HD 2600XT vs 8600GT

[keplenk]

Hi,

I'm planning to buy a video card for my PC and I'm confused about what to get between the two.

I'm not going to play games but I would want newer games to play in my PC. I don't care if the resolutions is not at max.

Now this is my case:

Here in our country:

7600GT is not for sale anymore. Higher end cards like 3850/8800GT are OVERPRICED!!! If you compare prices to US .. The are selling the ugliest 8800GT cards for $400 ...

The only graphics card that they are selling reasonably are the HD 2600XT and the 8600GT

8600GT is priced at $98.75USD (converted already from our currency)

HD 2600XT is priced at $73.75USD (again, converted)

They are both running at 256mb ddr3 / 128-bit

Brand name of 2600XT is GECube ATI Radeon HD2600

8600GT brand name is Inno3D.

Anybody knows what should I pick between the two?

THank you

 

[lyssword]

I'd say 2600xt, 8600gt is not $30 better than 2600 xt. Save some money

 

[Keysplayr]

Check out the graphs and then you decide. Change the game and res, with or w/o AA.

Here

 

[keplenk]

Hi, thanks for your reply. Yeah, when I did some reasearch, I found out that one of the main advantages of 8600GT is the AA. Is AA a must? Im not familiar about this term "Anti-aliasing" ..

Does it mean having Anti-aliasing when playing games is better than without? Is there a big difference (looks, speed) if your playing a game with Anti-aliasing enabled or not?

Option A:

RIght now, I also need to buy a new hard drive. My original plan is to buy the 8600GT paired with a 160gb hdd.

Option B:

My other option is to buy an HD 2600XT and pair it with a 250GB hard drive ($30 more than the 160gb).

Both of these options are with equal price. I'm still thinking of what is a better deal.

Tanks

 

[Martimus]

Anti-Aliasing helps blend the pixels together, so things aren't so pixelated. It helps take the obvious edge off of game "objects". It is a filter that passes over the entire image and recalculates what color each pixel should be based on the color of the pixels around it. It is a nice feature to add realism to games, but it isn't required. I rarely use it, but then my GPU isn't exactly a beast. Neither of these would really be able to use it in newer games at playable frame rates either, so I wouldn't take AA into account between those.

I wrote a program to do this in software in my image processing class back in college, about 10 years ago, and it was a complicated process. It was very difficult to take out the noise without just making the picture blurry.

 

[Arkaign]

Both are too damned slow to use AA realistically at a decent resolution (provided you have a 1680x1050/1600x1200 monitor or better) with decent detail, so 2600XT FTW.

 

[krnmastersgt]

I run AA using 1680x1050 Although I don't really play graphic intensive games aside from CoH and ET:QW I suppose. Old school gamer here :x

 

[s44]

2600xt is faster, anyway. If you look at more recent games with more recent drivers, it's actually faster than the 8600gts.

No-brainer.

 

[keplenk]

Hey guys,

Thanks for your reply. All of them are very informative and helpful.

So far I think Ill go for the 2600XT unless someone says I shouldn't

Ok, Let's say ... I'll play Crysis .. what would be the better gaming experience between these two cards (I know they will only run at low/medium resolution and settings). I'm just curious which card would be better. I know this is too much to ask but maybe someone has a clue or has idea about this.

I can't find any benchies between these two cards running Crysis. Its always 2600XT 256mb DDR4 not DDR3

Thanks again!

 

[Keysplayr]

Originally posted by: s44
2600xt is faster, anyway. If you look at more recent games with more recent drivers, it's actually faster than the 8600gts.

No-brainer.

Not that I doubt you or anything, but, link please?

 

[keplenk]

bump

 

[Martimus]

Originally posted by: keplenk
Hey guys,

Thanks for your reply. All of them are very informative and helpful.

So far I think Ill go for the 2600XT unless someone says I shouldn't

Ok, Let's say ... I'll play Crysis .. what would be the better gaming experience between these two cards (I know they will only run at low/medium resolution and settings). I'm just curious which card would be better. I know this is too much to ask but maybe someone has a clue or has idea about this.

I can't find any benchies between these two cards running Crysis. Its always 2600XT 256mb DDR4 not DDR3

Thanks again!

I was able to play the Crysis demo on all high settings except for shaders, which I set to Medium, and it was very playable on a system with a Athlon 3500+ and a X800 XL.

The HD 3650 was just released, and should be the same price as the now obsolete HD 2600, so you may want to pick up one of those instead. I haven't seen how it performs yet though. I'll link a review if I can find one.

 

[geokilla]

Originally posted by: Martimus

Originally posted by: keplenk
Hey guys,

Thanks for your reply. All of them are very informative and helpful.

So far I think Ill go for the 2600XT unless someone says I shouldn't

Ok, Let's say ... I'll play Crysis .. what would be the better gaming experience between these two cards (I know they will only run at low/medium resolution and settings). I'm just curious which card would be better. I know this is too much to ask but maybe someone has a clue or has idea about this.

I can't find any benchies between these two cards running Crysis. Its always 2600XT 256mb DDR4 not DDR3

Thanks again!

I was able to play the Crysis demo on all high settings except for shaders, which I set to Medium, and it was very playable on a system with a Athlon 3500+ and a X800 XL.

The HD 3650 was just released, and should be the same price as the now obsolete HD 2600, so you may want to pick up one of those instead. I haven't seen how it performs yet though. I'll link a review if I can find one.

I agree with Martimus. You should take a look at the 3650. It's basically the same as the HD 2600, except that it has DX 10.1 and it has 55nm processing technology, thus possibly allowing it to overclock to faster speeds and run cooler.

 

[keplenk]

Hey,

Thanks for your replies!

Yeah, I could also see the new gfx cards that are showing around ... however, this is a problem

Here in our country, they always take advantage of new technology to fool people .. if something is new, they skyrocket the price. Another thing is we're delayed in technology. Right now, the top of the line intel processor that you can buy from ANY retail stores is the Q6600 priced at $380USD (converted from our currency). You can also get the extreme edition version but you have to wait for a month or 2 because its an "order basis" product. Another thing is like the video cards ... here, the best video card were selling is the 8800GT priced at $400USD(converted) .. thats how they skyrocket the price .. if they could make it double (compared to US), they will do it.

So, if the new gfx cards will show up, like the 3650 or nvidia 9600 .. it probably 3-6 months from now and the price is like GOLD!

This is so much from a country that is 4 hours away (flight) from Taiwan. Its a shame!

Anyway, I really don't have much choice here It either the 2600XT or the 8600GT .. sad but true

Thanks for you insights though, it sooooo helpful.

 

[Martimus]

I see. As for the difference between GDDR3 and GDDR4, I really don't think it is more than 2-3% in real world performance, if that. Especially for those GPU's, as they don't have enough horsepower, or bandwidth to push the memory anyway.

 

[keplenk]

Originally posted by: Martimus
I see. As for the difference between GDDR3 and GDDR4, I really don't think it is more than 2-3% in real world performance, if that. Especially for those GPU's, as they don't have enough horsepower, or bandwidth to push the memory anyway.

Thanks for the reply.

If thats the case, I'll get the HD 2600XT 256mb ddr3. The ddr4 price compared to the ddr3 is exactly half the price. Lol ... just like I said in my earlier post, as long as its a "new" product, they will really increase the price sooo much.

So I should really go for the 2600 XT 256mb ddr3 right? .. And forget about the 8600GT? Any final objections?

THanks again.

 

[Martimus]

That sounds good to me. Just remember that the 2600 is not a great performer by any means. It has a more feature rich setup than the previous generation, but was shown to be slightly slower in 3D applications than the previous generation GPU.

 

[hooflung]

While I would suggest the 2600XT normally, I think you should go with the 8600GT. GeCube is an ok brand but Inno3D is very well established in Europe and if you run into a problem sending it back to them to get fixed/replaced will probably be easier.

 

[keplenk]

Originally posted by: Martimus
That sounds good to me. Just remember that the 2600 is not a great performer by any means. It has a more feature rich setup than the previous generation, but was shown to be slightly slower in 3D applications than the previous generation GPU.

Yup, I think I know what I'm going to be dealing with. I'm just concerned about the 8600GT because its like 50-50 .. some people say go for the 8600GT because the marginal performance is big (better). Some says 2600XT is the bomb.

Since I've talked to a lot of people, my votes now are going for the 2600XT

Thanks for your help!!

 

[keplenk]

Originally posted by: hooflung
While I would suggest the 2600XT normally, I think you should go with the 8600GT. GeCube is an ok brand but Inno3D is very well established in Europe and if you run into a problem sending it back to them to get fixed/replaced will probably be easier.

Oh, I just read this while I was posting my latest reply. THanks for that giving me some info about the brands. I see, in the US, that they don't sell or carry Inno3D (popular stores like newegg, clubit, etc). In my country, they are SO MANY, but I usually buy "Palit Daytona" before with my old builds. GeCube .. im so clueless about this brand.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts regarding my confusion between these two cards. Are you suggesting for me to get the 8600GT because of the brand? Or is it because it better in general?

Thanks again.