anyone up to date on the best value graphics card?

teratravp · 2003-06-19, 01:04 PM

I accidentally let a geforce 4 mx be my current graphics card when I bought a new pc last november. wasn't paying attention and I was dealing with a trusted vendor who never used crap parts like that, but I ended up with a piece of junk card. it's about the same thing as a geforce 2 mx the experts say and performs VERY crappily I say.

anyway, I have about $150 max to put something decent in right now. been sorting through reviews, benchmarks for an hour but there's no solid conclusions. cards that look good for consideration: radeon 9500 pro, geforce 5600 ultra, geforce 4 ti 4200... the geforce fx 4200 ultra although it sounds like the lowest performer and I want at least a mid performer...

any opinions I'll be happy to hear them. going to sort out and look awhile, I guess there's an impulse to whip out the credit card so I can feel like this stinker in my system will be on it's way out but I'd be making the same mistake if I don't carefully look for what I need this time...

NoSurrender · 2003-06-19, 01:44 PM

i would go with the Radeon 9500pro

teratravp · 2003-06-19, 02:14 PM

yeah, that's what I'm hearing. if I could only get one for $150 it would be so perfect, but $180 seems to be the lowest and that's stretching too much of what I can afford. to make matters worse the 9500p has been discontinued (I guess they want to sell off their other cards) and it's still a hot card so I'm unlikely to find a deal on it.

Agathon · 2003-06-19, 03:37 PM

Hello,

Saying that you are going to get a new card, I'm not sure I would recommend ATI actually. PS was designed with NVidia in mind. No offense to ATI lovers, but you should stick with NVidia if your main reason is to play PS. Furthermore, I've had a Radeon 9700 Pro retail burn out on me after less than a year, and it fried a HD of mine in the process of troubleshooting it. The damn thing had a SERIOUS electrical problem. I've sent it in for an RMA, but I doubt I will use the replacement I get back. It just isn't worth the hassle.

Go with a MSI NVidia card if you can. Micro-Star International is a Taiwanese company with superb customer support. If you go to their website, you'll quickly see they are not the typical crappy Chinese company. You can actually read their English, and I highly recommend them over other NVidia manufacturers. I had once loved VisionTek, but they were bought out by a Chinese company lately. Avoid such companies because QC sucks and customer service when you need it is lousy.

If you can get a MSI Ti4200 or even save up for a Ti4800 for 220ish, it would be well worth it. You are new to video cards, so going either ATI or Nvidia doesn't mean mch to you yet. Still, I'd at least stick to the card that was used while designing the game you want to play. Games like PS and BF1942 were made with Nvidia in mind, not ATI... It is just a suggestion though. When they work, ATI cards are very nice. I just personally don't recommend them.

Good luck,

SmilingBandit · 2003-06-19, 03:41 PM

And go to pricewatch.com to find deals.

teratravp · 2003-06-19, 05:23 PM

the radeon 9700 non pro version is $200, think i'll go that way if I go with ATI because the 9500 pro is the same price, but the 9700 non pro is faster.

as far as nvidia, I've heard nothing but good things about the ti 4200, and it's practically half the price... if I come to my senses that's probably what I'll get, as $200 is pushing it...

any other suggestions lay 'em on me

Prowler · 2003-06-19, 05:42 PM

Nvidia > ATI That's all I have to say.

NoSurrender · 2003-06-19, 07:23 PM

prowler ur the best damn comp pimp of course u can afford the only FX worth the money (in my opinion ) the 256mb 5900 which is one sweet puppy until the next radeon comes out

w3rd · 2003-06-19, 09:38 PM

9700pro here and I havent had a crash since beta. Theres nothing wrong with ATI cards. 5900 ultra is the fastest thing out right now, but its also 500 bucks. Best bang for buck? Easily the 9500 pro.

NoSurrender · 2003-06-19, 09:54 PM

they stopped making the 9500pro so he might have to go with the 9600pro

teratravp · 2003-06-19, 10:06 PM

places seem to still have the 9500 pro in stock though, so I think i'll get it. could go for a 9700np but that's harder to find and the selection of brands making it seem crummier so I'll stick with 9500p.

sure it'll cost me $180, but it will last a long time, and I want to go with the company that's been on the upslope and is peaking, not the one that screwed up and is in a recovery phase.

w3rd · 2003-06-19, 10:11 PM

I believe newegg still has them in stock, but for how long....who knows.

kelisis · 2003-06-19, 10:52 PM

I would highly suggest the Radeon 9600 Pro. It is the best card to overclock on the market right now. And with alittle tweaking you can beat the 9700 Pro in stats and proformance.

Doobz · 2003-06-20, 11:29 AM

the 9600 Pro is complete crap for the price it's offered at

it offers virtually no performance increase over the much better value 9500 Pro, which can easily be soft modded up to a 9700 Pro and can be bought for much cheaper than the 9600

and Prowler, go read the reviews out right now, the 5900 barely makes it over the hump to beat ATI with the 5900, and that's after it came out late with what was obviously a rushed card

But still, after all this, ATI still offers better image quality

Myself, I'm getting myself a nice 9800 Pro for 350 bucks

Bottleneck · 2003-06-20, 07:24 PM

I like the G4 TI, if ya taped 4 mx's together youd get one TI

I was a ATI commie for a long time till I had one burn up myself, talked to there customer service and there absolute pricks! Whoever suggested MSI was dead on, I have there nforce 2 motherboard and there service is impecable, not to mention there hardware smokes! (and not in the bad ati way, but in the good flying your reaver with afterburner and no lag way)