New Graphics Card :: £100 // $180 to spend

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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
Hi,

I'm looking for a new graphics card. There are alot of reviews and I'm getting confused, so I've decided to ask on the forums. If you could just tell me the graphics card(s) and point me to the relevant reviews that would be great.

Here's my setup:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Motherboard: DFI LanParty UT nf4 SLI-D
RAM: 2x 512mb Dual-Channel PC3200 RAM

I have $180 to spend I can stretch to $200 but thats my absolute max.

I need the following features:

PCI-Express Interface

I don't really care about anything like SLI and stuff like that. I also wanted to ask if the amount of RAM has a big impact? I've seen cards with only 128MB and lower-spec ones with 256MB does this matter?

Cheers,

-ImpaledHassan
 
Powermoloch

Powermoloch

Lifer
Jul 5, 2005
10,084
4
76
Hmm I could suggest a 6600 GT, they are really good cards. Even a regular X800 vanilla will do fine. If possible, you can grab a 6800 vanilla also.
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
You want the 6600GT really. Anything less is a very hard push - any less leaves you only with the 9800pro which in this day and age is poor. 6600GT isn't too nippy as with the release of new cards is falling off to the low end.

However, with the introduction of new carsd it might just mean the 6600GT falls to your budget.
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
Unfortunately UK prices mean the 6800 and X800 are out of league at the price point he wants.

What we have:
PNY 660GT for £112
XFX for £114
Leadtek for £120

My instinct tells me the Leadtek card would be the best quality one but scout out a few reviews of each card to find if there is any real difference - reliability, noise etc
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
Ok so I'm looking at an nVidia 6x00 or an ati x800? I can go alittle more on price most likely. Also, about the RAM, does a higher spec 128mb perform better than a lower spec 256mb? I'm still a bit confused about the memory.
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
at the price you're looking at the size of RAM offers neglible performance - to use it you'd have to be playing at high resolution with high textures which your card simply won't have the horsepower to do - so RAM amount above 128MB offers next to nothing.

with the 6800 (vanilla) you can often unclock extra pipes and turn it into something closer the a 6800gt which is much faster - only the memory will be much much slower.
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
I don't plan to play on anything higher than 1024x768 and I don't mind not playing on the highest settings but high enough if you know what I mean.

Also, what do you mean by unclocking extra pipes? Will I see a drastic performance increase, which is close to the 6800GT? Or will the slower memory be a bottle-neck?

Edit: I just saw this chart: http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/vga_charts-03.html It seems like the 6600GT is out performing the 6800 Vanilla. Does that mean the 6600GT would be a better option? Or are these results inconclusive?
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
First off never rely on tomshardware for any conclusive results - in some tests they are outright biased - in others making outright errors that negate the validity of the test.

Stick with more reputable sites so anandtech, xbit, guru 3d, hardocp, techreport

Pipes is like what it sound and relates to how much information can be processed.

Loosely as explanation:
eg a 400mhz core on a 8 pipe card (6600GT) you could say will have approximately half the power of the same 400mhz speed on a 16 pipe card (6800GT).

Now of course that only refers to one small aspect given there is a multiplicity of other counting factors such as memory bandwidth, architectural nuances and how shaders are balanced - there are different sorts of shaders etc

That is a loose explanation but fundamentally even if you unlocked all the extra pipes that you'd see on a 6800GT card it'd still be slower given the use of slower memory DDR vs GDDR3 ie it has less bandwidth which is critical.

While i'm no expert on this given I haven't handled and unlocked extra pipes on the 6800 I know it can be done. You might not ncessarily unlock all the extra pipes that you'd see in a 6800GT but you stand some chance of it - or at least unlocking some in which case the performance would be far superior to a 6600GT.

One thing to bear in mind - unlocking those pipes will void your warranty and should your card suddenly break you will be unable to lock them back up and get it serviced for warranty.
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
So, Is unlocking done via. software?

Also, does unlocking run the risk of damaging the card or is it perfectly safe just voiding the warranty?
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
Yes it is done via software - softmod is the term. It's a very simple procedure - rivatuner is I think what you want for it and your overclocking needs.

For information just do a search for it - eg some google results

Well with anything when you run to risk of running it out of spec you risk damaging it but fundamentally as I understand it you shouldn't be running any risk - you unlock the pipes and if you've found them to be working fine. If they're faulty pipes then you just lock them back up again.

However, search for information on here and elsewhere jst to confirm and make sure that any risks are acceptable and you are aware of the procedures involved and are willing to undertake it. (In short, this is my don't blame me disclaimer :p)
 
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Diasper

Senior member
Mar 7, 2005
709
0
0
regards the 6800LE it appears generally a good target to soft-mod to 6800 (vanilla, I think) speeds - Some info here.

I think that's all I can help you given my limited reading on it (still using 9800 flashed to 9800pro)

However it's probably worth stick to the 6800 (vanilla) and goign from there - of course unless the 6800GT isn't that much more ;)
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
Hmm If I can get the cash I might go for a GT but not too sure about that I have already maxxed out a bit. Also, I saw these on newegg: { LINK } Are they worth the money? Are they better than the 6800s? I have a relative coming from the states in a few weeks I could tell him to pick it up for me...

Sorry about all of these questions =\ I really do appreciate all your help =)
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
After googling softmod, and doing a bit of research, I've found that only AGP 6800s are Softmoddable, the PCI-E version was only built with 12 pipes, it's not locked by software.

But the review says that theorteically it is possible to get a PCI-E with 16 pipes thats been soft locked. Does anyone know which company/what this card is?
 
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ImpaledHassan

Junior Member
Aug 11, 2005
14
0
0
are you sure? Because I've heard that some BFG and eVGA PCI-E Cards can be unlocked I was just wondering if any in the link would be able to.
 
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Crescent13

Diamond Member
Jan 12, 2005
4,793
1
0
Originally posted by: ImpaledHassan
are you sure? Because I've heard that some BFG and eVGA PCI-E Cards can be unlocked I was just wondering if any in the link would be able to.
Click to expand...


As far as I know, none of the 6800 vanilla PCI-E cards can be unlocked, because no matter what the manufacturer is, they all use the same chip (6800 vanilla pci-e).
 
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knyghtbyte

Senior member
Oct 20, 2004
918
1
0
it depends on which revision of the chip was used, the earliest PCI-E 6800NU had around a 75% chance of being unlockable......but quite quickly they bought out another chip which didnt actually have the pipes...

i myself have a Dell 6800GTO PCI-E....came as 12 pipes and 5vs, happily unlocked to 16pipes and 6vs.....(well, except in Source, get some sparklies for some reason so i turn off the unlocked stuff, other games work fine).....

to be honest, the processor you have really demands something 6800GT or above to be at its most useful, AND save you the need to upgrade.....a cheap X800XT would be good if you prefer Ati based cards....

what games do you play? if they are nVidia friendly (ie Doom3, Farcry etc) then you want the 256Mb RAM, if they ATi based (HL2/CS:S etc) you want the faster chip......

for your budget i would go with a 6600GT going on the rest of your equipment, but to be honest i would recommend finding a way to get the extra cash to get a 6800GT tho, it will be FAR more future proof compares to a 6600GT.....

btw, the unlocking is easy if you need to do it.....just search around for the process, i would imagine its the same for any nvidia card as it was for mine (in the 6800 series that is), download Rivatuner from www.guru3d.com then just search for 6800GTO on anandtech and there is a thread from ages ago where people were wondering what the GTO would be, look a good few pages in and for my name, will eventually find a full step by step procedure.....

hope this has been helpful....if not or if not clear, just pm me, be happy to help...
 
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