AGP Nvidia card upgrade

I'm looking to upgrade my existing ati 9100 AGP card to a currently
top-of-the-line Nvidia card without upgrading the whole system.
However, I'm very confused with all the model number nowadays which a
higher model number doesn't necessarily mean better performance. Coudl
someone provide me some recommendations? Or any good review that gives
a full comparison of those 6 or 7 series as well as those GS, GT, XT
suffix?

TIA

Tallman wrote:
I'm looking to upgrade my existing ati 9100 AGP card to a currently
top-of-the-line Nvidia card without upgrading the whole system.
However, I'm very confused with all the model number nowadays which a
higher model number doesn't necessarily mean better performance. Coudl
someone provide me some recommendations? Or any good review that gives
a full comparison of those 6 or 7 series as well as those GS, GT, XT
suffix?

TIA


Well, the current top of the line AGP Nvidia card is the 7800gs I
think. It sells for around $300-$400 U.S. Before spending that much
on a AGP card (obsolete technology), I'd make sure your system can take
full advantage of the card - and that you don't plan to upgrade to a
new (PCI-e) system in the next year. Otherwise, you can spend about
1/2 as much on something like a 6800gs, and still run all of today's
games at respectable framerates/resolutions. I recommend the 6800gs
because it sells for under $200, and can usually be unlocked and
overclocked to 6800gt performance!

-CK

Thanks!

Oh sure I won't spend that amount of money of an AGP card but as my
system is very much capable
to handle everything I need, I need only to upgrade my AGP card to
enjoy a bit more on gaming whilst hope it'll last a bit longer! :-)

Btw, any good and accurate reviews comparing vaiours models, eg. GS,GT
or XT etc. of different brands? TIA


wrote:
Tallman wrote:
I'm looking to upgrade my existing ati 9100 AGP card to a currently
top-of-the-line Nvidia card without upgrading the whole system.
However, I'm very confused with all the model number nowadays which a
higher model number doesn't necessarily mean better performance. Coudl
someone provide me some recommendations? Or any good review that gives
a full comparison of those 6 or 7 series as well as those GS, GT, XT
suffix?

TIA


Well, the current top of the line AGP Nvidia card is the 7800gs I
think. It sells for around $300-$400 U.S. Before spending that much
on a AGP card (obsolete technology), I'd make sure your system can take
full advantage of the card - and that you don't plan to upgrade to a
new (PCI-e) system in the next year. Otherwise, you can spend about
1/2 as much on something like a 6800gs, and still run all of today's
games at respectable framerates/resolutions. I recommend the 6800gs
because it sells for under $200, and can usually be unlocked and
overclocked to 6800gt performance!

-CK

I upgraded to a 6600GT and have been very pleased. Nice card, and since
my LCD is a native 1024x768, everything screams.

Formerly had a Ti4200 - a slightly faster card than your last one. I
loved the Ti, but there is no comparison. With the new card everything
looks great.

Gil wrote:
I upgraded to a 6600GT and have been very pleased. Nice card, and since
my LCD is a native 1024x768, everything screams.

Formerly had a Ti4200 - a slightly faster card than your last one. I
loved the Ti, but there is no comparison. With the new card everything
looks great.


hehe i went from a 4200ti to a 7800gs... i cant tell any differance
since i only play cs/dod and cuz i got the new card, i now play bf2,
havent bothered reloading nfs:u/bhd/d3/ut04/ect... BUT i can play b2 at
1024x748 all settings high 2xaa/4xaf with no noticeable drop (w/mk1
eyeball) in fps. BSPlayer with settings set to 'use overlay mixer' make
my .avi's just as nice as my homies ATI aiw card.

Tallman wrote:
Thanks!

Oh sure I won't spend that amount of money of an AGP card but as my
system is very much capable
to handle everything I need, I need only to upgrade my AGP card to
enjoy a bit more on gaming whilst hope it'll last a bit longer! :-)

Btw, any good and accurate reviews comparing vaiours models, eg. GS,GT
or XT etc. of different brands? TIA



It would help to know the following in order to give you a better video
card recommendation...
- How much money do you want to spend?
- What are your current system specs?
- What games or type of games will you be playing?

You mentioned that you don't want to spend $300-$400 on a card, so top
of the line cards are not in your budget. I do believe the best bang
for your buck today would probably be something like a 6800 GS. I got
one for $179, and it is unlocked and clocked to 6800 GT specs. If
your needs are even lower, you may get away with a 6600 GT (around
$120).

For Nvidia cards, the general rule is: XT no suffix GS GT
Ultra
Thus, a 6800XT would be the least poweful card in the 6800 line, while
the 6800 Ultra would be the most powerful. There is a very large
difference between those 2 cards, even though they are both 6800's! It
gets a bit more complicated than that though, as some cards can be
unlocked and/or overclocked to achieve more performance.

Wrt memory, I would probably look for a 256mb card, as 128mb is
quickly becoming below standards, and 512mb is probably overkill on
your system.

There are several good sites for info/reviews on video cards. I like
www.guru3d.com and www.hardwaresecrets.com. Just use Google and I'm
sure you'll find what you are looking for. If you get to a point where
you are debating between a few different cards, just post them here and
I'm sure we can help you determine which would be best.

Good luck!

-CK

Thanks very much!!

Sure I won't go for the top of the line models. However, my budget can
still stay up to around $250 but I guess I won't go for the 6600GT as I
believe the 6600 family is a bit outdated which contradict my intended
stay-my-system-live-longer theory.

I'm especially confused with the suffix naming as my
shop-around-experience seems telling me that some taiwanese brand o/c
their low-end products making them having a higher clock speed then the
other higher end models.

Anyway, thanks!!

wrote:
Tallman wrote:
Thanks!

Oh sure I won't spend that amount of money of an AGP card but as my
system is very much capable
to handle everything I need, I need only to upgrade my AGP card to
enjoy a bit more on gaming whilst hope it'll last a bit longer! :-)

Btw, any good and accurate reviews comparing vaiours models, eg. GS,GT
or XT etc. of different brands? TIA



It would help to know the following in order to give you a better video
card recommendation...
- How much money do you want to spend?
- What are your current system specs?
- What games or type of games will you be playing?

You mentioned that you don't want to spend $300-$400 on a card, so top
of the line cards are not in your budget. I do believe the best bang
for your buck today would probably be something like a 6800 GS. I got
one for $179, and it is unlocked and clocked to 6800 GT specs. If
your needs are even lower, you may get away with a 6600 GT (around
$120).

For Nvidia cards, the general rule is: XT no suffix GS GT
Ultra
Thus, a 6800XT would be the least poweful card in the 6800 line, while
the 6800 Ultra would be the most powerful. There is a very large
difference between those 2 cards, even though they are both 6800's! It
gets a bit more complicated than that though, as some cards can be
unlocked and/or overclocked to achieve more performance.

Wrt memory, I would probably look for a 256mb card, as 128mb is
quickly becoming below standards, and 512mb is probably overkill on
your system.

There are several good sites for info/reviews on video cards. I like
www.guru3d.com and www.hardwaresecrets.com. Just use Google and I'm
sure you'll find what you are looking for. If you get to a point where
you are debating between a few different cards, just post them here and
I'm sure we can help you determine which would be best.

Good luck!

-CK

Tallman wrote:
Thanks very much!!

Sure I won't go for the top of the line models. However, my budget can
still stay up to around $250 but I guess I won't go for the 6600GT as I
believe the 6600 family is a bit outdated which contradict my intended
stay-my-system-live-longer theory.

I'm especially confused with the suffix naming as my
shop-around-experience seems telling me that some taiwanese brand o/c
their low-end products making them having a higher clock speed then the
other higher end models.

Anyway, thanks!!



With a $250 budget, you are probably looking at something in the 6800
line of cards. I'd avoid the 6800 XT and the 6800 "no suffix" cards,
and look at "GS" or "GT" models. Many/most "GS" cards can
unlock/overclock to "GT" specs, and cost significantly less than the
"GT" cards, so that would be my recommended cards for most bang for the
buck.

You are correct that some manufacturers factory over-clock their cards.
They often have suffixes with an "oc" in them - like 6800 GT-OC. Of
course, you can do the same using coolbits or Rivatuner - So I'm not
sure I'd pay a premium for a factory over-clocked card.

Whatever you end up doing, it's going to be a huge upgrade over your
current 9100 graphics!