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I'm looking for something in the 150 to 200 price range and would like a recommendation

Assuming AGP, I'd go with the 6600gt personally.
Might want to read over this thread.
viewtopic.php?t=33542

AGP? Go with a 6800NU. They can be had for around $170 shipped. The 6600GT is not the great deal it once was since the 6800NUs have gotten so cheap.

To be honest though, I bought a 6800NU AGP when my 9800pro unexpectedly died.....yes, it's noticeably faster, but I wouldn't have upgraded otherwise. I were you, I'd hold onto your 9800pro a while longer until you can afford something more current than a 6800NU.

Moved to the System Builder's forum.

Kevin

well i have recently upgraded from a 9800pro to 2x6600gt's i tested with just one 6600GT before i installed the second. i found that in 3dmark 01 the 6600GT was about 30% faster, in 03 was about 40% faster and in 05 was about 50% faster so would be quite a good upgrade but nothing steller, please note I went from a AthlonXP3200 to a A64-3700 PCIe system @ the same time so your improvment would be a little less if you went for a 6600GT.

so my conclusion is thatt the 6600GT crunches modern games a whole lot better than the 9800pro but the 9800pro is still quite a good card even for modern games, if it fit in my new system I would probably still be using it now

Dyn0mutt wrote:

well i have recently upgraded from a 9800pro to 2x6600gt's i tested with just one 6600GT before i installed the second. i found that in 3dmark 01 the 6600GT was about 30% faster, in 03 was about 40% faster and in 05 was about 50% faster so would be quite a good upgrade but nothing steller, please note I went from a AthlonXP3200 to a A64-3700 PCIe system @ the same time so your improvment would be a little less if you went for a 6600GT.

so my conclusion is thatt the 6600GT crunches modern games a whole lot better than the 9800pro but the 9800pro is still quite a good card even for modern games, if it fit in my new system I would probably still be using it now

First, no gamer worth his salt pays two brain cells worth of attention to 3dmark scores. Secondly, 6600GTs in SLI isn't a smart purchase, as a single 6800GT and/or X800XL 1) Costs less, and 2) Is going to be faster.

Vrock wrote:

Dyn0mutt wrote:

well i have recently upgraded from a 9800pro to 2x6600gt's i tested with just one 6600GT before i installed the second. i found that in 3dmark 01 the 6600GT was about 30% faster, in 03 was about 40% faster and in 05 was about 50% faster so would be quite a good upgrade but nothing steller, please note I went from a AthlonXP3200 to a A64-3700 PCIe system @ the same time so your improvment would be a little less if you went for a 6600GT.

so my conclusion is thatt the 6600GT crunches modern games a whole lot better than the 9800pro but the 9800pro is still quite a good card even for modern games, if it fit in my new system I would probably still be using it now

First, no gamer worth his salt pays two brain cells worth of attention to 3dmark scores. Secondly, 6600GTs in SLI isn't a smart purchase, as a single 6800GT and/or X800XL 1) Costs less, and 2) Is going to be faster.

correct me if i am wrong but this thread is not entitled lets read dynos post and pick on him, Is it?

i never said that 2x6600GT's was a smart purchase I could not get a 6800GT @ the time and the 2 6600GT's cost the same as a single 6800GT at the time, also I used 3dmark as an example to show what improvment i got from the upgrade, so it has meaning considering the context I used it in FYI, did i quote any scores? No, didnt think so!

Dyn0mutt wrote:

Vrock wrote:

Dyn0mutt wrote:

well i have recently upgraded from a 9800pro to 2x6600gt's i tested with just one 6600GT before i installed the second. i found that in 3dmark 01 the 6600GT was about 30% faster, in 03 was about 40% faster and in 05 was about 50% faster so would be quite a good upgrade but nothing steller, please note I went from a AthlonXP3200 to a A64-3700 PCIe system @ the same time so your improvment would be a little less if you went for a 6600GT.

so my conclusion is thatt the 6600GT crunches modern games a whole lot better than the 9800pro but the 9800pro is still quite a good card even for modern games, if it fit in my new system I would probably still be using it now

First, no gamer worth his salt pays two brain cells worth of attention to 3dmark scores. Secondly, 6600GTs in SLI isn't a smart purchase, as a single 6800GT and/or X800XL 1) Costs less, and 2) Is going to be faster.

correct me if i am wrong but this thread is not entitled lets read dynos post and pick on him, Is it?

i never said that 2x6600GT's was a smart purchase I could not get a 6800GT @ the time and the 2 6600GT's cost the same as a single 6800GT at the time, also I used 3dmark as an example to show what improvment i got from the upgrade, so it has meaning considering the context I used it in FYI, did i quote any scores? No, didnt think so!

I wasn't picking on you. Point is, 3dmark is not a good indicator of real world improvements, a 6600GT is not a worthwhile upgrade from a 9800pro, and two 6600GTs certainly is not a smart investment if you are upgrading from a 9800pro. If you're happy with your purchase, fine, but this isn't about you.

OK Vrock, i tend to disagree with you there, a 6600GT is a canny bit quicker than a 9800 pro in real world games, i know i have tested and compared both ,in modern games the 6600GT is almost twice the performance of a 9800 pro as it has a much better pixel shader it also copes better with higher reolutions than the 9800pro too. i am only speaking from experience with both cards and i used 3dmark as an example as a lot of peeps use it and understand it after all it is a benchmark and is designed for this sort of use, better hardware does get better benchmark results even in 3dmark and the fact i used them to test both cards proves that the comparison is fair.

anyway Vrock back on the topic, he is asking people for advice on a worthwhile upgrade i have given my opinion

just did some research online and found that the 6600GT is mostly faster than a 6800 vanilla according to this http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/05/18/nvidia_sli_pt3/5.html

ignore this link, i do not undrstand the testing methodology here as they used different settings for different card so is no good sorry

I'll opine that I consider nothing less than a 6800GT to be a worthwhile upgrade from a 9800Pro - but there have been many who've had success in unlocking the 6800Vanilla's extra pipes and then overclocking - YMMV.

Vrock, you did seem to slam the door in his face pretty hard

Dyn0mutt wrote:

OK Vrock, i tend to disagree with you there, a 6600GT is a canny bit quicker than a 9800 pro in real world games, i know i have tested and compared both ,in modern games the 6600GT is almost twice the performance of a 9800 pro as it has a much better pixel shader it also copes better with higher reolutions than the 9800pro too. i am only speaking from experience with both cards and i used 3dmark as an example as a lot of peeps use it and understand it after all it is a benchmark and is designed for this sort of use, better hardware does get better benchmark results even in 3dmark and the fact i used them to test both cards proves that the comparison is fair.

anyway Vrock back on the topic, he is asking people for advice on a worthwhile upgrade i have given my opinion

just did some research online and found that the 6600GT is mostly faster than a 6800 vanilla according to this http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/05/18/nvidia_sli_pt3/5.html

OK, hey sorry guy, again I wasn't picking on you. Still think that with his budget though, if he is bound and determined to upgrade his 9800pro, that a 6600GT is not a good choice.

i orignally wanted a 6800GT but i could not get hold of one locally and i had cash only so i ended up with the 6600Gt's in SLI I agrees a 6800GT would be a much better upgrade option for him but on a tight budget the 6600GT is not a bad upgrade for the price of it anyway, like i say i would have still been running my 9800pro on my main rig if it was PCIe cos its a great card.

thanx flip mode But I don't mind what Vrock says, I agree i shouldnt have got the 6600GT's in the first place but i was desperate to get my new rig up and running and had no Gfx card for it, i'm gonna sell them soon anyway and get me a 7800GT

Vrock wrote:

Dyn0mutt wrote:

OK Vrock, i tend to disagree with you there, a 6600GT is a canny bit quicker than a 9800 pro in real world games, i know i have tested and compared both ,in modern games the 6600GT is almost twice the performance of a 9800 pro as it has a much better pixel shader it also copes better with higher reolutions than the 9800pro too. i am only speaking from experience with both cards and i used 3dmark as an example as a lot of peeps use it and understand it after all it is a benchmark and is designed for this sort of use, better hardware does get better benchmark results even in 3dmark and the fact i used them to test both cards proves that the comparison is fair.

anyway Vrock back on the topic, he is asking people for advice on a worthwhile upgrade i have given my opinion

just did some research online and found that the 6600GT is mostly faster than a 6800 vanilla according to this http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2005/05/18/nvidia_sli_pt3/5.html

OK, hey sorry guy, again I wasn't picking on you. Still think that with his budget though, if he is bound and determined to upgrade his 9800pro, that a 6600GT is not a good choice.

nee botha all is good Vrock

Vrock wrote:

Dyn0mutt wrote:

well i have recently upgraded from a 9800pro to 2x6600gt's i tested with just one 6600GT before i installed the second. i found that in 3dmark 01 the 6600GT was about 30% faster, in 03 was about 40% faster and in 05 was about 50% faster so would be quite a good upgrade but nothing steller, please note I went from a AthlonXP3200 to a A64-3700 PCIe system @ the same time so your improvment would be a little less if you went for a 6600GT.

so my conclusion is thatt the 6600GT crunches modern games a whole lot better than the 9800pro but the 9800pro is still quite a good card even for modern games, if it fit in my new system I would probably still be using it now

First, no gamer worth his salt pays two brain cells worth of attention to 3dmark scores. Secondly, 6600GTs in SLI isn't a smart purchase, as a single 6800GT and/or X800XL 1) Costs less, and 2) Is going to be faster.

i disagree.

danny e. wrote:

i disagree.

And? Usually when one disagrees, he/she states why.

and also what they disagree with

I had a 9800pro before it died and I got the 6600gt. Exact same system (see sig)
The 6600gt didn't really perform noticeably faster that I could tell. The exception is doom3, which I leant to a friend and so only played about 5 min on the 6600gt, but I stepped up a resolution notch just for that.

I consider a GeForce 6800GT or a Radeon X800XL as the minimum worthwhile upgrade from a Radeon 9800Pro. I made that step earlier this year. At present, you may want to give a hard look to the GeForce 7800GT and a leap to PCI-Express.

Have you tried overclocking your Radeon 9800Pro?

JustAnEngineer wrote:

I consider a GeForce 6800GT or a Radeon X800XL as the minimum worthwhile upgrade from a Radeon 9800Pro. I made that step earlier this year. At present, you may want to give a hard look to the GeForce 7800GT and a leap to PCI-Express.

Have you tried overclocking your Radeon 9800Pro?

i agree.
the 6600GT would only be significantly faster than the 9800Pro in OpenGL games.

if you are going to upgrade.. go with 6800GT or X800 XL ..
I am planning to make the jump to the X800 XL soon myself.. going from a 9800Pro.
I just got a 6600 GT today that is going in my 2nd computer.. it doesnt seem to run Far Cry much faster than my 9800 Pro.

Dyn0mutt wrote:

and also what they disagree with

Unless it's a drive by disagreement! /family guy

Anyhow, Get a 6800gt if you can. 6600gt sli is a waste, seriously. I know you mentioned demand etc, but there are TONS of forums out there (hardocp. this one, just google for em) and they all have extensive seller areas with cheapo components like 6800gt etc.

If not hit up newegg.com if you can. PLEASE don't buy that 6600gt setup.