Need a new graphics card

[BustaRomeo]

Yes, I'm back with the same question, but at least it hasn't been a week. I've been looking for a very good mainstream card to play games (Doom 3 and the like) without robbing me blind. Radeon 9800 pro seemed like the best buy, but looking around it seems that the Nvidia 6800 (normal) is a better performer, and the price is reasonable. What do you think? Also, I'm wondering whether I should buy now or wait for the christmas season for new cards/price drops.

[WhatsThisBoxFor?]

Whats your budget like? If the 6800 is too expensive for you, the 6600 series should be arriving soon, it has all the techinal features of the 6800, like Pixel Shader 3, but it is just less powerful. I have a 9800 Pro 128Mb, and it plays Doom III on medium settings, but if you really want to experience Doom I think you should look into a 6600, since I think it (checking google now) outperforms a 9800.

Edit: Here are some benchmarks of the 6600: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...e_6600-03.html and here are some are the 9800: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...n_9800-04.html (not completley fair, but it gives you an idea of performance.)

[AgentVX]

Yeah the 6600 outperforms the 9800 Pro, but as far as I know the AGP version of it won't be on sale for at least another 1-2 months. I guess if you're in no hurry then it's worth holding out.

[OLLY89]

Buy the X800 No Complaining and no worries trust me only if you have the Money.

[kram 2.0]

I'd recommend the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB - I have one myself and runs Doom 3 at High Settings 2X AA with good frame rates (laggy only in certain scenes). It also runs FarCry at almost all High/U High settings. The GeForce 6800 is a good card, but most say it's better to either go to the GeForce 6800 GT which is a better buy, or a ATI Radeon 9800 Pro which I mentioned is almost inarguably the best bang for the buck today.

kram

[BustaRomeo]

Both the (Leadtek) 6800 and the (Sapphire) 9800 pro are within my budget. The 6800 GT is that much more expensive. At some point I realize how much money actually gets blown on just a graphics card. Converted directly I'd have to pay up $964.44 for a 6800 ultra. So does the 6800 (non-ultra) outperform the 9800 pro? And what's the ETA on this 6600?

[AgentVX]

The 6800 non-Ultra is quite a fair bit better than the 9800 Pro. Check out Tom's Hardware Guide for benchmark comparisons, http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...004/index.html

[shadowbreaker513]

yes. the 6800 far outperforms the 9800pro. but make sure you get one with a big heatsink on it. and then once you get it, there is a program that can unlock the last 4 pipelines (ships with only 12 out of 16 open), and then because of that nice big heatsink on it, you can overclock the crap out of it.

[AgentVX]

Yep, I think Riva Tuner is the one that can unlock the last 4 pipelines but the success rate is quite low.

[kram 2.0]

The GeForce 6600 GT for the AGP version won't be coming out for at least several weeks...I'd say it's either the Radeon 9800 Pro or the GeForce 6800. Let me remind you that the GeForce 6800 SERIES do consume a lot of power (The U asked for around 450W, GT would be around 420W, so non is around 420 to be safe) so be sure you can fit that requirement - but if you can fit that into your budget, the GeForce 6800 would be a better contendor in performance.

kram