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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
I am going to get a new gfx card soon because now I can't play games without a device failure error or locking up.
I can't spend more than $150. The card I have now is a gforce4 ti 4200 8x agp, 128 mb. I noticed that even though I got it for $110 a year ago, it is selling for about $140 now. But gforce fx5600 are selling for cheaper, why is that?
And I read that ati cards are a lot better than the nvidias now because of hl2 and shaders and 24-bit or some crap. But I have no experience at all with ati cards.
Whats the most stable card that costs around $150 that will last me the longest with no problems. I probably will never use TV-out or any video editing options. My mother board only goes upto agp 4x. And all I need my graphics card for is playing games only.
I like to do the research myself but gfx cards seem to have gotten pretty technical, One site had cards selling for 1.5-2 thousand dollars. That is insane. Anyway one will say gforce fx5600 (blah blah blah) $90-$140. The next will say gforce fx5600 (different blah blah blah) $190-$240. I have no idea why and the blah blah blah makes no sense to me.
Any advice, opinions, or input will be greatly appretiated. Thanks for your help, since I'm technically dumb and definitly need it.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
Mon Dec 22, 2003 3:34 am |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
I can't help as much as I'd like because the prices and brands are so different here but here's some broad comments...
The 5600 is the direct replacement for your old Ti 4200. The problem is that nVidia were as much interested in reducing the manufacturing costs as improving the model when they designed it. The result is that while it has some new features over your Ti 4200 (DX9 shaders), it's mostly slower than your old card - which makes it hard to recommend. The 5600 Ultra is better.
The 5700 has shows some promise if the price is right.
I have an ATI card myself - I think 9600XT (new model, better than the 9600 Pro) should just squeeze into that price bracket over there.
nVidia sell chips to a wide variety of factories who sometimes use faster or slower RAM - so there can be a wide variation in cost and performance from brand to brand. ATI have a smaller range of card suppliers and generally ATI supplies a "kit form" - in other words most ATI cards are closer to identical and the performance is a little more predictable.
Don't bother with a 256Mb card - completely unnecessary and no faster than 128Mb. Better to get a better card with 128Mb than a slower card that's more expensive because it has 256Mb.
That's as good as I can do. 
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:32 am |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
Thanks again Dhruin. Your advice is very appreciated. I saw a gf fx5700 for 154 on ebay. I'll have to look for an ati 9600xt to compare.
I saw that gateway had gforce fx5900 for like $208 (all the way at the bottom) but are sold out. Must be the cheaper made ones because that is a huge price variation.
Just to clear things up, do you recommend an ATI over a Gforce? I have been mostly looking at gforces but I keep hearing good thingts about the new ati's.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Mon Dec 22, 2003 4:47 pm |
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Ozymandias
Leader of the Senate
Joined: 26 Apr 2003
Posts: 319
Location: Otherland |
This might help you decide: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/xmas_video_shootout/page14.asp
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"There is no way around it. Correct is correct. I am correct, therefore I win."
Roqua
Disclaimer: I can not be held responsible for anything whatsoever as a result of you reading this post. |
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Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:01 pm |
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Dhruin
Stranger In A Strange Land
Joined: 20 May 2002
Posts: 1825
Location: Sydney, Australia |
According to that Firing Squad link, the Geforce FX 5900XT can be had for around ~$200 (It's about $600 here, so I didn't think of it). If you can push to $200 the FX 5900XT (or ATI Radeon 9700 Pro) are very nice cards.
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Editor @ RPGDot |
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Mon Dec 22, 2003 10:32 pm |
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Northchild
Fearless Paladin
Joined: 03 May 2002
Posts: 232
Location: New York, USA |
You can go back and forth with NVIDIA vs. ATI, but for games and the price range you're looking at the differences are pretty slim. Probably the most important thing in your case is to buy from a reputable dealer with a generous return/replacement/warranty policy - I'd recommend starting with www.newegg.com, if you haven't already. Simply get the best 128MB card that you can afford.
If you're going with NVIDIA, I've had very good experiences with the PNY flavor 4600ti that I have on my secondary machine (which has been running nonstop for around 2 years), and the Gainward flavor of the 5900fx on my primary machine. Both have been trouble-free, even while running lotsa viewports for professional 3D apps.
Good luck to you!
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New to 3D? Check out www.3dbuzz.com today! |
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Mon Dec 22, 2003 11:33 pm |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
Thanks for all the help guys, it is really appreciated.
_________________
Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Tue Dec 23, 2003 6:12 am |
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Roqua
High Emperor
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 897
Location: rump |
I got a gf fx5900 for $208. My wife is going to kill me, but at least my games will look good. We are now officially super broke. And I am super dead.
I'm blaming you guys. You talked me into it and then showed me the web site to get it. Damn you all.
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Vegitarian is the Indian word for lousey hunter. |
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Wed Dec 24, 2003 9:48 pm |
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cfmdobbie
High Emperor
Joined: 01 Jul 2002
Posts: 1859
Location: London, England |
quote:
Originally posted by Northchild
Probably the most important thing in your case is to buy from a reputable dealer with a generous return/replacement/warranty policy
This is probably the most important point of this thread. A friend of mine recently bought a big Radeon card to improve his SWG experience, replacing a GeForce 4 MX. It didn't perform as well as it should, so he had a chat with the shop and they agreed he could return it and buy a different one instead. He picked up a big GeForce and it works perfectly.
There was no reason why the GeForce outperformed the Radeon; there was no reason why SWG preferred one card over the other to such a noticeable extent. However, the shop was still happy to let him replace it.
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Charlie Dobbie
=Member of The Nonflamers' Guild=
=Moderator of the Morrowind/Oblivion Forums= |
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Wed Dec 24, 2003 11:04 pm |
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