Here's a somewhat strange question. I'm looking to breathe that last bit of life out of my AGP system. The specs are: 2.4 Ghz P4 with 533FSB Intel D845PEBT2 MB 1Gb of 333mhz DDR 200 Watt PSU (which I plan on upgrading of course) XFX 5700le GPU I don't have any plans on upgrading the CPU or MB (no point to it at this late date) and, like I said, would like to squeeze as much shelf-life out of it as possible. The price difference after current rebates is $125, so not big money. My question more or less stems from the inherent computational limitaions of the supporting parts. Specifically, if the throughput of my systems supporting elements is "X" and both video cards are limited by "X" IN THE SAME EXACT WAY AND TO THE SAME EXACT PERFORMANCE LEVEL then the 6800XT makes sense. However, if the performance bottleneck is RELATIVE TO THE PERFORMANCE OF EACH CARD; meaning the 7800gs would still perform better, even given the limitations of the supporting elements, then the 7800gs might make better sense. Hope I'm making sense. Interested in opinions. Tom
I do see what you're saying. It's a tough one. If you are planning on upgrading the whole system within 1 year or so I could see saving a good bit of money and getting the 6800XT. However the 7800GS is way faster and while it might bottleneck a bit just the same every game will run a lot better with they 7800GS, it marks the best card you can get under AGP 8x and give's you some future insurance for games. You're processor still does exceed all game requirements at least. But for a similar price you'd be better served by an SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO 100131SL Video Card - Retail at Newegg.com Great value. However I'm assuming you're not planning on upgrading that soon so my vote still goes to the 7800GS, it's still a great value and will churn though modern games.
