Yo Geeks! (Vid card thingie)

[Jarlo]

( I considered posting this in the tech forum, but it seems sparsely populated)

Ok asking for the help of all those geekier and smarter than me.

I currently have a Geforce 3 in my AMD 1900xp with 756 megs of RAM and such. I am considering getting an upgrade primarily for PS but also for the up & coming DX9 games. However, I am on a tight budget due to home, kids, wife, trips, etc.

So far I seem to have narrowed it down a bit using www.pricewatch.com
For around $120

1) ATI Radeon 9600 128MB DDR AGP8X $108

2) GeForceFX 5600 AGP 8X 128MB DDR $109

3) BFG GeForce FX5600 128MB ULTRA DDR W/ TV, DVI, 8X AGP - Retail w/Lifetime Warranty by BFG $125

4) CHAINTECH GeForce4 Nvidia Titanium Ti4800-SE DDR 128MB $127

5) ATI Radeon 9600 256MB DDR AGP8X $122

Any clear winner out of these? Will 256 vs 128 mb of vid ram make any significant difference?

Thanks and excuse my ignorance :doh:

[Lise]

Can you bump your price up to around $200? You'd really get some power if you can. The cards you list are full DX9 cards, but... none of them will give extremely significant gains over what you currently have. (The 256MB of video memory will allow you to use the super high-res textures in the game, but I'm not sure those cards have the processing power necessary to push those kinds of textures on so many characters.)

If you have to go with the ones you list, the Raddy 9600s are probably going to be the most firepower per dollar.

[Jarlo]

Not really, heck I would prefer to keep it at $100 instead 8)

My current card works so if I cannot get a significant upgrade at this time I can just wait until Christmas or post Christmas when hardware prices typically take a dip.

[Lise]

I would do so. The GF3 is still a fairly new piece of hardware; if you want a truly radical gain in FPS, you'll currently have to shell out at least $200. I'm personally waiting for the next generation of graphical cards before upgrading again (although the Radeon 9800XT w/HL2 deal is FUCKING TEMPTING. :mad: )

[Jarlo]

Wow was doing some reading and I'm definatly leaning towards the ATI products. Here is a nice benchmark using Half life 2 which ATI wins by leaps & bounds.

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1863&p=1

[Lise]

Well, keep in mind that HL2 is ATI-biased. Planetside is somewhat NVidia biased, but frankly ATI's "kung-fu" has been consistently better as of late.

[Rbstr]

TRy to get a Radeon 9600 get the pro if you can also the 9500 pro is just about as good (better in some places) and you might beable to get one on ebay

the radeon 9600 is the best chosie of the ones you listed, if te 256 doedn't cost any more than the 128 one get it

[Drinky]

(although the Radeon 9800XT w/HL2 deal is FUCKING TEMPTING. :mad: )

word...

although

http://www.gamepc.com/images/labs/rev-9800xt-couponSM.jpg

im going to save my 500 dollars till HL2 actually comes out, then probably get the card with bundle for half that. Unless NVidia pulls somthing out of their ass and makes a better card.

[Febnon]

http://planetside-universe.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=19

[SandTrout]

Here's what you do: Get a razor blade, find a blindspot in local BestBuy's camra setup, and wear a pair of cargo pants for big pockets.

[keaoi]

honestly the GeForce4 Ti4800SE i got works great for PS, but for the later DX9 games, $120 isnt going to get you much. Past $200 dollars Radeon gets you more bang for your buck, but under i would stick with a high end GeForce4 card.

ATI has also had some severe driver issues in the past (but being a Nvidia devout, i havent checked lately). Something you might comsider is upping is your proccesor. Go to http://www.googlegear.com and you can find a 2500+ barton core (retail gets you a longer warranty) for under $100. The GeForce3 is a good piece of hardware, but your processor is starting to see its age.

I'm sure your RAM was DDR, but would you happen to know the MHz it is? The reason i ask is that if you decided to up your processor, but are still willing to spend $200, then i would reccommend getting a newer MB (unless you already have a good one). MB brands to go with are Asus and Soyo (both of which are the same basically, but Asus products have a 3 year warranty). I recommend the A7N8X-Deluxe for about $70, and some RAM with higher MHz.

This would open up your ability to later upgrade to better (or more) RAM, and increase performance.

If you lower your graphics settings, or use an overclocking tool, you can put off upgrading your video card till later, when DX9 cards are more reasonable.

[Veteran]

You want the ATI Radeon 9800 (not the Pro version). Best bang for your buck with full dx9 compatibility and a modest price tag.

[Jarlo]

Thanks for the input, the consensus seems to be to wait longer for prices to drop as I cannot upgrade a Geforce 3 unless I'm willing to spend >$170

Well my wife will be happy about that 8) Maybe I can mooch one around christmas time hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

The Radeon 9800 looks really nice but runs at least $170 for OEM.

And thanks for the link to the tech board, the one I mentioned in the first post but posted here instead since very few people go to the tech board.

[EarlyDawn]

Here's what you do: Get a razor blade, find a blindspot in local BestBuy's camra setup, and wear a pair of cargo pants for big pockets.:rofl:

[Liquidtide]

Can anyone tell me the big diff between a Raedon 9600 pro 256meg and the 9800 128meg? They run the same price and I am leaning toward the 9600 256meg to get that extra MB.

~Tide

[Jarlo]

Everything I have read has said that even doom 3 & HL 2 don't run better with 256 megs of vid RAM. Personally I would go for the 9800 with faster bus and bigger pipes.

[Lise]

Yup. Get the 9800. Texture memory is good but it's nothing if you don't have the processing power to push the triangles those textures are on.

And a word on ATI driver quality. In the past their drivers have been shitty as all hell. However, right around the time the first of the R300 series of cards came out (9500 and 9700) their software saw a massive increase in performance and quality. They now consistently deliver better performance and more stability (in applications programmed with a modicrum of thought for ATI, anyway) than NVidia drivers do. The big N's been slipping for the past year or so.

[FireZ]

I've actually looked into a new vid card lately and can tell you....Do not get any fx card other than the 5900 or 5900 ultra. Seriously..My Geforce 4 TI 4200 runs better than the 5200 and 5600. If you must have card now (and I hate to tell you this because I hate ATI for what they did to me) get the 9600. otherwise wait untill chrismas....the 9600xt is coming out and I find it hard to believe Nvidia wont have something too ;).

[keaoi]

i am a hard one to impress though Lise. ATI driver quality in the past turned me into a nvidia customer. but ill take your word for it and look into it, nothing wrong with a second chance. also, i havent had any problems with nvidia's drivers, but i have an easily compatible system.

/edit/ also hl2 is VERY ati biased while doom3 leans toward nvida, so this next video card war should be interesting.

[Veteran]

I hear Mr. Gates wants an all-console video game market for the future.

I think the PC is more power than they envisioned for the average citizen. Maybe I'm paranoid, but the console plan for the future was in a big write up last year.

edit: Also note how tough it is to get into some countries with a laptop. They claim you could control weapon systems with it, which makes sense.