9500pro vs x300/6200

[iversonyin]

i have 9500Pro and it works great for WoW

my brother just got a machine from Dell with only PCI-EX.

how good/bad are these new budget cards compare to somethin like 9500PRO?

 

[Concillian]

They are both slower in raw terms.

The raw numbers for comparison, which are not the whole story, but show part of it:
Pixel fillrate:
6200 = 300 x 4 = 1200
9500 Pro = 275 x 8 = 2200
x300 = 325 x 4 = 1300

Memory throughput:
6200 = 550 * 128 / 8 = 8.8 GB/sec
9500 Pro = 540 * 128 /8 = 8.6 GB/sec
x300 = 400 * 128 / 8 = 6.4 GB/sec


The 9500Pro, with 8 pipelines has significantly more GPU power and about the same memory thoughput as the 6200, however I'd be willing to be the 6200 is better at pixel shaders. Overall I think the 9500 Pro will still come out ahead by a reasonable margin.

Stepping up to a 6600 should bring you more in line with the 9500 Pro and even pull ahead of it, the price difference between 6200s and 6600s is usually around $20-25 for DOUBLE the pixel fillrate.

When shopping for a card in this price-range, be ABSOLUTELY SURE you get a 128 BIT card and not a 64 bit card. I am not talking about memory size (128 MB vs 64 MB), I am talking about memory bandwidth. Many manufacturers offer attractively priced 128MB/64bit cards and they are rarely labeled very clearly as different from the 128MB/128bit models. You do not want a 64bit card.

 

[iversonyin]

one last question, they bridge PCX5750 pci-ex which was FX5700/50 agp? is that card comparable to 9500pro?

 

[SneakyStuff]

My honest advice to you, is get a plain old 6600 PCI-E. They are very cheap.

see!?

good luck making your choice

 

[Concillian]

Tom has PCIe benchmarks here in some games:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/vga_charts-04.html

All three of the cards you are mentioning seem to perform similarly, some being better in some games and others better in others.

If you can only choose those three options, you may consider going with the cheapest option, then swapping out the card yourself with something like what Sneaky mentioned. Either that or changing brands of computers. The graphics card is really the only component that matters for games at that price point, provided you are talking systems with the same amount of RAM. If you can find another system that offers a worse CPU, but better graphics card for the same price, jump on it.

 

[Fenuxx]

Originally posted by: iversonyin
one last question, they bridge PCX5750 pci-ex which was FX5700/50 agp? is that card comparable to 9500pro?

Well, no. The 5700 is a 4 pipe card, just like the other 2, and, since its an FX, I would not recommend it an. However, I wouldn't go so far as to saying the 6200 sucks. In fact, if your willing to get into some softmodding, you can turn a 6200 into AT LEAST a 6600 (non-GT), and possibly, near-6600GT levels. However, this WILL void your warranty, but $100-130 for a 6600 (or near-6600GT) isn't bad at all. It only depends on how far you want to go.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: geforcetony

Originally posted by: iversonyin
one last question, they bridge PCX5750 pci-ex which was FX5700/50 agp? is that card comparable to 9500pro?

Well, no. The 5700 is a 4 pipe card, just like the other 2, and, since its an FX, I would not recommend it an. However, I wouldn't go so far as to saying the 6200 sucks. In fact, if your willing to get into some softmodding, you can turn a 6200 into AT LEAST a 6600 (non-GT), and possibly, near-6600GT levels. However, this WILL void your warranty, but $100-130 for a 6600 (or near-6600GT) isn't bad at all. It only depends on how far you want to go.

its not a 4 pipe is it? i thought it was a 2x2 dont hold me to it...i may well be wrong

 

[hans030390]

Dude! 6200! it's the newest, and can be OCed and have 4...FOUR...pipelines unlocked to make it as good/better than a 6600 (vanilla).

plus, it has shader model 3.0, which will be a great benefit on future games. the other cards have 2.0

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: hans030390
Dude! 6200! it's the newest, and can be OCed and have 4...FOUR...pipelines unlocked to make it as good/better than a 6600 (vanilla).

plus, it has shader model 3.0, which will be a great benefit on future games. the other cards have 2.0

yes thats the AGP version i think, i think alot of the new PICe ones are the NV43 or whatever...where there simply isnt another 4 pipes, and apparently they dont clock too well.
if your going to get a 6200, make sure its 128bit bus, 128mb, and if u can find out what version of the chip is in it

 

[Fenuxx]

Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
its not a 4 pipe is it? i thought it was a 2x2 dont hold me to it...i may well be wrong

Yup, the 5700U is a 4-pipe card. I know it is, because I had one. It was a good card in its own right, but is outclassed by anything of the new generation. In fact, I would only recommend a 5700U if it was only about $50-70, 'cause anything more expensive, and you can get something MUCH more powerful.

I also stand by my recommendation of the softmodded 6200.

EDIT: Oh, and about the 2x2 thing, the 5700U was a 4x1 chip.

 

[SneakyStuff]

Originally posted by: hans030390
Dude! 6200! it's the newest, and can be OCed and have 4...FOUR...pipelines unlocked to make it as good/better than a 6600 (vanilla).

plus, it has shader model 3.0, which will be a great benefit on future games. the other cards have 2.0

SM 3.0 helps performance how exactly?

 

[otispunkmeyer]

Originally posted by: SneakyStuff

Originally posted by: hans030390
Dude! 6200! it's the newest, and can be OCed and have 4...FOUR...pipelines unlocked to make it as good/better than a 6600 (vanilla).

plus, it has shader model 3.0, which will be a great benefit on future games. the other cards have 2.0

SM 3.0 helps performance how exactly?

yeah doesnt really help any at the moment. and when it is needed id expect even the 6800's to be not all that good at it