Video Cards I got my eye on, SHOWDOWN!

humidore

humidore

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I've read previous posts like this, and if I remember correctly, there was one which dealt with high end video cards (expensive ones)...but anyway, I was wondering if anyone has any experience with the following products:

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5500 Video Card, 256MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP
vs.
POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9800SE Video Card, 128MB DDR
vs.
PNY nVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 SE Video Card, 128MB DDR
vs.
Rosewill ATI RADEON 9600XT Video Card, 128MB DDR
vs.
Your choice

I'm just wondering, how much of a factor is the RAM on cards? Like it seems a 128MB card can be better than a 256MB one, right? God it's confusing if you don't know the details and what they mean...

I'm willing to pay at most $150 (if I have to go an extra $10 or so for a huge improvement, I can do that). I'm looking for one that can play the new games (Half Life 2, Far Cry, etc.) fairly well, can be on medium settings if it has to in order to play smoothly. My system is:
Windows XP
Intel Pentium 4, 1.8ghz
768MB DDR PC2100 RAM
AGP (is PCI-Express a really new thing? I don't think I have a PCI-E slot, just an AGP and a couple PCI's...)

The PC games board seems to get a lot of these "recommendations" type posts, is that considered ok? Anyway, if you guys are bored, I'd appreciate your input! :lol:

PS: Thanks for your guys' help on the DVD burner, I'm more sure now that the Samsung or NEC would be fine choices.
 
Thanks mtxbass1 and tornadomann, I didn't notice the NEC!

And is that card I listed that bad?...or is it my processor speed that makes it difficult?
 
I just went through upgrading my videocard about 2 months ago. At first I bought a 9600XT, but after reading much about it, I returned it. I then bought a Geforce 6800GT when BB had this killer sale. I would recommend either a 6600 or 6800 if you have the cash...if not, maybe go with an ATI 9800 or 9600 only as a last resort.

Even with a killer card, I can barely run farcry and hl2 at high settings.
System specs:
AMD Athlon 2800(333)
1024mb PC3200
etc etc
 
Currently, if you have an old vid card lying around that you wouldn't mind getting rid of, you can get an ATI brand 9600xt for about $102 directly from ATI after a $50 trade-up rebate.

The card is $170 at shop.ati.com, shipped free. Use 10% discount code 1010 to knock it down to $152. There is also a $50 trade-up rebate for this card from ATI's site, http://shop.ati.com/tradeup.asp , making the total about $102.
 
[quote name='rickc25']Currently, if you have an old vid card lying around that you wouldn't mind getting rid of, you can get an ATI brand 9600xt for about $102 directly from ATI after a $50 trade-up rebate.

The card is $170 at shop.ati.com, shipped free. Use 10% discount code 1010 to knock it down to $152. There is also a $50 trade-up rebate for this card from ATI's site, http://shop.ati.com/tradeup.asp , making the total about $102.[/quote]

Good lord, maybe it's cause I'm tired, but that sounds confoosing! :shock:
I'll look for reviews an stuff on the ATI 9600XT tho, and see if it's worth jumping through all those hoops.

EDIT: OK, I've re-read your post, and realise what you're saying (i thought it was 2 different deals or something...), sorry.
 
I'm putting the DVD burners on the back burner (badum chh!) for now, but any testimonials are welcome. The video card scene is confusing to me though. I've tried navigating cnet.com for reviews of cards, but its very cluttered and I don't seem to find some cards I find on newegg. Any other sites where I could compare performances of different cards? I don't really know much about those benchmarking graphs and stuff either (longer bars=better I suppose :))

EDIT: forgot to mention I added an ATI 9800 card above!
 
So looks like both the Samsung and the Sony's are reliable (no big surprise)...They're all around the same price, and I'm assuming the bundled software with the Sony is passable...

I've only installed RAM so far (with much of tornadomann's help), is installing a DVD drive much more involved?
 
[quote name='humidore']I've only installed RAM so far (with much of tornadomann's help), is installing a DVD drive much more involved?[/quote]

Not really. Slide it in to the bay and screw it down. Attach ide cable and power cable.
 
vid card specs give me a headache. i just always go out and buy the next to newest one out every 9 months or so. seem to work for my needs :)

Ive had a lite-on dvd burner for about 6 months now and it works great got it from new egg. i did have to update its firmware. but thats no big deal. zero problems with it. and i'll be buying another one real soon.
 
[quote name='WilleyStyle']My computer cant even handle Halo
P4 2.6Ghz 512mb ram ati radeon 9550
I just dont get it, any ideas[/quote]

I did some quick research:
From: imaturtleur2 | Posted: 1/18/2005 3:55:31 PM | Message Detail
Gearbox did an atrocious job at porting this game so it won't play well on any system but high end. They also ****ed up the netcode so the lag is horrendous as well.
Click to expand...

you have around the same specs as me, and I too have problems like delayed shots. so for the while, unless your computer is high end, then it will just run Halo decently*.
 
[quote name='WilleyStyle']My computer cant even handle Halo
P4 2.6Ghz 512mb ram ati radeon 9550
I just dont get it, any ideas[/quote]

The 9550 is a pretty ancient card and Halo is (for some reason) a real system hog.
 
[quote name='gamefreak117'][quote name='WilleyStyle']My computer cant even handle Halo
P4 2.6Ghz 512mb ram ati radeon 9550
I just dont get it, any ideas[/quote]

I did some quick research:
From: imaturtleur2 | Posted: 1/18/2005 3:55:31 PM | Message Detail
Gearbox did an atrocious job at porting this game so it won't play well on any system but high end. They also ****ed up the netcode so the lag is horrendous as well.
Click to expand...

you have around the same specs as me, and I too have problems like delayed shots. so for the while, unless your computer is high end, then it will just run Halo decently*.[/quote]

How odd, when the demo came out, I was running it fairly smoothly at 800x600 with everything turned on except shadows on a Pentium 4 1.7gHz system with only 384MB of RAM and an old GeForce 3 Ti 200.
 
i need a new video card for my EQ2

box2614.jpg
 
If all other attributes are roughly equal the additional memory on a video card can help but only in a game designed to exploit it. (A large environment with a LOT of very high quality textures, for example.) At the moment games that serious use beyond 128 MB are a short list but include some big names. Doom 3 actually has a mode that supports up to 512 MB on a video card, which is largely reserved to the workstation market. Not a real market for games but it makes a great demo of what the future holds as developers are offered more resoures.
 
[quote name='regisphilbi0']http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-122-206&depa=0

Get this video card (it comes back in stock soon).[/quote]

Well if you put it THAT way, heh heh. Yeah, thanks to Uncle Sam and our Governator, my financial aid check puts me in a better position to splurge. I was also looking at this seemingly identical card (XFX nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3), but the packaged games on the one you recommended look better, and I can wait a few days till it comes back in stock. But now I'm worried cause I don't know if I have AGP4x or 8x. I thought it wouldn't matter, but now I have to find out...Thanks tho regisphilbi0!
 
I was thinking, before I got out and buy the $200 gfx card, would having only a 4x AGP slot AND only a 1.8ghz processor really bottleneck the card?

I would have to get a new motherboard to fix the AGP slot issue I assume, so the easier option would be a new processor? I've heard having an 8x card in a 4x slot isn't that bad...Anyone have any experience/advice to give?
 
I play halo fine (never drops below 40FPS and I avg 50FPS) with no slow down everything at high @ 1024x768x32 (I can go higher, but my monitor sucks so the refresh rate is killer on the eyes). Halo is hardware whore, chalk it up to good ol' bad coding.

My Specs:

P4 2.0GHZ
512MB RAM
ATI 9800 Pro All in Wonder
Sound Blaster Live!
 
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