Some buying advice

[IMForeman]

I need some buying advice.

My GeForce 4 Ti4400 recently fried out. It started artifacting once it ran for more than a few minutes, then would lock up. I did not overclock it in any way, and the HS fan still is running. It should be noted this started happening after a system reload due to a Hard drive failure, so I'm thinking it may have been hit by a surge.

So, I have to replace the thing. I'm currently running with a GeForce 2 Mx200 temporarily, but it's a painful experience. I'm looking for something that will equal or better the old Ti4400 I had (but I will not buy PNY again). I have to keep the cost down, due to being laid off, so I was looking at this:

Aopen GeForce FX 5700 256

Would this fit the bill of a 4400 replacement, or would I still have some performance loss?

-IMF

 

[high]

Well I just grabbed an MSI 5700 Non-Ulta and it's great, but it also replaced a gf2 mx400...Personally if you were going to upgrade get a 128MB card that's minimum a 9800 / 5900 ...

But since you are looking for something equal or better, I think the 5700 128MB would get a good choice, preferably the Ultra

 

[fbrdphreak]

a 5700 Ulta is your best bang for the buck from nVidia. I would go for an MSI FX 5700 Ultra 128MB. Generally the cards that have
256mb and are not a nVidia 5900U or Radeon 9800 just have the memory on for show and you're getting a lower quality card. Look for
the MSI 5700 Ultra that uses GDDR III RAM on it, that one has good performance, is quiet, and lots of OC'ing headroom. You also
might look at ATI 9600XT as an ATI alternative, ATI cards generally have better performance w AA & other eye candy turned on.

 

[Cerb]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
a 5700 Ulta is your best bang for the buck from nVidia. I would go for an MSI FX 5700 Ultra 128MB. Generally the cards that have

256mb and are not a nVidia 5900U or Radeon 9800 just have the memory on for show and you're getting a lower quality card. Look for

the MSI 5700 Ultra that uses GDDR III RAM on it, that one has good performance, is quiet, and lots of OC'ing headroom. You also

might look at ATI 9600XT as an ATI alternative, ATI cards generally have better performance w AA & other eye candy turned on.

That, a 9800 Pro (great bang/buck), or another GF4.

 

[MDE]

Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
a 5700 Ulta is your best bang for the buck from nVidia. I would go for an MSI FX 5700 Ultra 128MB. Generally the cards that have

The 5900XT\SE cards are the best value in the Nvidia lineup right now, most are the same price as the 5700 Ultra or cheaper.

 

[modedepe]

a 5700 Ulta is your best bang for the buck from nVidia. I would go for an MSI FX 5700 Ultra 128MB.

For the price of a 5700 ultra you should get a 5900 instead. The 5900 is a MUCH better bang for the buck than a 5700 ultra. If you only want to spend around $130 though, I would recommend a 9600 pro over a 5700nu.

 

[fbrdphreak]

Oops, forgot about those blasted 5900 series. Yeah, you can get a 5900XT by BFG for a pretty decent price. I just wouldn't go for another 4 series, read Anandtech's article about the flaws of the NV3x architecture. But if you can afford it, definitely go for a 9600XT, from what I've read HIS is one of the better brands for that particular card.

 

[SneakyStuff]

I made the same mistake, I got my 5700u a week before the 5900se/xt became available on newegg oh well! The 5700u does everything I need it to do. But if you're looking to upgrade NOW, look into an MSI 5900xt. And what fbrdphreak said about getting a 9600xt, is not actually the best move, the 5700u and 9600xt are tied in benchmarks when they run at stock speeds, but when you overclock a 5700u, it leaves the 9600xt in the dust!

 

[Pete]

Except for newer games, where the 9600XT is clearly faster than the 5700U.

$130 for a 256MB 5700 seems OK. The alternative at that price is a 9600 Pro, also a decent card, but not blindingly fast, and probably not a huge step up from your 4400 except with AA+AF.

You won't find a 5700U for near $130. In fact, the lowest price for one on PriceWatch seems to be $169. For that money, a Radeon 9700 Pro or GF 5900XT are much better buys.