what video card should i buy????????????

[icyredsol8181]

ok now im not that too familar with alot of video cards, but i want something good at a reasonable price, i play video games almost everyday.....battlefield,mohaa....etc... i dont want the 9800,9700,fx5900,5800... i was lookin at the gainward ti4800se, the fx 5600 ultra 256mb, and a few of the radeons 9600,9500's. can i please get some help on deciding which one...i have been lookin at stuff about them for about 2 weeks now, i dont know what to get..if anyone has any input let me know pleeeeeeaaasssse?

 

[Schadenfroh]

here is some data you might find usefull

TI4800
Pros
price
decent speed
Very mature card (lots of bugs already worked out)
Cons
not good for fsaa higher than 2x/quicanox
af hurts it
non directx 9

5600
Pros
DX9
Cons
price
256 mb is worthless

9500
Pros
DX9
fastest of the ones you listed
good fsaa/af performance at high levels
possible hack into 9700 (certain ones)
Cons
failed hack into 9700
price

9600
pros
DX9
Overclocks very well
cons
slower at stock speed than 9500
price
not that mature of a card, yet

 

[Corporate Thug]

9700 NON PRO

 

[Tab]

9800 Non-Pro, its $300 on newegg.com and is around the same speeds as a 9700 Pro.

 

[Blastman]

Good summary by Schadenfroh.

If your budget reaches $200 you might want to consider a 9700np like shady mentioned. It?s a really good performance jump over the $165 range cards.

 

[Pete]

Give us a price range, and we'll tell you the best choices. A ~$200 9700 (non-Pro, Sapphire OEM @ Mwave or Powercolor retail @ GameVE) is the best deal for a mid-to-high-end card. Far faster than a $150-180 5600/U or 9600/P, but only a bit more expensive. You'll need a quality 300W power supply, though.

 

[infinite012]

get a 9500 non pro and hack it into a 9700 pro (use those unused 4 pixel pipelines!)

 

[KippLitz]

The title of the thread says it all...

I too am in the market for a new vid card so thought I'd just hitch a ride on this thread. I currently have a Abit AT7-MAX2 with an Athlon 2400, 512 meg of ram and a 32 meg GeForce2 GTS card. I have about $200 - $250 to get a newer video card and would like to have the groups opinions. I can go nVidia or ATI...as long as it is stable, has excellent 2d and 3d image quality...as well as some speed for my game time! ;-)

I am a gamer (UT, UT2K3, Unreak II, Quake, Quake Arena, DN4Ever (if it EVER ships) ;-) etc., etc., etc...and some actual work (Adobe Illustrator, Quark Express, Office, etc.)

I have done a bit of research myself and it appears that a non-pro 9700 (or a pro if the price was right) would be the way to go...but I want to pick the groups mind as well before I leap.

Thanks in advance for your input,

Kip