video smoothness

[mwmorph]

hey guys trying to build a gaming rig and have about 200-220 us to spend on a new vid card. ive read all about max, minimum and average frame rates but id like to know, even though the 6600gt kicks the x700 256mb in frame rate max, which has a smoother play in games? does the 256mb help keep framerates steady in games like FarCry? i like minmum variation of frame rates up or down, even during explosions. i dont care how many fps i can get, id just like to get small frame rate drops and increases during fast paced action so i dont get my attention cut. cards im considering are 6600gt AGP, Radeon 9800Pro 128mb 256bit AGP or x700 256mg PCIe. I'd prefer agp to pcie because Athalon64 is 1millionx better than P4 gaming wise.

Also, im know it's off topic but...
is the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Gamer Limited worth it? hiow much better is a sound card over onboard audio?

the comp i ant to build will be
AMD64 3000-3200+ or equivelent P4
939 or lga775T socket mobo
one of the video cards in the 200-250range
1024mb ram pc3200
80-120gb HDD SATA133 SEAGATE
audigy 2 gamer limited edition(maybe)

 

[mwmorph]

bump:

 

[otispunkmeyer]

well the x700xt was pretty much extinct before it got out the door, it was only ever launced on paper coz i certainly havent seen any labled as pre order let alone instock, x700pros were around for abit, but the 6600gt is still the better buy. also x700xt im sure is only PCI-E where as 6600GTcomes in both flavours

x700xt has basically been replaced by some x800 varient not sure which, but that too also hasnt showed up anywhere yet.

also u can go PCI-E with Athlon 64.....welocome to S939 and Nforce4, seriously tho if u are buying now, 6600GT is the way to go, and if i were u id go socket 939 and Nforce 4 also.

6600gt is really ur only choice, its in plentyful supply and will be just as good if not better than the x700pro. (infact i think it is better) im not sure what the radeon x800xl is i think this is whats replacing the x700xt. but again that is PCI-E only i think

some one correct me if im wrong, is ATI planning on selling the x800xl for 199USD? this is a 16pipe card too, and if u wanna wait and know u can get one id wait for that

 

[otispunkmeyer]

as for sound....jus get a audigy 2, (dont really need the Audigy 2 ZS or what not, less u really want 7.1 over 6.1 and an extra 2dB signal to noise)

 

[Blastman]

The X800 XL will be a 16pipe card 256MB for $299. If I was going PCI-E, I would want to get one of those. The PCI-E versions should be out in January sometime.

The X800 will be a 12pipe card for $199 (PCI-E also). Hopefully they make a VIVO version that can be flashed to 16pipes like the current X800pro VIVO?s.

?If? ? ATI makes agp versions of those cards they probably won?t be out for another month or 2 after the PCI-E versions.

 

[Blastman]

er???Regarding 256MB versus 128MB -- it?s a tough call. Texture sizes are increasing all the time so more memory is going to be important as newer games come out. The X700 XT 128MB isn?t that much faster than a X700pro 256MB and they would cost about the same if the XT was available. I would hard pressed to make a choice between those 2 cards -- little faster versus more memory. . The X700pro 256MB is about the same price as a 6600GT 128MB and a little slower.

Edit: I don?t think textures are as important as running high AA/AF for memory usage. I think the current midrange cards (9800pro, 6600GT, X700pro) will probably be ok with 128MB because they will be hard pressed to run anything past 12x10 - 4AA/8AF anyway.

 

[mwmorph]

k thanks. im leaning owards 6600gt as it is right now.