LCD owners: which vid card ?

[Omer]

Just jumped on the dell 20" lcd deal.

Now I have a p4 2.66 with an old gforce3 card.

looking to upgrade the vid card, and haven't kept up with which cards are best.

also, not familiar with DVI quality between nvidia and ATI.

any recommendations ?

I also have 2 old CRT monitors that perhaps I would keep 1 and run it along with the LCD in dual monitor mode.

the dell lcd runs natively in 1600x1200 - so I'll need a pretty powerful card.

thanks for any info !

 

[fredtam]

ATI 9800 pro or non pro($199 @ CC). I use a AIW9800 pro with a Samsung 191t at 1280X1024 with all eye candy on in games and have no problems.

 

[Tab]

It doesnt really matter, in the long run its better to go DVI.

You like ATi and you want a good price/performence card = 9600Pro
You like ATi and you want a good price/performence card and HL2 = 9600XT
You like ATi and want a kickass card = 9800Pro
You like ATi and want the best card possible = 9800XT

You like nvida and want a good price/performence card = FX5700
You like nvida and want a good price/performence card but are willing to take a risk on the ability to run DX9 correctly = 5900NU
You like nvida and want the best card possible = FX5950

Thats my 2 cents.

 

[fredtam]

Originally posted by: Tabb
It doesnt really matter, in the long run its better to go DVI.

You like ATi and you want a good price/performence card = 9600Pro
You like ATi and you want a good price/performence card and HL2 = 9600XT
You like ATi and want a kickass card = 9800Pro
You like ATi and want the best card possible = 9800XT

You like nvida and want a good price/performence card = FX5700
You like nvida and want a good price/performence card but are willing to take a risk on the ability to run DX9 correctly = 5900NU
You like nvida and want the best card possible = FX5950

Thats my 2 cents.

Games may become quite slow at 1600X1200 with any AA/AF. Anything less than a 9800 non pro or its nvidia equivalent paired with that monitor would be a waste of money. Just ask NFS4. He was having trouble using eye candy on a 9600pro at 1280X1024.

 

[Tseng]

I have a Philips 200P3. It's a 20" LCD with 1600x1200 native resolution.

From my personal experience, you don't need AA playing 1600x1200. However, you do want lots of memory bandwidth and video memory. Either ATi 9800XT or nVidia 5950U would be perfect choice.

 

[Nebor]

In response to tab's post, ALL of the nvidia cards have questionable DX9 performance, not just the 5900nu.

 

[dfloyd]

I am not sure but I can say this:

My Gainward Geforce III Powerpack Pro had much better 2d text, with Cleartype fonts turned on, than my Ati Retail Radeon 9700 Pro. It was not even close how much better it looked.

So if your big on 2d text with cleartype effects turned on (Most LCDs text looks better with this on) then you might want to shop around and do some on site comparisons. Of course the 3d of my 9700 pro blows the Geforce 3 away but like I say if 2d is your thing then you might want to shop around.

 

[Omer]

thanks for all the feedback.

not trying to start a flame war here between nvda & ati -- but I thought ATI had superior 2D ? ( and this is coming from someone who went from 3dfx->nvda gf2 - > nvda gf3 ? I'm surprised to hear that a gf3 looks better than an ati 9700. And was that with DVI ?

Tseng -- On the memory bandwith issue -- should I only be looking at 256mb versions of cards then ?

 

[dfloyd]

So did I friend.

And in ways they have super 2d.

I am just stating that with cleartype effects turned on for my LCD my Geforce III looked better. It may of been Gainward. I have heard they used really good 2d filters for their cards.

Dont get me wrong. The 2d on my Ati is great as well. Its just the Cleartype effects seem more blurry on the Ati as compared to my old Gainward.

 

[Omer]

interesting.

well, my geforce 3 is a gainward ti 200 ... but gainward isn't making any ati cards as far as I can tell ...

still looks like I need an 9800 to run at full resolution ..

 

[Omer]

So dell delivered my new LCD in 3 days !

Now I have it setup and need to hurry up and get a new card

No DVI on my geforce 3 -- still looks amazing -- but 1600x1200 is straining this old piece of tech.

After reading all the benchmarks for doom3/hl3 -- I'm going to go with an ATI.

can someone comment on 128mb vs 256 on the 9800 pro.

Thanks!

edit: if tom's hardware is to believed ( big if ) - the difference is not that big: link

 

[fredtam]

The difference is very small (its true). Very few games benefit from the extra memory. You can see it in Anandtech's 5900 ultra review.. You should be fine with 128Mb 9800pro, non pro, or 9700pro.