do I really need such a high-end graphics card?

[Crazydog115]

Right now I'm running a GeForce 6600GT at 4x AGP.
I'm sure at 8x AGP I'd be amazed at the performance increase.

Knowing that, do I really need a radeon x1950xt?

Saving a few bucks would be awesome, and I don't think I need such a high-end card.

Got any suggestions? I'm just looking for something that will run CS:S (etc.) at ~50-60 FPS on medium to med-high settings.

 

[krazyq]

that card will probably be able to max out settings for cs s and get very good fps.
Im not sure how much different pci e is from agp, someone else will know more.

 

[b1gapl]

Going from 4x to 8x is nothing. You won't notice much of an increase in performance, unless you get a high end card, like the X1950XT. But you don't need an X1950XT, if you want to play CSS at good settings. A mid-range budget card, like the 7600GT can max out CSS.

 

[macdawg]

Prior to my 6800gs I had the 6600gt, which I gave me excellent frames in css at medium at 1024x768 res, and a few tweaks from casey's config.

So for css, I'd say a 6600gt is just fine.......

 

[phucng_10]

6600GT should be fine. A friend of mines also have one and he gets a great FPS.

 

[Nick]

my x550 which is worth like $10 can run BF2 maxed out with out lag so you would see a difference in performance going from 4x to 8x. not so much due to hte interface but because 8x cards are so much more advanced than 4x cards,

 

[krazyq]

I use to have the 7600gt, and i was be able to play css on med high settings.
But as i said before, i dont know the difference between pci and agp, performance wise.

 

[Gabb]

Going from 4x to 8x is nothing. You won't notice much of an increase in performance, unless you get a high end card, like the X1950XT. But you don't need an X1950XT, if you want to play CSS at good settings. A mid-range budget card, like the 7600GT can max out CSS.

you actually just need a x800 xl 256 mb agp to run CSS at full settings ( what I have now ). The HL2 engine isn't as powerful now in modern day times ( who knows how powerful HL2 episode 2s enhancements will be ). However my x800 xl WILL struggle with CSS at full settings with 1600x1050 resolution ( more like overheat and shut off ).

 

[Gabb]

my x550 which is worth like $10 can run BF2 maxed out with out lag so you would see a difference in performance going from 4x to 8x. not so much due to hte interface but because 8x cards are so much more advanced than 4x cards,

Um no I HIGHLY disagree with this statement and must refute it at once. An X600 can't even run BF2 at decent settings at decent resolution. In NO way or form can a x550 run BF2 at Maxed settings without getting an FPS of around 10-15 with massive video hitches. BF2 even today still demands a decent system ( takes at least a x1950 or high end 7 series card to run it at max settings with 60+ fps ). My x800 xl can BARELY run BF2 at medium settings at 1024x800 resolution and gets around 20-30 fps.

 

[Invisible]

hmm i wondered how a $50 card could run that well