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video card sugestion
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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Wild Card on Tue May 18th at 2:13pm 2004

With my b-day only 1 month away, my parents asked if I had a wish list. Of course, they know I'm really into my computer so they asked what I wanted there. They also know that I keep complaining about my current video card.

So doing some looking around. I narrowed down my choises to 2 cards. One from nVidia and the other from ATi. Of course, I know now is the worst time to buy, since when the new cards come out, the prices will have droped significantly. But the new cards are due beginning of June, my b-day being end of June. And I told them the price issue with the new generations cards around the corner so they said that they wont buy until I give 'em the thumbs up.

I compared 3 local retailers which I have purchased previously from. Anyways, heres the selection:

The main differences... not counting price are that the nVidia card is 256mb whereas the ATi is 128mb. But the ATi has higher clocks than the nVidia, core by 75Mhz and RAM by 100Mhz.

What I would like to know, is out of the 2, which would you pic, and why. And please, no nVidia is better than ATi or vice versa. Right now I myself am impartial. Which card do you think has better OC potential or problems etc.

Or, would it be better to get maybe a 5590 or a 9800. I'm going from a GF4 MX series on PCI to something in the mid range with the 5570 or the 9600 but would it be better to go even higher?

Thanks guys

[addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Tue May 18th at 2:17pm 2004

Save up and get a Radeon x800 XT. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Gorbachev on Tue May 18th at 3:08pm 2004

256MB over 128MB is useless. Go with the 9600XT. If you're wanting a bit more you can get a 9800 Pro which is a fairly large step above for about $330-350. The Radeon cards are much better for image quality, they run games with AF and AA waay better than Nvidia cards, which equates to a smoother looking game. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Tue May 18th at 3:10pm 2004

If you insist on getting one of these, wait a few months. I guarantee the prices will drop drastically once the x800 starts taking over the market. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by ReNo on Tue May 18th at 3:19pm 2004

Is that the new ATi thats coming out to rival the Nvidia 6800? I heard it was quite far behind the Nvidia in power / features. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Tue May 18th at 3:23pm 2004

? quote:
Is that the new ATi thats coming out to rival the Nvidia 6800? I heard it was quite far behind the Nvidia in power / features.


On the contrary, I heard the exact opposite from a number of sites. While the stats might not be as impressive (I can't remember myself), I do remember that it pretty much out-powered nVidia's new stuff every time. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Forceflow on Tue May 18th at 3:29pm 2004

Go for the AtI ... or wait a couple of months, and buy a radeon 9800XT ...



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Wild Card on Tue May 18th at 3:48pm 2004

So is there a difference between 256mb and 128mb ram on the card? I'd also consider a FX5900 or a 9800 but they are double the money. I know prices will drop with the release of the 6800 and the 10800 but the difference is still there.

I guess the consideration would also include can the 2 cards I showed above play upcomming games like HL2, Doom3, FarCry, Halo 2, etc.

Oh yea and from the 100plus review specs pages I've read the X800 is better than the 6800 in most categories, the rest, are mostly tied between the 2 cards 'cept for a few categories where the 6800 takes the cake.

[addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by $loth on Tue May 18th at 3:48pm 2004

? posted by Kage_Prototype
Save up and get a Radeon x800 XT.

I agree! But if you can't afford a x800, defianlty go for the radeon, there graphics cards come out on top all the time,[ this might be due to the higher memory float points].

[addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by ReNo on Tue May 18th at 3:54pm 2004

Well I just read an article comparing the two, and while the ATi top model gets better FPS with AA and AF on, both are still extremely high and surely whether you are getting 160 or 120 fps is of little consequence? NVidia's new cards apparently have features that the ATi card does not. I know very little about the tech side of graphics hardware, but my flatmate assures me Nvidia's card is most likely the one to get.

Then again, maybe he is just an NVidia fanboy [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by scary_jeff on Tue May 18th at 7:44pm 2004

Most reviews I saw did put the new X800 slightly ahead of the FX6800, but it depends what you want to play... nivida is supposed to be better in openGL performance, and that's what Doom 3 will be using. Also, only the two top end cards from each line have been seen, and most people don't pay ?300-?400 ($400-$500) for a graphics card. The real competition is in the mid range cards, that's what I'm waiting for - and the performance of the top end models does not have to reflect on the perfromance of the midrange ones If it was two identically performing cards at the same price, I would go with nvidia every time.

Back to Wild's question, if you must have one of those two, the 9600XT is the faster, but if I were you, I would get neither. The 9800pro has all but a few percent of the performance of the 9800XT, and is much cheaper. It will easily outpace the two you suggest, and in the UK at least, it is only 20-25% more expensive. Both of them should run HL2, but Gabe specifcally said that the 9800s (that doesn't include some 'SE' crap) run HL2 very nicely. Also, Asus is an expensive brand. If you don't care about overclocking or bundled software, get a different make.



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Crono on Tue May 18th at 8:12pm 2004

Asus can suck donkey nuts.

However, Jeff is absolutly correct (bet you never thought I'd say that, huh)

And, WC, there's a big performance difference between having 128 and 256 megs of ram on the card, it works just like on your motherboard (or close enough for my point )... but for video. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by omegaslayer on Tue May 18th at 8:27pm 2004

WC-
If your buying from a store then STOP, go to Ebay and at least look there for the cards, some people get the whole cards for free from their company in the unopened box, and they sell it for cheaper, This is where I got my 9800 pro for 250$ (shipping included).
And like Gorbachev said:

? posted by Gorbachev
256MB over 128MB is useless.

so dont look at how much MB there is. But if your preparing for HL2 you want something that runs all the latest video programs to their max (SmartShader 2.1, etc.)

[addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Wild Card on Tue May 18th at 8:54pm 2004

oiw... lol some say 256mb is important some say otherwise... lol. DEBATE!!! nope. I'll have a look see on ebay for cards. Cause yea, the 9600 and the FX5700 are about the highest price range I could go, the stores sell the 9800 for about 500 to 600$. Thats looking at either ASUS or MSI.

As far as card features go, well, it depends, I could care less for a TV out or bundled DVD player lol. But I do want some overclocking headroom.

But I've seen a SAPHIRE 9800 (pro I think) for 300$ but I dont know if thats just junk or quality.

[addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Crono on Tue May 18th at 10:06pm 2004

About a week ago a hardware store near my house had an ASUS 9800Pro for $150 (US). (the store sells OEM stuff mostly). [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Kage_Prototype on Tue May 18th at 10:31pm 2004

? quote:
oiw... lol some say 256mb is important some say otherwise... lol. DEBATE!!!smiley nope. I'll have a look see on ebay for cards. Cause yea, the 9600 and the FX5700 are about the highest price range I could go, the stores sell the 9800 for about 500 to 600$. Thats looking at either ASUS or MSI.


If that's the case, it's a rip-off. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by scary_jeff on Tue May 18th at 11:14pm 2004

256 is not important in any game available today. You can go to any video card comparison, and you will see that if you double the memory to 256 while running at the same speed, the average FPS boost in current games is 0. This will obviously change in the future, as the average video memory requirement will obviously climb over the years, but you will probably get another new card by then anyway



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by ReNo on Tue May 18th at 11:17pm 2004

Apparently the U3 engine will require 1Gb of video memory to run it on its top settings Will be a couple of years before that is used in games however. [addsig]



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by scary_jeff on Tue May 18th at 11:56pm 2004

? quote:
I've seen a SAPHIRE 9800 (pro I think) for 300$ but I dont know if thats just junk or quality.


If a card uses a given chipset and amount of memory, it will be running at the same frequencies as any other card based on this chipset - the performance differences between two cards running the same hardware at the same frequency are too small to bother considering. Almost all makes come with a warranty, so if it breaks, you get a replacement. The only real difference between the different brands is that some will be better for overclocking, and some come with better software packages. The 9800 you saw for $500 would have been a 9800XT.



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 Re: video card sugestion
Posted by Gorbachev on Wed May 19th at 12:18am 2004

? posted by scary_jeff
256 is not important in any game available today. You can go to any video card comparison, and you will see that if you double the memory to 256 while running at the same speed, the average FPS boost in current games is 0. This will obviously change in the future, as the average video memory requirement will obviously climb over the years, but you will probably get another new card by then anyway

Yep. It's just not worth paying more money. A 128MB 9800 Pro will do you well and doesn't cost much more than a 9600XT...as well it has twice the pipelines I believe (8 compared to 4).

The X800 is a much better card in my opinion due to the fact that it doesn't require taking over 2 molexes, a PCI slot just to get comparable performance. ATI owns the market if you plan on playing with AA and AF on.

Saw a few benchmarks from Call of Duty and the X800 with 6xAA and 16xAF at 1600x1200 I believe it was ran at 250-320fps. Damn that thing's powerful. Can't wait to put one of those in my rig in a few months. (By the time I have the money it'll be a price I can chew.)

[addsig]




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