Upgrade from X800XT AGP?

[Darren555]

I am sorely tempted by the Gainward BLISS GeForce 7800GS
Silent 512MB GDDR3 AGP card. I currently have the 256MB ATI X800XT and thought this would be my last AGP card before moving onto a new platform. But to be honest my A64 3700+ S754 nF3 system isn't that much slower, if anything, than the best out there at the moment where gaming is concerned and as far as I can see it is the VGA card that makes all the difference at the resolutions I play at (1280 x 1024 4x AA 8x AF).
So I was thinking of selling my current card and upgrading to the Gainward and keeping my system for a fair while longer.
Will there be a big difference in performance between the two cards on stuff like HL2, FarCry, BF2 etc?

Cheers,

Darren

 

[IdburnU]

Yes, I made the same upgrade from an X800 XT PE to the 7800 512MB Gainward and went from 6200 to almost 8400 in 3DMark05 and got a huge boost in newer titles, such as Oblivion where I now run 1900 x 1200 on my new 2405 monitor and before the X800 XT PE choked up a bit at 1280 x 1024 with high settings. If you are not trying to do a PCI-E upgrade at the moment, it is a great way to get some features and performance not available any where else.

 

[benjo]

Yes, I made the same upgrade from an X800 XT PE to the 7800 512MB Gainward and went from 6200 to almost 8400 in 3DMark05 and got a huge boost in newer titles, such as Oblivion where I now run 1900 x 1200 on my new 2405 monitor and before the X800 XT PE choked up a bit at 1280 x 1024 with high settings. If you are not trying to do a PCI-E upgrade at the moment, it is a great way to get some features and performance not available any where else.

Thats a nice boost, what cpu are you running?

 

[IdburnU]

It is the older Socket 940 FX-53, which is why I have stuck with AGP, since an upgrade for me is an entire new rig. This is now a two years old setup, but the 7800 GT 512MB Gainward gave it some extended life till I am ready to drop the money for a whole setup and relegate this to a backup. The first test I loaded is here for the Gainward:

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1973517

I can't publish the last one from my X800 XT PE at the same time as this one, but it was clocked at 564/564 and the score was 6315, same processor, ram, harddrive etc. I have gotten the Gainward over 8400 but have not updated it since the initial. I think if I wanted to push it I could get to the 8500 range, but everything is running nice now, so I'm happy.

 

[Vita]

Hehe IdburnU, I beat your 3dmark05 score, I'm the 2nd one on the 3DMark05 page. So want to become first hehe A64 3000+ Socket 754 Newcastle running here.

 

[IdburnU]

Well, I don't know where the 3DMark05 page even is so I will just take you at your word on that. A whole lot of people get better numbers than me and should.

As I said I am happy with the card and the performance gain on a 2 year old machine. In addition it has over 100 games installed, themes and add ons and has never had a reformat, so it is hardly a "benchmark warrior" lol. It does run smooth and reliable though.

My point still stands for the original poster that the upgrade is well worth it if he is not prepared to jump to PCI-E yet.

 

[Darren555]

Thanks guys. I wish there was more high end choice for AGP cards.
I have been looking at the S754 PCI-e motherboards but am loathe to change as my DFI mobo is the the best I have ever owned.

 

[dale1uk]

Thanks guys. I wish there was more high end choice for AGP cards.
I have been looking at the S754 PCI-e motherboards but am loathe to change as my DFI mobo is the the best I have ever owned.

I understand where your coming from but for the price of that card you could get a 7900gt or x1800xt + motherboard and both would be a fair bit better than the agp card.