new video card

[luke87]

ok, I plan on upgading from my x600 pci e 256 mb ati card to a new nvidia card. i just have 2 questions.

1) how hard is it to switch from an ati to a nvidia card in terms of drivers and programs on your computer?

2) would the 6800 gs be the biggest bang for my buck especially this one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130271

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130265

i don't plan on getting the 7800gt so please don't reccomend that one as it is to expensive. thanks for any help.

 

[juststarting123]

EVGA all da way

 

[luke87]

thanks for that comment......

but , can anyone else help?

 

[kahlos]

The best bang for buck card at the moment is Sapphires X800GTO2. I have one my self. You only want it though if you are going to OC and unlock it. As standered it is as good as a normal X800GTO but the GTO2's are build using the same core as the X850XTPE which costs twice as much. . So basically the X800GTO2 is a X850XTPE repackaged and repriced. But the GTO2 has been downclocked and had 4 pixel pipelines disabled. So all you have to do is change the bios on the card (very very easy) to the X850XTPE bios and change the clock speed to the X850XTPE speeds (and ferther) and you have a X850XTPE. You need to get a different cooler for the GTO2 as the one which is already on it is not a dual slot cooler (a big one used on the X850XTPE) so you just have to fit a good one (deffinatly the best is Arctic Cools ATI Silencer 5). It is better than the 6800GS by quite a long shot. The GTO2 costs around £120 new which is $200. If you want better performence for less get the GTO2 . Works perfectly in mine. Runs everything full detail. But obviously you have to OC and unlock it if you are going to get one. If you still want the 6800GS (cause you don't wanna OC) then its really easy to change drivers. Just uninstall the ATI ones and delete the registrys. Then install the nivida ones. Hey presto . But i would seriously check the GTO2 out before you buy the 6800GS. Heres a link for newegg . Oh and by the way the latest shipment of GTO2's have had 16 pipelines as defult so no need to change the bios Seems that Sapphire have left the X800 and X850 series to die

 

[003]

Yep its true the GTO2 unlocks to XTPE but you also might want to look into the 7800GS (not the GT)

 

[dmc535]

I switched

I went from Nvidia to an ATI and I had no problems.
Just removed old drivers and installed the new ones..

 

[luke87]

might sound dumb, but isnt the 7800gs only agp. i am looking for a pci-e card. also, does the x800gto have shadermodel 3.0 and all the features that the 6800gs has, becuase i can not find that out from the descriptions.

on a side note, i do not really plan on oc'ing. so is the 6800gs better unclocked then the x800gto2?

 

[PP Mguire]

The 6800GS is the better way to go because the PCI-E version can OC like mad. It has SM3 and the ATI cards dont (besides the X1800and above). eVGA 6800GS man.

 

[Mr_Threepwood]

What's the big thing that shader model 3 lets you do? So far the only difference I've seen is the ability to turn on soft shadows. When you have soft shadows however, you frame rate goes in the trash can so I keep it off anyways. What else does it do?

 

[zerodayATK]

i dont know what else it does but the 7800gs is pci-e and agp... jsut to let you know