Quick graphics card question

I'm looking for a new graphics card as mine is on the blink, and GeForce FX5700's seem to be in my price range (?120/$200 and under). Is a 5700 ultra with 128mb of memory 'better' than a 5700 with 256mb? Or would people suggest a different card for this sort of price, perhaps a budget 5900XT? (why does the internet make it so hard to research this kind of stuff?!)

As far as i know a 5700 XT is a 5700 with a higher clock rate so its faster than a normal 5700 with the same amount of ram, but in this case the extra ram might make it slighty faster than a XT

I hate my FX5600, it's a piece of s**t! It overheats too much even with an extra fan.

sapphire radeon 9600 pro or XT. 130quid I got my pro for, you can probably get the XT for that now.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=92783

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=93610

I bought my card & my scanner from scan, they are v good.

My radeon 9600 pro is pretty good value, even with my crappy CPU and slow bus and RAM, I can still run bf42 in 800x600 with good fps. A big improvement over the GF2 MX200 I used to have...

You seem to be concentrating too much on nVidia. AFAIK, the radeon 9600 is equal to or greater than the fx5700. Then again, I could be wrong. But, the radeon works for me.

I highly suggest an ATI card if you're getting one these days. Previously Nvidia was the king, but that's not so anymore.

If the XT is the same card but with a higher clock setting, dont waste the extra money and buy that one. IMO, just get the standard one and overclock it. Provided theres good cooling solution on the card and you dont have hot spots in your case.

If not, I mean, what is the difference between 128 and 256? Its nothing new, just more of the same stuff. The difference between a 5700 and a 5900 = new features. Pretty much all the PGU's are identical. Its just that the 5700 has some features locked that the 5900 dosent. Therefore nVidia can have several different card models ranging from extreme gamer cards to low end game cards without having to waste money making different GPU's for each.

I may be wrong, but I think, for example, the 5200 and the 5900 are essentially the same GPU, but the 5200 is locked out of many features and they lowered its clock setting and gave the card a cheaper cooling feature.

IMO, when looking for a card, the GPU comes first, then the ram.

the reviews that i read put me right off getting the fx 5700. they all seemed to agree that it was a noisy disappointment compared to whatever the equivalent ATI card is.

it was only with the fx5900 that nvidia got there act together with some of problems they had with architecture and cooling, and got there noses in front of ati again.

Thanks guys. Will probably go for an FX5900 and trust in the 'GPU > memory' advice, guess with AGPx8 you can always use system memory in a few years if you need it!

Nothing will utilize 256Mb, it's just more money and you'll never know the difference.

Thanks guys. Will probably go for an FX5900 and trust in the 'GPU > memory' advice, guess with AGPx8 you can always use system memory in a few years if you need it!

Yeah ... that wont slow down all your processes at all :rolleyes:

More video card Ram is more important, as always. A video card works just like the rest of your computer. However, if you don't have as much video RAM and a higher Video BUS with a Higher clock speed, it would be possible to run at the same performance level.

Anyway, I don't think you should buy a card based on GPU speed, since it can be overclocked without severe damage.

It also depends on who you get as the manufacturer of the card. But the end choice is up to you, you're the one who has to use it.

Gorbachev said:
Nothing will utilize 256Mb, it's just more money and you'll never know the difference.

Where have I heard that before :argh:

Go to e-bay and get a discount on all graphics cards, although since your in UK and out of America it might raise problems, but in anycase I got my 9800 pro from there for only 250$ from some one in chicago, works great so far. now im not saying spend 250, but you might be able to find something for cheaper on e-bay.

I can get a 9800 pro brand new for $320 CDN ($240US).

Jesus Christ, you'd pay more then $200 (US) for a video card???

ATI are better graphics than nvidia, especially if you are going to play HL2, nvidia's memory float point is low compared to radeon graphics cards.

Tom's hardware guide has some good reviews and comparisons on graphics cards

www.tomshardware.com
and also
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030127/index.html

Also while I was searching in google I gound this, can't tell if it's true or not

http://forum.pcvsconsole.com/viewthread.php?tid=8278

Just some things I dug up, haven't read them properly but they might be of use.

Gorbachev said:
I can get a 9800 pro brand new for $320 CDN ($240US).

Have you looked at what www.oemexpress.com have to offer? Ive gotten most of my parts from there. Just make sure you know exactly what your getting first.

Well, just got a new FX5900, seems to be pretty good but now I need a mobo/processor upgrade :smile: Although, I've had my system clock set to July for the last couple of days (accidentally), and it was causing lots of small artifacts to appear against black backgrounds in IE/games!

If anything, you'd probably only want to upgrade the processor and not the mother board. Try maxing out the CPU, BUS, and RAM speeds first.

That's a bit hard seeing as I have an 'early' Pentium 4, and it's pretty difficult/pointless getting a 1.7Ghz processor off eBay :/

That's a bit hard seeing as I have an 'early' Pentium 4, and it's pretty difficult/pointless getting a 1.7Ghz processor off eBay :/

I had the same problem, a socket 423 instead of the more modern 428 (I think they're the numbers). Meh, I just bought a whole new computer. I wanted a processor type that could handle anything above 2.0Ghz. :razz:

In hick voice:

My friend owns a dell.

That's a bit hard seeing as I have an 'early' Pentium 4, and it's pretty difficult/pointless getting a 1.7Ghz processor off eBay :/

Ah, nevermind then. I assumed you might of had a newer board, not that I have any clue as to what you currently have ... besides your video card, obviously. assumes, you have a 1.4 Ghz P4 or close to it

I had the same problem, a socket 423 instead of the more modern 428 (I think they're the numbers). Meh, I just bought a whole new computer. I wanted a processor type that could handle anything above 2.0Ghz.

Such as Socket A? (most every 32-bit processor AMD has made to date)

slides in a bit of info that could be correct, but should be taken with caution

i have heard, it is very easy to flash the bios of a normal card, with the XT bios of the same model.. in essence, you will be overclocking it... and would need to deal with the heating issues.

in most cases, so i have read, the only real differences between the models, is the bios.

Such as Socket A? (most every 32-bit processor AMD has made to date)

Yup, that's what I have now. :smile:

Yup, that's what I have now.

Congratulations on finally coming to your senses :smile: (In that Intel chips are just too damn expensive for what they do and their lifespan)

pets Socket A

In a few years you'll be petting Socket 940 :biggrin:

Crono said:
In a few years you'll be petting Socket 940 :biggrin:

Yay FX-53's!!!!! :biggrin:

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Yes Orph, you can do that in some cases, but not all.

So here's a questions... we all know that graphics cards can cause 'artifacts' to appear on screen if they're too hot, but what if they're too cold? I'm getting small green and blue dots appearing on programs with black backgrounds (e.g. on this website) for about half an hour, then they seem to disappear...



edit okay the bloody fan doesn't work on this one either, which is the same reason I got rid of the old one!

Lep, you might want to check to see if anything in your computer is constricting the card itself. Such as maybe you should move some of your PCI cards around (if you can). Or maybe the IDE cables are getting in the way.

However, if this card is manufactured by ASUS, as your last one was, maybe you shouldn't get ASUS anymore. Maybe your computer isn't supplying enough power for everything you have in it, however, that's pretty unlikely.

"And the lord said: 'Why didn't you get ATI?'" I think it's a sign to steer away from Nvidia for a bit :rolleyes:

And man said unto the Lord "because ATI has s**tty drivers and worse technical support"

i thought he said "Let there be light" and eve hit adam behind the ear for getting off first.

/runs

.

Gorb, there's nothing wrong with nVidia cards. It just depends on who you get as a manufacturer. Same thing with Radeons. Obviously, people only get ATI Radeons (mostly),but other companies make them as well: ASUS and Diamond included. The point is, If whatever company made his GeForce had instead made a Radeon (or such) It would be just as s**tty. Does that make sense? However, it is easier to find poorly made nvidia cards then it is to find poorly made ati cards, simply because more companies produce nvidia cards. I personally stick with MSI, because I've never had any problems, nor has anyone I know. I've had immense problems with: ASUS and PNY, oh God, PNY ... so bad. Anyway.

And I've had no problems with ASUS stuff. For the most part unless a part has a serious problem it's all local issues.

Right.

However, most of the problems I had with ASUS was with their motherboards, maybe it was just that model, but it was terrible ... it didn't work ... all 5 of the ones I tried, I must say the store I got them from was pissed off at me. They didn't believe me ... the funny thing is, now they're out of buisness

edit okay the bloody fan doesn't work on this one either, which is the same reason I got rid of the old one!

Some cards turn off the fan in 2D mode or for low temperatures, try a game or other 3D app to increase the temps and then check if it spins up.

Gorbachev said:
And I've had no problems with ASUS stuff. For the most part unless a part has a serious problem it's all local issues.

I have an asus motherboard, erm...a7v8x-x, i have had no probs with this MB at all, and it goes well with my graphics card :biggrin: