Help me decide!

[Vario]

With the rising prices on these cards, I am trying to decide between a Sapphire x800pro VIVO, ($180) an ATI x850pro VIVO($240), and a Sapphire x800gto2($270).

A lot of the stores seem to have jacked up their prices almost overnight. Your advice is very appreciated.

I plan to make either an x800xt pe (from the x800pro) or an x850xt pe ( from the x850 or the gto2) by flashing the bios and overclocking. Will there be a discernable performance difference between an unlocked x800xtpe and an unlocked x850xtpe?

Hoping to buy/order tonight.
Also if anyone knows of a cheaper site, let me know, newegg seems to be the current cheapest.

Goal is for smooth gaming over the next year.

Thanks! :)

[Pavlin]

Unfortunately I think the chances to mod the X850Pro to 16 pipes are not big at all.Same goes for Sapphire X800Pro VIVO, but I'm not sure. I'm getting card like this(Sapphire X800Pro VIVO) in 1-2 days and I can tell you if it mods to 16 pipes. GTO2 will easily mod to X850XT but It's price is too high and it's not worth, because for 300$ you can buy 7800GT. Maybe you should try Connect3D GTO(still has VIVO and power connector) for 180+$ but there is something like 50:50 chance to mod.

[Vario]

well I bought a new msi x800xl for $200 on ebay.

Kinda regret losing an auction for a x800xtpe that went for $208 by $5, I was urgently needed and didnt get a chance to watch the bid during the last 5 minutes.