First off, please accept my apologies for starting another one of those "which X should I buy" threads. (Egad... to make matters worse, I also dropped a similar thread in the Motherboard forum. Even copied this apology!) I've read countless threads, googled for buyer's guides, reviews, comparisons, etc., and poured through Anandtech, THG, and other forums reading as much as I can. One thing I've noticed is that in many "which one" threads, people are quick to note when a poster didn't supply budget, use, etc. In all that reading, I haven't found my identical twin's post, so here I am. Again, I can understand the frustration of a forum filled with advanced users having to wade through the occasional bit of newbie detritus, but would ask you to forgive me this transgression.
I am looking to get a PCI Express capable motherboard, with an AMD 3700 (San Diego) processor. I don't think the MoBo will be SLI capable, unless two cards will be faster and cheaper than one. My budget is between $250 and $300, though if I have to, I can go a wee bit over. I'll be playing just a handful of games, Half-Life2, Doom III, and maybe Pirates. But though I'm only playing a few, I hope to make the experience as good as possible. I won't be overclocking either the board or the card. As far as GPU is concerned, I've come to realize that both GPUs have ups and downs, neither of which I'll really notice unless I've got the other to compare it to. Given that, I don't have a preference between the two, I just want a card that will play what's out now fantastically, and will play what comes out in a few years reasonably well, and in four or five years will need to be replaced.
I've read lots of threads, (especially after searching "choice" and "Brand" as keywords). Many of them seem to suggest that an ATI card and an MSI card are going to give identical performance, as long as the basic GPU/memory stats are the same. I hate to be pedantic, but... but... am I reading that wrong? That strikes me as, well, silly. Is it really just the bundled software? If so, then am I right in thinking that the cheapes GPU/Ram combo whitebox is the easy option? I must say that I'm having a bit of trouble finding out what software comes with the retail versions?both mwave's page and the manufacturer's pages seem to be mute on the subject. Do I need to go to a store and look? Egad.
Below are what seem to be my choices. Are the MSI and ATI X800 XL really the same, save retail/white box? Does the ATI card come with software? ATI's page doesn't say. If it's just drivers and such, available on the net, would the ATI X850PRO be the best bet? Would it be penny wise/pound foolish to go with the X800, X800 PRO, or the EVGA GF6800? Any recommendations/suggestions?
Thanks,
Rhythm
MSI RADEON X800 256MB PCI EXPRESS W/TV OUT RX800TD256E (White box)
$255.00
ATI RADEON X800PRO 256MB PCI EXPRESS GDDR3 VIVO (VIDEO IN&OUT) DVI (White box)
$279.00
EVGA GF6800 256MB PCI EXPRESS W/HDTV OUT & DVI 256P2N383TX (Retail)
$289.00
BEST DATA DIAMOND VIPER X800XL 256MB PCIE DVI TV-OUT
$296.30
ASUS EAX800/2DTV/256MB PCI EXPRESS DDR VIVO/ 2DVI &VT (Retail)
$299.00
MSI RADEON X800 XL 256MB PCI EXPRESS W/2DVI & TV OUT (White box)
$309.00
ATI RADEON X800 XL 256MB PCI EXPRESS 2-PORT VGA/DVI-I (Retail)
$328.41
ATI RADEON X850PRO 256MB GDDR3 PCIE VIVO (VIDEO IN&OUT) DVI (OEM)
$329.00
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