RAdeon 8500 vs 7500 and other questions...

[FortFunFoSho]

HEy everyone -

I am about to embark on a new system. I am pretty sure I am going to buy the radeon 8500. Then my roommate started giving me heat because I was goign to spend the 150 or whatever on it. WHy not just buy the 7500 he says?

Then I thought I would come in here and get a good idea from the people who actually know a lot about these cards.

I play mainly games like Unreal Tournament, warcrafts, quake, etc...
I do a lot of Dv capturing and editing.

Do you think the radeon 8500 will come down much in price in the next couple of weeks?

I know the 8500 has dual monitor output. I dont need a special converter or anything to use a regular trinitron do I?

Also would the speed of a graphics card speed up the rendering of video when converting to lets say divx?

Thanks for your help!

 

[Theslowone]

The 8500 is a much better card that is faster by a pretty big margin, the worth of the card is really up to you. The games you play are older or not very intensive at lower res. If you plan on playing any of the older games like unreal tourny or newer games at high res then i would really recommend getting the 8500. Waiting for cards to come down isn't always the best bet, because you wait for one to come down then by the time it comes down to where you want to buy it a new card is out that is faster and has more features.

The divx redering will be about the same for any card that you get. Either one will be fine for the process.

I personally would go with the 8500 or even the 8500 le before the 7500, just because I like playing the games at high res with everything cut on. Plus theres a lot of games coming out in the near future that are going to be very intensive.

 

[Killrose]

On my system. Q3 timedemo 1, 1024x768 32bit all sliders maxed, HQ sound on: 131.5fps
RTCW same settings (maxed) though i've never timedeo'd it, it's butter smooth while playing online.
3DMark2001: 5520

However. My 8500 is on the way as we speak (more is better)
My 7500 might be available.....

 

[FortFunFoSho]

hmm.

I see.

I think the radeon is the one for me.


So yeah.

 

[chickendinner]

yah i am kinda weary of the 8500. ime runnin gf3 now. the radeon is kinda flaky. between the 2 the 7500 is a safer bet.

 

[Theslowone]

How is the radeon flaky?

 

[FortFunFoSho]

What about the radeon vivo?

Would you recommend the upgrade? I currently am using a iee1934 card or whatever to firewire in my footage.

Any input in regards to this?

 

[Theslowone]

are you talking 64mb vivo or 7500 aiw or 8500dv?

 

[PCHPlayer]

My AIW 7500 (clocked slower than normal 7500) gets 75 fps in RTCW with everything on at 1024x768. During single player it tending to hang in the 70's or 80's. So the 7500 should be able to hang in there with a moderately powered machine. Prices just dropped so I don't think you will see another one for a while.
What does your rig have in it?