I am buying a dell is this a good video card? ATI Radeon 9700 TX

[TheJester69]

I am about to buy a dell computer. I would mostly use it for gaming. The default card is a rage ultra and i decided that i don't want that but found this 9700 TX. Is it that much different than the Pro? Are there any benchmarks for it? If so where are they. Or does this card suck and where does it rank in with radeon and the geforces. Thanks

 

[snidy1]

The 9700 tx is just below a 9700 non-pro. the 9700 pro is clocked at 325/620 the 9700 is 275/540 and the tx is 263/540. It's still a good card, but don't spend too much extra for it.

 

[slackerinabox]

Is the "tx" sold anywhere? I've never heard of that card...

 

[XBoxLPU]

Dell

 

[TheJester69]

So its a good card then. On a dell it would cost me about $180 to upgrade to a Pro. Is it worth it to upgrade?

 

[TheJester69]

Oh also how does it compare to a rage ultra? My friend is getting that and doesn't know much about computers and says it won't make that much of a difference when play games.

 

[slackerinabox]

That's not true.. The 9700 class is a totally different class.. IMHO the $180 difference is not money well spent.. Get the 9700 TX.. You should be very happy with it.. don't get the rage.. he'll be very happy playing quake 3 and not much else (though, to be fair, money is always an issue)

 

[Markfw]

By itself the card is worth about $200. I don't know what you are upgrading from, but on most of todays games, you would notice a BIG difference (unless you are playing solitare) GET THE CARD

 

[Spicedaddy]

rage ultra and 9700 shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence...

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: Spicedaddy
rage ultra and 9700 shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence...

Ditto !!!!!!!

 

[TheJester69]

so your saying that the rage is not good then. Also i am getting a pentium 2.53 processor. what do you think is the max to overclock that to. I am gettin great big cooling fans.

 

[Mloot]

You cannot overclock the CPU in a Dell. I believe it has something either to do with their BIOS or their proprietary motherboard. If you want to overclock a CPU, you might want to build your own pc.

 

[TheJester69]

Yeah i heard many rumors about stuff like that with dell. One final question would my video card be onboard? I hate when companies put it onboard because you have to buy twice as much when changing the vid card.

 

[boyRacer]

They still sell the Rage Ultra? :Q

<--- has a Rage Fury Maxx

 

[Krk3561]

Get the tx and overclock it to 9700 equivalent speeds, they perform the same. I think you need to flash the bios though, but thats easy to do. PM me if you want instructions.

 

[TheJester69]

Thanks for all replies.
But still wondering if the video card is onboard.

 

[Krk3561]

Its not on-board, its an AGP slot card

 

[Mloot]

Originally posted by: TheJester69
Yeah i heard many rumors about stuff like that with dell. One final question would my video card be onboard? I hate when companies put it onboard because you have to buy twice as much when changing the vid card.

Depends on what model you are getting. The 23xx series have integrated video and can only accept PCI video cards. If you are getting a 45xx or 82xx series, then I am almost certain that the video is not onboard.

On a side note, I guess you can (in a way) overclock a CPU on a Dell. You can always swap out for a faster processor, just like I did with my Dell when I threw out my celeron for a P4. Does that count?

 

[Spicedaddy]

Originally posted by: TheJester69
Thanks for all replies.
But still wondering if the video card is onboard.

it's AGP

 

[TheJester69]

Here is the system i am going to buy is it good?



Dell Dimesion 4550 Series:

Processor: P4 2.53 GHz system bus/512k L2 cache

Memory: 256MB DDR SDRAM at 333 MHz

Keyboard: Dell quietkeyboard

Mouse: 2 button scroll mouse

Video card: ATI Radeon 9700TX with tv out and dvi

Hard drive: 60GB ultra ata/100 7200RPM

Floppy drive: 3.5

OS: Windows XP home

Network card: Integreted intel pro 10/100 ethernet

Cd drive: 48x Cd-Rw

Sound Card: Sound blaster live 5.1 digital sound card

Software: wordperfect, mcafee, dell jukebox, dell picture studio

warranty: 1yr limited plus 1yr onsite service


All for only $719

so what do you think?

 

[Krk3561]

Get at least 512MB of RAM

 

[zephyrprime]

Get the tx and overclock it to 9700 equivalent speeds, they perform the same. I think you need to flash the bios though, but thats easy to do. PM me if you want instructions.

What he said.

 

[PCMarine]

Originally posted by: Krk3561
Get at least 512MB of RAM

Otherwise it's a very nice system for the money.

 

[JBT]

512 is a must once u go to 512 u can never go back!!!! EVER

 

[alkemyst]

I am betting the TX is a 'licensed' product...ATI sells at a major discount to Dell a pseudo-crippled card. Still at 263/540 is that really crippled?!?

I love my 8500 128MB card...I am sure if I saw the extra eye candy a 9700 can do I'd change my mind...

Regarding Rage: It's a good name, it's the emotion you feel trying to game on the card.