9600 to x800 Pro worth it?

[Canadian Bacon]

Never tell someone to go for ATI over Nvidia just because you like one over the other. I prefer ATI but thats my opiniong. The only time I would steer someone away from Nvidia is if they were to buy an FX series card which has poor image quality.

Non the less, I prefere to support my local Canadian economy over the american economy, so I go for homebuilt ATIs (at least their technology is homebuilt, most of ATIs cards are built in Asia)

[lcplsickoll]

Greeeaaatttt....Thx Tomster.....I actually tend to stick with what has worked for me in the past but if somebody asks if the should go 7800GTX or X850XT....duh....I point them to Nvidia. Until I found out about Crossfire I was going to get an SLI board with 2 7800's but I like the flexibility that Crossfire's proposing. Athlon 64 x2 4600 on it's way though....hahahah...I can't leave things alone.

[tomster2300]

Greeeaaatttt....Thx Tomster.....I actually tend to stick with what has worked for me in the past but if somebody asks if the should go 7800GTX or X850XT....duh....I point them to Nvidia. Until I found out about Crossfire I was going to get an SLI board with 2 7800's but I like the flexibility that Crossfire's proposing. Athlon 64 x2 4600 on it's way though....hahahah...I can't leave things alone.

Wow I'm dumb. I thought when you said crossfire you wanted some debating from me rather than staying neutral lol. I didn't realize you were referring to ATI's version of SLI. Lol, that's why I said ATI sucks, thought you wanted me to take a side. Sorry about that. :laugh:

BTW, how much is all that going to cost that you just ordered? The dual processors and crossfire? That is going to be one large sack of change.

[lcplsickoll]

Well ASUS doesn't have a Crossfire capable board yet. It should be out in a month or 2. I'm the new dual core processor from AMD. It's actually a single socket 939 processor that has dual cores built into a single chip. I'm getting the chip now, it goes for aroun $700 on Newegg but I have an opportunity to get one for under 500. As soon as the ASUS AMD crossfire boards are released I'll get one, and then the Crossfire card for the X800XL whic will boost it's performance greatly. So in short I'm getting one component at a time.

[tomster2300]

That's great. I wish I had the money to do that. Unfortunately I'm just a poor college kid. My money goes to gas, car payments, and meals on campus. I think if I were going to buy all that though I'd end up just building a new computer. Is that what you're doing, or are you just selling your old part when the new one comes in?

[lcplsickoll]

I have a solid motherboard with the A8N which only lacks SLI. I have a great Powersupply and I just got the X800XL. All I'm doing now is the processor upgrade. I'll do the CrossFire thing when it becomes available, but that may be a month or 2.
What I usually do is give my stuff to my cousin when I upgrade. He got my A8V when I went from AGP video to PCI-E and he bought a Athlon 64 3000 to go with it. Funny thing is he went from an Athlon XP 1700 w/512M Ram and a 9200 to a Athlon 64 3000 1 gig and a 9800pro. He almost fell over when he saw BF2 on his new rig. I can't wait for him to see it on mine.

[tomster2300]

Lucky cousin lol. I'm finding that computer updating is extremely expensive. Once I start college and get a job then I'll come back and see what I should overhaul. By that time 2nd generation things ought to be available and many bugs should be ironed out.

[gsxr310]

i have an ATI x-700 pro AGP 256MB. Can I overclock this? And where's a good link to read on overclocking?

[kewl e-man]

u SHOULD upgrade to the x800. u will c a BIG difference. also ur sys specs seems good enuf.

[lcplsickoll]

i have an ATI x-700 pro AGP 256MB. Can I overclock this? And where's a good link to read on overclocking?

www.hardocp.com read read read....make sure you're very comfortable with it and understand what you're doing and what the changes you're making are doing. Don't dive into OCing blind. You'll end up pissed off 'cause everything is fried. Be very careful, be patient, and stress test extensively after making changes to ensure stability.

[Chet Spartan]

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm probably going with the x800XL from some more reading I've done today.

[BOBSONATOR025]

i went from a mx420 to an x800 pro... GIGOMONUGOUS GARBONZO difference

[Hayden-G]

Yes the 9600 is holding you back. I didn't know you could open the 800Pro to 16 pipes, but it's worth it stock anyways. Is it worth $250, well that's up to you. I went from a 9800Pro to a X800XL PCI-e, yes new mobo, and I think it was well worth the 500ish I spent on the Mobo, GPU, and PSU. You should be able to run that rig w/X800Pro on High at 1280x960 w/2 or 4x AA and get the same FPS or higher. I get around 50-60 on all high 4xAA @1280x960

is it hard to install a new psu, and then connect it to all the thingies with all of the cords and connecters and such?

I think i might have to upgrade my psu for my new ati x850 xt 256 pci-e. I hope I dont but... maybe.

[tomster2300]

It's not too hard. Each piece of hardware comes with instructions on which cords should be used. If you dont have the manuals then they can be found on their manufacturer's website.

[Eddy01741]

Ok, I'm not totaly sure but i don't think you can flash or unlock the pipelines of the X800PRO, nobody i know has done it, and all the reviewers say they're trying to , but they can't. But you might, you just might. I know on older nVIdia 6800s you can unlock the pipes, but on the newer one, you can't anymore. I would go for the X800XL or something like that, it comes with 16 pipelines, plus it has competetive speeds to the X800Pro already X800Pro=475/900, X800XL=400/980, so it's very little difference if you average the numbers out. Plus unlocking pipes and OCing can be dangerous, you can fry your card, and since you OCed or messed with it, it voids the warranty, therefore, you just wasted 250 bucks. I would go for hte X800XL, there's one for 250 bucks on newegg.com after 20 dollar rebate, and there's one from HIS (great cooling) from newegg.com from280 bucks. It's like the same price as the X800pro, plus even if you unlock the pipes, it's still only has competitve speeds to teh X800XL, so , i wouldn't take the risk. I would just by the X800Pro and be happy with it, or get the X800XL, no unlocking, OCing is easier, but if you go too much, your vid card will fry and your comp will have no connection to the monitor and stuff, so you don't wanna do that.