dilemma

I will buy a new computer soon. However, I'm not certain about which
graphic card to choose. So, I would appreciate a little help :smile: .

What would you choose, and why?

[edit]
I had to vote "Other..." to be able to see the results
[/edit]

Im an ATI fan at the moment.

So I voted X800. Although which one is up to you. I like ATI, plus their card is nice. Its single sloted and doesnt require lots of power from your PSU and doesnt need 2 molex connections.

Although both cards are incredibly fast, which ever one you get should really come down to extra features, accessories, card design, and which company you like more.

How can I see the results without voting myself?

OtZman said:
How can I see the results without voting myself?

lol you cant. But rest assured, my vote is for ATI.

radeon x800, or similar im getting for my new pc. and thats because of other peoples recommendations soooo, er yeah :razz:

not much help really!

there are a s**tload of benching sites, research them :wink:

i am poor, but i researched all the cards i could buy for about 150 bucks, and the 9600XT 256 meg fit me perfectly.. i am assuming money is not an issue for you since you quoted ungodly high priced choices, but still some professional research is possible.. i'd take their word for it, before i would a editing forum :biggrin: (no offense guys, i only say that cause you all seem to not fathom how hard it is to scrape up even 150 bucks)..

do some googling

there are a s**tload of benching sites, research them :wink:

i am poor, but i researched all the cards i could buy for about 150
bucks, and the 9600XT 256 meg fit me perfectly.. i am assuming money is
not an issue for you since you quoted ungodly high priced choices, but
still some professional research is possible.. i'd take their word for
it, before i would a editing forum :biggrin: (no offense guys, i only say that cause you all seem to not fathom how hard it is to scrape up even 150 bucks)..

do some googling

I have a feeling that the benching sites will say different things
aswell , but I will do some research... the funny thing is that, when
asking about hardware, eveyone says different things and have different
reasons ^_^

Go to a few websites like www.anandtech.com www.xbitlabs.com or www.hardocp.com and read the reviews they have, or go to the forums at www.ocforums.com or any of those first 3 websites. Try not to be swayed by how cards like the x800xt-pe or 6800 ultra-extreme perform, as these don't really affect you. Also bear in mind that benchmarks are done on a CPU faster than yours (more than likely anyway), so the framerates you get will be a bit lower than those given.

Personally I think nVidia have made a great comeback from their lousy FX series, and that the 6800GT is the overall better choice. There really isn't much in it though; what you get will depend alot on the exact selection of games you think you will be playing. Also remember that people tend to recommend what they bought just because it's what they bought, and people will not usually want to admit they made a wrong choice (I bought a 6800gt... go figure :heee: ).

Everybody goes on about the power requirements and 2-slot design of the 6800, but many tests have shown the 6800GT will run fine on a 350W supply, it only needs one power connector (WC, I have no idea why you keep saying different), and finally, if you get a x800, you would be stupid to put another card in the slot right next to it anyway - so whether the graphics card takes up two slots is totally irrelevant unless you are building a shuttle where a 2-slot card simply won't fit insde the case.

[edit] otZman - what you have to do is just excercise a bit of judgement; if a load of reviews put the x800 slightly ahead, then you read one where the 6800gt is twice as fast, the one by itself is probably not that trustworthy. Lots of websites will put out highly slanted reviews with the aim being to point out some kind of horrible conspiracy and generate a few hits by writing something different. Same with forum posts, if most people are saying they are happy with their x800, and then one guy is on saying that it's far too loud and runs at 200 degrees and crashes all the time, you should try not to take what the one guy said too much to heart. [/edit]

see, now thats a well thought out and informed response..

all hail jeffery :kitty:

The ATI's used to be leaps ahead of the Nvidia cards, but they have recently drawn failry even. When it comes to these two cards you'll find that they perform almost identically, except the ATI costs a couple hundred more (in Australia at least). I did a fair bit of research into this recently and I would go with the Geforce 6800GT.

thx so far, everyone :smile:

As mentioned, there seem to be very little difference between the two cards

I live nVidia because until the last generation they were always cheaper... No real point other then that. I can usually find them at a cheaper price. Although, I like MSI manufacturer because they're pretty quality hardware and they're big on package deals. They make both nVidia and ATI based cards now, you might want to check them out :smile: , just a little note, I've never had problems with them, nor has anyone I know personally, although, apparently a lot of people have no problems with ASUS cards and I've had barrels of hell water with them (As well as ASUS products in general). But, I do believe nVidia is the cheaper of the two right now.

6800gt, you can easily overclock it to ultra speeds, although I am a fan of radeon.

scary_jeff said:
Everybody goes on about the power requirements and 2-slot design of the 6800, but many tests have shown the 6800GT will run fine on a 350W supply, it only needs one power connector (WC, I have no idea why you keep saying different), and finally, if you get a x800, you would be stupid to put another card in the slot right next to it anyway - so whether the graphics card takes up two slots is totally irrelevant unless you are building a shuttle where a 2-slot card simply won't fit insde the case.

Single slot designs are better. Sure it doesnt really matter in a ATX case, but if someone has a shuttle case, they cant use a 2 slot 6800 card. But its also a thing of preference. I dont like the 2 slot design. But thats just me.

As for the power requirements, my friend just finished building his new system, a P4EE 3.4Ghz with 1 gig of ram, a 6800 (I think he said the Ultra Extreme) and 2 optical drives and he was experiencing ramdon restarts and the the like on a 300Watt PSU, he got a (I think) 420Watt Thermaltake (or is it 480) and everything worked fine.

Besides, nVidia made all the 6800 designs confusing, ultra, ultra extreme, XT, gt, lol, ATI keeps it simple, X800, X800pro, X800XT :razz:

If you have two optical drives and a gig of RAM and a P4EE, you are an idiot to think it will run on a 300 watt PSU, irrespective of what graphics card you have.

Besides, nVidia made all the 6800 designs confusing, ultra, ultra extreme, XT, gt, lol, ATI keeps it simple, X800, X800pro, X800XT

This is completely false. nVidia has 6800, 6800GT, 6800Ultra, and 6800 Ultra Extreme. ATI has X800, X800 Pro, X800 XT, and X800 XT Platinum Edition. How is one more confusing than the other? It's not relevant at all, but if you want to be picky, ATI are being confusing by rebranding old hardware with new names like the X300 and X600... In all honesty you sound like more of an ATI fanboy in every graphics card thread we have.

If I buy a x800 card, I think I'll buy Sapphire's "Toxic x800 Pro VIVO":

http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/toxic-pro.asp

I think the VIVO cards are supposed to be a little better than the usual x800 cards.<span style="font-weight: bold;">

<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>

</span>

hah, after that and he gets a two-slot X800 :heee:

VIVO just means you can input composite video from a camcorder, external DVD player, cable TV decoder, or something else. Pretty much all cards have video out, I don't know how much this VIVO thing is extra, but think whether you will ever need to input video.

i read reports that Sapphire makes substandard 9600xt's

I think the VIVO cards are supposed to have better cooling, 16
pipelines instead of 12, better memories (XT memories) etc. (I don't
really know what I'm talking about :biggrin: , anyways...)

i read reports that Sapphire makes substandard 9600xt's

hmm... that's a little worrying :sad: . Do you have an url to this report? Anyone else heard about this?

Having picked a potential product to buy, search for reviews of it:

www.beyond3d.com/reviews/sapphire/toxic
www.firingsquad.com/hardware/sapphire_toxic_x800_pro
www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=675
www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=555

etc. See what they say about it :smile: The '16 pipelines' part isn't guaranteed. It may be possible to re-enable the disabled 4, giving 16, but there is no guarantee that these 4 pipelines actually work.

OtZman said:
hmm... that's a little worrying :sad: . Do you have an url to this report? Anyone else heard about this?

been a week or so but no i don't have the url..

what i did do though, was google searched for benchmarked cards, and one site benchmarked 2 9600xt's, made by different vender's.. try searching it again..

thx scary_jeff, I'll take a look at them...

[edit]

thx Orph, I might give that a try as well...

[/edit]

VIVO X800 pro's are better at overclocking, you can easily turn one into an XT, if you don't get the VIVO version of an X800 pro, then you have to softmod it first.

Edit: http://www.micromart.co.uk/content/features/default.asp?Category=Article&Type=&ID=1925

Really the x800 xt is the second best card on the market, 6800 GT being better, but only slightly.... I have a X800 XT and it is the best, my frames im proved dramatically on all games, including halo (now I can actually play it). But the only drawback to the card is you need a strong stable system to run it to its full potential, currently my system can't keep up with it.... Yes I can spell b o t t l e n e c k i n g thats why im upgrading.

So the moral stands the card will improve all frames on all games. I know I went from a 9800 pro to the X800 XT, there is a diference, its just you need a strong system to back it up.

VIVO X800 pro's are better at overclocking, you can easily turn one into an XT, if you don't get the VIVO version of an X800 pro, then you have to softmod it first.

Edit: http://www.micromart.co.uk/content/features/default.asp?Category=Article&Type=&ID=1925

:rolleyes:

Why the rolly eyes crono?

$loth said:
Why the rolly eyes crono?

its a common malady restricted to the north western USA.. caused by excessive rain, and earth quakes..

Orpheus said:

$loth said:
Why the rolly eyes crono?

its a common malady restricted to the north western USA.. caused by excessive rain, and earth quakes..

Malady?

And yes, I would like to know why he put the "rolly eyes"

$loth said:
Malady?

look it up sloth :rolleyes:

Really the x800 xt is the second best card on the market,
6800 GT being better, but only slightly.... I have a X800 XT and it is
the best, my frames im proved dramatically on all games, including halo
(now I can actually play it). But the only drawback to the card is you
need a strong stable system to run it to its full potential, currently
my system can't keep up with it.... Yes I can spell b o t t l e n e c k
i n g thats why im upgrading.

So the moral stands the card will improve all frames on all games. I
know I went from a 9800 pro to the X800 XT, there is a diference, its
just you need a strong system to back it up.

I can just as well post the rest of the system I'm buying:

• CoolerMaster Wavemaster Miditower ATX silver without PSU
• Tagan 480 W
• AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.2GHz Socket 754
  </li>
• Artic CPU cooler, AC-SIL64U-TC
• MSI K8T NEO-FSR
• (2x) Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM Value Select 512MB
  </li>
• (2x) Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200Gb 7200rpm 8Mb cache S-ATA
• NEC DVD recorder ND-3500A IDE Silver Bulk, dual layer
• Sapphire Radeon X800 Pro Toxic 256MB, Retail (If I go with the ATI alternative)
• Samsung 19" CRT Syncmaster 957MB TCO03, silver
• Logitech cordless mouse MX 1000
  </li>
• Logitech Ultrax flat
  </li>
• Altec 2100 2.1 or Altec 621 2.1, not certain
• KOSS UR40
• Zalman ZM-MIC 1 Mic
  </li>
• Q-pad mousepad, XXL

I'm not 100% sure about these, but it will be something like this.

must i say it??

yup.. BRAGGART :biggrin:

It wasn't my intention to brag :razz:

Just wanted your opinions :smile:

[edit]

In a couple of years when I'll have to buy everything by myself, with
my own hard earned money, such a system will probably just exsist in my
dreams ^_^

[/edit]

OtZman said:
It wasn't my intention to brag :razz:

Just wanted your opinions :smile:

[edit]
In a couple of years when I'll have to buy everything by myself, with my own hard earned money, such a system will probably just exsist in my dreams ^_^
[/edit]

Aye, I paid my own stuff with my own money. And all of it before I even had my job.

Athlon XP 2500 = 114$
Abit NF7-S mobo = 159$
Crucial 256mb DDR PC2700 = 67$
Crucial 256mb DDR PC2700 = 65$
Seagate Barracuda 80gb SATA 7200rpm 8mb cache = 139$
SATA power adapter = 10$
Chenming 601AE black case with 3 80mm case fans = 114$
300Watt PSU = free (from old system)
floppy drive = free (from old system)
Creative Audigy sound card = free
LG 52x24x52x16 CD-RW/DVD combo = 90$
ATI Radeon 9800pro 128mb = 360$
blue CCFL = 10$
UV CCFL = 10$

Total = 1135$ approx

How quiet is the baracuda? I'm looking for the quietest hard drive available, and I read that the baracudas are very good noise-wise.

X800 is fastest in non-optimized games according to a computer magazine I read... and the stuff I've been reading from the net it seems to be good choice if you want raw power...

Only the nVidia cards support Shader model 3.0 apparently, which isn't
an issue with todays games but might be in the future. I'm planning on
upgrading to one of these two cards soon after christmas if the prices
have dropped at all by then, but can't find much to pick and choose
between them. ATi is tempting due to its apparently better performance
in HL2, but nVidia is tempting with shader model 3 support.

Wild Card: That's great :smile: Too bad I'm so stingy >_<

scary_jeff: I think Seagate HDDs are supposed to be quite and overall good, that's why I'm buying them :smile:

Pvt.Scythe: thx for the info.

ReNo: You're right, it is a hard pick.

I think I'll buy the Sapphire Toxic x800 Pro VIVO<span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>,<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>but I'm not sure yet. <span style="font-weight: bold;">

</span>

But the x800's have the texture compression!

scary_jeff said:
How quiet is the baracuda? I'm looking for the quietest hard drive available, and I read that the baracudas are very good noise-wise.

I must admit they werent as quiet I expected at first. But now I havent really noticed any sounds comming from the hard drive. Perhaps its because the drive has now been warn in and it's silent or perhaps its my 5 case fans drowning out the noise.

I hear that Maxtor have FDB motors in their drives, although my Seagate drive doesnt mention its type of motor. But I have seen many a Maxtor drive fail and die.

Personnaly, I'm sticking with Seagate (and encouraging others to buy their drives) because they are good. And if you look at the physical drive, they are well built and nicely labeled. And now Seagate is slapping 5 year warranties on all their drives which is a big plus.

Also WD are a good make.

I'm more worried about idle noise than reading/writing noise. Newer seagates and WDs all have fluid bearings like the Maxtors. Really I am trying to make a PC almost totally inaudible, the PSU and CPU are done, I just need the quietest possible hard drive.

Why don't you just make a case out of steel with foam insulation and extra coolant (since those insulators will block more then just noise)? It'd probably be quieter then getting quiet products and an aluminum case.

Will be here in two days:

Lian Li Black Brushed Alluminum Case

AMD 64bit FX53

Antec SuperQuiet 430 True

2 x 1gb Corsair Memory

Some mobo that has wifi, dual memory special stuff, and ability for me to upgrade another 2 gigs in a couple of months of ram.

X800 XT

Soon to come:

dual 21" flatscreens

Sound Audigy XSKLJXT Platinum (supports 7.1)

7.1 Creative Speakers

a nicer keyboard

Somebody just cashed a sizeable paycheck it would seem :rolleyes:

Yeah ... going on about $3k (US anyway)

Waste of money actually. You should really never spend over 1-1.2k on a computer. It just wont be worth it in the long run ... unless you're a university or comapny of some sort.

Because I'm not really buying anything for this. I've already got everything from old stuff, I just want to replace the hard drive with a quieter one.

I have that PSU Ferret, it's super quiet.

x800xt arrived today. Sadly my compuer doesn't arrive until monday. God damn. Awesomet thing though is, the xt has to connect directly to the PSU. HOW COOL!!! lol awesome

looks like ferret will have a bunch of used/old parts available soon.. me points him toward my Xmas thread :heee:

Ferret said:
Will be here in two days:
Lian Li Black Brushed Alluminum Case
AMD 64bit FX53
Antec SuperQuiet 430 True
2 x 1gb Corsair Memory
Some mobo that has wifi, dual memory special stuff, and ability for me to upgrade another 2 gigs in a couple of months of ram.
X800 XT

Soon to come:
dual 21" flatscreens
Sound Audigy XSKLJXT Platinum (supports 7.1)
7.1 Creative Speakers
a nicer keyboard

Now I've ordered most the parts for my new computer, with minor
changes. I bought the Sapphire Radeon X800 Pro Toxic 256MB, Retail.

Concerning the CPU, what does Newcastle stand for? When I were to buy
the CPU I discovered that all the usual AMD Athlon 64 CPUs had been
replaced with AMD Athlon64 Newcastle CPUs...

What's the difference?

Thx for your help, everyone :smile:

Newcastle is basically the core type. Like for P4, they had willamette, northwood, then presctott cores, Athlon64 has clawhammer and now newcastle cores.