ATI Video Card Upgrade - Advise Please.

[Reece]

Hi, I'm about to update my AGP card as finances do not permit a new mobo yet.:oops:
My old card is an X700 256mb card & was thinking of upgrading to an X1650 such as:
1) ATI Radeon HIS X1650 Pro IceQ 512mb DDR2 DVI AGP
2) ATI Radeon PowerColor X1650 Pro 512mb DDR2 DVI TVOUT AGP
My budget is around AU$180.
I then saw this and seems these cards are even slower than the X700:
http://freestone-group.com/video-card-stability-test/benchmark-results.html#ATI
Must be something wrong here surely, if anyone can shed some light here or recommend a better ATI card around the same price mark PLEASE let me know.:yep:
Cheers.

[fatty]

The x1950 PRO 256mb version can be found here for only $150, I don't know if a similar deal can be found in Australialand.

[Reece]

The X1950 Pro card here is around $230, as it is the price to my wife started at $130 then slowly crept up to $180, I wouldn't push it much higher or I might get my ass whipped!:lol: .... Hmmm ..... that might not be so bad!:oops:
Funny that some cards like the X1300 XT perform better????:roll:

[SUBMAN1]

Going from an x700 to an x1650 may be a downgrade in some games. Careful.

-S

PS. Get at least a 1900 or 1950 or don't bother upgrading. Just my opinion.

[SUBMAN1]

Just looked it up - you card vs the 1650 is in blue. Your x700 is the better board - but they are neck and neck.


Oblivion - x700 wins - this tells me more than any other test I will post - Oblivion will make hardware crawl, and the x700 Pro can outperform the x1650 Pro:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2006.html?modelx=33&model1=569&model2=590&chart=204


OpenGL (Prey) - x1650 wins:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2006.html?modelx=33&model1=569&model2=590&chart=212


Half Life 2 (a game that likes ATI graphics boards) x1650 wins:

http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_2006.html?modelx=33&model1=569&model2=590&chart=196


Anyway, what this boils down to is, the x1650 is the loser in the most graphic intensive game on the list. THe games where it wins is not by a significant margin to warrant an upgrade or spending of $$$. Hopefully you can make a good call on this one and forego the x1650 and get a real card like a x1950 Pro or something. x1950 Pro's are rather cheap these days!

-S

[SUBMAN1]

Just looking for a current price, and most of them are up around $200 for the 1950 Pro AGP, but if you hunt, you can find it for cheap. Took my 60 seconds to find a deal on one:

http://www.eaglebit.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=EB-570-00386&Click=14

$144

-S

[Reece]

Thanks a heap Subman1! :up::up: I can see that it would have been a big mistake, I'll just have to save some more pennies I think and go for the X1950 Pro!:yep:
Many thanks again.:D
Cheers.

[SUBMAN1]

Thanks a heap Subman1! :up::up: I can see that it would have been a big mistake, I'll just have to save some more pennies I think and go for the X1950 Pro!:yep:
Many thanks again.:D
Cheers.

No problem. Stay away from the x2600 too - it is simply a rebadged 1650.

-S

[Reece]

Acknowledged.:up: