At $185, which is better...GTS, Radeon, or V5?

[Staz]

I want a new video card, but can't decide which one to get. I have a T-Bird 900 MHz and my current video card is a GeForce SDR on a 19" monitor. I don't want to spend more than $200 including S&H, so the card can't cost more than $185. The 3 cards I like for this price are the VisionTek GeForce2 GTS, the ATI Radeon DDR(OEM), or the 3dfx V5, all with 32MB. I mainly surf the Internet and play Ultima Online, but will buy a 3D game every now and then. I also have a DVD drive, but have a hardware decoder card for it.

I am leaning toward the GTS, but the Radeon has had good reviews in these forums. I doubt I will go with the V5, but included it anyway. From reading the different forums, I noticed these card have different uses. Based on my use above, which card would you recommend and why?

 

[RoboTECH]

1) The V5 has 64MB RAM

2) UO likes the V5 a bit more than the RAdeon and the GTS, from what I"m told

3) The 19" monitor will probably make you NOT want a GTS, although if you're "used" to nvidia's 2d quality, you probably won't mind much.

4) The V5 is almost guaranteed to be stable with your AMD system. No such guarantee exists with either other card (or you may just have to futz around a lot more with it)


Don't believe the hype. Reviewers that make money off their websites are going to have biases beyond your control.

You may want to peruse the message boards a bit more to find out what the ACTUAL USERS of the different cards think about them. You'll notice in my sig?

I used a 32MB GTS, replaced it with a 5500, replaced that wiht a 64MB GTS, and then sold it and a 5500 now presides in my system.

The card kicks ass, straight up.

May I ask why you are shying away from it?

 

[Moving Target]

Get the GTS.

3dfx will be gone soon.

Radeon is slower and has drive probelms in win2k.

 

[Regulator]

Radeon works fine in Win2k. The DVD works also in win2k. You can download the updated driver for win2k from ATi website after you install the retail driver that came with it.

 

[Deeko]

Moving Target, what kinda of a statement was that? 3dfx will not be gone anytime soon.

Anyway, either the Radeon or the V5. I really don't think the GTS is the best anymore. The GTSu is the fastest, and the MX is the cheapest that still provides speed, but the GTS isn't that appealing anymore. The Radeon is pretty much as fast as the GTS, plus it has great DVD, and DX8 features none of the others have. The V5 has glide, great FSAA, good quality image, and good speed. If they get the bugs out of these new HSR drivers, the V5 will possibly be the undisputed best card around Seriously though, look at the numbers for FSAA. Wingnutz was reporting I believe 71 fps in 1024x768 with 4x, in the old 1.01 drivers I got less than that with no FSAA.

 

[Moving Target]

Who is going to make 3dfx's cards if they don't? I have not paid much attention to 3dxf, but seems to me after they burned CL, Diamond and all the other card manufatuers (and they have nVidia now) 3dfx's future does not look so bright.

Just my though on 3dfx, but I may be missing something.

And don't get me wrong, I would love to see 3dfx stay alive, unlike most of you who think only ATI or nVidia should survive. With 3 good GPU choices we will keep seeing faster, better and cheaper cards. LONG LIVE nVidia, ATI, and 3DFX!!

 

[NerdMan]

If you make any decision, get it from http://us.buy.com. They have $30 off for first time customers. Go to http://www.techbargains.comand check out the vender rebate section. I bought the Radeon All-In-Wonder for $227 after 2 day fedex shipping. I ordered it sunday night, processed monday, shipped tuesday. Not the best service but good for the price and they're a big company.

I'd go with the 32m DDR Radeon. It has good DVD acceleration, good performance, and excellent image quality.

Buy.com has it for:
$162.95
-$30
$11 2 day fedex
--------------
$143.95

Buy.com has the V5 for $175


ROBO: The V5 must share the 64M of ram between BOTH chips. It's still only 32M of ram per chip. The 64M is marketing hype.

 

[Deeko]

Moving Target, 3dfx isn't going back to the old 3rd party system like nvidia uses, their cards will still be branded 3dfx, but they won't be manufactured at the 3dfx factory, they will be made by some second party company. I believe ATi and Matrox do something similar.

 

[StickHead]

Deeko, the Radeon is as fast as the GTS, umm no.

 

[nippyjun]

for around $150 the voodoo5 5500 is a steal. Best buy in a video card!