Which Graphics Card should I buy?

Dj-Icer · September 10th, 2003, 01:51 AM

To be honest, i hate spending on video cards!

Manufactures always update new ones in stores. What i think, the latest geforce is a standard needs for any 3D display. The least, is geforce 2. It works fine with any software and if ur on about games, geforce 5 does it better

I think any brands are fine. Dependingly

skeeter · September 10th, 2003, 08:26 AM

Eon_Blue,
If you don't like to spend $$$ then you want a ATI 9600 PRO. For around $160 you can buy one and it will be just as fast as the 5600 Ultra (faster if you get the non flip chip one) which sells for $200+. Plus the ATI works well with shader 2.0 which the Nvidia does not. Rumor has it Nvidia will "fix" this in upcoming drivers but can you be sure this will happen? Most of the upcoming DX9 games will use this shader and you will need it for future games.

JayMan · September 10th, 2003, 09:02 AM

Which is better of those 2 cards?

radeon9800 for sure...

As has been mentioned, if you after the best bang for buck & still be able to play next gen games, radeon9600 would probably be ya best bet.

As far as geforces never having any bugs... I think your wrong there. And there are some bugs which they havent been able to fix with drivers, e.g. the whole HL2 antialiasing issue on the geforceFX's. Plus "generic" PS2.0 functions still suck on geforceFX's, they need to use the nvidia extensions for competative perfomance when compairing to the equivalent radeon's.

JayMan

tony_j15 · September 10th, 2003, 02:56 PM

eonblue: you want either a radeon 9800 or 9600. Both will do next gen games just dandy. The fx5600 aint that great.

DanGrease · September 10th, 2003, 03:21 PM

I would suggest you to buy the Radeon 9800 which is a lot better than the Nvidia IMO. I also really don't like the Fx series that much. I would suggest if you really want Nvidia, get the Ti series which are the best video cards Nvidia has ever made IMO of course. As most would agree the Fx 5600 is not that great and its not cheap either. I remember if im not incorrect that this card has a fan so loud that you really wont like it even if it performs well. Just my opinions

dan

tony_j15 · September 10th, 2003, 06:22 PM

Dan: technically the fx5900 is better than the 9800. But the minute diff aint worth the price. The FX 5600 is cheaper than the 9600. The card with the loud fan would be the fx5800.

SimonTemplar · September 10th, 2003, 11:38 PM

I just got the 9800 Saphire non pro from newegg. Plugged it in and flashed the 9800 pro bios. Rock steady and I've had it running at 400/700 for 3 days. Best money i've ever spent on a vid card. I replaced a gainward geforce 3 which to be honest played most stuff pretty well, but I wanted the dx9 eye candy. Good luck with whatever you choose.

DPA · September 11th, 2003, 12:08 AM

Quote:

but how u know this new ati series will have any bugs again, geforce never had bugs, well they did but are easily fixed

soulja, that isn't a lopsided statement or anything

If you can back your statements, ill respect them but ill give you factual based material on a current GeForce problem:

http://www.halflife2.net/forums/show...&threadid=3071

another which has been addressed and "fixed":
http://www.3dgpu.com/modules/wfsecti...p?articleid=72

so as far as "reliability" both companies have had their faults and successes. believe me, ATI has had some "quirks"

as far as 9800 vs. 5600 ultra, 9800 wins hands down, and for 250 bucks, its hard to go wrong with that, and as stated above, can be flashed to a 9800Pro for free.

Juan Sanchez · September 11th, 2003, 03:40 PM

Well if you want to Play half-life 2 (or any DX9 games for that matter) a Radeon 9600 Pro is PROVEN to outperform a Geforce FX 5900 Ultra, and the 5600 and 5200 are unplayable for future games. Remember, I'm talking about future games as in Half-Life 2 and beyond. If you want to play current games the 5900 Ultra is TINY bit faster in a couple benchmarks then the 9800 Pro and it completly overtakes the 9600 Pro, but when DX9 games start showing up (again Half-Life 2 will kick in this revolution) you'll see the meager 9600 Pro almost doubling the performance of the FX 5900 ULTRA and the 9600 Pro will have a better quality picture too. Heres a ton of links to more info on the 9600 Pro vs 5900 Ultra.

http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/...hmarks/001.htm

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1862

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTE5

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/hardwa...preview_part1/

their are many many more. Bottom line is: If you want to play old games at very very high framerates but don't feel like ever playing a game that comes out after November 11, 2003 then you will most certainly be happy with any of nVidia's fine products. But if you want to play current games at very very high framerates and be able to play future games at a solid framerate then pick up a Radeon 9600 Pro, it's cheaper then the 9800 Pro and is a solid investment. Me? I'm gonna go with the 9800 Pro, but thats cuz I have nothing better to do with my life at this point. Peace, I hope I helped you out in your decision.

RamonGTP · September 11th, 2003, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by soulja
but how u know this new ati series will have any bugs again, geforce never had bugs, well they did but are easily fixed

What do you call the FX 5800 Ultra? That whole card was a bug... Easily fixed??? Tell that to the people that bought it.

I WAS an nVidia fan, but if I was gonna get a new card today, ATI would be my choice, wouldnt' even think twice about it... Anyone who still thinks their drivers suck is living in the past.