RADEON 9600 Pro 256MB or GeForce FX 5600 Ultra 128MB?

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Curto

Member
Feb 29, 2004
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Hi all,

I'm trying to decide what vid card to get for my second pc (I just sold the GF3 Ti200 that was in it ;)).

I'm down to these 2 cards (both ~$100) but I hear mixed feelings about both.

The other specs of the machine are:

Athlon XP 1600+ (1.4GHz)
512MB PC333 DDR
Asus A7V8X (KT400 chipset with onboard audio and ethernet)
16x DVDROM
80GB 7200rpm HDD

Right now my main pc is running a GF4 Ti4600 (Gainward Goldensample 750XP from memory... one of the VIVO/dual DVI cards)
Athlon XP 1600+ (1.4GHz)
512MB PC400 DDR
Asus A7N8X Deluxe (nforce2 chipset with onboard audio and dual ethernet and sata)
16x DVDROM
4xDVD-R
120GB 7200rpm HDD

Any suggestions? or is there another card around the $100 mark I should go for?

The second pc won't be used a lot, but it would be nice to be able to run call of duty @ 1024x768 smoothly ;)
 
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Curto

Member
Feb 29, 2004
43
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I'm going off the prices on pricewatch.com .... after looking closer it does look like a stock 9600.

Lets start from scratch :)

What video card would you recommend for a $100 budget....

I'm looking at: Gainward FX PowerPack! Ultra/760 . Good price, nice card, and the one in my main pc is also gainward...
 
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modedepe

Diamond Member
May 11, 2003
3,474
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Ok the card you linked is not an ultra. It's a 5600xt. Basically, it's a horrible price, and a POS card. If you like the ti4600 you have currently, you might think of getting another (or 4200/4400).
 
RussianSensation

RussianSensation

Elite Member
Sep 5, 2003
19,458
765
126
If you can get this Albatron geforce4 4200 128mb 3.3ns (will oveclock to 4600 speeds easy) $90, or some equivalent of a good overclocking geforce 4 4200, you'd be way better off than getting a slow direct x 9.0 card. Consider this, Geforce 4 4200 is FASTER than ANY Geforce FX card in HL2 using direct X8.0 code in comparison to FX using direct x9.0 code. And any derivative of 5600FX is even slower than it in 8.1 mode! Unless you are getting an Nvidia card for current games and its something of at least 5900xt speed, I wouldn't even consider the current Nvidia generation hardware.

Summary:

I know this is a bit off topic for your question but...

Best cards:
Around ~$100 - Geforce 4 series
Around ~$150 - Radeon 9600Pro/XT
Around ~$190 - $210 = Radeon 9700Pro/9800Pro

Now with recent price drops of the 9700 and 9800 line to $190-210 level, getting 5900xt isn't even a good alternative.


 
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Curto

Member
Feb 29, 2004
43
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How are ATI's as far as drivers go? I had a 9700 pro when they first came out and had stability problems, even when I changed from a a7v8x to a7n8x.

Right now the pc I'll be putting the new card in is a a7v8x (via kt400 chipset)... how is compatibility between them and ati cards now?

I might stretch to $150 ;)
 
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otispunkmeyer

Lifer
Jun 14, 2003
10,442
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the 5600xt and the 9600 256....waste of money.....go for a 9600pro if u can

but like you said ....comparison to 9700pro......there is no comparison 9700 will win hands down at any thing...theres no way a 4x1 core with 128bit memory can even get close too the 8x1 and 256bit mem of the 9700.....y did u ever get rid of it!!!!!!
 
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modedepe

Diamond Member
May 11, 2003
3,474
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0
Well if you stretch a little, get a 9600 pro for around $130, or a 5900xt for $159. And yes, a 9700 will destroy a 9600 pro.
 
kylebisme

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
9,396
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Originally posted by: Curto
How are ATI's as far as drivers go? I had a 9700 pro when they first came out and had stability problems, even when I changed from a a7v8x to a7n8x.
Click to expand...

i'd guess you had something set up wrong as most people had great stablity with the 9700pro, even when it first came out.


Originally posted by: Curto
Right now the pc I'll be putting the new card in is a a7v8x (via kt400 chipset)... how is compatibility between them and ati cards now?
Click to expand...

no problems at all, just make sure you get the latest via drivers or you won't have full agp acceleration.
 
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Curto

Member
Feb 29, 2004
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Originally posted by: otispunkmeyer
the 5600xt and the 9600 256....waste of money.....go for a 9600pro if u can

but like you said ....comparison to 9700pro......there is no comparison 9700 will win hands down at any thing...theres no way a 4x1 core with 128bit memory can even get close too the 8x1 and 256bit mem of the 9700.....y did u ever get rid of it!!!!!!
Click to expand...

I got rid of my 9700pro because at the time I wasn't using it... I bought it to play games, then got a job working way too much ;) so I traded it for the current ti4600 I have and made a profit on it ;)

Now, still working, but having more time, I'd like a nice card for my other box... it doesn't have to be blazing fast, but I'd like the best bang for buck and acceptable performance for games @ 1024x768
 
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Agamar

Golden Member
Oct 9, 1999
1,334
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The 5900xt is showing a good lead compared to the 9600pro, a little closer with the 9600xt. I could get both the 9600xt and the 5900xt at the same price, so I chose the 5900xt for the better driver support. I was burned by ATI twice already with drivers (ATI AIW 128 Pro under Win2k and ATI XPERT 128). I think I made a good decision.
 
kylebisme

kylebisme

Diamond Member
Mar 25, 2000
9,396
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lol, wow talk about holding a grudge over some old as cards; i couldn't get my tnt to work with any nvidia drivers in window xp, but i hardly hold anything against nvidia for that. ;)

regardless, the 5900xt is a considerably faster in any game out now. it is slower than the 9600xt in ps2.0, although depending on how long you wind up holding onto the card that could hardly be an issue.
 
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PCTweaker5

Banned
Jun 5, 2003
2,810
0
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Originally posted by: Agamar
The 5900xt is showing a good lead compared to the 9600pro, a little closer with the 9600xt. I could get both the 9600xt and the 5900xt at the same price, so I chose the 5900xt for the better driver support. I was burned by ATI twice already with drivers (ATI AIW 128 Pro under Win2k and ATI XPERT 128). I think I made a good decision.
Click to expand...

You made the best decision you could have made in that situation. Ive been burnt twice as well and will soon be having my skin scrapped off by Nvidia.
 
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PCTweaker5

Banned
Jun 5, 2003
2,810
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Ya it should be noticeably faster but dont expect a whole lot. I think you'll like it though if you dont have any problems. If you do then just get a 5700 Ultra instead which is probably what I would get if I was deciding between a 9600XT and a 5700 Ultra. Or if you can afford more get a 5900 Ultra which should be quite a bit faster than that Ti4600.
 
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Curto

Member
Feb 29, 2004
43
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Enough difference to be bothered putting it in this pc and moving my ti4600 to my other secondary box?

The boxes are almost identical as you can tell from my first post...
 
SneakyStuff

SneakyStuff

Diamond Member
Jan 13, 2004
4,294
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In terms of DX8 performance, it won't be a whole lot better, but for DX9 games, it will be, I can gaurentee you that.
 
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