Advice on Video Card Selection Please

[waltburg5]

Hey everyone.

i was wondering if you could help me out on a purchase. i'm thinking of buying the MSI Ti4200 VTD 8x (with all the software and games), and i was wonder if there was an equal or perhaps better card in the same price as the MSI card. I think i read somewhere that the ATI 9500 pro is a good competitor for that MSI card but i'm not too sure. anyway, i'm looking for a card that can deliver flawless graphics in video and some games. i dont plan to O/C but might eventually. actually i have a link to my website that describes the comp. i'm about to build and still researching on. Here's the page it's a word document by the way

well, that's my life story. any advice openly accepted
thanx and later

 

[modedepe]

I have an msi ti4200 vtd8x. It's a good card, runs everything that I want it to, but a 9500 pro would be much more powerful. I guess since you're looking at the vtd model you want one with vivo for video editing? As far as I know there aren't any 9500's with video in--I could be wrong though. As for whether the card will run games flawlessly depends on the games you want to play and what kind of details etc you want to add. Don't expect to be getting any great performance with full details and AA/AF cranked up. Also..I'm guessing that's a typo where it says fall 2004 on your link? I would think that's supposed to say fall 2003..

 

[waltburg5]

a really bad typo. thanx guy(or gal).

 

[Pete]

What games will you play with it, and can you tell us the CPU it'll be mated with?

 

[tenoc]

Pete, apparently a 2600+

Walt, the card will be more than adequate to play the games MSI packs with it.

 

[waltburg5]

here's what my system will be(so far).
motherboard:Aopen AK79G - 1394
CPU:Athlon XP 2600+ (333MHz FSB)
and trying to decide between 300W and 400w P.S.

I don't really care for the video editing, i just like the package that comes with that model.

ok. so what if i want medium --> high end capabilities. money is not too much of an issue $300 MAX(flexible though).

i going to want to play games like unreal tournament at resolution of like 1024*724 or whatever that second number is. i'm going to have a 19"flat-screen CRT with the maximum is like 1600*1200 at a refresh rate of atleast 75Hz. for details......i dont have first-hand experience as to what difference AA and AF make in gaming pleasure. i know that AA make things look smoother by elimiating the box effect(lol,u know what i mean) but i also understand that the higher the resolution the less that AA makes a difference. the color depth will more than likely be 24 bit (minimum).

 

[waltburg5]

instead of the Ti4200 VTD, make it the Ti4200 TD.

 

[waltburg5]

and also AGP 4X/8X and 128 MB DDR (64 MB suggestions are welcome)

 

[McArra]

I'd buy the 9500Pro as it is a lot faster than the 4200Ti with AA/AF, filters you'll love

 

[ironique]

Get the 9500 Pro. Why?

- More future proof - DX9 support
- Better AA/AF performance
- Good OCing potential

Generally, it's the better of the two cards.

 

[Intelman07]

If 300 is max why not take it up to a 9700NP? Same advantages of the 9500 Pro just faster.

 

[techwanabe]

Originally posted by: Intelman07
If 300 is max why not take it up to a 9700NP? Same advantages of the 9500 Pro just faster.

9500 Pro is not listed on Pricewatch... what do they sell for (street discount?)

 

[azntiger0586]

it sure is on pricewatch.com ....
search for 9500 pro
and it begins on the second page of the search ... towards the 140$ region.

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: azntiger0586
it sure is on pricewatch.com ....
search for 9500 pro
and it begins on the second page of the search ... towards the 140$ region.

Actually it wasn't on there when I searched..Are all the 9500 pro's almost gone? At any rate, they go for more than $140. From what I've seen closer to $180 when I looked on pricegrabber and newegg. Anyway, I think a good card for you might be a 9700non pro for about $200. It should have that "flawless" performance you want for some time to come. If you want to spend even more a 9800 non pro would be good too.

 

[waltburg5]

thanx guys. should i buy the 9700np from ati or should i buy it from some third-party company with the 9700np chip? and if the later who should i buy it from?