geforce fx 5950

[jgravance]

just wondering, is $145 a good deal on a leadtek fx 5950, retail boxed?

ive now been looking into it and it looks like the msi 6600gt has vivo, if anybody has any info on the card (agp) or can find it pretty cheap, then maybe thats the way ill go.

also, i am a student, so i really am not looking to go past $160 or so.

 

[MisterChief]

Save a little more, and buy a 6600GT. It's much more worth it.

 

[kamaboko]

that has been running through my mind the past few days, "just a little more money...just a little more". 6600GT or 6800? just a little more money.... :laugh:

 

[jgravance]

yea, i have considered them, but have you seen any VIVO ones?

 

[fstime]

Yes, it is a good deal.

 

[blckgrffn]

That is a really good deal, snap it up!

 

[Rock Hydra]

I got disappointing results after I ploped almost 300 dollars for my 5900 Ultra. I'd be wary of the FX line.

 

[gobucks]

yeah, the FX line just kinda sucks. They don't run DX9 properly, so HL2 has to run in DX8.1. Performance is mediocre, especially compared to newer midrange cards like the 6600GT, which have better features, as well. Just do yourself a favor and grab a 6600GT for $180. You'll be glad you did.

 

[jgravance]

anyone seen any agp 6600gts with VIVO?

 

[Corporate Thug]

good deal

the sparkle 6600 GT has VIVO AFAIK

 

[fstime]

You guys better hope rollo doesn't see you guys saying bad things about his precious FX line.

j/k man

 

[nRollo]

I think $145 is a good deal for that card. They are right in that you'll have to play DX9 at DX 8.1, but that is a VERY nice card for $145.

 

[ScrewFace]

For $145 you can get an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB that runs DirectX 9 games 10x better then the FX 5950. You'll be glad you did.

 

[daveybrat]

For $145 you can get an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB that runs DirectX 9 games 10x better then the FX 5950. You'll be glad you did.

With the exception that you don't seem to be reading any of his posts.

He's mentioned twice that he's looking for a card with VIVO.

That's a nice card for the price with VIVO.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: gobucks
yeah, the FX line just kinda sucks. They don't run DX9 properly, so HL2 has to run in DX8.1. Performance is mediocre, especially compared to newer midrange cards like the 6600GT, which have better features, as well. Just do yourself a favor and grab a 6600GT for $180. You'll be glad you did.

They run DX9 properly however they run it very slow compared to ATIs solution. There is no incorrect rendering going on.

I agree though, grab a 6600GT for like 180. Youll be glad you did.

-Kevin

 

[Munky]

Is VIVO more important to you than good gaming performance? I personally would avoid the FX cards like the plague, but it's your money, so you decide.

 

[jgravance]

i want vivo because im looking to put all my old vhs on dvds, so it is pretty important.

 

[mwmorph]

well, then the 6800series will fit you better. their millions of transistors dedicated video wil help a lot if you're into a lot of video.

 

[hans030390]

if you want the FX series, you have to tell some of your games that its a 9800 and it lets you play it in DX9 with no problems (mostly HL2)

 

[jgravance]

Originally posted by: hans030390
if you want the FX series, you have to tell some of your games that its a 9800 and it lets you play it in DX9 with no problems (mostly HL2)

hmmm, how would you do that?

 

[Gentle]

It emulates another card. But you end up with artifacts if I remember correctly.

Something about partial precision shaders something or another.

It was a design decision made by Nvidia and it makes most DirectX 9 software that uses shaders SUCK.

You could avoid this issue entirely by getting the Geforce 6600GT.

Gentle

 

[kmmatney]

I have the MSI 6600GT with VIVO. Unfortunately I haven't tried the VIVO yet...I was planning on giving it a go in the next few days, bascially doing the same thing - transfering VHS to my hard drive, and then converting to DVD. I am going to use the sofware that came with the card - WinDVD creator. It also came with "StarProducer" software, which I 've never heard of.

 

[gobucks]

actually, the FX series does have problems with full DX9 compliance. That is why HL2 runs in DX8.1. It is possible to run in DX9 mode, but things like water don't render correctly, and performance is abysmal. I think the FX series uses 16-bit pixel shaders that emulate 2.0, while ATI uses the official 24-bit shaders, and nvidia's 6 series uses full 32-bit shaders (3.0).

As for VIVO, aren't there 9800 Pros that have VIVO? I'd rather have a 9800 Pro than a 5950 Ultra, considering how sloppy the FX architecture is, and how horribly it holds up in newer games compared to the 9800 series. Another great suggestion would be kmmatney's since apparently MSI makes a 6600GT VIVO.

 

[nRollo]

Originally posted by: gobucks
actually, the FX series does have problems with full DX9 compliance. That is why HL2 runs in DX8.1. It is possible to run in DX9 mode, but things like water don't render correctly, and performance is abysmal. I think the FX series uses 16-bit pixel shaders that emulate 2.0, while ATI uses the official 24-bit shaders, and nvidia's 6 series uses full 32-bit shaders (3.0).

As for VIVO, aren't there 9800 Pros that have VIVO? I'd rather have a 9800 Pro than a 5950 Ultra, considering how sloppy the FX architecture is, and how horribly it holds up in newer games compared to the 9800 series. Another great suggestion would be kmmatney's since apparently MSI makes a 6600GT VIVO.

Sigh.

The FX series uses 32 bit precision, ATI uses 24, resulting in lower performance. It only uses 16 when specially coded to do so.

 

[jgravance]

Ive been reading up on this and it looks like rollo is right, because the Fx series uses 32 it has to go down to 16 to run HL2 because it cant run 24. Thats just what Ive gotten from reading, I dont know if its true or not.