So my (not so) old video card is starting to lag behind and I figure it's time to upgrade my computer a bit so the wife will stop whining about the graphics lag, and so I can Gib people at the proper resolutions with today's games.

My Question is,

The nVIDIA GeForce 6800 128MB (256 isn't out yet) @ $299
Or the ATI RADEON X800 PRO 256MB @ $469

In the past I've stuck with nVidia and had good luck, but my new laptop has a radeon 9100 in it and it runs most my games with a decent frame rate with most of the graphic settings on high.

So your opinions please.

>The nVIDIA GeForce 6800 128MB (256 isn't out yet) @ $299
Or the ATI RADEON X800 PRO 256MB @ $469

the pro over the 6800(normal) any day, unless its a GT you are gonna get the same playability from a 5950/9800pro, the x800 pro is a great card, at that price right now i don't know how great of a card that is, people are getting 6800GT's for 350-400 right now (no idea where you are at) and i would recommend that over a pro if you could get one

i'm not too positive but if thats the GT, your bottle neck (at the higher rezolutions with all the spiffy eye candy) will be the ram, i have a fealing its the normal since i can't find a GT with only 128 megs of ram on it which i would suggest not getting for that price

http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/hisx800xt_box.jpg

how the hell did you find that, and a PCI-E setup?

The past few days I've been looking at http://www.overclockercafe.com (http://www.overclockercafe.com/) .

On that website there was a link to a review on a different site. (http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/hisx8001.shtml).

Well in light of this thread i'll ask my question. My work was giving a few Microns away for free. The one i got was the one i use to work on here at work. I was going to use it to play EQ on but come to find out there isn't a 3D device on it. Question is, what 3D device should i get, what motherboard should i get, what powersupply should i get, and what processor should i get. If there is anything else i would need to upgrade this computer could someone let me know what it is?

That all depends on how much money you want to spend.

If you can afford it, ATI's new Radeon X800 XT is hot stuff... for memory Corsair is always a good choice - I dont know a whole lot about motherboards/processors so get someone elses opinions on those :)

The sweet spot for a graphics card is probably around $225 these days. Get the highest clock rate CPU you can, and 256mb RAM if possible.

Spend your cash on a gig of RAM. It makes a difference.

to shynia

this is probably the most common mid rang bought items for rigs

A64 +2800 = $185
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-452&depa=0

Chaintech VNF3-250= $88
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-152-043&depa=0

Saphire 9800pro 128meg 256bit= $209
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&depa=0

I already have all the memory that PC will take, 256, i wish it could take more. My dell has 512 in it, but it was a free comp so.... What should i try to buy first?

if you are looking to gut it, look at my previous post

ATI pretty much has been a winner for while now, if only for the fact its still a one slot card. nVidia cards at the upper end of their consumer line have a huge heat sink and fan that takes up 2 slots. In addition, they gobble up mountains of power and sometimes require you to get an even stronger PSU. Be ready to get a 480 watt or better power supply, since nVidia figured it was better to sock the consumer with a hidden $100.00 expense than include an external power brick that might cost them 2 dollars a unit shipped. Its a good chance people might pay 10 dollars more a card if its saves them from buying a one hundred dollar part required to just run the card and prevent the computer from crashing.

As far as performance goes, ATI is a marginal edge. Included games, software in addition to the quality of support varies by the vendor for both. Some games just plain run better on ATI as far as Direct Draw ( I think thats what it is). If you have a Dell flat panel monitor, some nVidia board will screw them up. So, do I really need to say more?

If you want hard facts get the July issue of Maximum PC. It has a comparison of the latest offerings from both and thats pretty much where I got this info.

Yes, ATI costs more compared to nVidia, but the nVidia makes up for that lost ground in the form of hidden costs and inconvience. Thats if you are talking top of the line. If you only play EQ and surf the Web, you can get more than enough power from a ATI Radeon 9600 Pro or something similar from nVidia. Most wives usually tend to like getting what they want without having to blow all the family budget getting there, unless 500.00 dollars is chump change for you. If it is...build a whole new computer to wrap around that X800 XT!!. Nice FX 53 chip....maybe some SATA WD Rapters or even Ultra320 SCSI drives in RAID 0.. Oh how fun it is to dream!:D