Radeon 9x00 (Pro?) upgrade?

[Emultra]

Specs:
AthlonXP 1600+
256 MB DDR (due for upgrade to 512, advice please)
Gainward GeForce2 Pro 64 MB DDR
MSI K7T266 Pro2 mobo

I am planning to upgrade to a [see title] card, once GFFX comes out to lower the prices. Which one do you think fits me the best? Hardcore gaming is what the show is all about, by the way.

 

[AnAndAustin]

GF2Pro was awesome for a very good while and is on par with a GF4MX440 or Rad7500, in fact it's about the speed of a Rad9000 as well although you do get DX8 hw with that. In short a Rad8500 (inc LE), Rad9000PRO, GF3 or GF4TI4200 are what you should look at ... what's your budget? Don't worry about 128MB if you're going to be upgrading soon, get it if it isn't much more but 64MB is still fine.

XP1600+ is still pretty powerful, esp if you can o/c a little. 512MB will give everything you do with your PC a nice boost, I'd go with www.Crucial.com but any branded stuff is fine, I'd be dubious of the cheap budget unbranded RAM. PC2700 is probably best considering it costs so little more than PC2100, of course you won't run it any faster than your existing stick can handle but it's there with lightning RAM timings at PC2100 speeds, 333mhz ability and o/c'ing headroom should you go that way in the future.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

The cpu scaling of the 9700 pro would suggest if you plan on upgrading your proc to something over a 2000+ would be benificial, otherwise the 8500le128MB or something in the GF4TI series would give you better performance per $. 512MB memory is definatly recommended if you do much gaming, I've got 1GB of pc2700, and am thinking about getting another schtick of 512 to add to it.

 

[Emultra]

What about the 9500[Pro]?

 

[CurtCold]

Originally posted by: Emultra
What about the 9500[Pro]?

Go for it, then when you upgrade the processor, you'll get yet again more performance. The 9500 pro is about like a 4600, or better, which would kick arse.

You might have to check out that non pro Mod too.

 

[Emultra]

Yeah, that makes sence. I think I'll go for it.

 

[AnAndAustin]

If you can spring for it the 9500 series is very good. In raw 3D power the 9500 is a little slower than a GF4TI4200 (so Rad8500/GF3 territory) while the Rad9500PRO is a little slower than the GF4TI4600 (like a TI4400) BUT you get significantly faster when using maximum AA & AF, plus you also get DX9 hw (not that it's useful yet) and improvements in image quality, DVD/MPEG playback and TVout too. The 9500 only has half the rendering pipes and this will hurt, plus the lower clocks will use cheaper RAM again inhibiting o/c'ing BUT there are ways to enable all 8 pipes AND utilise 256bit DDR on SOME non-pro 9500 cards, if you aren't feeling overly lucky or brave the 9500PRO or 9700 non-pro make more sense and should both o/c VERY well with little effort. On an XP1600+ you won't benefit much from a 9500 - 9700 BUT when you do stick in something XP2400+ or higher you will really reap the benefits!