[question] Video Card Options?

Hey guys,

I'm in the market for a new video card.. these are the choices i've been checking out. Please do not start a typical flame war about ati vs nvidia.

I'm looking at spending about $300 CA for the card, my choices are MSI FX5900XT which in the reviews i've read is a great card and can be easily oc'd to 5950 levels. My Other choice is an ati 9800 Pro card, which i dont know much about besides word of mouth. If i were to go with ati, which manufacturer should i get, which should i avoid. Like Saphire, ati, asus... and so on.. any ideas?

Also, how difficult is it to overclock an ati card?

I've always had nvidia and i've always been happy with them so a switch to ati is kinda weiry ,but who knows.

ALSO.. with the new cards by ati and nvidia being released this may, how much will prices on 9800 pro and/or xt drop, and is there any proof behind these price drops besides just rumours that people "think" they will drop?

#147593

I run a ATI 9600 and never had a problem out of it..

but then its my first video card outside of stock stuff so......

basically my opinion means nothing :6

#147606

its realy up to you. Both preform about par. As far as choosing a card look for the one that looks like it has the best heatsink/price/package ratio and if all else fails get the saphire, they make good cards.

#147620

9800pro, better than any nvidia card. seriously, i have a TI4600 love it to death, but i also have 9800. i would say 9800.

[keith agrees with me as well]

-bunkka :canadian:

#147626

Yea, just be careful (err...you have no conrol over this, but...) with the 9800 PRO. Some people (like me)(I've also read about these issues on forums like Gooeylinux and Ragesomethingoranother) have found that their 9800 Pro ships with a lot of headaches then can include:

performance going to sh!t all of a sudden-- the solution is to disable write combining; no drivers in many Linux distro's-- have to configure your connection and dload them in text mode/thing; [let me remember another...]

#147633

I'd say if at all possible wait. Nvidia just unvield their NV4x series cards that will drive prices down of previous generation gpu's and ATi is set to release their R42x series later this month.

If you must get something now, grab the 9800P. It has superior shader performance than every other card in its current market ($200-300). Keep in mind though this is soon to chance w/ NV upcoming Geforce6 mainstream offerings. If you want go Nvidia, grab a 5900 (non-pro) for $200. 256bit mem bandwidth vx 128 (5900XT) makes a big difference.

btw, hate to plug my site but I'm an Administrator at Nvnews you may wanna stop by the forums for some good graphics card discussions.

Take care!

#147638

One more thing I just remembered: PC Gamer (or maybe it was IGN...) recently did a image quality test with ATI's and NVIDIA's top cards (of the time), since the frame rate differences are pretty much [insert word that I can't come up with right now here]. Anyway, they found ATI's (I think it was the 9800 XT or PRO?) to render better images a bit better.

Disclaimer: I'm not trying to have an ATI vs. NVIDIA discussion. I'm pretty unbiased-- I use wihtever one seems to be, although not by that much, better at the time . The purpose of this post was to help Bubba in his decision

#147639

ya and they also heat up. I bought mine from my friend [ he had it for 6 months ] for $100 . I used it for 3 months, then the fan died. I sent it to ATI, they gave me a brand spanking new one.

-bunkka :canadian:

#147641

Originally posted by Keith@Apr 20 2004, 05:27 PM

since the frame rate differences are pretty much [insert word that I can't come up with right now here].

negligible

#147673

is there any truth or fact behind all the talk about price dropping...

i mean i know there are alot of next gen cards coming out soon, but so far all i hear is people "assuming" that the prices will drop because of the new cards. Will they really drop, and will it be a very minimal drop or will i actually see a 9800xt in my price range sometime in the near future?

#147785

i think like 25 dollars, but i dunno. Highly doubt it will drop the first day they come out. I would just get a 9800 pro since......what else do you need really? unless you had a 64bit processor or pci express which would make agp 16x. I dont think you will need to go any higher. plus if your a gamer all ATI cards can handle HL2. most i mean most like everyone i believe has poor stats on it.

but its allup to you and how tight money is.

-bunkka :canadian:

#147788

very off topic i know, but Bubba, your sig is waaaaay too massive. You might wanna shrink it a bit.

#147880

Topic title edited.

[question] tag added. Bubba please shrink your sig a bit (don't touch the image! Just remove the text)

-Pe7er

#148310