available and more cheaply obtained would be a wise move?

Food for thought, anyway.

Moved to 'Hardware', by the way ;)

[NiTeHaWk4787]

I'm actually buying the ati X800 when when i return from vacation in August. It'll be going with an AMD 64 3500+, GIGABYTE GA-K8NSNXP-939 nForce3 Ultra Chipset Motherboard socket 939, and 1024 CORSAIR XMS Xtreme Memory Xtra-Low Latency 184 ram. I shouldn't have much of a problem playing these games comming out but yea, ive also heard that the X800 is a noticeable upgrade from the 9800XT.

[oalee]

IMHO, I don't think that much money is worth spending just to be able to play some st.p.d game (sorry for the word)... Well of course, if you are to use it for other purposes such as web design, server, or anything that might give you a return on the investment I'd give it a go... If I am to get a computer which is top of the line, I'm not getting it because I need to meet the requirements of some computer game... But then again, this is just me...

[Catweazle]

It's not just the games, oalee.

For some people it's the enjoyment of building up a highperformance system, for some it's the enjoyment of tweaking and tuning it to see how far they can push it, for others it might simply be purely the ego trip of owning the thing.

Computers are like cars mate. To most people cars are just a means of transport, but that doesn't negate the fact that enthusiasts are still to be found in large numbers. Same thing with 'pooters! :D

[StormbringerGT]

Well said, cat! Your right however, my girlfriend would never let me drop another $500 down on a video card in the same year! However my Radeon has been having some harware problems. Since it is still under warrenty I can send it back to ATI. This is the cool thing: both cards still retail for $499! So they said if I send mine in, they will send my the X800 XT PE. Well they didn't come out and say it. I asked them, but they said that there would be NP! :) . Also I go to Westwood college here in ILL for Computer graphics design and 3D animation, so I might be able to justify the card for more than lame game like doom 3... :cheesy: Nice to see a fresh opinion though, 'specially one that is not presented in a conflicting way!

[NiTeHaWk4787]

stupid is considered a bad word? lol. im building mine so i can meet all the game requirements, have fun putting something so high preformance together, and so that i can brag to my friends who make fun of my current setup haha

[StormbringerGT]

stupid is considered a bad word? lol. im building mine so i can meet all the game requirements, have fun putting something so high preformance together, and so that i can brag to my friends who make fun of my current setup haha

LOL! exactly all my friends use to laugh, when I had a dell...

[Shadowfactor]

Okay here it goes. I suppose this is more of an opinion question than a request for technical support, but if you look at it different I am asking for technical help.

I currently have a Radeon 9800 XT. Specs here I am looking to upgrade to Radeon X800 XT Platinum Edition. Specs here

I would have to get the AGP version as my Motherboard is an Intel D865PERL, which does not support PCI express. Now on to a few questions.

Is the jump from 9800 XT to the X800XT worth it? Money aside, at this point that is not a factor.

Is PCI express worth getting a new motherboard, are the speeds that much better, will it be noticable?

The next generation of games is due out soon, and I would like to be able to enjoy them with all the bells and whistles.

So some advice would be helpful, at this point I am ruling out the new NVIDIA, as in the benchmarks I have seen it is slightly faster only in some instances. It also requires a 480 powersupply! Yikes! it also takes two seperate power inputs from your power supply! Thanks for reading!

David

Get a Ati x800 pro with VIVo , They can be flashed to a x800 xt PE and you can't tell the diffence

[Catweazle]

Actually, if Doom 3 is a priority, get a GeForce 6800GT. That card, even though it's not the highest performance model of it's line, absolutely wipes the floor with the X800XT-PE for Doom 3 performance ;)

http://www2.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NjQy

Looking at the cream of the crop in video cards, it is painfully obvious that ATI is going to have to make some changes in their product line to stay competitive, at least with DOOM 3 gamers. There is no way for a $500 X800XT-PE to compete with a $400 6800GT when the GT is simply going to outperform the more expensive card by a good margin. I am sure ATI is trying their best to figure out their next move and it will certainly be interesting to see if their driver teams pull a rabbit out of their hat or not.
Edit: By the way, that staement about the X800 Pro VIVO card isn't fully accurate. Some brands of X800 Pro VIVO were able to be 'flashed' in that way, but no longer. Unless you can get your hands on a previously manufactured card with the capability, forget it, as the production methods have been changed ;)

[Zachery]

For a good reason cat, Doom3 was developed ON the Geforce line, and the Gefoce serries has better support with opengl2, the Ati X800 will preform fine on Doom3.

[NiTeHaWk4787]

is it true that dell blocks OC abilities? if so why, is it so you cant oc to like 4.0 ghz on a 2.0 processor and ask for the warrenty, not like they wouldnt know you OC'ed

[Shadowfactor]

get a Pci-e x800 xt off ebay. OR you could get a x800 pro VIVO and flash it

[Catweazle]

A PCIE card would make a nice little expensive desk ornament for someone with an AGP motherboard now, wouldn't it?