Upgrading from my GF3-Ti500?

[LintMan]

I've got a GeForce 3 Ti500 in my current system (Athlon XP1800+, 512MB RAM), and am
wondering how much I'd benefit from upgrading to a new video card, while on a limited
budget...

- I'm not a hardcore FPS gamer that needs 100 frames per sec, but I will be playing
Deus Ex2, Half Life 2, Doom 3 when they come out, and I'd like to enjoy at least some
of the eye candy.

- I want to spend under $200. Will any cards in that range provide a substantial
improvement over my current card? Any recommendations? (Is there any web sites
where I could easily look up benchmarks for my current card and prospective new cards,
and compare them?)

- Or will I need to spend more than $200 to get a capable card? If so, I'll wait until I can
budget for a better one. Edit: I'll also add that I'm not interested in used/ebay deals, just
new retail or OEM boards.

- I don't think I will be CPU-limited - or will I? Right now, I have to keep AA/AF turned off
to have decent performance. Would a faster card let me enable them, or would my CPU
hold me back?

- Damn it's painful that the hot new just-released video card I spent something like $350 on
is now near bottom-end, just two years later!

Thanks for your help!

 

[modedepe]

If your main reason for upgrading is to play those games, I would suggest you wait till they are out. Otherwise though, there are several good cards for $200 or less that you can pick up. The fx5900 and 9800np are both good choices.

AA and AF are not affected by your cpu, they are only bounded by your card. However, other things in games require cpu, and for those you may need a faster cpu.

 

[LintMan]

I'd consider waiting, but:
- There are current games I also plan to play (ie: Call of Duty) which
might benefit.
- While I'd be buying the card, it will be a XMas gift to me from my
family, with the cash coming from them. If I wasn't prepared to buy
until April, I'd have to pick a different gift for now, and spend my own (non-existent!)
cash later..

I was able to find a FX 5900 for $250 with a $50 mail-in rebate (from a company
I never heard of - "BFG Technologies"?), but I can't find any 9800's for $200...
I assume np = non-pro? None of the sites I looked at listed one of those, just the pro
versions, and 9600-series cards.

 

[modedepe]

BFG cards are supposed to be pretty good. Also, check newegg. Today they have the xfx fx5900 on sale for $189 with no rebates. Yes np = non pro. You can get the 9800 for $200 at circuit city.

 

[Blurry]

I'm on the same boat as you Lintman.
I'm also stuck deciding between either the FX 5900 nu or the 9800np.
Since you are going to play both Doom 3 and Call of Duty (which is faster on the FX 5900)
I suggest you go with the FX 5900.
As for Half Life 2, the 9800 is faster, but I think that the benchmarks are inaccurate now because the 5900 that was tested was using an older driver.

 

[Blurry]

Oops, double post