Best AGP card for CS:S at around $400 USD

M

Mojo

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jan 28, 2003
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Is it the 6800GT? Os will the X800XL be better once it hits the AGP market?
 
there is no reason to spend that much on a video card unless you jsut want bragging rights.

you are better off spending like $200 and getting a bfg/msi 6600 gt
 
compslckr said:
there is no reason to spend that much on a video card unless you jsut want bragging rights.

you are better off spending like $200 and getting a bfg/msi 6600 gt
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256mb of vram will last much longer than 128mb.
 
Mojo said:
Is it the 6800GT? Os will the X800XL be better once it hits the AGP market?
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The ATI card will probably give you a better play experience in Source engine games. You may be waiting awhile though to get an AGP X800XL at or near MSRP, unfortunately. You can't go wrong with a GT either.
 
6800GTs are around that price (I dont know American prices)

so a 6800GT would be a nice one.

ATIs are good to, get like an x800Pro with Vivo (so you have the possibility of softmodding it to xt-pe levels)
 
6800gt or x800-x850 should be suffient enough..
 
Radeon X800 Pro AGP cards start at $379.00 including shipping at Pricewatch, the cheapest retail at Pricewatch is $392.00 including shipping.

GeForce 6800 GT 256MB AGP cards start at $354.75 including shipping for a retail box.
For some reason the OEM cards start at $377.00 on Pricewatch. That is weird.

OEM is only the card, Retail is what you could buy at Best Buy.

The X800 Pro will give you better performance in CS, that is true.

Hate_Bot linked to a X800 Pro card with VIVO (video in video out) and said
"It's a little bit more, but it has Vivo, which is what youll need".

I don't see why you NEED to have a VIVO. You didn't say anything about bringing video in to your computer.

EDIT
Oh I see...
"like an x800Pro with Vivo (so you have the possibility of softmodding it to xt-pe levels)"
 
You need vivo so you cn flashmod a pro to xt-pe levels, hence saving you 200 dollars or whatever those expensive SOBs cost.
 
Aren't Nvidia cards bad at CSS/HL2? I've heard of issues with wierd texture rendering as well as random and uncalled for framerate drops for no apparent reason. Is this true, is it just a driver issue or what? Is there actually a good Nvidia driver for CSS?
 
Yea, nvidia cards arent too good for the source engine. When I put in my 6600GT card in my comp when I sent in my x800 XT for RMA, I noticed a BIG difference in texture quality. The x800 line makes the source engine look very clean and crisp. Thats just what I have seen through my tests.
 
Avengeance said:
Yea, nvidia cards arent too good for the source engine. When I put in my 6600GT card in my comp when I sent in my x800 XT for RMA, I noticed a BIG difference in texture quality. The x800 line makes the source engine look very clean and crisp. Thats just what I have seen through my tests.
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That's comparing peas to carrots. The 6600 series GPU goes along x700 series GPU.

X800 R430 ---> 6800 NV40
X700 RV410 ---> 6600 NV43
X600 RV380 ----> 6600 NV43

Theres your texture quality difference.
 
Deanob said:
That's comparing peas to carrots. The 6600 series GPU goes along x700 series GPU.

X800 R430 ---> 6800 NV40
X700 RV410 ---> 6600 NV43
X600 RV380 ----> 6600 NV43

Theres your texture quality difference.
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using the same settings, they should look identical to the 6800 series;)
 
Mojo said:
Aren't Nvidia cards bad at CSS/HL2? I've heard of issues with wierd texture rendering as well as random and uncalled for framerate drops for no apparent reason. Is this true, is it just a driver issue or what? Is there actually a good Nvidia driver for CSS?
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It's more accurate to say that Nvidia cards are not as good as ATI cards at CS:S/HL2... But they aren't actually bad at it.

Originally ATI cards suffered worse from the uncalled for drops than Nvidia cards did, dropping from a higher starting frame rate to an even lower frame rate than the Nvidia cards would hit.

I think I recall hearing the texture issue was pretty minor, not really anything to worry about when it happens at all.

If you can get a 6800 ultra for under $400 then that would definitely be the way to go, otherwise the x800pro VIVO is a smoking card if you can get it to softmod to 16 pipelines.
 
If you're primarily looking to only play CS:Source...why not go for something much cheaper? That game has pretty low system requirments and should look fine on a card that's closer to $150. Unless you're playing on an LCD with a native res that's massive like 1600X1200...I'd say a 9800 Pro would do fine for you. This is coming from someone who has both a 9800 Pro and 6800GT and doesn't notice much difference at the typical 1024X768 resolution. The detail and AA settings are barely even noticeable in CS: Source, so unless you're really nitpicky...don't throw down an extra $250 to compare.

I'd only shoot for the $400 cards if you're making an upgrade that you're expecting to last a while and you play more resource hungry games. Otherwise, save that $250 and put it toward something else.
 
Domingo said:
If you're primarily looking to only play CS:Source...why not go for something much cheaper? That game has pretty low system requirments and should look fine on a card that's closer to $150. Unless you're playing on an LCD with a native res that's massive like 1600X1200...I'd say a 9800 Pro would do fine for you. This is coming from someone who has both a 9800 Pro and 6800GT and doesn't notice much difference at the typical 1024X768 resolution. The detail and AA settings are barely even noticeable in CS: Source, so unless you're really nitpicky...don't throw down an extra $250 to compare.

I'd only shoot for the $400 cards if you're making an upgrade that you're expecting to last a while and you play more resource hungry games. Otherwise, save that $250 and put it toward something else.
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i agree. my 9800pro handles CS:s really well, but i only play at 1024x768. im considering upgrading in the future to a 6800nu maybe.
 
I got my 6800 GT about a month ago and in some games it runs more or less just like my 9800 pro did...while in others I certainly notice a gain. I got an LCD that is native 1280X1024 at the same time, so I've had to up the res on most games, too though.

For Doom 3...there's no comparison. HL2 is much better, too. However for older games and even UT2K4...I'm not seeing much difference and in some it's even worse, but those are OLD games like Unreal 1 or something similar.

I now play CS: Source at 1280X1024 with everything cranked all the way and my FPS is only limited by my LCD's refresh rate. While that's great, it still doesn't really look much different from 1024X768 with AA lowered. Don't most "serious" CS players go with 800X600 anyway?
 
Id have to say the BFG 6800GT bar none, you can find one for like $380 today online.
 
i would go for the 6800 ultra for $350 if i were you. My friend has a 6600GT and CS:S runs flawlessy.. nvidias have no problem with the game that i have seen
 
omg id upgrade my 9700 pro to a 6800u right now if i would have to pay stellar customs fees. 350us = el cheapo.
 
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