Doom 3 Review - Mainstream Cards
"We?d give ATI [for its 9800Pro] the edge over 5900 XT due to its proven performance with DX9 titles. In part 3 of our 3D Performance with Far Cry series of articles, RADEON 9800 PRO consistently came out ahead of GeForce FX 5900 XT, and while it isn?t a DirectX title, we saw the same results today in DOOM 3. In addition, NVIDIA?s GeForce FX architecture isn?t as robust from a features perspective, lacking support for geometry instancing, centroid sampling, and multiple render targets. It?s also doubtful if DX9 games will be able to utilize HDR lighting with GeForce FX as well as displacement mapping." - Firing Squad
In most games 9800Pro will be at least as fast or faster than a 5900xt. However, 5900xts can be found for slightly less at $170. Try to get 9800Pro for less than $200 and you'll have a decent deal. Like others said, make sure it's a 256-bit version. Something like the
MSI 9800Pro is really nice as it comes with the 9800xt core.
Pretty much your options are very open if you want a better card for around $200. If you are short on $$$ you can even get him 9700non-pro for $150. Just search Pricewatch.come for a card of your choice and see if you can find it in Canada or whereever you are purchasing it for a similar price. Skip the ram for doom 3. If you are going to spend $100 US+ on extra 512mb of ram just for doom 3, might as well step up to a faster videocard.
EDIT: You can seriously consider a 6800 card due to the significant performance improvement it brings in Doom 3 (basically you can play at 1600x1200 and often its close to X800xts performance):
Review The thing is 6800 card is generally much faster than a 9800Pro:
Fastest Cards of Summer 2004 This could be a more forward looking long-term investment considering support of PS3.0 and the card's excellent ability to play fast at 1600x1200 or up to 1024x768 with 4AA/8AF settings. Considering it comes with a version of Far Cry if you get the EVGA version for
$278, it can be a better deal if you are willing to spend slightly more. You can bet it will play significantly faster than a 9800pro card in shader intensive games like StarWars:KOTOR, Far Cry, Halo, and the upcoming HL2/Counterstrike (as well as future games built on the Doom 3 engine).