Which Card Should I Buy?

looking to ditch my geforce 2 mx400 and get something a bit more powerfull, but...im on a limited budget :( have seen this that comes into my price range:

nvidia fx5600 256mb 8x agp- by various manufacturers, msi, gainward,inno3d.

is there much of a diffence in performance between different cards of the same type?

have an msi mobo so would an msi card be more compatible?

or should i go for something different?

tia
(and i dont mean transient ischaemic attack)

............or an ATi Radeon 9600 Pro 256MB [400MHz]?

radeon. better quality

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Originally posted by abu_has_the_power@14 October 2003 - 06:20
radeon. better quality

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Better card, crappier drivers.

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Originally posted by clocker+14 October 2003 - 13:25--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (clocker @ 14 October 2003 - 13:25)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-abu_has_the_power@14 October 2003 - 06:20
radeon. better quality

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Better card, crappier drivers. [/b][/quote]
true, but good quality

Could you give us the specs of the rest of the system, krackerjack?

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have an msi mobo so would an msi card be more compatible?

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No. You can choose a card from any manufacturer.

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Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@14 October 2003 - 14:38
Could you give us the specs of the rest of the system, krackerjack?

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have an msi mobo so would an msi card be more compatible?

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No. You can choose a card from any manufacturer.

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rest of the system has amd xp1700+, msi-kt3 ultra2 mobo, 256 ddr ram-have a 17" philips 107e monitor atm but am looking to get a new lcd screen soon as well :)

well you could use more RAM on your system but a 9600 would actually suit that compute decently.

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Originally posted by krackerjack@14 October 2003 - 12:04
nvidia fx5600 256mb 8x agp- by various manufacturers, msi, gainward,inno3d.

is there much of a diffence in performance between different cards of the same type?

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sometimes, yes - they can all have slighty components that give about a difference of a few frames a second, some might have different clock speeds, but these speed differences are usually reflected by the price

If your on a budget then look into Nvidia Ti4200 or FX-5200.

And yeah, get some more RAM.

Yep I agree the old (well not old to most people these days :( ) Ti 4000 series is definatly a range a cards to consider if you are on a budget and they are getting cheaper by the day. To compare with modern cards a Ti 4200 is an older version of the FX 5200 ect. But some are much better value for money the only downside is that some may not be compatable with Direct X 9 :angry:

after much deliberation i have now got it narrowed down to 3 cards&#33;&#33;

1) msi geforcefx5600 vtdr 128mb

2) tyan tachyon g9600 pro

3) sparkle geforce 4 titanium 4200 platinum

all are about the same price (the sparkle being the most expensive of the three) so cost doesnt really come into it which means i dont know what to do :blink: im edging toward the 9600 on the grounds that they seem to be a better choice for gaming, however the 5600 has shit loads of extra stuff that comes with it and i like freebies :D especially the remote control thingy it has, and finally the sparkle because it just looks so damn good with that big old heatsink and fans...plus its also got a fair bundled software package&#33;

any help as to which of these to go for would be appreciated, looking to have a card that will play games and not be too old hat come next year
thanks.

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Originally posted by krackerjack@15 October 2003 - 14:49
after much deliberation i have now got it narrowed down to 3 cards&#33;&#33;

1) msi geforcefx5600 vtdr 128mb

2) tyan tachyon g9600 pro

3) sparkle geforce 4 titanium 4200 platinum

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1) Slowest, old hat, good value though

2) DX9 card, nice features, good value

3) Fastest, not DX9

thanks to all, have just ordered the tyan card :)

yea, good idea, although a radeon 9500 might also be nice, cuz it&#39;s got 8 pipeline rendering, and 9600 has 4. but 9500 is more expensive