video card upgrade desicions...?

[rocknerd]

hello all.
let me start off by saying WONDERFUL website.
FINALLY an unabridged database for GPU info!!!

and now on to the task at hand.

i built a very outdated system last year, please dont ask why. i need my brain examined.

as follows-
P4 3.06HT
1.5G of RD ram
and i was using a geforce 6600GT 128MB until now. (AGP)

this week ive been trying a few different cards.
my first was an ATI x1300 pro 512MB it was not better than my 6600. ($170)
then i picked up an ATI X1600XT 256MB AGP ($230)
it is definitely better. but ive been reading reveiws about the comparison between the x1600xt and the geforce 7600gs and that its really not worth spending an extra 100 for the ATI card when the 7600gs hangs pretty close with the ATI.
the ATI has GREAT clock speeds for the memory (1.3Ghtz)
and the core is 650.
but the 7600 is only 400 core and 400 memory (800 effective)
but im noticing that all nvidias crush in pipelines and texture operations.

so my question is should i sacrafice good clock speeds for better pipelines and texture filling? and save $100?

most benchmark reviews had the 7600 staying within 10FPS with the x1600XT and even beat it out in some games like FEAR...

i would really like to find a geforce 7600GT (not GS) but its gard to find for AGP.

very sorry for the long ramble.
any info would be much obliged!!!

thanks- rocknerd.

**edit**
PS- the GPU was really the weakest link in my PC and selecting the right video card would really help me out.

[Jordanov, Viktor K.]

Dear Rock...

If you really have P4 3Ghz and so on and REALLY like to view a high quality images on your PC I could reccomend you Radeon X1950 with 512 DDR4 RAM. It will cost you much - about 400$, but when I save a littel more money I`ll buy it. With mainboard Ati 3200 AMD 64+ 3800 and this Radeon X1950 my PC will fly. Save money now and buy yourselve something worth of your hard worked money.
Best regards
Viktor

[Mike]

If the price difference is really that big, sure the 7600GS makes perfect sense. The X1600 cards are notoriously unbalanced, that is to say, they have a lot of good specifications that don't translate well into performance because they are bottlenecked by the lack of texture units. So go by the benchmarks, if you're happy to save a little money and get a little less performance, that's always a good option.

[rocknerd]

thank you guys very much for your thoughts.
i went in a completely new direction and decided the only way i would be happy is if i were broke...

i ended up getting the best thing i could locally at my best buy.
a geforce 7800 GS OC.
now i know that a 7600gt would have been just as good or yes the ati x1900 series, but unfortunately between best buy and circuit city there was the 7600GS and the x1600XT (which at $150 would be a smart buy not $200+) and then the jump straight to the 7800GS OC.
well i spent WAY more than i expected and got WAY more performance than i expected. i can now run company of heroes maxed, great frames, oblivion at 75% GFX set (its a super system hog, and im happy withthese settings and got exactly what i was hoping out of it) but everything else i can run maxed and the FPS is great considering my perdicament. (old intel board with RD ram)
i know your probably thinking why buy the 7800 when i could get an ati 1900 or geforce 7900 cheaper online. well i needed to be able to return it easily if there were unforseen issues.
i ended up spending $350.
im very happy with my purchase and the video card put a HUGE band-aid on the outdated system i built last year.

again, thanks guys.
be seeing you around.