gf card

NóMur

I know there are several posts around with graphics card debates but, I couldn't quite find the answer I was looking for on them.

I've been thinking about (a much needed) upgrade for my graphics card currently a 64mb geforce4 MX440.

My current system specs are:
AMD XP 2000
1gig DDR RAM PC2700 (333MHz)
motherboard uses AGP 4 (MSI KT3 Ultra).

I don't want to splash out on one of the newer graphics as my CPU/RAM would be bottle necks in the system.

Any advice on what graphics card I could use to it's fullest on my current system. I was thinking along the lines of 9600XT or 9800, but is it even worth getting a 9800 if the rest of the system can't cope?

Thanks in advance.

Canis Lupus

id prolly go with the 9800pro cos it will last u better in the long run

davmigil

Definitely worth paying the extra ~50 euros for a 9800Pro over a 9600XT. Else get a 9600Pro for €99 and upgrade in a years time. 9800Pro will have a longer lifespan (as in ability to play newer games at a reasonable frame rate) than the 9600 series.

Might be worth waiting for the 6600GT AGP cards to come out (as if they are a similar price to the 9800Pro they might be an option or they might force the price the 9800Pro downwards as ATI will probably push it as their mid range AGP offering). Also be good to see some benchmarks of the 9800Pro vs 6600GT (especially on lower spec PCs - the 6600GT are meant to be more CPU dependent..time will tell).

Your system specs are not so bad - bottlenecking might be more of an issue if you were looking at a X800 or 6800GT.

Don't forget to check out www.tomshardware.com (especially the VGA charts) www.extremetech.com and www.anandtech.com for latest info.

Hell, looking at the charts anything will be an huge improvement from a GeForce 4 440MX. I'm just sulking 'cos the the GeForce 4 MX I had got fried 1 month ago and now I am using an old TNT2 :-( Waiting a bit longer to see what is the story with 6600GT myself.

Zaphod B

'Ello, thought I'd just stick this onto this post rather than start a new one.

I'm also looking to upgrade me gfx card. I'm currently building a new machine with an Athlon 3200 and 512mb RAM. I'm limited to a maximum of €200 for the gfx card, although something just slightly out of that price range might be viable if I can manage to get it at trade price or something.

Anyhoo to be honest my main priority is... Half-Life 2! As long as it runs HL2 without grinding to a halt I'll be perfectly happy. If it lets me play the next generation of games, even better. At the moment I only have a GeForce 3 Ti200 and, although it's served me very well, I'm assuming there's no way it will run HL2 and any games that run on that engine.

Sorry to waste your time when I could easily just Google for reviews, but frankly I don't trust 99% of what I read on the interthingy, and I always feel like I can get some decent advice here.

Thanks, Z

Ciaran500

All the E3 videos for HL2 were recorded on a 9800Pro/XT, so anything around that performance will run HL2 perfectly.

BadCharlie

9800pro i would go for in your case.

BloodBath

A 9800pro will run HL2 on max detail at a decent resolution with a good frame rate.

Go with the 9800pro, anything more and you will be very cpu limited. I'd recomend another 512mb of ram when you have the chance. The HL2 engine eats ram forcing constant swapping between ram and virtual memory which will really mess up your fps.


BloodBath

Woden

i agree with the previous posters, i'd recommend 9800 pro's for both your systems also

data

Zaphod B

Thanks for the help. Oh, and another thing (I'm thinking of buying a trenchcoat, just so I can put it on to say "And another thing")... Komplett are selling the 9800Pro made by PowerColor. I've not really taken an active interest in hardware in the last couple of years due to not actually being able to afford any so are PowerColor any good? Sounds a bit sh!te to me.

Dr Bolouswki

unless you want to get down to things like core speed and memory speed and the ability to flash to XT, as far as im aware as long as its a 9800 PRO rather than SE there's liitle difference between brands other than the extras (games, utilities etc)

Canis Lupus

Zaphod B wrote:

Thanks for the help. Oh, and another thing (I'm thinking of buying a trenchcoat, just so I can put it on to say "And another thing")... Komplett are selling the 9800Pro made by PowerColor. I've not really taken an active interest in hardware in the last couple of years due to not actually being able to afford any so are PowerColor any good? Sounds a bit sh!te to me.

Apparently you should avoid Powercolor cards if possible because of build quailty. That Sapphire 9800 lite-retail for 200 yoyos from Komplett is a better choice

Woden

i've a powercolour card and there's nothing wrong with it. the first one i got had a dodgy fan but thats nothing special sapphire had the same issue with a number of there 9600's and thats just the way it goes.

the second one i've got off them i've had for the best part of a year and its fine and gets good speed out of the core and memory if i wanted it to.

in short powercolour is fine

data

Canis Lupus

i was just going on the advice of the majority of users from Tomshardware forums where they roundly agree the powercolor build quality isnt up to much..... of course that might have changed recently....

davmigil

I googled Powercolor some time back for reviews and board discussions. There seemed to be some problems with some of their 9800Pro cards when they came out first in that the cards were running underclocked due to the timings in the BIOS being set up wrong to begin with. I'm sure it is sorted now (bearing in mind the reviews >1yr old and many were probably pre-production samples). Then again you can get a dud from any manufacturer.

Sapphire seemed to be more highly regarded, not sure how deserved reputation is.

Is there any way of maximising the chances that the card you get is good for overclocking (e.g. are later batches of Sapphire 9800Pro shipping with R360 and older with R350 or is it just the luck of the draw?).

The AGP 6600GT are meant to be shipping pre-Christmas. I gather it looks like being a winning mid-range card, with some reservations that it is more CPU dependent than the 9800Pro... Speculation also that ATI will lower its 9800Pro prices to compete more aggressively with it (as AGP versions of the X700 series aren't expected until Q1 of 2005 if they bother releasing one at all). I just wonder if it is worth holding out a bit longer...