ATI Radeon 8500 128mb or GeForce3 Ti500 64MB

[RC159]

The 8500 is 5 bucks more which one should I get?

 

[JammingJay]

Eh, its really a toss up and you'll get the whole nvidia vs ati argument with these 2 cards. Hard numbers say the GF3 Ti500 is slightly faster, but ATI is generally known to have better 2D performance. I'd focus more on what features such as if it has DVI, S-Video out, what warranty is offered, etc.. instead since the cards are so close in various aspects.

 

[xSauronx]

considering you get double the memory id take the 8500, and the ati 2d is nice to have, especially if you like your desktop at high resolutions

just a question...is this an 8500? or an 8500le @ 250/250 or one at 250/200 or something? (core/mem)

 

[Pete]

Even if the 8500 is an LE is clocked at 250/230, I'd probably still take it for the extra memory and cheap AF.

 

[Tseng]

Maybe the DVI-I connectivity should be taken in consideration.

 

[Brian48]

I have two 128mb R8500 (retail, 275/275) and they are both faster than my GeForce3 o/c'd to ti500 levels using the last few generations of Cat drivers. In fact, the performance is just behind my PNY GF4 ti4200 and the extra 64mb of RAM does make a difference when playing large levels using really heavy textures. Both R8500s may bench slower than my ti4200, but actual gameplay with UT2003 is noticable smoother. If this 128mb R8500 is the faster version and not the LE, I'd definitely get it over the ti500.

 

[Lonyo]

Yeah, make sure the 8500 is at least 250/250, if so, get it.

Then you can overclock.
The 128MB RAM will also help in the nearish future and the present for some games