Upgrade now or wait for R600 (and directx10)?

ZzzombieBunny

Hey there guys, im currently running a X800 XT PE (520/560). Noticed the prices on the X1950 Pro are dropping a lot lately, considering they are 36 pixel shaders compared to my 16 im kinda tempted to upgrade.

But then again, I dont really have that much issues running games, sure I cant run at the highest settings but its all doable. Am I just wasting my cash if upgrade considering the next gen cards are probably a couple months ahead?

Although from what I understand is that directx10 is not backwards compatible so I would have to upgrade to windows vista. Then theres the issue that aint exactly any directx10 games around and probably wont be for a long time. So if I wait and upgrade to a R600 card I will probably be sitting with it and playing directx9 games for the next 6months and when the first directx10 games finaly do come out, I would probably be able to buy a budget R600 for half the price.

A couple years ago I made the mistake of upgrading to the next gen card before there actually was games out that supported the hardware, by the time the games came the card was to slow to run em and I had to upgrade again. I dont wanna be in that situation again.

Sandok

Personally, I'd wait for the weaker deriveratives of the 8800 series... 8600 and all shoudl be out around the same time of the R600 and they'll be plenty powerful...

If you want to play HIGHER than 1600x1200 with AA and AF and you got a kickass CPU, go now for teh 8800 series or R600 but if you know you aren't going to be pushing the limits of resolutions, I advise the slightly smaller 8600 cards for feb/jan.

ZzzombieBunny

as far as resolutions go, im not planning on pushing past 1280x1024 (or 1280x960) anytime soon. The current prices on the 8800 seem a bit crazy, I could buy a Nintendo Wii and a Xbox360 for that...

Nick0323

Get the X1950PRO, and plus Sapphire just released a 512mb version.

Sandok

Then honestly, you got a great card right now... And if you spend 200$ish now, you won't even have DX10, when if you spend the same amount of money in a couple of months, you will with even better performance.

And worse come worse, you can always pick up a X1950 Pro later (R600 prices will make it plummet), so I don't really see a loss in waiting...

hackerx

Hang on to your card for now.Wait till ATI releases their new cards.That usually results in Nvidia dropping prices.
Also if u wait till about Feb or MArch u'll see mid-range variants of the 8xxx series.

ronnn

I would wait also. An upgrade would certainly improve your performance and the wait for an actual dx10 game may be long. Still maybe vista, Dx10 and new games will transform the whole thing.

ZzzombieBunny

Think ill wait till the cards come out and see what kinda prices they are going for, guess the X1950 can only get cheaper meanwhile.

H3X4D3C1M4L

Could you find a Wii?

8800's are at least in good supply

rOwdy

definitely wait. alot easier said than done though.

ZzzombieBunny

Hehe, actually not being able to find a Wii for xmas was why I was considering upgrading my graphic card in the first place :P

Anyway after the feedback and some googling I have to agree that holding out and waiting for the R600 and the budget versions of the 8800 is probably the best thing to do. Not that the X1950 Pro is a bad card or anything, but I dont think it will last that long against the next gen directx10 cards... guess thats why they are going down in price in the first place.

link1313

after reading the review on r600 blowing the 8800gtx by over 10% it has me in buying position.

H3X4D3C1M4L

I wouldn't bet the farm on that review

Zeph

The only thing I've seen on the r600 is a 1280x1024 doom3 bench. Even assuming it's real, that resolution is scratchpaper to the high end cards right now.

Does anyone know when the NDA on the r600 expires?