Sup guys? ok heres the thing: i am planning on getting: amd athlon 64 3200 939 pin Oem sapphire radeon x800XL pcie 256mb creative inspire 5200 5.1 ok now here're my questions: 1. should i get amd 3000 socket 939, and cheaper speakers? and add an amount of money to get the sapphire ati radeon x850XT? 2. i cannot get a geforce 6800gt pci-e for a reasonable amount of money where i live (israel) - should i wait a long time until i can? or should i just get the radeon? im not sure cuz i heard that radeon doesnt support pixel shader 3.0, but i also heard that they DO, and will work in about a few months with a new driver that will come out. so- how important is this pixel shader? and should i just buy the radeon? thanks, Daniel
I think that SM3.0 will increase performance, not quality. If you had to get a card now, then I would stick with the one you're going to get and get the 3200 A64.
Depends on what you are going to use the rig for. The X800 will be more than enough for games like HL2 and D3. The X850 isn't really necessary.
I'm not really all that familiar with what's available in the middle east, but I realize it is pretty limited. The GeForce 6600GT was first released in PCIe format, then AGP, so you may have better luck finding it. If you're going for gaming, I'd steer clear of anything using the GeForce 6200 or Radeon X300 chip. They're value graphics, and should only be considered if you play occasionally. However, in the long run, I would recommend you go with PCIe if at all possible. It's still new enough that I can understand it not being available in all parts of the world easily, but with it being the new standard format, you're much better off in the long run to jump on the PCIe bandwagon now. Of course if you upgrade frequently (roughly once per year), then I'd say you'd be safe if you went with an AGP system one last time.
