Video Cards

[Ace McCloud]

I'm looking to get a new video card and I am looking at the Radeon 9600 series but I don't want to spend a ridiculous amount of money, but I don't want to end up with one that doesn't fullfill my expectations.

http://www.ati.de/products/radeon9600/radeon9600pro/compare.html

Thats the comparison list between 4 of them and I am wondering if the Radeon 9600 XT would make a very large difference from the SE. The XT is $500 while the SE is only 150 or something. I'm looking to be better than the GeForce 4 MX but I don't want overkill. What would you do?

[Morgan Evanar]

Where do you live? The 9600 pro is actually your best bet for bang per buck. The GeForce 4 MX is basically a GeForce 2. They suck terribly. If you're actually in Germany (guessing because of the .de ) I have a harder time giving you advice.

[Vhiran Crescent]

No I'm in Tennessee actually. Where'd Germany come from? :lol

[Ace McCloud]

oh right. Ati.de. Didn't notice that. I didn't know their website so I searched for it.

Well, the pro is 300 bucks, thats pretty high up there. Not too bad though. But would the SE be a big deal? I mean, I figure thats alot better than the Geforce 4 right?

[Figrin D'an]

Avoid the SE versions of the cards. It's short for "downgraded." Seriously... they're much less powerful than the base card of the same number.

Generally, for the ATI cards, it goes like this:

Radeon _____ XT
Radeon _____ Pro
Radeon _____
Radeon _____ SE


However, the SE's are so weak, that lower numbered cards can outperform them. For example, a 9500 Pro will actually outperform a 9800 SE in most benchmarks.

Tom's Hardware did a nice comparison test at the end of December. Take a look at it before you make a decision.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

[Ace McCloud]

Thanks a ton.

[Ace McCloud]

Nice, I just found it for $169 with free shipping. Instock and new.

http://bizrate.compuvest.com/Description.jsp?ItemID=54666

[Darth007]

i've been looking to upgrade soon too, but I will most likely wait till the summer because im hoping for some sort of price drop, and I mainly just want a newer card for HL2 which isnt expected till late summer. I was looking at a GeForce 5200 Ultra AGP, i think they run for 100 bucks. Do you think that will be good enough to run newer games at high graphic levels?

[Morgan Evanar]

Newegg, newegg newegg. http://newegg.com Alternately, www.mwave.com

The Geforce 5200 is a worthless POS. Stay away, spend another $50 and get a 9600 pro.

[Darth007]

nah i dont want a radeon, I'll probably just get the 5600 Ultra. Besides my processor is an Athlon 1.09 GHz so I dont think it can handle much, unless i have a total misunderstanding of how it all works?

[Figrin D'an]

You might want to consider a new processor. Provided your motherboard can handle it, you could double your clockspeed for about $85.

[Morgan Evanar]

Originally posted by Darth007
nah i dont want a radeon, I'll probably just get the 5600 Ultra. Besides my processor is an Athlon 1.09 GHz so I dont think it can handle much, unless i have a total misunderstanding of how it all works? Why?

[imported_Firebird1]

Because not all of us have that kind of money!

The Geforce 5200 is a good budget card, but you get what you pay for...

[Darth007]

ditto what he said... Im on a budget here but I just got a part time job so I'm starting to save up now, and I could save up for a high end card but then I'd have to start spending money to upgrade the rest of my computer so it could handle it.

[Morgan Evanar]

Not really. Getting a decent midrange card like a 9600 pro (about $140 US shipped) just means you can turn on max Anstropic filtering and yank up the resolution. And no, the Geforce 5200 is not a good budget card. Its a festering abortion of a videocard. A Ti4200 outruns it.

[imported_Firebird1]

Yeah, but the Ti's still cost too much for most people to get their hands on.

[Figrin D'an]

The Ti's aren't that expensive. You can find them for $110-$120 for the Ti4200.

[Morgan Evanar]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=radeon%2C9600&searchdepa=1&Order=price
I dunno, the 9600SE eats the 5200 for breakfast and is quite affordable...

[Darth007]

hmm... alright here are my system specs, tell me what i should do..

Athlon 1.09 GHz
512 MB ram
about 40 GB harddrive
Nvidia GeForce 2 MX 100/200 graphics card


I'm thinkin maybe around a $200 budget, maybe a little more i'll see how work goes.

[Commander Zemil Vymes]

Originally posted by Firebird1
Yeah, but the Ti's still cost too much for most people to get their hands on.

Ti4200 was mid-range when I got mine...in December 2002!

Its remarkably affordable, and its a pretty dang good card at that.

[Darth007]

nah i dont want mediocre. I want something that can play the next-gen games(HL2, D3, UT2004) with normal settings, without having to sacrifice visual quality for gaming quality.

[Anbira Hicchoru]

Originally posted by Darth007
nah i dont want mediocre. I want something that can play the next-gen games(HL2, D3, UT2004) with normal settings, without having to sacrifice visual quality for gaming quality.

With my Ti, I'm playing Max Payne 2, fully juiced settings, and doing so at 64 FPS.

She's fast enough for you.

[Charley]

Here's an in-game cap for you, if you need visual aid.

<img src=http://www.sw-fans.net/forum/attachment.php?s=&postid=633860>

[Morgan Evanar]

But you can get a 9600 for considerably less money that a 4200. See my link! And its faster. The Ti4200 isn't a bad card by any means, merely obsolete and outpriced.

[Darth007]

yeah i checked out the 9600 link and i think what i saw was $128. I guess I'm just biased against ATI because I've always like Nvidia, and I think I'm just going to wait to see the games' benchmarks to see which cards perform better.

[Morgan Evanar]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-325&depa=1
I don't think you're looking very hard. 9600SE, $69
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-328&depa=1
9600 vanilla, $95
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-221&depa=1
9600 Pro, $132
http://anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1933&p=14
Benchmarks, JK2, No AA/AF, which makes things look a lot better. The Ti4200 is slightly faster in this situation. Still, I think the best per dollar is the 9600 vanilla or Pro.

[Darth007]

yeah I saw all those but I was lookin for 9600 Pro, heh. I think I'll probably be getting that.