One last AGP upgrade?

pelvis_3

pelvis_3

HWF Member For Life
Ok then. I've been thinking about upgrading my vid card for a long time now and i've decided on a XFX 6800GS AGP ($379AUD).
Just one last upgrade for my poor old AGP slot, she's still got life in her, i swear she does!

This may sound n00bish, but the main questions are:
How will my system run with a GS (apart from the obvious CPU not being able to keep up with the video card part)? and...
Is my new PSU enough to power the beast?
I have 2 HDD's, 2 Optical's, UV lighting, Dedicated sound card, fan speed controller etc...etc... See my specs <

Thanks for reading
pelvis_3
 
To be honest for that sort of cash, you would get much better performance from buying a new CPU / motherboard and a cheap graphics card using PCIe.

I suggest:
AMD 64 3000+ CPU Cheap PCIe motherboard & a X700 or X600 ATI graphics card.
 
oh and your Antec TruePower 480W will run any of this fine.

Do not worry about replacing your PSU, you could run 3 x400GB 2 Opticals / SLI and an AMD64 fine with that.
 
As i said, my AGP slot still has life in it and i'm not ready for a complete system upgrade yet.
The beast still performs well and i'm happy with it, bar the graphics of course.
But it's nice to know my PSU will run it :cool:

Thanks
pelvis_3

Edit: BTW, A new system would cost me roughly $600 (for the parts you suggested), so that's a no go anyway.
 
what you should do is take your barton to 2.2ghz or even higher if you can, but 2.2 isn't all that hard to hit and shouldn't need a voltage increase
 
Yeah the overclock is pretty reachable I'd say, but no modern game really works your cpu like your gfx card and since this is your last AGP upgrade you should make it a good one. Stick with the 6800GS, it's a great card and thanks to it's 256-bit memory contoller and 12 pipelines is a much faster card that the already competenet 6600GT 256.
 
Also I'd strongly recommend upping the memory to 1GB, big difference in any demanding game, when I first got Doom3 I ran it at medium as it lagged when I opened doors and turned corners in Doom 3 on high. Now that I have a gig I can set it to Ultra and it plods along between 20 and 60fps. Not bad for $60.
 
Thanks for the advice guys :cool:
I'm not really into overclocking much so i'll probably stick with the stock 2.083Ghz speed. But i do agree with you Ex about making my last AGP upgrade a good one so that's why i chose the GS. I'm going into town tomorrow and i'll see what i can get it for in a computer shop, so i'll report back then with the price.
A Gig of RAM is my next upgrade before my laptop so it's all coming together.
I did have 768MB but i killed the 256MB stick good and proper. Damn static electricity!

Cheers :good:
pelvis_3
 
Ok then. Turns out that nowhere i go can get them in anymore,
which mind you, doesn't make any sense because they haven't been out for that long soooooo, i've settled with a Leadtek A6600GT TDH card for $299.
It's recieved excellent reviews everywhere i've read, plus it runs pretty cool and quiet. Quiet is good :cool:
I'll keep you's posted.
 
So you can't buy offline? I mean if you can't then that's what you'll have to do but it's an unfortunatley cut in performance for just $79 AUS:( Still a good card none-the-less though mate.
 
Yeah, i tried all the online retailers and they don't have any and all 7 of the local computer stores can't get them so i just bought the GT today. Upgrading from a 9600XT to a 6600GT is like upgrading from Brass Knuckles to a Cannon. This card screams. It also came with a bunch of software + two games. Prince of Persia Warrior Within and Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and they run great.
Thanks for all the comments guys. I am one happy geek :cool:

pelvis_3
 
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