6600 AGP $125 shipped

[Ruined]

ASUS 6600 128mb w/ 128-bit memory bus, AGP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121197

Note this is not a 6600GT, but rather a slower clocked 6600. This would be a good upgrade from a GeForce 5700/Radeon 9600 or earlier.

supports sm3.0, fp16hdr, hardware accelerated dvd & wmvhd playback

..although for $25 more you can get the much faster 6600GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130220

[Damian]

6800 AGP from NewEGG for $159.00

[Ruined]

lol soon they are going to be giving them away free with a happy meal!

[Damian]

Originally Posted by Ruined

lol soon they are going to be giving them away free with a happy meal!

Cool then I can finally afford one.

[Sycho]

Ok, so it turns out I have more money then I thought I had, so soon, like by the end of the year, I want a new video card, I can't decide between a 6600GT AGP or a 6800 AGP. I have some WMV clips that don't play very well, but nothing substaintal, I might be getting so WMV-HD DVD-Rom's. I read that plain 6800's do WMV acceration. Do these have the interlace bug that my 5200 has? what could I expect for HD gaming?

[furthest1]

I've been looking to upgrade. Any horror stories, I was thinking about taking my 9800 pro 128 to an x800 256, but I figure that if I just wait a little longer than I can get one. Any info on latest cards. I'm also looking at some nice geforce models, but some seem a bit out of my price range now (6800)

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sycho

Ok, so it turns out I have more money then I thought I had, so soon, like by the end of the year, I want a new video card, I can't decide between a 6600GT AGP or a 6800 AGP. I have some WMV clips that don't play very well, but nothing substaintal, I might be getting so WMV-HD DVD-Rom's. I read that plain 6800's do WMV acceration. Do these have the interlace bug that my 5200 has? what could I expect for HD gaming?

Only PCI-Express plain 6800's do WMV acceleration. AGP 6800's do not do WMV acceleration.

If you want WMV9HD acceleration on AGP, you need to get a 6600GT. 6600GT would be good at 720p gaming.

for quick reference, hardware video acceleration by GPU type:
NV40 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800 AGP, 6800GT AGP, 6800U AGP (130nm version)
NV41 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6800 PCI-E (130nm version)
NV42 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6800 PCI-E (110nm version)
NV43 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6600 PCI-E, 6600GT PCI-E, 6600 AGP, 6600GT AGP
NV44 - Full MPEG2, Partial WMV - 6200 PCI-E, 6200 AGP
NV45 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800GT PCI-E, 6800U PCI-E
NV48 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800 AGP, 6800GT AGP, 6800U AGP (110nm version)
G70 - Full MPEG 2, Full WMV, Full H.264 - 7800GTX PCI-E

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by furthest1

I've been looking to upgrade. Any horror stories, I was thinking about taking my 9800 pro 128 to an x800 256, but I figure that if I just wait a little longer than I can get one. Any info on latest cards. I'm also looking at some nice geforce models, but some seem a bit out of my price range now (6800)

For a significant upgrade I'd recommend saving up for a GeForce 6800GT or better (~$299 now). The 9800PRO is fast, so to see a good speed boost you need to buy something more powerful than a plain x800 or 6800. The x800 series is a waste of money IMO since they lack SM3.0 and FP16 HDR, both of which are being used by a lot of upcoming games - meaning you will be missing out on special effects and have lower image quality with an x800. So save up for a 6800GT and go for that when you can afford it.

[Sycho]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Only PCI-Express plain 6800's do WMV acceleration. AGP 6800's do not do WMV acceleration.

If you want WMV9HD acceleration on AGP, you need to get a 6600GT. 6600GT would be good at 720p gaming.

for quick reference, hardware video acceleration:
NV40 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800 AGP, 6800GT AGP, 6800U AGP (130nm version)
NV41 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6800 PCI-E (130nm version)
NV42 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6800 PCI-E (110nm version)
NV43 - Full MPEG2, Full WMV - 6600 PCI-E, 6600GT PCI-E, 6600 AGP, 6600GT AGP
NV44 - Full MPEG2, Partial WMV - 6200 PCI-E
NV45 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800GT PCI-E, 6800U PCI-E
NV48 - Full MPEG2 only - 6800 AGP, 6800GT AGP, 6800U AGP (110nm version)
G70 - Full MPEG 2, Full WMV, Full H.264 - 7800GTX PCI-E

Thats a lot of info to take in, so back to HD gaming, what could I expect from a 6800(overclocked and unlocked) or 6800gt?

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sycho

Thats a lot of info to take in, so back to HD gaming, what could I expect from a 6800(overclocked and unlocked) or 6800gt?

well, again, first of all a 6800 AGP does not do wmv9 hardware accleration, so rule that out. (only pci-e 6800 does wmv9)

the 6600GT AGP does do wmv9.

Second, the 6800 agp is rarely unlockable without artifacts, i'd say 5-10% chance of unlocking successfully. The 6800 PCI-E which does do wmv9 cannot be unlocked.

A 6600GT agp or agp 6800 would be good for 720p gaming, the 6800 capable of more antialiasing/anisotropic filtering levels due to its greater memory bandwidth. A 6800GT/Ultra or fully unlocked and overclocked to ~350/900 agp 6800 would be good for 1080p gaming, however this will not provide you with a card that can do wmv9 like the 6600gt, and the chances of unlocking and o/cing to such a level are very slim.

So in your case, the 6600GT AGP is the best bet.

[Sycho]

Originally Posted by Ruined

well, again, first of all a 6800 AGP does not do wmv9 hardware accleration, so rule that out.

But right now, I'm thinking of no WMV acceration, thinking for a HTPC, I might get a mobo with PCI-Express, would a plain 6800 be good for 720P 4xAA and 1080i(P) with 2xAA?

[furthest1]

Originally Posted by Ruined

For a significant upgrade I'd recommend saving up for a GeForce 6800GT or better (~$299 now). The 9800PRO is fast, so to see a good speed boost you need to buy something more powerful than a plain x800 or 6800. The x800 series is a waste of money IMO since they lack SM3.0 and FP16 HDR, both of which are being used by a lot of upcoming games - meaning you will be missing out on special effects and have lower image quality with an x800. So save up for a 6800GT and go for that when you can afford it.

Indeed, I was thinking of the GT model, but failed to mention it in my post. I was thinking the same thing about the x800 actually, it's price is still kind of high, but it doesn't have the components or speed capabilities that I would want coming from something of that cost. It has to last a few years after all.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sycho

But right now, I'm thinking of no WMV acceration, thinking for a HTPC, I might get a mobo with PCI-Express, would a plain 6800 be good for 720P 4xAA and 1080i(P) with 2xAA?

plain 6800 PCI-Express, if you get that, would have WMV acceleration builitin.

however, 1080p (1920x1080) is stretching it for the 6800nu. Though it will work great with some games, with others you will have to drop down the detail significantly in order to have playable framerates. The 6800nu is more aimed towards 720p, since its memory bandwidth is only ~22gbps.

For 1080p gaming, I'd go with the 6800GT ($299) or 7800GTX ($529), but only the 7800GTX of those two has WMV acceleration. Also, for more recent games like Battlefield 2, the 7800GTX is the only card that will play well it at 1080p @ high detail.

[Sycho]

Originally Posted by Ruined

For 1080p gaming, I'd go with the 6800GT ($299) or 7800GTX ($529), but only the 7800GTX of those two has WMV acceleration. Also, for more recent games like Battlefield 2, the 7800GTX is the only card that will play well it at 1080p @ high detail.

for double the price, I don't think it's worth it for the 6800GT, and forget about me getting the 7800GTX for several years, come on, I'm 18 and work part time at mcdonalds and a radio station, and just bought an $1100 bike(yes $1100, well CND) and an RX-V650 for $500. I think I'll just get a 6800 AGP as a filler untill the next wave a DRM is unleashed.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sycho

for double the price, I don't think it's worth it for the 6800GT, and forget about me getting the 7800GTX for several years, come on, I'm 18 and work part time at mcdonalds and a radio station, and just bought an $1100 bike(yes $1100, well CND) and an RX-V650 for $500. I think I'll just get a 6800 AGP as a filler untill the next wave a DRM is unleashed.

Just sayin, if you want a card to run 1080p gaming, 6800 agp isnt fast enough for high detail. You'd be better off running at 720p high detail than 1080p low detail.

I still think you should get a 6600GT AGP since you could really benefit from the WMV acceleration, even though the 6800 AGP has about 6gbps more memory bandwidth. Then again, if you are very intent on 1080p gaming, you'd definitely fare better with the 6800.


Here are some charts that might help:

6600GT vs 6800
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=190&card2=178

FX 5200 vs 6600GT
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=153&card2=190

FX 5200 vs 6800
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=153&card2=178

[Sycho]

Originally Posted by Ruined

Just sayin, if you want a card to run 1080p gaming, 6800 agp isnt fast enough for high detail. You'd be better off running at 720p high detail than 1080p low detail.

what about 1920x1080 with little or no AA? I've noticed on my 19" CRT that 1920x1080 with no AA looks good, even though there are a few jaggies, I don't mine them to much.

As a note, it was hitman 2 that I ran at 1920x1080(i) on my 5200, and it still ran smooth as butter.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by Sycho

what about 1920x1080 with little or no AA? I've noticed on my 19" CRT that 1920x1080 with no AA looks good, even though there are a few jaggies, I don't mine them to much.

As a note, it was hitman 2 that I ran at 1920x1080(i) on my 5200, and it still ran smooth as butter.

let me put it this way.

i have a p4 3.2 ghz, 1gb ram, and a 6800GT, which is a lot faster than the 6800 (50% more fillrate, like 80% more memory bandwidth, double the ram, plus an additional vertex shader unit).

at max detail (all eyecandy on) I can do the following smooth (no drops under 25fps):
doom3 - 1080p no aa, 8xaf
half life 2 - 1080p 4xaa, 8xaf (lost coast hdr addon will probably bump this down to 720p no aa/8xaf)
far cry - 720p no aa, 8xaf
far cry - 1080p 2x aa, 8xaf (hdr disabled)
f.e.a.r. - 720p 4xaa, 8xaf
medal of honor pacific assault - 720p 4xaa/8xaf
world of warcraft - 1080p 4xaa/8xaf
splinter cell chaos theory - 720p no aa/8xaf
splinter cell chaos theory - 1080p 4xaa/8xaf (soft shadows and hdr disabled)
painkiller battle out of hell expansion - 720p 4xaa/8xaf
sims 2 - 1080p 4xaa/8xaf
battlefield 2 - 720p 4xaa/8xaf

So even with a 6800GT I can only do 720p on most new games with all the eyecandy on. Downgrading the lighting (disabling HDR) or shadowing effects (turning off soft shadows) can bump me into 1080p on a couple of games, but that is with a card that is a lot faster than the one you are getting. These are the latest games so they are a lot more trying than Hitman 2, so I think they would beat up the 6800 at 1920x1080. That's not to say you couldn't do it, you'd just have to notch down the effects a lot. But I think the loss of the visual effects will be much greater than the sharpness you'd lose running 720p instead of 1080p... The new realistic lighting and shadowing effects offered by the newer games are very impressive and IMO a much bigger gain than resolution offers. Granted older games I can all play at 1080p no problem... but I assume you're not buying a new gfx card to play older games.

The 6800 will be a massive upgrade for you, as will the 6600GT, so in either case you will likely be very happy. I'd just recommend using 720p because neither card really has the power or memory bandwidth to handle high quality effects at 1920x1080 with the latest games... even my 6800GT doesn't with a lot of them.

You could just snoop around benchmarks - in terms of demand 720p is about equivalent to a standard pc res of 1152x864 while 1080p is about equivalent to a standard pc res of 1600x1200, see where the cards stack up in the games you play... then again benchmarks often don't translate well to playability since they usually measure average fps not min.