Graphics Card Upgrade Time.....

[GT182]

I just decided to upgrade my GFX card. Looking at a XFX GeForce 6800XTreme 256MB DDR3 card I found on this site... eWiz.com.
Here's the specs:
Chipset: GeForce 6800 XT
Engine Clock: 350 MHz
Video Memory: 256MB DDR3
Memory Clock: 1.0 GHz
Memory Interface: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 22.4 GB/sec
Bus: AGP 8X
RAMDAC: 400 MHz
Pixel Pipelines: 8
Max. Resolution: 2048 x 1536 @ 85Hz
Connectors: Dual DVI, TV-out
Thermal: Fansink
Support Microsoft DirectX 9.0, Shader Model 3.0 and OpenGL 2.0
6800XTreme here.... https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=XFX-68XT25
For some strange reason I like this card, it looks to be fast because of the Memory Clock and Bandwidth,

Other choice was a X1600Pro 512mb DDR2 card with 12 pixel pipelines, if that would be better than the 6800XTreme 256mb card with 8. But it''s only a 128 bit card too.... if that makes any difference seeing it has 512mb of DDR2. X1600Pro 512 is here..... https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=PC-A1600P5

And last was a 7600GS that's Vista ready and has 12 pixel piplines like the X1600..... https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=LT-A7600GS

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[ASWnut101]

you lost me at "Chipset.....":hmm:

[micky1up]

dont upgrade until vista and dx10 comes out

[GT182]

I don't plan on get Vista for a long long long time Micky. I can live with XP for FSX for quite awhile.

ASWnut, don't feel bad. It looses me too. LOL

[HunterICX]

Vista what?

Meh....I stick with XP untill I have a better system.

[jumpy]

I had (read still have, but in another machine) an XFX Geforce 6800GT 256mb dual DVI AGPx8 card. Good bit of kit- it handled just about anything I cared to throw at it, plus settings for dual monitors is a dodle
I currently have a BFG Geforce 7950GT OC 512mb PCI-E card in my main computer, essentially because I upgraded to a motherboard for socket AM2 dualcore AMD CPU which has no AGP slot but has 2 PCI-E slots for SLI multiple GFX card setups.

If you're thinking of having it as a card to upgrade to a new mobo in the future, you might find getting AGPx8 a problem as PCI-E seems to be taking over hence my decision to go down the PCI-E route when setting up a whole new computer. It was more expensive than I originally wanted to lash out but considering how fast things change I tried to get the best I could with my buget to last for the next 2-3 years at least.

I will say this though, more onboard gfx card memory (ie. 512 or 1024mb) will set you up for some of the newer games, BF2 and the like. A good GFX core speed is good, but I always reconed more GFX memory was better than an uber fast core, but that's just me. Swings & roundabouts I guess...
Still, the 6800 series don't have much not to recomend them. I was certainly happy with mine.