Im building a new PC P4 3.06, what video card should I put in it?

[1ManArmY]

I have up to 450 set aside for video card alone. Uncle Sam is paying for it and I want it to be DOOM III ready. Should I wait til the smoke has cleared with NVidia's flop and just get a mid range card then upgrade later? I just want the card to be durable and compatible with the majority of the games being played. Ghost Recon, BF1942, CS, and soon to be released Ravenshield.

Thanks

 

[titanmiller]

If you have 450 set aside personaly I would go with the GeForceFX 5800 Ultra. But I am sure others will disagree.

 

[CJP]

For $450 U.S. you can get a Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR2 board when they come out. You can verify that price on pricewatch. You'll have to wait a few weeks for it but matched with your 3 gig p4 you will be fine for quite a while.

I'm getting ready to upgrade and I have Doom 3 in mind as well. I'm looking at the Radeon 9800 non-pro 256 MB (the 256mb pro is $499 and too rich for my blood). I don't know what the price will be yet but I think 256mb will help run Doom well.

 

[1ManArmY]

 

[1ManArmY]

Thanks for the input. Would you also suggest pc1066 RAMbus RAM with the P4 or DDR?

 

[Peter D]

if you can afford it, id say go with the rdram. and as for video card, if you can afford a p4 3.06, id say just fork over some more cash and get the best of the best (9800)

 

[CJP]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
Thanks for the input. Would you also suggest pc1066 RAMbus RAM with the P4 or DDR?

I'm not sure of the exact timetable but I think that Intel has some dual channel DDR motherboard chipsets coming out soon. DDR, I think, is cheaper than pc1066 so you could load up your system with quite alot and with the dual channel setup it should perform just as well.

 

[Ketchup]

DDR is more future proof, since Intel has dropped support for RDRAM. Also, there is more of a variety of boards available for DDR. For the best performance and stabiliy, I would get a board based on the Intel E7205 Granite Bay chipset. It utilizes Dual-Channel DDR.

If your wait turns into a few months, you may wanna get a Springdale chipset when it comes out. I think there will be a better selection since the Springdale is being designed for the enthusiasts. A lot of big names aren't even making boards based on Granite Bay.

 

[1ManArmY]

I will be building at the end of march and I dont believe the dual channel DDR motherboard chipsets will be out yet. Im almost willing to go with a MOBO that supports RAMBUS then switch down the road when DDRII support is here.

 

[Ketchup]

These boards are already out. Actually, the have been for a few months now. You will be able to find out about them if you browse around the forums a bit.

 

[1ManArmY]

So would you suggest giving up the speed of RAMBUS ram and go with the DDRII based MOBO's since RAMBUS support has been or will be dropped.

 

[Ketchup]

You won't be giving up speed, that's the beauty of Dual Channel DDR. Plus, DDR is much better for overclocking, and is cheaper than RDRAM, so I personally can see no reason to buy RDRAM.

 

[1ManArmY]

Even though I wont be overclocking.

 

[link26]

that shouldn't be hard. doom aint coming out for another 9 months at least.

get a Radeon 9900 super ultra 256MB.

 

[1ManArmY]

hehehehe

 

[BFG10K]

A 9800 Pro fits your requirements perfectly, both in terms of budget and target processor.

Thanks for the input. Would you also suggest pc1066 RAMbus RAM with the P4 or DDR?

No, I'd got with DDR333/400 on an Intel chipset that officially supports 333 MHz memory. Get two sticks of 512 MB and then you'll be set for future memory requirements and for dual-channel DDR chipsets.

 

[Detselom]

Another vote for the 9800 pro 128mb ram

 

[Boyne7]

if you buy right now go for
gf fx 5800 ultra
granit bay(E7205) motherboard
2x 512mb ddr 333 or 400

if you buy later
Radeon 9800 pro
granit bay or springdale chipset motherboard
2x 512mb ddr 333/400

or if you buy far in the future
GF6 999900000 Ultra 1024mb
Intel chipset w/ agp 32x usb 4.0 serial ata 2.0
2x 1024mb ddrII pc5000

 

[AgaBoogaBoo]

I'd say buy it far in the future

 

[CJP]

The price on the Radeon 9800 Pro 128mb DDR-2 version is already falling. You can pre-order it by phone for $329 here.

 

[Serp86]

get a 9700pro if you want to buy today because;
1) better performance when AA + AF turned on
2) lower price would leave you more space to upgrade in future
3) it can overclock very well with stock cooling - i have seen very impressive numbers (e.g. 400 GPU / 720 RAM)
4) if your uncle is paying 4 it, tell him it was $500

 

[Krk3561]

I say wait for the 8000MHz FSB CPUs, Canterwood, and Radeon 9800 Pro. They are all coming in about a month.

 

[T9D]

..

 

[1ManArmY]

When I said Uncle Sam was paying for it I was referring to U.S. Army. I am using my G.I. Bill money to pay for it since my tution is already paid besides it's also a graduation present. Intel's new FSB is due out in May and I dont want to wait that long. It sounds like the ATI 9800 Pro fits my requirements. I just now have to find an DDR ASUS MOBO so I can be set for future memory requirements and for dual-channel DDR chipsets.

 

[Ketchup]

The Asus is a great choice, but there are lots of other good choices out there too.