Sensible pre-DX10 computer upgrade ($375 shipped)

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 04 Jun 2006, 23:24

ALL PRICES MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE IN CANADIAN CURRENCY

If you, like me and so many others, simply can't put up with your poor framerates in modern games anymore, but don't know how to get the best bang for your buck since you have an AGP mobo and your selection is limited... LOOK NO FURTHER! FOR CAYDR HAS COME TO RESCUE YOU!!!

Go to VibeComputers.com (newegg.com is excellent assuming you're in the 'states); they have a good selection, reasonable prices, and free shipping on orders over $300 (your order will just barely clear this limit, effectively making the last 50 dollars of your order FREE)
Order:
-Arctic Cooling NV Silencer 6 (Rev.2) VGA Cooler - $32.05
-Asus N6800 Geforce 6800 512MB DDR2 AGP8X - $206.00
-Zalman CNPS7000-Cu (almost universal socket) - $49.77

Subtotal: $322.37
Shipping: $0.00
Insurance: $7.00 (may vary slightly)
With tax: $371.30

When your order arrives, *gasp* install everything. You *must* use high quality thermal compound... The above site has Arctic Silver for $21.95 (not sure if that's good or not), which many people swear by.

If you don't know how to install stuff in your computer, go to the local store, get ripped off, and come home feeling like an average Joe six-pack, you lazy good-fur-nothin you.

Here's the good part... perform the operations described here: http://www.ocia.net/articles/6800/6800.shtml and enjoy your brand-new lowly Geforce 6800 unlocked to awesome GT stats, while running cooler than it would've been if you hadn't even overclocked it.

Also overclock your CPU a bit, with that cooler you have at least 15 degrees of extra breathing room.

Also, if you're an American, as noted above use Newegg; they've got the same card as described here, but it's fresh off an OEM for a few bucks cheaper.

An idea what you can expect:
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics. ... &chart=100
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/ ... page9.html
(these are for the 256 mb version - remember the card is running at very-near GT stats now)

Also, if you're an ATI lover, there's also a phenomenal price available on virtually all online computer shops for the Sapphire Radeon x1600 pro. It's not quite as powerful as the one above, but it's also considerably cheaper at only $100-$150, depending on where you look. It's a FANTASTIC buy for anyone with an older system, say a 9200, 9000, or even 9700. For 9800-pro like me, the main performance advantage will only be in shader model 3 games.

Both of the above-mentioned graphics cards are shader model 3 (SM3), meaning you'll even be able to take advantage of the new water in Spring!

-----

Oh. If you happen to know anything terribly wrong with my plan.. uh... inform me quickly? Please? I've got two days to cancel my order ^^

I hope you've found this helpful!

Min3mat · Post by **Min3mat** » 04 Jun 2006, 23:30

omfg if i was going to upgrade...if only i had been working and saving for a PC...

Deathblane · Post by **Deathblane** » 04 Jun 2006, 23:35

Meh, I wasted my last upgrade. I practically brought a new computer (├é┬ú300+ on internals) and then realised I barely had any time for games. I should have waited untill now (my course has finished untill september) and got a better pc for my money. Ah well.

Next stop more RAM...

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 04 Jun 2006, 23:41

Oh. For reference, to get a Geforce 6800 GT, here's the price you would've paid:

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/prodde ... atid=10524

(the one on that site has only 256mb of ram, compared with the 512 from my plan. However, this one has gddr3, while mine only has ddr2. Tough call whether it's perfectly fair or not, but you can use your imagination)

Post by **jcnossen** » 05 Jun 2006, 01:12

Better get a 7600 or something, at least here they are just as cheap as the 6800, have more pixel pipelines afaik, and support vista

Dr.InfernO · Post by **Dr.InfernO** » 05 Jun 2006, 01:49

<yep
agreed, forget the GF 6 series. The 7600GT is at same speed much cheaper!

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 05 Jun 2006, 01:50

Hmm... that.. might be worth looking into... I'll check and see if there's a reasonable deal. The big question is, if I can find one that's AGP. Where do you get the idea they support Vista?

Post by **jcnossen** » 05 Jun 2006, 02:04

http://www.sparkle.com.tw/product_detai ... &sub_id=88
It says vista support on the bottom of the page.
That card is the probably one I would have bought if I had waited 2 weeks longer with buying the 6800 that I have now

This page has a decent list of the capabilities of the different nvidia cards.

I'm not sure how many of those have AGP versions though..

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 05 Jun 2006, 02:06

Just the 7800 is AGP, and it's $400

They're allegedly making an AGP 7600 though in the near future (next month? next three months? when'll it arrive in quantity?)

However, the vanilla 6800 can be unlocked and overclocked to near 6800 Ultra specs.... uh... Damn it, I'll have to make a table. Now look what you've done!!!

Code: Select all

                    p-pipes   v-pipes   clock  ramclock   price (CAD)

AGP 6800 vanilla:     12        5        325     700       $200
AGP 6800 Unlocked:    16        6        355     830       $200
AGP 6800 GT:          16        6        350     1000      $400
AGP 6800 Ultra:       16        6        400     1000      $720
AGP 7600 GS:          12        5        400     800       $200
PCI 7600 GT:          12        5        560     1400      $300
PCI 7800 GS:          16        6        375     1200      $400

I would want to have the 16 pixel pipes, minimum. That means a 7800gs, which is a hundred dollars more yet has a slower core. From what I've heard, it's better to have 25% more pipes than 25% more clock speed.

...Hmm...

Arrrrggh! Order cancelled, I guess. Or at least I'll give it some more time.

Tell you what, I'll buy the 6800 off you if it's bothering you so much

edit: I've been trying to find a half-decent comparison between the 7800gs and the 7600gt, to little avail. Long of the short of it is, I don't really want to wait another 1-3 months for a graphics card to be released in Canada. Turns out, the 7xxx series cannot be unlocked in any way though... so no satisfaction of getting a free performance boost v_v

edit 2: Aw crap. Sounds like they're only planning on making a 7600 GS, in other words the "lite" version, in other other words, the crap version. The version which is basically identical to the 6800 plan I have above. I've added it to my chart.

edit 3: I still have to conclude that my idea is the most economical boost, cost per gain, for a midrange computer with an aging video card when its owner wants to wait for "true" next-gen stuff with DX10 compatibility before he starts spending serious amounts of money.

FizWizz · Post by **FizWizz** » 05 Jun 2006, 05:29

Caydr wrote:edit 3: I still have to conclude that my idea is the most economical boost, cost per gain, for a midrange computer with an aging video card when its owner wants to wait for "true" next-gen stuff with DX10 compatibility before he starts spending serious amounts of money.

That really applies to me, I'll have to look into this. Also, about how far do you think 512mb ddr RAM will get you nowadays?

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 05 Jun 2006, 06:07

It's on the graphics card, you know that right? Dedicated ram just for it. And I've never, ever heard of a gfx card with more than 512 megs onboard.

If you're talking about main memory, well, 512 isn't too bad for general purpose stuff. I'd go for another 512 stick if you can spare the cash. The only reason I upgraded to 1 gig of ram is because it helps (a little) with rendering in terragen.

FizWizz · Post by **FizWizz** » 05 Jun 2006, 06:13

I'm talking about general ram. Well, I'll consider it if it is cheap.

Drone_Fragger · Post by **Drone_Fragger** » 05 Jun 2006, 21:14

Heh, I've got a Sapphire X1600 pro. I would highly recommand it or the XT version. I'm getting a new System soon, And crossfiring two X1600's together. That roughly equals 1.25 times an Nvidia 7900GTX. For 200├é┬ú Cheaper. Thats 300 Dollars if you are an american.

Just for a point, I can run UT2004 at 1204 X 1024 with max settings at 55-ish Fps. Thats a lot considering the card is dirt cheap.

Now all I need ot do is wait for an AM2 Motherboard with crossfire. Damn you ATI, Make an AM2 chip, NOW.

SwiftSpear · Post by **SwiftSpear** » 06 Jun 2006, 00:16

UT2004 is easy to run. My 9800 pro runs it at 1204X1024 at > 60 FPS if I don't have AA and AF on. That game was WAY ahead of it's time.

SinbadEV · Post by **SinbadEV** » 06 Jun 2006, 01:13

SwiftSpear wrote:...1204X1024...

WTF kind of monitor do you have?

SwiftSpear · Post by **SwiftSpear** » 06 Jun 2006, 02:38

wait, that would be 1280x1024... Sorry, I have a crappy memory for common ratio's, just copied what Drone_Fragger had put down.

Drone_Fragger · Post by **Drone_Fragger** » 06 Jun 2006, 17:12

SwiftSpear wrote:UT2004 is easy to run. My 9800 pro runs it at 1204X1024 at > 60 FPS if I don't have AA and AF on. That game was WAY ahead of it's time.

Try with AA on and AF and see what happens :D

SwiftSpear · Post by **SwiftSpear** » 07 Jun 2006, 09:28

Drone_Fragger wrote:
SwiftSpear wrote:UT2004 is easy to run. My 9800 pro runs it at 1204X1024 at > 60 FPS if I don't have AA and AF on. That game was WAY ahead of it's time.
Try with AA on and AF and see what happens :D

~15 FPS IIRC... AA and AF aren't really nessicary for a good game experiance though...

Drone_Fragger · Post by **Drone_Fragger** » 07 Jun 2006, 20:23

Indeed. I turn em off usaully:
"Oh wow, this circle is EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY ROUNDER, HOLY SHIT ITS SO REAL."

Caydr · Post by **Caydr** » 07 Jun 2006, 23:54

I usually keep it at 2x FSAA. There's not too much of a performance hit, but games look SO much better... for instance, the many wires and such in HL2. 4x is as high as i'd ever go, beyond that it's just excessive.

Spring RTS Engine

Sensible pre-DX10 computer upgrade ($375 shipped)

Sensible pre-DX10 computer upgrade ($375 shipped)