Opinion about graphics card

[Cipherous]

Heres my current rig

2500 XP barton (not overclocked)
1 gig pc2700 ram, dual 166=333mhz
ASUS NFORCE2

I am looking to upgrade my radeon 7200 to a better graphics card.

Since I don't really have a high end rig, it is worth it to buy a 9800 pro to play games like DOOM III, far cry and Half life 2?

If you were in my case and want to spend atmost like $250,

would you buy a Radeon 9600XT All in Wonder, 9700 pro AIW or a MSI 9800 pro (overclockable to 9800 XT)? Or some Geforce FX card?

Since my CPU and RAM isn't really top of the line, should I invest in a top of the line graphics card? Would there be much difference?

All, I really want to do is to play Doom III at a steady 30+ fps with medium settings.

What do you guys think? What would you do if you're in my position?

 

[Corporate Thug]

9800 pro

 

[nitromullet]

Go with a 9800Pro. Best card in that price range. Your rig would be nicely balanced with one of those as well. I woudl think that an XT would not be worh the money.

 

[AristoV300]

yeah the 9800 pro 256 mb is what I would go with.

 

[Pete]

What would you do if you were in my case

Scream, then try to get the side door off.

Seriously, a 9800P should net you 30fps. Wait for HardOCP's roundup before buying, though, to see how the game fares on a huge range of systems.

 

[Fern]

Yeah, if I were you I'd a wait a little. I'm curious to see if there a big difference in 9800pro w/256MB versus 128MB ram for D3

Right now word is you need a card with 256MB ram to play at "high" settings. 128MB puts you at "Medium" detail.

 

[Gamingphreek]

I would save up and get a 6800NU or GT. Unless your really strapped by budget i would stay away from last gen as the new gen cards are so much better.

In all seriousness i would get a 6800GT but thats a bit much then a 6800NU then a 9800Pro 256mb and then a 5900 series card... stay away from a 9600 or 5700 or even a 9700 series card.

-Kevin

 

[amheck]

I'm in the same boat. My old card died last weekend and now I'm borrowing a card.

The 9600Pro/XT seems to be a fairly nice performer at a nice pricepoint, but the thing for me is that it's approching $130-$140. Which, when you look at the $169 9800Pro from Outpost, or the $195 MSI 9800Pro (which clocks easily to an XT), it makes the decision much more tough (i.e. the prices are becoming very close). Looking at the graphs at Tom's hardware, the 9800 is much more powerful than the 9600 series. Tough call. I guess it comes down to money. I'd probably go with the 9600Pro if I could find a half-decent brand name for around $100.

On another note, I was reading on hardocp, and there seems to be a 6800le coming out soon. SUppose to be $175-$200, you get the latest generation card, and it's suppose to have the performance above a 9800XT. It's just hard to find any info on them, though. That's what I'd like to wait for, personally.

We'll see.

Aaron

 

[PhoenixOrion]

9800 pro with the 256-bit memory interface.

 

[DreamInBlue]

buy an EVGA 6800 for $283 sell farcry on ebay and you'd be real close to $250