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How much better are these cards than my GF2 Ultra?

amheck

Golden Member
Currently, I have a GF2 Ultra. I know its old, but to be honest with you, it'd done everything I've asked of it. Well, I think it just died last nite. So I'm on the hunt for another card.

While the current crop of ~$175 9800Pro's is very tempting, I just can't swing that kind of money now. I've been looking on the FS board and I've seen a few Ti4200's and 9600's that look doable.

Does anyone know where the best place to get benchmarks for cards, hopefully a comparison of a bunch of them so I can try to get the best price-to-performance ratio for me now.

Thanks!
Aaron
 
If you can find a $100 range 9600pro/9700 I'd go that route.
 
Thanks guys. That's exactly what I was looking for.

I found a ATI 9600PRO in the sticky at the top of the Hot Deals section for $109. Seems like a pretty good deal.

Aaron

Edit: Well, it seems that 9600PRO deal might be expired. The posting was from April, apparently. What's the general consensus on the refurbs at Newegg? There's a refurb made-by-ATI 9600XT for $101.
 
Originally posted by: GeneralGrievous
A 9600 Pro really won't cut it. If you are willing to buy used, get a 9700.
Won't cut it for what?
 
There's some Sapphire 9700 Pro refurbs at newegg for $135 or so.

If you guys were buying used, would you go to the FS/FT trade section, or newegg?
 
If you can find it, the MSI GF4 TI4800se is nice and powerful, with a video in as well. Then again, if your budget is larger than 110$ or so, then a 9600XT or 9700 might do you better
 
Originally posted by: GeneralGrievous
Won't cut it for what?
For anything in the next 12 months really. Unless you plan on only playing World of Warcraft.

If you guys were buying used, would you go to the FS/FT trade section, or newegg?
FSFT forums.

General, any particular reason why the FSFT over newegg refurb? Is it because you don't exactly know what you're getting with the refurb?

Aaron
 
I think the 9600Pro would certainly be a great card for the next 12 months. It's still a decent mid-range card. ATI's latest midrange card, the X600 isn't a lot faster than the 9600Pro, and is in fact based on the 9600Pro itself. Doom3 will play on a GF3/Radeon 8500, so there's really nothing much to worry about, unless by "won't cut it" you mean "won't play the latest games at the highest graphical settings at >100FPS".
 
I'd avoid the Newegg refurb's. I and alot of other people have gotten defective cards. Newegg will replace it but who needs the hassle of shipping it back and waiting another week or two for a replacement.
 
Originally posted by: Goi
I think the 9600Pro would certainly be a great card for the next 12 months. It's still a decent mid-range card. ATI's latest midrange card, the X600 isn't a lot faster than the 9600Pro, and is in fact based on the 9600Pro itself. Doom3 will play on a GF3/Radeon 8500, so there's really nothing much to worry about, unless by "won't cut it" you mean "won't play the latest games at the highest graphical settings at >100FPS".

Precisely, I believe the 9600pro is a lot of bang for buck in the $100 range new with full warranty for those very reasons.
 
Originally posted by: DAPUNISHER
Originally posted by: Goi
I think the 9600Pro would certainly be a great card for the next 12 months. It's still a decent mid-range card. ATI's latest midrange card, the X600 isn't a lot faster than the 9600Pro, and is in fact based on the 9600Pro itself. Doom3 will play on a GF3/Radeon 8500, so there's really nothing much to worry about, unless by "won't cut it" you mean "won't play the latest games at the highest graphical settings at >100FPS".

Precisely, I believe the 9600pro is a lot of bang for buck in the $100 range new with full warranty for those very reasons.

Agreed. My 9600 Pro was suiting me well before I sold it. It should handle the coming games for at least a year, esp if you are already used to the performance of a GF2 (which is also what my previous card was BTW!)
 
Thanks again everyone. I did some reading last nite, and I do agree, the 9600pro seems to be a nice mid range card. There doesn't seem to be much reason to go with the XT. The frame rate advantages just don't seem to be there.

If anyone has an idea where you might score one of these for around $100, let me know. Maybe I'll just have to wait for a sale. Pricewatch has them for around $120 (powercooler, sapphire) which would work, but certainly, the $100 price would be better. 🙂

For those of you that haven't seen, there's a MSI 9800Pro for $199 at newegg that supposidly has the R360 core, which essentially makes it a 9800XT. If I just thought I had the need for that kind of card, it seems like a super deal............

Aaron
 
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