Graphics Card

n1ck

Lo,

I'm thinking of getting a new graphics card due to the likes of Doom3 and HL2 coming out and i will probably have a budget of about €350 so any recommendations on what to get as i'm pretty clueless on this sort of thing.

Cheers.

Ponster

I think for that cash the best card out there is the ATI RADON 9800 Pro 256Mb (or the XP version, don't know the difference!). I have the 9600 Pro version and I'm happily playing Doom III (AMD 2800+, 1Gb Ram).

ATi have just brought out their X series (300,600,900) but AFAIK they need the new PCI-Express slot which you'll only have if you have a new motherboard.

By the way, the 9800 Pro will set you back between 250 and 350 euros bepending on where you get it and if you go for a well known brand or not.

Stephen

There are AGP8x versions of the X800 Pro available. A 9800Pro should set you back about 200 euros plus delivery (Got mine for 195 + delivery about 2 months ago)

n1ck

Where abouts did you get it from?

-oRnein9-

/me smells 128mb version

Mac daddy

The 9800pro will set you back 195 on jes computers i got one there about a month ago for that price.
If you are going to get one you would better of with the 128 MB version of it and flash it to a 9800XT.
But you have 350 notes to spend on one why not go for the X800 have a look on http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X800_Series.html

n1ck

Any specific brand i should look at or what?

jesus_thats_gre

The 6800GT seems to offer the best band for buck with Doom 3 at the moment. The Nvidea card are actually putting some ATi Cards to shame in that game... The 9800 Pro and XT, while still good cards are starting to creak. Granted, I only bought my 3 months ago but back then the x800 et all were fairly loose on the ground.

These benchmarks give a good indication of what way each card performs in Doom 3:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2146&p=4

I would consider holding out for another few weeks and possible saving a bit more.. If you are determined to get something now, I would buy a Sapphire 9800 Pro with 256mb and stick a decent cooler on top. You should be able to go beyond XT speeds overclocking it.

For example, the average clock speeds for an XT seem to be 415Mhz for the core and 475Mhz for the memory. My128mb pro overclocks to 475Mhz and 375 respectively, and that is without upgrading the cooler (note to self, cop on and do it!)

Finally, their is no difference between the lite product and retail product. The retail product just cost 50 quid more and has aload of useless software bundled. Mind you, the 256meg version can be nearly 100 euro more than the 238meg version, if this is the case, get the 128meg version and some RAM.

BloodBath

The 6800GT seems to offer the best band for buck with Doom 3 at the moment. The Nvidea card are actually putting some ATi Cards to shame in that game... The 9800 Pro and XT, while still good cards are starting to creak. Granted, I only bought my 3 months ago but back then the x800 et all were fairly loose on the ground.

These benchmarks give a good indication of what way each card performs in Doom 3:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2146&p=4

I would consider holding out for another few weeks and possible saving a bit more.. If you are determined to get something now, I would buy a Sapphire 9800 Pro with 256mb and stick a decent cooler on top. You should be able to go beyond XT speeds overclocking it.

I agree go for the 6800gt N!ck. Make sure it's the 256mb version. You should be able to pick one up for around 400 but it's well worth it. It's a better card than the X800pro and overclocks past ultra levels. If you were going top end i'd get an X800Xt over the 6800ultra but they are 500. Doom 3 is an open gl game and practically all open gl games perfrom better on Nvidia cards. The 6800gt overclocked to ultra speeds will beat an x800pro in direct3d as well though.

For example, the average clock speeds for an XT seem to be 415Mhz for the core and 475Mhz for the memory. My128mb pro overclocks to 475Mhz and 375 respectively, and that is without upgrading the cooler (note to self, cop on and do it!)

The stock core on an XT is 414 so you have your figures wrong. My core is 472.5 and I don't even have an artic cooler on it. The memory will go to about 391 on cooler days.


BloodBath

jesus_thats_gre

BloodBath wrote:

The stock core on an XT is 414 so you have your figures wrong. My core is 472.5 and I don't even have an artic cooler on it. The memory will go to about 391 on cooler days.


BloodBath

Man I said 415MHz, yes wrong but come on....

I meant 375MHz for the memory too

BloodBath

Ah the memory thing confused me. I thought you meant xt's overclock to that level.


BloodBath

n1ck

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

I would consider holding out for another few weeks and possible saving a bit more..

I haven't got the money at the moment so it will be at least a few weeks before i get one, cheers for the help lads.

VeVeX

BloodBath wrote:

The stock core on an XT is 414 so you have your figures wrong. My core is 472.5 and I don't even have an artic cooler on it. The memory will go to about 391 on cooler days.

Think you'll find the stock timings on the 9800xt are 412 core / 365 memory. Check http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/ and compare a pro and a XT. So bloodbath you have your figures wrong also

jesus_thats_gre

fidel wrote:

Get urself an MSI Geforce 5900XT with VIVO,

the card is bout 200 nowadays and i just got DOOM3 and the graphics are amazing, i also have Halo and Farcry (Yes im a gameaddict!) ant the graphics are fantastic (most impressed by butterflies in Halo... things one notices while running around shooting everything!)

also get urself WinDVD3 and hook up ur digibox thru the Graphics Card and Viola... u got urself a "sky plus" box with as much space as ur PC has.

...Also its sooo easly overclocable and silent

Well thats my 2 cent

A game addict because you got three games?? bah

I would say, dont get the 5900FX considering that the card nearly single handedly bankrupt Nvidia... Messing..

5950 maybe, but not the 5900

BloodBath

Don't get a 5900. Yeah it will be alright for doom3 but cripled for direct 3d games.

Just save and get the 6800gt. You won't regret it.


BloodBath

VeVeX

jesus_thats_gre wrote:

A game addict because you got three games?? bah

I would say, dont get the 5900FX considering that the card nearly single handedly bankrupt Nvidia... Messing..

5950 maybe, but not the 5900

The 5900xt is a very good card. I have one in my pc the brother has a 9800pro. I can honestly say theres not much between them in any benchmark or game. I have mine overclocked to 5900ultra speeds 450/850 all the time from a stock clock of 390/700. I have had it at 520/950 for benchmarks etc with no noticable artifacts, nearly on a par with 5950ultra. I have read alot about these cards and some models do much better then others. The leadtek I have is regarded as one of the best for overclocking.

http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=1014623346

As for "I would say, dont get the 5900FX considering that the card nearly single handedly bankrupt Nvidia" .........

I think it was more the Ti series that was the start of the downturn for Nvidia because of the great 9700pro whcih came onto the market around the same time. Then the fx5800 came along I dont need to say anything more about that card. But I think the 59** series cards was a sign that Nvidia were pulling back some ground.

jesus_thats_gre

VeVeX wrote:

As for "I would say, dont get the 5900FX considering that the card nearly single handedly bankrupt Nvidia" .........

I think it was more the Ti series that was the start of the downturn for Nvidia because of the great 9700pro whcih came onto the market around the same time. Then the fx5800 came along I dont need to say anything more about that card. But I think the 59** series cards was a sign that Nvidia were pulling back some ground.

I was joking but to address what you said. The 5900 is ****







Seriously only kidding now

Headshot

you get a radeon x800 pro from austraila its cheaper over there i hear

n1ck

I'm heading towards the Nvidia 6800... where is the cheapest place to get?

And of course no harm in asking where the cheapest place to get the Radeon x800 from.

Cheers for the help lads.

jesus_thats_gre

http://pc.ign.com/articles/535/535268p1.html?fromint=1


Aside from the ever-popular dune buggy level (complete with rollermines and Combine soldiers), I managed to get a few details about the game itself from Doug. First, to put some of the reported rumors to rest, Valve is indeed close to submitting the finished product to Vivendi Universal. However, Doug stressed that there isn't any particular date that this will happen; instead, he stated that it would be sometime in August, with a shipping date decided by Vivendi soon after. He also mentioned system specs for those of you interested in upgrading your computers in eager anticipation of Gordon's adventures. Minimum system requirements appear to be a 1.2 gigahertz processor with 256 megabytes of RAM and a DirectX 7 video card. Of course, those of you interested in the full experience will want a 2 gigahertz or higher processor, 512 megabytes of RAM and a DirectX 9 video card. Doug specifically stated that the ATI x800 was the card of choice amongst many of the testers, as it ran roughly about 30% faster than Nvidia's best cards.

Ponster

I too am running Doom with a Saphire Radeon 9800 Pro 256Mb and it's more than good enough. In the past 2 years ATI have wiped the floor with Nvidia and I can't see Nvidia catching up in the near future with their latest offering.


GeForce 6800 128MB AGP for 311euro in France

Sir Random

Don't get anything less than a 6800/X800.
If you don't upgrade gfx cards every year, get the 6800 as it supports PS3.0 and so will be "up to date" for DX9.0c and future games.