A Graphic card?

[Afronaut]

I bought my self some "new" gear last summer.
Tought it was a cheap deal and im fairly happy with it.

So I got me now:
AMD 2600+ , Epox 8RDA+ , 1GB RAM

But the real bottleneck is the graphic card,
so im about to start looking for a good card which is 8+AGP,
maybe with TV out and muchos bells and whistles.

Any suggestions?

I dont mind if its ATI or nVidia, but it has to kick some butt.
:lol:

[Virtualbody1234]

What's your budget?

[Afronaut]

Well, I might get to sell one of my guitars tomorrow.
If so, the price is pretty much irrelevant, hehe...

I started lookin reviews (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.cfm?articleid=588).

As you see, im not going to wimp out this time.

Im planning to get me a big-ass-monitor later too,
so thing would be sort of a TV-game-console-PC setup,
or thats what im dreaming about.

:)

[Afronaut]

Moneywise, I guess 500$ is pretty much the roof.

[ahctlucabbuS]

Moneywise, I guess 500$ is pretty much the roof.

With that kind of money do you need to ask for advice?

Go to the store and ask for the prettiest, shiniest card on the marked (use those exact adjectives) :01:

[keyser_soze]

Don't forget to mention the bells to the salesperson it will really make them smile :)

[Afronaut]

Well, I thought to ask here anyways.

I was expecting some arm-wrestling about Ati vs. nVidia,
then I could have picked up the info and move along from there.

:P

[pc-gamer-dude]

get yourself a NVIDIA Geforce 6800GT. can be had for around $450 or so off the internet for a good 1.

[Afronaut]

Thanks, I'll go check out reviews and such.
Whats the ATI at around the same specs? x800 "someting" ?

Just so I could compare.

:)

[Formula1]

Ati Radeon 9800 256MB Vid card can be bought for around 300 USD :/

[Afronaut]

Woah, there's a lot of fast cards out there,

I find myself looking more into the Output / Input connections availability.

The eVGA GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme Edition is something spectacular (price also) but
it has a nice options about the TV - Video stuff too.
That weights a lot imo.

Well, that card might be hard to find, so I may have to settle down
with lesser Gaming Specs but I dont think im willing to go down on the
options about the TV-Video stuff much if not at all.

Doing more research.. thanks for tips, btw.

:)

[JunkBarMan]

Here's a good card (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-515&depa=1). Just another option I guess.

[Afronaut]

Here's a good card (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-515&depa=1). Just another option I guess.

A nice one, indeed.

Thanks.

:)

[bigdawgfoxx]

6800Ultra EE is probably the fastest card out there....I would have a tough choice between the 6800GT and the ATI X800XT

[Virtualbody1234]

I would never buy the latest.

Not the best value for your money.

------
This is probably very good advice:

Ati Radeon 9800 256MB Vid card can be bought for around 300 USD :/

[clocker]

Personally, I think the sweet spot for performance vs. price is the ATI 9600 XT.

I would hold off on the super high-end cards for at least another 6 months (if not longer) and see if PCI Express pans out and the motherboards have a chance to mature.

Then you could make a more informed decision.

[Virtualbody1234]

I would think the 9600XT also...

Btw. My PC now has a 9600 Pro 256MB.

[clocker]

Really...

what kind of Aquamark scores do you get with that?

[Virtualbody1234]

Really...

what kind of Aquamark scores do you get with that?
I don't care about scores. It plays the latest game very well. That's all that matters to me.

[Formula1]

Im planning on getting a Powercolor Radeoon 9600 256 MB for my new PC soon. Is it good enough?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-262&depa=1

[twister]

im not sure what card i want either, x800 pro or 6800 GT, both of them are really nicea and both the same price

[tesco]

i heard that it's really easy to overclock the 6800gt to the speeds of a 6800ultra.
not sure how ocable the x800pro is...

edit: the 6800 series supports directx9.0c which x800pro does not. ;)

[bigdawgfoxx]

I would say the 9800Pro is the best value...better then the 9600XT.

I cant find the 9800Pros at newegg tho...wth

[JunkBarMan]

Im planning on getting a Powercolor Radeoon 9600 256 MB for my new PC soon. Is it good enough?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-262&depa=1
I wouldn't get that card if I were you, it has the lower(400mhz) memory speed as per the normal 600mhz speed of the ATI 9600Pro. About the only difference between this card and a regular 9600 is that this card has a gpu speed of 400 mhz as opposed to the 325mhz you get with the 9600. So, it's a little bit of an upgrade of the 9600, but not much.


As for everyone else saying that the 9600xt is still ok, I would disagree. While this is a very good card and I was able to over clock mine pretty good(i don't remember the exact numbers), I dont think it will stand up to these new series of games, i.e doom3, half-life2, and farcry. I was only able to get a 3dmark score of 4041 with my 9600xt and now I get 6285 with my 9800 pro 128mb. I run half-life2 with most of the settings on high(which I must say scares the crap outta me, because this game looks so realistic!)

All that I am trying to get at is, if you are looking to get the most out of your games, I would go with the 9800 pro at the very least.

my specs btw:
Athlon 2500 oc @ 2200 mhz
512mb mushkin 222 specials
ATI 9800 pro oc@ 420/756

[mr. nails]

the x800pros are trash, u can oc a 6800gt to a 6800u, and the x800xt is over $500. so, i would go with the 6800gt. i got mine last week and it's a bad ass card and definatly worth the money i paid.----> $380

[TheNobleEU]

All that I am trying to get at is, if you are looking to get the most out of your games, I would go with the 9800 pro at the very least.

Thanks for the update, Junky. (What do you do at U of M? I was looking at going to Ann Arbour).

What can you tell us about the 9800 Pro's rumoured overheat issues?

Cheers,
-EU

[mr. nails]

i had a 9800 pro and it never over heated.

[Formula1]

Well in conclusion , i'm getting the Radeon Sapphire 9600XT 128 mb , because i want to keep my budget under $700, and 9800's seem overpriced to me imho ;)

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-338&depa=0

[l_p_4_7]

I have an Athlon XP 2000 and 512 mb RAM but I'm stuck with a crappy old 64mb Radeon 8500!
Can anyone suggest a good value for money card that would significantly improve gaming performance even on a 1.7ghz machine? My budget is around £70 ($150) but I will stretch a little further to get something much better.
Cheers...

[mr. nails]

yeah, 9800 pro. i'm selling mine for $150! mint condition. box, manual, and all.

[pirpu]

9800's seem overpriced to me imho ;)
Yeah, it sux, with the X600-800 out 9800 prices should have gone down but for some reason they've disappeared.
Anyone got links to benchmarks comparing 9800 PRO/XT to X600/700?
The 9600XTs seem to be priced right but its a little low end now.

[TheNobleEU]

Anyone here with experience using the 9600XT/9800 AIW for capturing?

What kind of advice do you have for a casual gamer that wants the AIW mainly for capturing?

Cheers,
-EU