Getting a new graphics card.... advice? =)

Forty-six & Two · Post by **Forty-six & Two** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 3:56 pm

I got tired of playing Planetside like a slideshow and decided to get a new graphics card. What would you guys advice me to buy? Id like to stay within the range of what "translates" to 130-150 U.S currency. Right now im looking at this Club-3D Radeon card, seems like the best I can find in the prize range.

Club-3D ATI Radeon 9600-256 - AGP 8x / 256MB / ATI RADEON 9600

About 140$ (980 Danish kroner)

What do you guys think? Feel free to suggest anything better if you think buying that is a bad idea...

Franz Schubert · Post by **Franz Schubert** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:05 pm

That's a good choice. Personally though, I'd pay the extra for the 9800 or the GeForce FX, because it's a better investment and will last you longer, but that's just me.

Forty-six & Two · Post by **Forty-six & Two** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:21 pm

Franz_Schubert wrote:That's a good choice. Personally though, I'd pay the extra for the 9800 or the GeForce FX, because it's a better investment and will last you longer, but that's just me.

Yeah, I know that. Only problem is that I usually dont have alot of money and if I spent that much more, I wont have money for food and "stuff" like that the rest of the month you see

. Also theres alot of bills coming next month, so i better save abit of money.

Megatron · Post by **Megatron** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 4:38 pm

You'd probably best waiting a month and saving then. It's only another $50 (?) and will out-perform the 9600 by a bit. Not much, but enough?

Don't bother with an fx mebbe.

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Fri Jan 16, 2004 5:34 pm

I've got the same card. It's damn good.

Do not get a Geforce FX..Those are total shit. I got one to replace my Geforce 3 Ti500 a few weeks ago...The fucking thing couldn't even run a screen-saver with 3D text..Morrowind ran at 8FPS...And I got the $240 model...Piece of shit. I took it back the next morning.

Get a Radeon...I got the 9600, and it kicks the ass of the GeforceFX I had. I'm now a firm fan of ATI again, though my old Geforce3 Ti500 was an awesome card.

BlackDog · Post by **BlackDog** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 12:21 am

I'd also suggest getting the higher end cards. Either the FX 5950 or the ATI Radeon 9800 XT. Both are a sound investment. Both run most if not all games around the same level (either one beating the other by 10 fps or less, which isn't noticable by the human eye). It's all personal preference.

Myself, I go with what works and has the best track record. For now, thats nVidia. Drivers are always stable and usually always work and have better support. Can't say that much for the ATI drivers, which are usually hit or miss, even with the most recent releases. Plus the 9800 series cards run a bit too hot for my liking as well. Plop an egg on it, and breakfast is served.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 12:43 am

It's best not to get the brand new shit but rather find a tweaked version of what was new a month or 2 ago. The FX5700 Ultra is very good and doesn't cost more than $200. That's what I just bought and I did a ton of research. The 5200 is a waste of money. You're better off with the Geforce 4, which isn't much better than the Geforce 3ti whatever. I don't trust the 5950, plus it costs a fucking fortune and is loud as hell. But if I had to chose between that and an ATI card it would be the 5950 all the way.

Everything in Blackdog's second paragraph I agree with.

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:48 am

I had the FX5700...That's the card I was calling a piece of shit..It didn't run anything, even my old games...And the screen saver...My fucking god...It's a screen saver, and it didn't work..

OpenGL on the FX series cards really sucks.

I've had good luck with both ATI and nVidia..But for the money, I think ATI is the way to go. The 9600 XT from ATI is quite good..Morrowind runs like a top, and the screensaver, at the highest settings runs flawlessly.

Plus ATI gives you Half Life 2 with their cards...So..You know..That's cool and all.

Franz Schubert · Post by **Franz Schubert** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 2:57 am

Rhino wrote:I had the FX5700...That's the card I was calling a piece of shit..It didn't run anything, even my old games...And the screen saver...My fucking god...It's a screen saver, and it didn't work..

Sounds like you either got a defective card, or there's some software settings that's messing things up. Possibly you've got a bad motherboard or some other hardware isn't compatible.

Canis Lupus · Post by **Canis Lupus** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 3:10 am

PC PowerPlay #96 wrote: RADEON 9600XT vs GeForce FX5700 Ultra
The Verdict - Although both are holiday colours, Red > Green
As the title of this section suggests, overall we believe that the 9600XT is a slightly smarter purchase than the 5700 Ultra. While performance is virtually identical, the fact that the AA/AF implementations on the 9600XT are superior, coupled with the bundled copy of Half-Life 2 is just enough to put the ATI chipset in front. Additionally, this conclusion is only further reinforced by the fact that both cards can be had for around the same price, leaving no compelling reason to purchase the 5700 Ultra over the 9600 XT. The bottom line is, while both cards would make an excellent upgrade for the mainstream gamer, if it were us, we'd go with ATI on this one.

Get the RADEON. It's also red.

Mandalorian FaLLouT GoD · Sat Jan 17, 2004 4:24 am

ive got a geforce4 128meg but i dont see the point to having a card like a 256 when my 128 can run games awesome on high resolutions.

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Sat Jan 17, 2004 5:51 am

I got a new card because I was building my girlfriend a computer. I put my Gforce 3 Ti500 in the one I built, and got an upgrade for my computer..You know..Can't have her with a computer that's better than mine. Damned uppity computers.

Jimmyjay86 · Post by **Jimmyjay86** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 9:44 am

I have an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro w/ 128 Mb memory. No complaints, just played it with Max Payne 2 and the graphics were very sweet. It should be powerful enough to get some pretty decent play with the likes of Doom3 and Halflife2. A good investment if you don't want to spend the extra cash on the 9800 pro. With the money you save you can get a decent bj from the local hooker or at least treat your girlfriend to a very impressive date where you can get maybe more?

Canis Lupus · Post by **Canis Lupus** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 10:10 am

Jimmyjay86 wrote:or at least treat your girlfriend to a very impressive date where you can get maybe more?

Alright! I'm glad I don't have a girlfriend. Now instead of blowing hundreds of dollars on some broad, I can get a 9800!

Forty-six & Two · Post by **Forty-six & Two** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 2:05 pm

Thanks for all the advice. But I think what this comes down to is : what is best? More Ram or a nifty extension to the name?! Like whats best, a Radeon 9600 with 256Mb or a 9600 XT/Pro/what have you, with 128 Ram.

Thats my main dilemma though, I kinda get the impression that a nifty extension is the best, but is the extra money really worth it?

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 4:20 pm

I think the nifty extension is the best...Seriously..My 5700FX had 256MB on it..It did not run as well as my ATI 9600XT with 128.

Grey Fil · Post by **Grey Fil** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:03 pm

Hope I didnt blow my money for I just purchased one of those nvidia pro thingies with 256 rammers. Gonna have it tomorrow. The previous card was from the ATI brand and I couldnt play a lot of games in it since the beginning even with all the driver upgrades.

Mad Max RW · Post by **Mad Max RW** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:11 pm

It's not just the card that matters. If you get a brand new graphics card for a 2-3 year old computer the thing is gonna run like shit. Everything has to be brand new and top of the line to work properly. People don't seem to understand that and they keep getting one card after another after another. Sometimes it's better to get a whole new computer.

Grey Fil · Post by **Grey Fil** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 5:27 pm

Thats what I did, even the box is new. The only thing I used from the old machine was a hard drive, the dvd player and the sound card.

ExtremeDrinker · Post by **ExtremeDrinker** » Sun Jan 18, 2004 11:35 pm

My computer is a hodge-podge of pieces dating back to 1997...I've re-built this computer three or four times..Motherboard, processor, everything..As of now, the only things that're out of date are the 4X DVD-ROM from Creative, the 20GB HD the computer had originally, and the Floppy A Drive...Everything else is recent as of 2003.