Radeon 8500 v/s 7500 ,performance against price

[Villareal]

Is it worth spending the extra $$ ( about double actually) to get the 8500
as opposed to the 7500. Is it that much of a difference ?

 

[CHHASmatroxuser]

The 8500 has a lot features the 7500 lack, so in all aspects it will be more futureproof. But of course by the time you'll need the features newer cards might be out, and prices will have dropped.

 

[PCHPlayer]

It depends on the type of game and the resolution. What does it matter if you are running Q3 at 100 FPS with a 7500 or 150 FPS with an 8500? If you are always buying the latest game, and like to play it will all the bells and whistles turned on, then the 8500 is probably a better approach. Otherwise save some bucks and go with the 7500.

 

[Killrose]

On my system I get 128fps Q3 timedemo 1, 1024x768 32bit, HQ sound, everything max settings.
Running on a KT133a based sytem, overclocked I was getting 119fps. My 7500 is clocked 306/279mem.

If you have a 1-1.2gig pc133 ram based system, the 8500 is not going to perform at all like the benchmarks at all the major reveiw sites. The 8500 and GF3 Ti500 don't scale well at all with lower end systems. I had an 8500 once and I was disapointed by the benchmarks on a KT133a based sytem compared to what I was getting with my 7500. With the Q3 settings mentioned above, and with the 8500 275/275 I was getting 139fps compared to 7500 306/279 119fps. I sold the 8500 and with that money up-graded to a DDR based system. That was a smarter move.

 

[rogue1979]

Seems to me lately like the cutting edge video cards are always ahead of the current gaming software. Buy the 7500 now, save some money, six months to a year from now pick up an 8500 if you need it. End up spending less money total and having two video cards instead of one.

 

[Villareal]

Yes, all the comments make a lot of sense. I am a casual gamer so ,may be I'd be better off buying the 7500 now and stick with it
for a while.
Thanks everyone!

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

I'm a casual gamer and I picked up a 7500, the best part about it is that Radeon 7500's seem to be great OC'ers, currently running @ 330/300 (600 effective) with stock cooling. Everything is nice and stable but, for example, MOHAA is kinda choppy at 1024*768 with most settings near max. If you want silky smooth gameplay at 1024*768 or better, you're better off with a GF3 Ti200 or an 8500

-Ice