which video card to get

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
I dont do much gaming, but I want something decent quality for $75-$150. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

Also, can someone tell me a little about PCI express?


EDIT: I have it narrowed down to 2 cards. The 9600XT and the 5900SE

Both are similar in price, but the 5900 seems to be a better value. Any arguments for or against?
 
S

Smoothe

Member
Dec 12, 2004
50
0
66
We will need some more information to make a recommendation. What is the rest of your system. Do you have an AGP slot or just PCI.
 
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
I have AGP, but I heard that PCI was supposed to be better.

Full system specs:
2600+
ECS K7VTA3 (unless I keep the KT600-A)
512 megs DDR3200 (will be 1 gig soon)
120 gig HD
XP SP2
 
S

Smoothe

Member
Dec 12, 2004
50
0
66
PCI Express offers more bandwidth than the AGP bus. It will eventually replace AGP entirely. It would require you to buy a new motherboard and in some cases a new power supply. Since you said you don't game that much I would just save your money and buy a decent AGP card. Any ATI 9600XT based card can be had for less than $150. It could handle most current games and is within your budget.
 
Gamingphreek

Gamingphreek

Lifer
Mar 31, 2003
11,679
0
81
6600GT barely over 150 and much better than any last gen card.

There is no tangible difference between PCI-E and AGP at this point. Basically it is a bunch of seperate high speed busses instead of one large slow one.

-Kevin
 
C

Cawchy87

Diamond Member
Mar 8, 2004
5,104
2
81
Where have you seen the 6600GT for that cheap?

9800pro off the fs/ft board here for 150.
 
2Xtreme21

2Xtreme21

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2004
7,044
0
0
If you don't do much gaming, a Geforce 4 Ti4600 will be good, in my opinion. You can get them for a little under $100 and it's a very powerful and worthwhile card for a light, casual gamer.

It will suit you as long as by "not much gaming" you mean "not much Doom 3 / HL2 in 16x12 with 8xAA and 16xAF." Maybe you could tell us what you would play?
 
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
If you don't do much gaming, a Geforce 4 Ti4600 will be good, in my opinion. You can get them for a little under $100 and it's a very powerful and worthwhile card for a light, casual gamer.

It will suit you as long as by "not much gaming" you mean "not much Doom 3 / HL2 in 16x12 with 8xAA and 16xAF." Maybe you could tell us what you would play?
Click to expand...

No doom3 or HL2 right now. It wouldnt hurt if I could play them though. Right now UT2K3 is about the most demanding game I play.

Right now I just want something better than my MX4000. Right now I am thinking one of these two.

Any ideas are appreciated.
 
R

RadeonGuy

Banned
Jan 3, 2005
294
0
0
The geforce 5 series is crappy plus look at my name or go with a normal 6600 with 256 mb for like 150
 
rudeguy

rudeguy

Lifer
Dec 27, 2001
47,351
14
61
Originally posted by: RadeonGuy
The geforce 5 series is crappy plus look at my name or go with a normal 6600 with 256 mb for like 150
Click to expand...

so you have no informed information?

 
D

Darth Farter

Member
Nov 29, 2004
69
0
0
geforce fx series have bad dx9 support (worse then ati 9600+), less then stellar dx8 performance(again worse then the gef4 ti series), perform very bad, bad image quality, and too high prices per performance.
I have one... and it sucks ass big time.....

with your system a 6600GT AGP or a little bit worse the 9800XT/PRO 256bit will perform best as you get the best bang/buck. radeon 9700 and lower are not that great value and FX 5xxx should be avoided like the plague.
try to get the extra 60 dollars and get the 6600GT (it will outlast everything else and has the best features (dx9c, hardware vid-encoding/decoding, HDTV out etc is very handy for a HTPC later on if coupled with an older processor) I suggest the leadtech/msi ones.
 
R

RadeonGuy

Banned
Jan 3, 2005
294
0
0
Originally posted by: Darth Farter
geforce fx series have bad dx9 support (worse then ati 9600+), less then stellar dx8 performance(again worse then the gef4 ti series), perform very bad, bad image quality, and too high prices per performance.
I have one... and it sucks ass big time.....

with your system a 6600GT AGP or a little bit worse the 9800XT/PRO 256bit will perform best as you get the best bang/buck. radeon 9700 and lower are not that great value and FX 5xxx should be avoided like the plague.
try to get the extra 60 dollars and get the 6600GT (it will outlast everything else and has the best features (dx9c, hardware vid-encoding/decoding, HDTV out etc is very handy for a HTPC later on if coupled with an older processor) I suggest the leadtech/msi ones.
Click to expand...

thats why i said stay away from geforce5xxx series
 
I

Insomniak

Banned
Sep 11, 2003
4,836
0
0
Originally posted by: VIAN
These FX guys just kid themselves. There is absolutely no reason to even think about buying an FX when you have the Radeon 9x00 series.

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simprod.asp?pid=8174

Fast gaming card where Image Quality is not of great concern.
Click to expand...



Quoted for truth. My suggestion if you're looking at about $150 would be a 9800 series card, or if you can swing another 50 - 60 bucks, a GeForce 6600GT will serve you much better. Have one myself, in fact, the LeadTek, and it's very satisfying.
 
V

VIAN

Diamond Member
Aug 22, 2003
6,575
1
0
are you serious? i'd rather have a 5900xt over a 9600xt any day...
Click to expand...
No, I'm not. My statement and my link weren't supposed to go together.

135 dollars is a very good price for the 5900XT and since the 9600XT is about the same price, it would be foolish to buy the 9600XT.

BTW 5900XT is almost as good as a 9700, not 9700 Pro.
 
Cerb

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Originally posted by: GoodDad
Originally posted by: RadeonGuy
Stay away from GeForce5xxx series
Click to expand...
why?
Click to expand...
...because the 6xxx are out and beat them into oblivion for the money and the power consumption.

<- happy owner of a FX 5900XT

A GF4 Ti 4200 might be good ($70 or less), or a FX 5900XT ($160-$200), or a 128-bit 9800 ($150-$200). Even a 9600 Pro ($100-$120, shipped)
A Ti 4200 would barely make it now and have no future, but would be great compared to a GF4 MX.
A 9600XT wouldn't be bad, but not great, either. It would be worth saving a few bucks to get a 9600 Pro.
A 9800 w/ 128-bit RAM would best the 9600XT handily, do better than the 5900XT in a few places, but still be somewhat crippled. Probably not worthe extra cost over a 9600 Pro.
A 5900XT would beat the 9800 in any but the least bandwidth-intensive games, offer better future performance (note that this is NOT true if it is a 256-bit 9800, which generally are over $200 still), and cost about the same as the 128-bit 9800 cards.

If the MX4000 is not enough power, but you've been fine with it until recently, get a 9600 Pro.
If the MX4000 has been a pain in your gaming side since you got it, maybe the 5900XT wouldn't be out of the question.

I upgraded from a 9600XT to a 5900XT. Tell you anything? :) tfinch has it right, RadeonGuy.

AGP and PCI-E.
PCI Express is dying lemming loads faster than AGP. But guess what? Only professional apps can get anything from it right now. AGP 8x is only a touch (<5%) faster than AGP 4x, as the speed is increasing faster than the need for video card<->RAM bandwidth. PCI-Express will be useful for its speed in a few years, but not now.
 
IAteYourMother

IAteYourMother

Lifer
Nov 3, 2004
10,491
22
81
Originally posted by: Cerb
Originally posted by: GoodDad
Originally posted by: RadeonGuy
Stay away from GeForce5xxx series
Click to expand...
why?
Click to expand...
...because the 6xxx are out and beat them into oblivion for the money and the power consumption.

<- happy owner of a FX 5900XT


A 9600XT wouldn't be bad, but not great, either. It would be worth saving a few bucks to get a 9600 Pro.
Click to expand...

:confused:
2 things:
HAPPY owner of an FX series... WOW
the 9600XT is better than the 9600 Pro...
That is all
 
Cerb

Cerb

Elite Member
Aug 26, 2000
17,484
33
86
Originally posted by: IAteYourMother
Originally posted by: Cerb
Originally posted by: GoodDad
Originally posted by: RadeonGuy
Stay away from GeForce5xxx series
Click to expand...
why?
Click to expand...
...because the 6xxx are out and beat them into oblivion for the money and the power consumption.

<- happy owner of a FX 5900XT


A 9600XT wouldn't be bad, but not great, either. It would be worth saving a few bucks to get a 9600 Pro.
Click to expand...
:confused:
2 things:
HAPPY owner of an FX series... WOW
the 9600XT is better than the 9600 Pro...
That is all
Click to expand...
9600XT -> 5900XT well before the 6x00 cards. 9600XT. 9600XT. Very minor cost difference for the performance gain.

Yes, a 9600 XT is faster, but by how much? Enough to justify a 20+% cost increase?
 
D

dguy6789

Diamond Member
Dec 9, 2002
8,558
3
76
9600XT is less than 5% faster than the 9600Pro, and as you turn up the res, the difference becomes even less apparent. I would take a 9600XT over a 5900XT because of dx9 performance.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom