nVidia GeForce 8600GT-DDR3 256MB or Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB

[Edgewardb]

Which Card would be better in terms of gaming?

 

[BassBomb]

Neither

get a 9600GT

 

[Edgewardb]

Well comparing those two cards. Which is better in terms of gaming?

 

[angry hampster]

Both utterly suck, but with a slight nod to the 8600GT.

Is there any way you'd be able to spend $89 on a card?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150275

 

[Edgewardb]

Well I am not planning to play Crysis or anything like that.

Just planning to play Mass Effects and such.

 

[Jakeisbest]

Originally posted by: Edgewardb
Well I am not planning to play Crysis or anything like that.

Just planning to play Mass Effects and such.

Still cough up the cash and get the 8800gs! You will not regret it.

 

[angry hampster]

Originally posted by: Jakeisbest

Originally posted by: Edgewardb
Well I am not planning to play Crysis or anything like that.

Just planning to play Mass Effects and such.

Still cough up the cash and get the 8800gs! You will not regret it.

Yeah. Mass effect is a very visually-oriented game. Take advantage of that, spend an extra $30, and get a GS! Overclock it, and you've got 8800GT performance.

 

[v8envy]

To the OP: whichever one is cheaper. Both will be unsuitable for modern gaming, and I doubt you'll be able to tell the difference between 10 fps and 11 fps. Neither card is designed for eye candy at > 1024x768 or higher resolutions and difference in performance should be under 10% in most titles, with the ATI card being the zippier of the two.

The 8600GT is more linux-friendly and cooler running, while the 2600XT with correct software will offload more Blu-Ray DVD playback processing under Windows. Features and price should be the only things considered when looking at entry level gaming hardware like this, not performance.

Don't be such a tightwad, spend the extra $20-30 on four times the card. You'll be sorry if you don't.

 

[daveybrat]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121251

ASUS EN9600GSO TOP/HTDP/384M GeForce 9600 GSO 384MB 192-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail

$84.99 after rebate and an even faster card. Factory overclocked.

The fan on the Asus is a quiter more efficient fan than the little noisy one that XFX uses on their lower end cards.

 

[SneakyStuff]

evga 8800gs Get that, free shipping, great company, fast rebates (my last one took all but 2.5 weeks with them) and that card will perform on GT levels with an overclock.

edit: although if price is really an issue here's a Gigabyte 8600GT with a free copy of neverwinter nights 2 Gigabyte 8600GT, I used to own an 8600GT and it wasn't as bad as people make it out to be, I was able to play CoD4 just fine on high settings @1280x1024 no aa.af. The 8600GT benefits a lot from overclocking and it's easy to do, if you must choose between the 2 cards you mentioned get the 8600GT

 

[hans007]

i'd probably get a 8600GT. they can be had for $50 after rebates.

i actually just got a 8600GTS used on fs/ft for $50 shipped.

8600GT is generally faster than a 2600XT except in a few games with no AA . i think the 2600XT can hold its own against even a 8600GTS in say ut3 and some valve games.

i personally also looked into the 8800GS ands uch, but after rebates and stuff ididnt want to fork over twice as much money (granted its probably more than 2 x as powerful)

 

[TurtleCrusher]

Originally posted by: hans007
i'd probably get a 8600GT. they can be had for $50 after rebates.

i actually just got a 8600GTS used on fs/ft for $50 shipped.

8600GT is generally faster than a 2600XT except in a few games with no AA . i think the 2600XT can hold its own against even a 8600GTS in say ut3 and some valve games.

i personally also looked into the 8800GS ands uch, but after rebates and stuff ididnt want to fork over twice as much money (granted its probably more than 2 x as powerful)

Most people here are coming off as jerks, but they are right. I had been fidgeting around with low-mid range cards until i got my 8800GTS. Its no comparison. Definitely worth the $$.
I went from a 9250se, 9550se then to a x850pro through my agp cycle. I rma'd that x850 and i got a newer pc in the meantime with pci-express and abandoned that card.

Then i went from a x1300, x700, x1550, 7600gs, x1650pro 512mb and now a 8800GTS.

I can overclock my memory just 14% and create twice the bandwidth than two of the 9250se's and one 9550se's combined.

My cpu is the bottleneck by far now, and its not a crummy cpu either.

 

[s44]

Originally posted by: Edgewardb
Well I am not planning to play Crysis or anything like that.

Just planning to play Mass Effects and such.

MEPC is giving some Nvidia cards (I have a 8800GT that has serious crashing issues) fits. Works fine on my 2600XT though. Patching/drivers will eventually fix it, but can you wait?

It also runs better on ATI cards relative to Nvidia. Must be the engine.

Also, the 2600XT is faster than the GT overall. The first batch of drivers were really awful, but if you look at more recent comparisons there's no contest.

 

[Munky]

The difference between these 2 cards is minimal at best, and both are unsuitable for modern gaming, unless you turn down settings. This isn't just for Crysis, Mass Effect is not exactly easy to run either. The 8800gs is a much better card, and is the minimum I'd recommend if you want to play modern games.