What Can I get for $200 for a new Video Card, you tell me??

[thatsright]

Okay, upgrading my system in 2-4 weeks. ITS REALLY, REALLY OLD!! (See Below). So Far, I think I?m going to get the Abit IC7 & a P4c 2.4Ghz CPU with HT & 800Mhz; and 512 or 1Gb ram.

I haven?t played a game on my PC in over a year ago, and that was Jane?s FA-18 flight simulator (a 3 year old game). I really use my pc now for:

1. Internet
2. Online Video and File sharing
3. Digital Audio/MP3 editing creating/Burning CD?s
4. Editing Pictures
5. Gaming, which I would start playing a FEW titles once again, when I get my new video card.


Okay, I?ve budgeted ~$200 for a new AGP Card. By the laws of the market, I think my only real choice would to pick between the Radeon 9500 Pro or a 9600 Pro. I hear that the 9600 Pro is less of a performer in frame rates on most games than the 9500, but that its fill rate is higher; so that it cancels out. ALSO, I read a review, where the 9600 Pro was overclocked without any special cooling and its performance did top that of the 9500 pro in games. BUT, I do not see my self playing more than 1/3rd of my PC time with games at all. Some games I would like to get are; Enter the Matrix; Quake 3; UT2003; the newest The Sim's; and newer Flight simulator games.

Well, how about you, for my PC activities, and my limited gaming time what would you get? Also note my MB and CPU selection above, should this be any big factor in the card I get?

Thanks a lot guys, as I have the CC in hand, and am waiting for your opinions.

P.S. What about some of the Nvidia cards out there, or am I wasting my time/$$ on that route.

 

[Schadenfroh]

the new revision of the geforcefx 5600 looks promising

 

[GoodToGo]

9600 pro if you are a "true" overclocker otherwise the 9500 pro. Best options right now. Although if you plan on playing doom 3, I would hold off for some more time.

 

[Doh!]

I think it would be better if you ask the same question in about 3~4 weeks when you're actually ready to purchase the card. With the introduction of new video cards from nVidia & ATI in recent days, a lot of things can happen to the video card prices during the 4 week period. If you were to buy it now, I would say Radeon 9500 Pro or 9700 Non-Pro for $25 more.

 

[thatsright]

Is the 9700 NON pro close in perfomance to the 9500 Pro? Does ATI sell a Retail boxed version of this, or only the powered by ATI version. Anyone know where where I can read benchmars that have the 9700 NON Pro version benchmarked.

As for overclocking, I'm not willing to spend extra $$ to overclock whatever card I get, just use whatever I get with the original card I buy. Just try and tweak the drivers I hope.

 

[thatsright]

And a thread within a thread:

BUT, what do you think would make a bigger overall system perfomace increase by spending a extra $100 on;

Upgrade your videocard, or get more ram for a total of 1Gb of DDR Ram for the propsed 'Guts' MB & CPU that I mention above. Thanks again

 

[Regs]

Fill rate? You are worried about the fill rate between the 9500 and 9600? Mu ha. There is no difference hardly at all. Fill rates in any modern day video card is more than plenty for any game. Besides, a simple overclock on the card could increase the fill rate stat dramatically.

 

[HardwareAddicted]

And why not a nVidia based card like the Ti 4600 ??

?????????????????????????????????????????????

~ Mark

 

[dguy6789]

if ut2k3 is the most advanced game you will be playing, get a radeon 9000 pro 128 meg, it will run ut2k3 at 1280X1024 max settings with 16X AF at around 60 fps, and the image quality is very awesome. thats what im using, get that and use the money for more ram or slightly faster cpu.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: HardwareAddicted
And why not a nVidia based card like the Ti 4600 ??

?????????????????????????????????????????????

~ Mark

AHHH!!!! someone recommended nvidia!!!!

you sir, just commited a mortal sin.