Choosing a video card...

[evostrata]

Hello,

I have recently decided to upgrade my graphics card. I have narrowed down the search to either a:-

Ati Radeon 9700 Pro £91.06 (128mb)
Sapphire Radeon 9600XT £110 (256mb)
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro £150 (128mb)

Basically, does the extra memory on the 9600xt make is better than the 9700 and/or 9800, and which one is best for 3D gaming, eg. Sims 2. and is the extra x amount for the 9800 Pro worth it if its the best one there???

I appreciate all the input possible.

Regards,
evostrata

 

[ski]

The 9800 will render the fastest frame rates for a given settings configuration.
If you like to play the latest games at higher settings, then suggest you get this one.

The extra RAM in the 9600 will enable it to display higher resolutions, but doing so in a game may render choppy frame rates if the card's and system's CPU's are not up to the task.
Also, your monitor may not be able to display the highest resolutions that this card can display.

 

[felixc]

The 9700 and 9800 need a lot more current to run. If your system has a good power supply, then go to the 9800Pro. It will still run games properly in two years from now. The 9600 and 9700 are starting to choke with the present games.

 

[paparazi]

At just £91.06 the 9700pro is best bang for buck irrespective of the amount of memory.
BUT!!
If you are going to push the boat out to £150 then you would be mad to get any of these cards!
If you didn't already hear? the Nvidia 6600GT arrived!!!! and believe me, this is a big deal, this card can soundly beat last years top players: ATI 9800XT and Nvidia 5950ultra let alone the 9800pro.
The 6800 range has made such a massive leap in performance even the middle ranking (6600GT) easily surpasses last years big guns.
Available in AGP or PCIe
Martin


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Participate and help others.

 

[felixc]

Very good point Paparazzi. What's the price these days for the 6600GT?

 

[paparazi]

I've seen several AGP versions (PCIe bridge with the offset heatsink) 6600GT's for under £140 UK but most are in the £140-£155 bracket

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_6600_GT.html

Martin

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[paparazi]

I think people are just beginning to cotton on to the 6600GT and you can see this in the tumbling value of:

9600XT/9800/9800PRO/9800XT's
5700ultra/5900XT/5900/5900ultra/5950ultra's

I think I got rid of my FX5950U just in time, just before people started realising it's impact.
Martin



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Participate and help others.

 

[evostrata]

Ive decided to get the 6600GT from here

http://www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10279546

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

[paparazi]

Never been much of a fan for Galaxy cards.
They are a relatively new budget brand and not amongst the better made cards (my opinion)
I would look at Leadtek, MSI, BFG and Asus before the Galaxy.
BFG performs well, MSI looks good, Leadtek just well made and generally the cheapest.

See review:

http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/nvidia_geforce_6600_gt_agp_roundup/default.asp

Martin

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Participate and help others.