Which PCI-E board to replace 9700 Pro?

[Denis54]

I want to build a new PCI-E based system and will need a new video card to replace my old 9700 Pro.

I am not a gamer. Occasionally my son plays an F1 simulation when he is home on weekends but my 9700 has always been powerfull enough for his needs.

Which PCI-E card card should I get? Budget is flexible but I do not want to waste my money uselessly.

 

[mruffin75]

I'd suggest this one to replace the 9700...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102061

It'd give you good game performance, while not breaking the bank (anything slower may not be as good as the 9700 it's replacing)..

 

[eggrolls]

7600GT, $80 AR

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130062

it should be enough, though i think the x1950pro is worth the extra $45

 

[wazzledoozle]

8500GT. Cheap, passively cooled, DX10, and a universal video decoder (offloads video procesing to the gpu!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814125062

 

[GullyFoyle]

6600 GT. Even cheaper, still spanks a 9700 pro. Currently only $30 AR!
http://www.tigerdirect.com/app...o=2884782&Sku=B52-7866

Here's a comparison of the 9700 Pro to other newer, cheap options. (Old AnandTech review): http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2196
Summary: Just about anything you can buy today will beat it...

 

[kenji4life]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127295

about to pull the trigger.. under 100 shipped for a 8500GT OC with 256mb GDDR3

MSI product page:
http://global.msi.com.tw/index...cat_no=130&cat2_no=136

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127286

for 30 dollars more, an 8600GT oc

 

[RussianSensation]

Are you guys insane recommending 8500GT? That card is utter junk for $100.

Proof 1
Proof 2

Based on your price budget, I'd consider

6600GT (faster than 9700Pro).

7600GT (really good performance for the price, but if all your son plays is F1 and 9700Pro is sufficient, so will be 6600GT).

or X1950GT/Pro (one of the best performances but is probably serious overkill for your needs).

 

[ghost recon88]

+ you can flash the X1950 Pros and GTs right?

 

[wazzledoozle]

I think you all missed this point:
"I am not a gamer."

He doesnt need anything for 3d work. 8500GT has HDCP, universal video decoder, dx10, passive cooling, and low power draw. Its the perfect budget card.

 

[themisfit610]

Well said. If he ever wants to watch HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, he's squared away. The DX10 and 256mb means he's good to go with vista (chuckle...), and the passsive cooling and low power is icing on the cake. It should be plenty fast compared to a 9700.

 

[mruffin75]

Originally posted by: wazzledoozle
I think you all missed this point:
"I am not a gamer."

He doesnt need anything for 3d work. 8500GT has HDCP, universal video decoder, dx10, passive cooling, and low power draw. Its the perfect budget card.

I think you stopped reading that line too early...

"Occasionally my son plays an F1 simulation when he is home on weekends but my 9700 has always been powerfull enough for his needs. "

So it does need to be fast enough to play something on occasion... so the 8500GT is probably a piece of junk for that. (although it's hard to tell since they didn't say what the game was)

 

[Denis54]

Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the F1 game he plays but I do know that it is not highly demanding game.

He is a newly graduated engineer and he also writes some apllications just for fun. I dont't understand half the stuff he does but he seems to do some fairly complex things. He has always said my card is powerfull enough but I definitely do not want a card that is slower than my 9700. He has a 1950GT in his computer and that would be overkill for me.

HDPC is not important for me.

I would appreciate if someone could explain what an universal video converter is. Does that mean such a card could play any video I throw at it? I am a big F1 fan and I often get a message that I miss the appropriate codec to play videos that I download. A card that can play anything would be nice.

 

[wazzledoozle]

Originally posted by: Denis54
Unfortunately, I do not know the name of the F1 game he plays but I do know that it is not highly demanding game.

He is a newly graduated engineer and he also writes some apllications just for fun. I dont't understand half the stuff he does but he seems to do some fairly complex things. He has always said my card is powerfull enough but I definitely do not want a card that is slower than my 9700. He has a 1950GT in his computer and that would be overkill for me.

HDPC is not important for me.

I would appreciate if someone could explain what an universal video converter is. Does that mean such a card could play any video I throw at it? I am a big F1 fan and I often get a message that I miss the appropriate codec to play videos that I download. A card that can play anything would be nice.

The universal video decoder basically just offloads the processing of certain types of video to the graphics card. As far as I know, this includes DVD/HDVD/Blu-Ray and H.264 files. It wont stop you from having to install the codecs though.

(I would recommend you get VLC- it plays every video format out there- http://www.videolan.org/vlc/)

The 8500 would definitely not be slower than the 9700; its a much newer card.

Based on these numbers, and my experience with my 9700 and 9800 pro's, the 8500GT is definitely faster.

 

[CrystalBay]

8600gt at least. .. . . .just to be safer. This is what I'll buy my Dad...

 

[will889]

Basic needs and the R9700P was/is good enough? Get this and keep the R9700 and use the regular DDR (non DD2) you have for a while then get 2 Gigs of A-Data DDR2 for about $85.00 later on. Get your video card later as the real need arises and just keep using the R9700.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16813157107

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16819115013

 

[f4phantom2500]

6600gt. if the 9700 pro was good enough, just get the 6600gt.