Videocard Upgrade Question

With the latest racing sims (ie - GTL; GTR; etc) requiring ever more powerful systems, I'm considering upgrading my videocard. My system mobo/CPU could stand upgrading, I'm sure, but I don't expect to do that for awhile yet. (Reinstalling everything is too much of a PITA.....) So, I'm considering an AGP videocard only (preferably ATI). Right now my system specs are AthlonXP2600, 1 Gig RAM, Radeon 9700Pro, WinXP SP1. That's already the fastest CPU that my mobo (Epox 8kha+) can take. Does a vidcard exist that would provide a system improvement, but not be held back by the CPU? I'm looking at the X800 and X850 family of vidcards. In the ATI NG, someone mentioned that these cards have performance issues with VIA chipsets. Can anyone here confirm/refute that? Thanks!

I'd get a 6800GT, even used. BTW, update windows to SP2 asap :) rms

On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:20:09 -0500, BRH wrote: > With the latest racing sims (ie - GTL; GTR; etc) requiring ever more > powerful systems, I'm considering upgrading my videocard. I had similar feelings until I switched to the dx7 shader in rfactor, fps are back where they belong now (from 40-50 to 90-110, testing at Toban ;) I can use much higher resolutions now, too (from 1024x768 to 1280 x 1024), so AA isn't really strictly necessary anymore. Couldn't be happier, as a vidcard upgrade probably would have forced me to upgrade the mobo, too (I'm still on a 9800 pro agp). Also, I don't note all that much difference in rendering quality, but then again, my eyes might be getting old ;) Cheers, uwe -- GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

I read and noticed that frames rates, on different tracks vary a lot. that was my finding anyway Uwe Sch�rkamp enlightened us with:

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> On Thu, 17 Nov 2005 17:20:09 -0500, BRH wrote: >> With the latest racing sims (ie - GTL; GTR; etc) requiring ever more >> powerful systems, I'm considering upgrading my videocard. > > I had similar feelings until I switched to the dx7 shader in rfactor, > fps are back where they belong now (from 40-50 to 90-110, testing at > Toban ;) I can use much higher resolutions now, too (from 1024x768 to > 1280 x 1024), so AA isn't really strictly necessary anymore. > > Couldn't be happier, as a vidcard upgrade probably would have forced > me to upgrade the mobo, too (I'm still on a 9800 pro agp). > > Also, I don't note all that much difference in rendering quality, but > then again, my eyes might be getting old ;) > > Cheers, uwe > > > -- > GPG Fingerprint: 2E 13 20 22 9A 3F 63 7F 67 6F E9 B1 A8 36 A4 61

The most speed you can get is by a faster processor AND than by a faster video card. Check, if a bios flash is possible and gives you the ability to use a - let's say - Athlon 3700. It's not so expansive and is very fast and can be overclocked. Rolf <BRH> schrieb im Newsbeitrag news:[email hidden]...

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> With the latest racing sims (ie - GTL; GTR; etc) requiring ever more > powerful systems, I'm considering upgrading my videocard. > > My system mobo/CPU could stand upgrading, I'm sure, but I don't expect to > do that for awhile yet. (Reinstalling everything is too much of a > PITA.....) > > So, I'm considering an AGP videocard only (preferably ATI). Right now my > system specs are AthlonXP2600, 1 Gig RAM, Radeon 9700Pro, WinXP SP1. > That's already the fastest CPU that my mobo (Epox 8kha+) can take. Does a > vidcard exist that would provide a system improvement, but not be held > back by the CPU? > > I'm looking at the X800 and X850 family of vidcards. In the ATI NG, > someone mentioned that these cards have performance issues with VIA > chipsets. Can anyone here confirm/refute that? > > Thanks!