Good buys on vid cards?

[Fatty]

Going for some feedback here in hardware in addition to Doom3 threads...

 

Currently have a Radeon 9600.

 

What's good and a good value right now? With Doom3 out and a couple more games on the way, it seems like a fine time to go for an upgrade in the video department.

 

Zerodamage feels it is indeed my vid card that is my stopper atm, as I'm running 2.1 ghz with a gig of ram.

[Birdman]

If the video card really is the problem and you aren't satisfied with your results from the 9600 series then you have a couple of options.

 

First, i dont think it's gonna be cheap.

 

A 9600 is a good recent midrange card, and to see noticeable performace you will have to invest some money.

 

I dont think an ATI 9800pro/xt or Nvidia 5900/5950 will be that big of an upgrade.

 

Those would be cheaper options, but I don't think they are that much better than your current 9600( I'm assuming it's a 9600pro, if it's a regular 9600 then the above cards would be a good upgrade).

 

If you eliminate the above cards you will be left with the ATI x800pro and Nvidia 6800GT.

 

Both cards are hard to find and cost 400 bucks.

 

But they are notably faster(more than twice)than a 9600pro/xt.

 

If 400 bucks is too much then you would be back to a 9800 level of card which you wouldnt be that impressed with if moving from a 9600.

 

So if you have 400 bucks to spend the either the 6800GT or x800Pro (both with 256MB of RAM) are great performing video cards, and easily handle new games like Doom 3, HL 2, CS: Source, and S.T.A.L.K.E.R.

 

 

I have a 9800XT and I'm gonna hold off to around Christmas to upgrade to a 6800GT or x800Pro.

[Preacher]

First of all I just upgraded to the 9600XT 256mb Platinum by HIS

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-161-113&depa=1

Got it for $139 with shipping

 

This card runs Doom 3 on Ultra High Graphics with zero Lag. I was crying silently to myself about not being able to afford the 9800 but now I'm glad I didn't spring for the extra $120

 

If you are budget minded, as I am, your best bet is to check Neweggs Refurbished Video Card section every day. You can save as much as $100 on some and they have full manufacturer warranty and a 30 day newegg warranty.

 

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....&type=Refurbish

[Guest zerodamage]

Well to get a really decent card, it will cost. The regular 128MB 6800 costs 300 and performs better than the 9800 XT. You are of course limited to 128MB of RAM.

 

I want to say get an x800 pro but they are over cost right now. Like said above, 400+. Same for the 6800 GT which really is the best card for the money right now. It can Over Clock to a 6800 Ultra with ease and it is made for Doom3.

 

The kicker is that we do not know how any of these new cards perform on HL2. It may be worth waiting another month or so till we see some benches for HL2. If the 6800 GT plays as well as the x800 on both HL2 and better on Doom3, then you know what to get. AND the prices will over time drop.

 

You really can not go wrong with either of the two cards right now if you want to spend the money. Getting a 256MB card will do you more-longer than a 128MB card.

 

If you do get an x800 pro, try for the Gigabyte VIVO version. Costs like 25 more than the normal x800 pro and it (at this time anyway) has all 16 pipes enabled like the XT PE.

 

CDW.com has a long donkey waiting list but their costs are the lowest. Last time I checked, the x800 pro is in the 340 dollar price range. It just sucks right now on Doom3.

[Fatty]

I think I'll wait and see how it does on HL2.

 

This is perfectly fine for getting me through the single player Doom3...it really place nicely and looks fine. And, as multiplayer Doom3 doesn't look promising, I don't think moving on something for the sake of one game at this moment would be worth it.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

PS: I'm not in the market for a donkey, let alone a long one, but thanks for the tip!

[Birdman]

I want to say get an x800 pro but they are over cost right now. Like said above, 400+. Same for the 6800 GT which really is the best card for the money right now.

 

 

 

 

 

I think the 6800GT is being a lil' overrated here.

 

I like it and would consider it to be a great card, but overclocking aside I'd say it holds it own with the x800pro and nothing more.

 

In one game that i have seen (Doom 3) it does better when looking at a set of numbers in a Timedemo. This is not the entire picture. In realtime gameplay evaluations the 6800GT is faster than the X800pro, but this doesn't mean the x800pro is unplayable, or a "Bad" card by any sense.

 

In most every other game the x800 line of cards leads when using features these cards were built for (AA and AF).

 

Again I would buy either card; mostly because the differences are only slight between the two when it comes to overall speed in games.

 

Image Quality is a whole other issue as is drivers(I feel ATI wins here even though their OpenGL performance isn’t up to Nvidia standards).

 

In the end I don't think that the 6800GT is miles ahead of the x800pro at all.

They are both priced at 400 bucks in a retail situation, and there is a reason for that.

 

If a person felt like spending a lot of time with Doom 3 and knew that id and Nvidia were all buddy buddy, then this would maybe pursuede me to buy an Nvidia card for Doom 3 and only Doom 3.

 

But, to invest 400 dollars in a card that is faster in only one game when compared to the competition makes one think twice(this is a very general statement, but ATI’s new line of cards is faster most of the time when using AA and AF).

 

All the above is considering the fact that a person would shy away from voiding the warranty on a 400 dollar card by overclocking.

 

If you were to overclock then the 6800GT(which has 16 pipelines instead of 12 like the x800pro) would prolly be the best choice for a high end video card right now.

 

The 6800GT is just an underclocked 6800Ultra(a 500 dollar card).

While a x800pro(non VIVO)is physically different than a x800XTPE( a 500 dollar card).

[Guest zerodamage]

Well Doom3 uses totally different functions of the card. If a game or demo pushes the Pixel Shaders, it heats up a lot. My norm temp is like 46 Deg. When I play Doom 3, it goes up to around 55. When I play the Ruby Demo, it goes up to the high 70's. CS gets my card up to the 60's for temp. So I am not sure what Doom3 is doing or not doing here. It looks to me like the game isn't using the full power of the newer cards. I imagine some work could be done in the pixel shaders. Carmack could at least support 3dc which would help ATI cards a lot.

 

Fatty, I am a little bias towards ATI since they've never done me wrong. Driver support is the best right now. New updates every month. An active beta testing team (that I am on) to work out as many bugs as possible before it is released to the public. ATI's vid cards are what AMD are to cpu's. Efficiency in the cards is much better. A 12 pipe x800 pro performs on par if not better than the 16 pipe ultra/gt of Nvidia's most of the time. That tells you something.

[Birdman]

Fatty, I am a little bias towards ATI since they've never done me wrong.

Good to hear.

 

 

The fact that ATI had an unreleased beta driver on their website the day Doom 3 came out means they are at least trying to me.

 

Sure maybe the driver could have been out before the release, but at least they tried to get something out there.

Edited August 5, 2004 by Birdman