Options for new AGP card?

[Cenuij]

I have fried my 6800GT... Could you guys reccomend something?

I'd like to buy a new AGP card, I'll be replacing most of my system at the end of the year but I'd rather buy a new AGP card than an ebay job... I'd prefer an nvidia card since I'm a linux geek, I know ATI have much improved driver support on linux but it's still not up with nvidia.

I'm prepare to part with around £200 give or take a few quid... My current monitor can only do 1280x1024.

So, should I spend a bit more and get a 7800? I've had great gainward cards in the past, the 7800GS BLISS looks real sweet

OR

Should I spend a bit less and go for a 6800? There's a great offer this week on a 6800 GS...

OR

Should I go budget and go for 6600 and spend the money I saved on my bird in the vain hope of getting my leg over? That is if I'm not dumped by next weekend, We're nearly on c'thun in WoW

All advice gladly taken

 

[Lanz]

Get the 7800, dont bother with the 6800GS or a 6600.

 

[Darkwave]

Depending on your processor, you might be able to go PCI-E with an X1800XT 256MB for around the price of a 7800 AGP card.

 

[caff]

Funny how all these 6800GT's are suddenly frying - mine went just after the 1 year warranty expired...

Still, it gives me an excuse to dust off the ol' credit card, I've opted for the Gainward Bliss 7800GT 512mb AGP from OcUK which should be arriving tomorrow. Looking at benchmarks it would definitely provide a lift from my now-defunct 6800GT - whereas the 6800GS looks like a limited 6800GT which rather surprised me.

Also worth mentioning the overclocking potential of this card. I'm not really into overclocking for fear of damaging components, but the performance increases reported by users here so far are quite surprising - so it might definitely last you 18 months to 2 years of running the latest games, by which point you will probably want to upgrade again to get a fully Vista-compatible rig.

I would say if you don't have to replace lots of components, and it's cheaper for you, go for the new PCI-E setup - but always bear in mind when Vista comes out next year you will probably need to upgrade a few components your PC anyway.

 

[Jenks]

The gainward 7800GS is probly the best AGP card about.
20 pipes,512mb and only costs a little more then the 16 pipe 256mb 7800GSs.

 

[Cenuij]

Funny how all these 6800GT's are suddenly frying - mine went just after the 1 year warranty expired...

Yeah but i rather suspect many people, myself included, thrashed the absolute living daylights out of their card I got such a great overclock on it, but I probably pushed it too far on some occasions.

I've just ordered the 7800 GS BLISS

P.S. What's the "next day" service like at the moment? Last time I ordered through ocuk "next day" was definately not the next day

 

[caff]

Yeah but i rather suspect many people, myself included, thrashed the absolute living daylights out of their card I got such a great overclock on it, but I probably pushed it too far on some occasions.

I've just ordered the 7800 GS BLISS

Never overclocked my card - my system has a basic (well, quiet ) cooling system so I tried to keep everything @ stock to reduce the chances of burn out. Temps in the case were fine but the card just gave up.

Hope you're happy with your purchase - I can't wait for mine

 

[Cenuij]

My 6800GT was the gainward factory overclock number, the one with the red metal casing and twin fan setup... It was awsome. I ran it as an Ultra since the day I got it. Worth every penny.

I took it apart last week to clean the fans and heatsink. Yesterday was the first time I played any games since last week... WoW kept locking up and when i got back to the desktop I noticed my card was running hot. That *should* have been the cue to check my work on the card but not me! I probably didn't re-seat something carefully enough... Ah well it's dead now.

If you've not had a gainward card before, I think you'll enjoy this one

 

[Cenuij]

The gainward 7800GS is probly the best AGP card about.
20 pipes,512mb and only costs a little more then the 16 pipe 256mb 7800GSs.

When you put it like that it's not a hard choice