OT: Video card upgrade time

[Dallas4u]

Alright guys... just looking for opinions. I work with computers, and know that it's time to update a few things in my own system. It's not too bad as it is right now, but I'm starting to lag a bit behind in the graphics card area... currently a Geforce3 64mb. I've been looking at all of the cards that have come out lately (and some not so lately), and I want opinions on some.

ATI Radeon 9600 Pro: Good card... definitely good for the money. Can be over clocked to almost 9700 status. I can get one for about $160 shipped.

ATI Radeon 9500 Pro: GREAT card for the money... beats the 9500 Pro, and can be OC'd to 9700 status. Can be had for around $190.

Geforce FX 5600 (256mb): Nice card, but gets beaten by 9600 Pro and 9500 Pro in almost all benchmarks. Can be had for $160.

Geforce4 TI 4600: Major deal here is... I can get one for $139 right now. Still competes with these cards, and does pretty well against the 5600, but gets doors blown off by both Radeon cards.

What do you think? The TI 4600 was THE card to have not too long ago, but I don't want to be stuck with something that won't play any DX9 games that will be coming out soon.

[AnalogVX]

I am using the Ti 4400 128MB. It's the slower memory on the Geforce cards but that was easily solved with an overclock. I had too much trouble with compatibility in the past with ATI cards so I am partial to Nvidia cards. I would say go with the Geforce FX cards. They are beaten by the radeons sure, but not much. And will you really notice the difference?

PS when I get around to finishing my daughters computer, she is getting my ti4400 and i am getting the FX5600

[Reg Hinnant]

I have the ATI 9500 Pro (Sapphire build) and I like it really well. I chose it over the 9600 due to all the better write-ups. (Sapphire built card is the one to get.)
ATI seems to finally, have the driver thing under control.
Really looks great, running 3DMark@03........

[Dallas4u]

Yeah, I want to find the Sapphire 9500 Pro, but it seems everyone wants one, and that's driving the price up. I know I can OC the 9600 Pro and get about the same performance out of it, but unclocked the 9500 Pro still beats the unclocked 9600 Pro it seems.

I'm still considering the FX 5600. I know, I'll never notice it... it's just that thing inside you that says, "Did you get all of your moneys worth"? And, "You could have had some a little bit faster for about the same amount." I don't think you can go wrong with any of the cards... I'm just wondering what peoples preferences are and why.

No arguments for the TI 4600? It still competes and at a pretty good price.

[Reg Hinnant]

Got mine here. They are now $183.00 with free shipping.
http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/simp...7435&ad=pwatch

Pick your poison, pay yer money!
They are all good cards, it all boils down to what color you like!
Have fun!

[Joe_Black]

I just got the ASUS V9280S in April and it rocks! I was a beta tester for PlanetSide and am currently wrapping beta for Star Wars Galaxies and WOW! does this card make the difference!

I've always gone by a mix of specs/performance/experience when choosing components and will rarely purchase the "latest-greatest" as it'll cheap as anything else in a few months yet still have all the features that made it awesome when new on the market.

[Dallas4u]

I feel the same way, Joe. I bought my Geforce 3 right when the the Geforce 3 TI series started to come out. I got it cheap because everyone wanted the TI 500. Then the Geforce 4s came out, and I held out. Now, I can get the Geforce 4 TI 4600 for $139, and I'm thinking it's over than what I would need. Plus, I'd be saving around $50-$60 over the other cards. Although, I can get the Radeon 9600 Pro for $146... which is only $7 more. Tough choice. The Radeon is still a faster card, and is DX9 compatible as well.

[Joe_Black]

The V9280S I got is a true GeForce4 card and is full DX9 compliant. I had to load DX9 for Galaxies. I think I got it for less than $200 from googlegear.com.

[Spike]

for benchmark reviews: www.sharkyextreme.com

and then of course to www.pricewatch.com for gathering prices.

I havent looked into graphics cards for about a year, since rebuilding my desktop is now lower on the priority list.

If I see anything of interest, I will post.

[Dallas4u]

My priorities change all the time... sometimes I get into modding the VX. Then I get into working out/mountain biking, then changing around my computer, then building stuff for the house/yard. I know I'm behind on my PC, so I'm trying to upgrade slowly. Right now, the graphics card. Next, motherboard/CPU. I have an Asus A7V266E and an AMD Athlon XP 2000+, and 768mb PC2700 DDR, but I want MORE!!!!

[AnalogVX]

Originally posted by Dallas4u
My priorities change all the time... sometimes I get into modding the VX. Then I get into working out/mountain biking, then changing around my computer, then building stuff for the house/yard. I know I'm behind on my PC, so I'm trying to upgrade slowly. Right now, the graphics card. Next, motherboard/CPU. I have an Asus A7V266E and an AMD Athlon XP 2000+, and 768mb PC2700 DDR, but I want MORE!!!!

Actually that's a pretty darn good system you have there.
Just overclock the crap out of it!

[Dallas4u]

I have before, but something isn't stable enough to handle the overclock, and I didn't want to try and narrow it down. I think it may have been the power supply, so I bought a 450W. I haven't tried since then... maybe tonight!

[WyrreJ]

9600 has a feature size of 130nm, the 9500 is 150nm thus it runs hotter. 9600 non-pro doesn't even need a fan, saphire is about to release a 9600 pro with special fanless heatsink (much smaller than their 9500 and 9700 fanless cards).

[Dallas4u]

I went ahead and bought a Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro from Allstarshop.com. They had a retail box/lite version (pretty much OEM) for $156. I tried to make myself buy the 9500 Pro, but I just couldn't justify the extra $27 for some reason. I guess I felt guilty paying that much to begin with.

Can't wait to get it!

[Reg Hinnant]

I bet you like it!
I started to get the 9600 because I built up a SFF box and had considered the possible heat problem with the small box. There is no problem with heat at this point.
At the tme I purchased mine, the 2 boards were about the same price.
No problems with the install.
Be sure & grab the free 3DMark@03 download. Also get the NV Dawn demo & ATI patch to run it.