Need a Video card recommendation

[Sharpie]

Im looking at either the Geforce 3 TI500 or the Radeon 8500. Which do you think is better? Most benchmarks show them neck and neck. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

 

[spanky]

from a gaming point of view... the ti500 looks better. the 8500 is more of a do-it-all kinda card. so this really depends on what u want from ur video card.

 

[JeremiahTheGreat]

If the two products are the same, the logical choice would be to choose the product with the lowest price.

you should use competition to your advantage

 

[snow patrol]

Can't you get a Ti4200 for the same sort of price?

 

[spanky]

Originally posted by: snow patrol
Can't you get a Ti4200 for the same sort of price?

not really. well... at least not in the case of the 8500 (which i have seen for around $100). the ti500... maybe.

 

[Rand]

With the latest drivers the R8500 narrowly outperforms the Ti500 in most cases, and that was formerly the Ti500's only real definitive advantage.
R8500 has better 2D visual quality, better DVD playback, it has TV-Out and multi-monitor output natively, better TV-Out capabilities on the driver level, slightly better 3D feature set.
R8500 has faster but lower quality anisotropic filtering then the GF3, while the opposite is true for FSAA, in which ATi has the better visual quality but slower FSAA implementation.

ATi's drivers for the R8500 are pretty decent at this point in time, also... so I see no real reasons to choose a Ti500 over the R8500 anymore.

 

[blade2]

which card is better for gaming then?

 

[jaybee]

Originally posted by: Sharpie
Im looking at either the Geforce 3 TI500 or the Radeon 8500. Which do you think is better? Most benchmarks show them neck and neck. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

It looks like after countless driver revisions, they are pretty close. Considering the 8500 costs less, has better hi-res quality (based on having a GF4 and an 8500 in my system), and likely better tv-out, I'd take that route. My GF4 looks great at hi-res with all the eye candy, but at twice the cost. Anyway, my rec is get the 8500 and pick up someone's 4400 or 4600 after they upgrade to NV30 (or possibly R300...).

jaybee