Keep, Double or Upgrade?

**Vamp** · 09-02-2005, 07:17 PM

I have a Gainward 6800 Ultra at the moment and am going to London soon. Is it time for an upgrade? Right now I have a K8NE Motherboard, a 3400+ AMD 64bit and a gig of Kingmax DDRam.

Should I keep the 6800U with 66.93 drivers, get a 7800 or an SLI 6800U setup... I realize that I'll need to get a new motherboard with any of the latter 2 options. Are there any 7800s that don't need PCI-E though? Is 8X AGP that much inferior to PCI-E?

I see that NVidia have released 77.77 drivers. How are these? My favourites to date have been 66.93s.

**ahctlucabbuS** · 09-02-2005, 08:20 PM

Depends on how picky you are.

That system would have lasted me atleast 1 or 2 years more...

**lynx** · 09-03-2005, 10:21 PM

All 7800's need PCI-E.

Unless you are currently saturating the AGP bus, you won't see any improvement from simply switching to PCI-E (although the other advantages are obvious).

One of the main criticisms when the 6 series was introduced was the poor performance of the drivers. Improvements are being made all the time, I have no doubt the latest drivers will give a performance boost (although I suspect it may only be detectable with benchmarks). Unfortunately new drivers also occasionally introduce bugs.

Which is best for you? Probably 77.77, but keep a copy of 66.93 just in case.

What has your trip to London got to do with anything?

**Vamp** · 09-04-2005, 12:18 PM

I'd be able to pick up a 7800 and a new motherboard there, I suspect, as they havn't been released in the mainstream here yet.

My monitor only supports 1024X768 resolution, and that's actually fine for me...But for physchological as well as enjoyment reasons, I like having my detail to set to Very High...Would a new game like FEAR run well under those settings and resolution?

The disadvantage of getting a 7800 for me is that I'd need to get a new mobo too :/...
And I just got this PC in September last year...I hate advances in technology

**clocker** · 09-04-2005, 01:52 PM

Originally Posted by Vamp

Should I keep the 6800U with 66.93 drivers, get a 7800 or an SLI 6800U setup... I realize that I'll need to get a new motherboard with any of the latter 2 options. Are there any 7800s that don't need PCI-E though? Is 8X AGP that much inferior to PCI-E?

Originally Posted by Vamp

The disadvantage of getting a 7800 for me is that I'd need to get a new mobo too :/...
And I just got this PC in September last year...I hate advances in technology

Your problem is not the video card upgrade path.
Your choice of socket/processor is what will get you in the end.

AFAIK, there is no such thing as a socket 754 SLI motherboard.
If you want PCI-e and SLI you will need a new CPU also.

Sorry to say, but last September you drove yourself into a hardware deadend...s754 was a budget stopgap, s939 is where all the fun stuff is happening.
I wouldn't put any more cash into your system.
Enjoy it for what it is/what it can do and start saving for the next PC.

**Vamp** · 09-04-2005, 08:21 PM

Jesus christ. I actually fucking HATE PCs. This is bullshit, buy one part that isn't right and you're fucked. At the time everyone was assuring me that Nvidia had nothing new coming out for a LONG time and that this system would last me very well for the next two/three years.

ARGH

Maybe I'll just save up for PS3 and Xbox360...But then I'm going to need to get a Blu-Ray burner and chips for both...Console games are also double the price of PC games here. FUCK! This always, always happens.

My PC Gaming cycle:

1: Shit PC "I hate PC Gaming, Consoles are so much better.
2: Good PC. "PC Gaming kicks consoles ass!"
3: Decling PC: "Maybe consoles are better than PC gaming..."

Repeat forever and ever.

How long, gaming wise, would this rig last me with the resolution and settings I use? If I don't decide to SLI my 7800, and just get one, then I take it I can simply get another 754 motherboard with PCI-E and keep my CPU?

Does socket 939 support AMD? In other words, if I decide that I want to go SLI, will I need to move over to Intel?

**Tylerrought** · 09-05-2005, 12:52 AM

ur pc will last u happily for 1-2 years from now, dont worry about upgrading it.

simple as that, and they have motherboards that support socket 754 and 939. so u could go with a new mobo that supports both and get a 7800.

**lynx** · 09-05-2005, 01:27 AM

There are a couple of PCI-E mobo's which support both socket 754 and socket 939. However, I doubt whether the investment would be worthwhile.

What's the problem with your existing 6800U? Unless you absolutely need to run at the bleeding edge, I very much doubt whether you will get a meaningful return on any investment in a 7800 or a pair of SLI 6800Us.

And in any case, if you can afford a pair of 6800Us, why worry about the comparatively small change needed to upgrade to a S939 board and cpu, you can almost certainly sell your current mobo and cpu.

BTW, S939 is AMD only.