Hi,
I am afraid this is another Please help me spec my machine post
I have currently got :
Abit AV8 mobo
amd x64 3200 (winchester) - not upgrading
1gb corsair twinx ram - not upgrading
Hiper typr R psu (580w) - hopefully not upgrading
bkjorked Powercolor x850 (agp) - on second card since rma and still busted
Ok so thats what I have.
I plumped for the powercolor x850 (upgraded from ati radeon 9800 pro) cos it seemed like a relatively decent card to use till dx10 comes on the scene, but after having one failed card returned for rma - just for it to be replaced with another failing card i am a little peeved
so - time to bite the bullet. I am going to try and get my money back for the x850 - and "upgrade to the following:
Either Abit AT8-32x or Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe
2 x sapphire x1600 xt 256mb gddr3
I know the asus boards had some issues on early release - and have watched the price on OC drop then rise back up - so i might assume from this that the price drop was due to getting rid of older stock, before selling the newer revision boards - just my opinion hehe but would like to know if anyone else using either of these two boards.
I dont want to spend a huge amount on gfx cards cos I reckon I will be upgrading them for dx10 by this time next year - hence the 2 x1600xt's
I have no experience of running two x1600's - I know that i am dropping performance by not going for x1800 or x1900's - but theres only so far that i can stretch the budget hehe. Will I get the benefit from running two x1600s - I know i should get something over the original 9800pro - but what about say the x850?
So - comments please
- sorry for rambling on a bit hehe.
I am afraid this is another Please help me spec my machine post

I have currently got :
Abit AV8 mobo
amd x64 3200 (winchester) - not upgrading
1gb corsair twinx ram - not upgrading
Hiper typr R psu (580w) - hopefully not upgrading
bkjorked Powercolor x850 (agp) - on second card since rma and still busted
Ok so thats what I have.
I plumped for the powercolor x850 (upgraded from ati radeon 9800 pro) cos it seemed like a relatively decent card to use till dx10 comes on the scene, but after having one failed card returned for rma - just for it to be replaced with another failing card i am a little peeved

so - time to bite the bullet. I am going to try and get my money back for the x850 - and "upgrade to the following:
Either Abit AT8-32x or Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe
2 x sapphire x1600 xt 256mb gddr3
I know the asus boards had some issues on early release - and have watched the price on OC drop then rise back up - so i might assume from this that the price drop was due to getting rid of older stock, before selling the newer revision boards - just my opinion hehe but would like to know if anyone else using either of these two boards.
I dont want to spend a huge amount on gfx cards cos I reckon I will be upgrading them for dx10 by this time next year - hence the 2 x1600xt's
I have no experience of running two x1600's - I know that i am dropping performance by not going for x1800 or x1900's - but theres only so far that i can stretch the budget hehe. Will I get the benefit from running two x1600s - I know i should get something over the original 9800pro - but what about say the x850?
So - comments please
