Best bang for the buck. ATI or Nvidia?

[TheGoatMan]

Ok no doubt about it the 9800xt is probably the best card on the market right? But average retail price is around $500 bucks. Thats kinda hard to swallow. So do you think ATI has the best card for every price range? Remember we're talking about retail. Not oem off the internet. Because some will say "The 9600xt or the 9500pro is the best for the money" When really 75% of computer buyers probably won't even need these cards. So why spend $150 to $220 for one? You could pick up a FX5200 or a MX440SE from Nvidia for under $100. Your ATI choices are the outdated 9000 or the 8500pro. Which from what I've seen the FX5200 has them beat. Now under $200. Now I've seen a 9600xt for $200 and thats probably the best for under $200. Now whats nice about Nvidia is you can pick up a FX5900 for just barely over $200. In fact you can go to Best Buy and the 5900 is the same price as the 9600xt. So I think the real question is whats the best for your needs and money. I think ATI and Nvidia make great cards and can't wait to see the next generation of video cards.

 

[SYAR2003]

Actually i would say best buy for money is
Sapphire Radeon 9500 128MB (for the medium gamer/overall user)
This board can actually be softmodded with RivaTuner, to R9800!! with 128mbit memorybus.And overclocks well.
Price around $130-150

 

[dakota81]

Well, what specific price range are you inquiring about?

 

[paparazi]

Have you forgotten about the ATI 9200 series?
Anyway, I couldn't agree with you more, the ATI 9600pro is a great card and leader in it's class but if you can pick up either a FX5900 or the now defunked 9700pro for a similar price you will be buying a much faster card.
I have long argued that older cards like the 9700 which was ATI's flagship model, can often be found at the same price as newer "middle range" cards.
The 9700 is a good example because it maybe an older model but still has DX9 compliance.
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[TheGoatMan]

I'm taliking about any price range. I bought a FX5900 for $200 because I saw it as the fastest card for what I was willing to spend. I could have easily bought a 9800xt but to me its not worth shelling out $425. The 5900 is powerful enough to run any game on high detail and thats all thats important. So in general it really depends on what games you want to run. I sold a guy an ATI rage 128 for $10 becuase all he wanted to play was civilization and age of empires. And he was very pleased. I just think its ridiculus that some cards run way over $300 when really the job can get done with a $200 card.

 

[cdogg]

I find it near impossible to come up with a definitive answer to your question.

There are so many factors involved, many of which you've touched on yourself. "Best bang for the buck" depends on the type of "bang" that you need. Distinguising between DX8 and DX9, Anisotropic Filtering (AA) and standard render, and between high FPS and playable FPS will determine the type of answer you'll receive.

 

[marcdoyle]

the Geforce fx5700 ultra is cheaper and faster than the fx5900 ultra.. (about £160-£170) It just has 128mb instead of 256mb of ram. I am thinking of getting one after xmas.

 

[TheGoatMan]

I don't know where you heard that. The FX5900 non-ultra rocks the 5700ultra. (Remember the 5700 is midrange and the 5900 is high end.) I've ran both cards and there is no comparison. Look a little farther into the two. Trust me the 5900 is a way better card.