[Coopsterman321]

Looking for some advice from the experts on what AGP video card to replace my dead ati 9800 pro.


My setup:

AMD 3200+ and 1GB RAM at 400MHz

MCE 2005, Nvidia PureVid Decoder

Hauppage 250

ATI HDTV Wonder

* dead * ATI 9800 pro (AGP)

Toshiba 65" RPTV running via DVI at 1776x1000


After looking around and reading the various posts here, I have narrowed down my

 

[mdv]

I recently upgraded from a 9500 Pro to an X850 Pro. So far, I'm very happy with the X850. The fan is quiet. I think I paid $250. It does fine on Oblivion, although I'm only running 800 x 600. For games, I believe the width of the memory interface is very important. I'm not sure about HD video.


Mark

 

[George Jetson]

I'm in an almost identical situation so I thought I'd give the thread a friendly bump. I came up with the same short list of candidates. From what I gather, the x8xx cards would be better for gaming (for the reasons stated) and the x1600, with AVIVO and SM3, would be better at video. Since I like to do both, I'm still torn. I currently have an 9600(NP), so either one will be a big step up for me. I'll probably end up getting whichever one pops up on sale. One complaint I've heard about the x1600 is that it runs a little warm and the fan is a bit loud. I don't know this first hand, just read it in a couple of user reviews.

 

[Coopsterman321]

Well, after looking at the stats at www.gpureview.com and also reading about the x1600pro running hot, I decided to go with the x800gto.


gpureview.com is a pretty nifty site that let's you run side by side comparisons of performance stats on different cards. When compared with the stats for what I had -- a 9800pro, the x800gto looks more than adequate. It looks like the faster GDDR3 memory and 256-bit memory interface are worth it.


I should get it Thursday or Friday and will post a follow up to let you know how it works out.


Cheers!

 

[inti]

The x800gto should be measurably faster than the x1600pro if you want to play Oblivion like most people, assuming you will switch the resolution down to something like 1280x1024 for that game.


AVIVO is nice to have to reduce color banding etc but not really necessary if you were already happy with the video on the 9800pro.

 

[Koui]

Quote:

Originally Posted by inti AVIVO is nice to have to reduce color banding etc but not really necessary if you were already happy with the video on the 9800pro.

I have an x1600Pro AGP and was really surprised at how much better text and video look on my 37" 1080p monitor than the 9700Pro it replaced. The 1600 is very quiet and doesn't run hot (in my system anyway). AVIVO does make a noteable difference with standard definition DVDs , especially with the 6.4 drivers. I like having Dual Link DVI also. I don't have to reduce DVI frequency like I did with the 9700. I don't game much so that's not a factor for me.


All that said, I've recently purchased a Nvidia 7600GT and will probably sell the x1600. My motherboard supports both AGP and PCI-E. The majority of what I watch is hi-def video and Nvidia has ATI beat at HD, for now.