FBeaule04 Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 Hi guys! I plan to buy a new video card in the near future and i'm wondering wich one should i buy. Ok, right away, i'll know some of you will say that i should buy a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 or a FX 5900 256 but my wallet would'nt allow me such a move. So, i want to know, between those three cards, wich one would give me the better of games like Madden 2005, NHL 2005, MVP Baseball 2004: 1- ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128mb Retail 2- ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256mb 2- Asus V-9570-TD FX 5700 256mb Thanks for your comments Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kccitystar Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 9600 XT, but don't take my word, lol i'm an ATI guy :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoll Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 because the demands of games currrently and what they really need to run and what the future likely holds for games on the pc, my suggestion is go for one of these two cards. 2- ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256mb 2- Asus V-9570-TD FX 5700 256mb even be the games i think right now say 65 mim and recomend 128 for the games i found 128 really is the min to run the games with any kind of somthness to them, from several systems ive seen and used. 256 is really what i be recommending. the other factor you might want to check out between the two cards and might make your choice between these two cards is what the picxal and clock speeds of each card are. the better high numbers for these will have a better performce and soomther video for the games. this also will give you some room for future games for awhile, so you wont be changing cards quite as soon as you would with a 128 level video card. good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpup Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 i have the 9600 xt 128 and it works great with this game and everthing else that i use it for. you can't go wrong with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenDammit Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 well, your video card is only going to be as fast as, or as strong as, your processor and your memory. Your motherboard has a LITTLE to do with it, but not near enough to talk about. If you have a weak processor, even the best video card isn't going to make too much of a difference. If you don't have much system memory, same thing. All three of those things are related to each other as far as good graphics quality goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoll Posted July 31, 2004 Share Posted July 31, 2004 KenDammit is correct the processer speed is a factor, but the the larger factor there is the cach on the processor as its demeritmes how much the system will need to retrave information from the hd or cd. the factor level is fairly minumal about the proessor cach unless your on slow system, as most systems in the last year maybe have lots of speed and ually and fair amount on procressor cach these says, but there are other small factor to like ram all the varies bus speeds of different parts. the closerall of them are to each other ueally helps to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBeaule04 Posted July 31, 2004 Author Share Posted July 31, 2004 I've got a : Pentium 4 - 2.4 GHz 512 mb of Ram So, i think that the question of the processor and the memory should be a non-factor here :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoll Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 no it shouldn't a n issue given what you have, and i wrote it as ushc. mosdt what we said applys the slower the system is. your good to go as soomn as you decide which vid card you want to go with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAM Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 128 mb card by ati or a card POWERED by ati would be more than enough, remember to pay attention to the pixel and clock speeds on the 128 mb cards because MANY of them are faster than the 256 mb cards. people see 256 and ooh! i gotta buy it. RAM (memory) size has a lot to do with it. 512 should be enough ASSUMING ur running ddr memory. when i built this pc i ran out of cash so i still use my old ati 64mb card and it runs smooth as butter on all games. because i run 1.5 gb of ddr RAM. basically what happens is if your vid card can't handle all the graphics which most can't btw, the left over demand gets "dumped" into your memory. so if u can't afford the card u want right now by a new stick of RAM until u can. it'll make a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoll Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 i'd agree and i did metion the check out the pixal and clock speeds out for the cards to. you can go with 128, nothing says you you cant, then only i suggested one of the 256 is because of long term game neds are headed past 128 rapidly. i and anyone can live with 128, but it a short life of the card, if your not wanting t o change cards agian until you need to. any of the ccards will do, so it comes down to what toyou feels best for you and what trade off each card has vs the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAM Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 only i suggested one of the 256 is because of long term game neds are headed past 128 rapidly yes theoretically u r right, BUT MANY of the 128mb cards are better AND faster than the 256 mb so he has to be careful. the easiest way to check is the price. but many of the vid card manufacturers will make a 256mb card that isn't as good as a lot of 128mb cards because they know lots of people will buy it not knowing any better. this isn't really the case with an ati card by ati, but if u are going to by a card powered by ati (means all the guts of the card are made by ati, but the card itself is made by say asus, or sapphire). then check it out really good first because they try to make u excited by the numbers alone. like a 256mb card when in reality some of the 128mb cards outperform them. for ex u may go to newegg and see a sapphire 256mb card by ati for $100 and a sapphire 128mb card by ati for $150. why the price diff? because the 128 card is much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcoll Posted August 1, 2004 Share Posted August 1, 2004 your right, but what i was saying is based in general information without knowing the specs of each card. yes some 128 are better than some 256 cards i agree, and there not alwways compareable even whtin the same name. ati cards are grate, but even 9600 card to another is the same so yes you have to look at the specs, since there generally two or three models of the same card. they end different names like xt and so on, s evrything said goes together. that one thing about pc, its overall you need to stive for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBeaule04 Posted August 2, 2004 Author Share Posted August 2, 2004 Thanks for your help guys. Right away, i should say i'm a computers specialist, but i'm not the best guy around when it comes to compare graphic cards. From what i've red and what i've seen, the ATI 9600 XT 128 is the best choice. One thing i've saw and amaze me is the fact that the 9600 XT at 256 is cheaper than the 128 mb in many stores in Montreal. I really don't buy it's the case for nothing, so perharps someone could tell me a card with double memory on-board is cheaper than the other of the same brand. I will get the ATI 9600 XT 128mb because from benchmarks i red and from people view, this card perform better on many games compare to the GeForce FX5700 at 256. Thanks again guys, your help and hints always appreciate :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitoon Posted August 2, 2004 Share Posted August 2, 2004 Thanks for your help guys. Right away, i should say i'm a computers specialist, but i'm not the best guy around when it comes to compare graphic cards. From what i've red and what i've seen, the ATI 9600 XT 128 is the best choice. One thing i've saw and amaze me is the fact that the 9600 XT at 256 is cheaper than the 128 mb in many stores in Montreal. I really don't buy it's the case for nothing, so perharps someone could tell me a card with double memory on-board is cheaper than the other of the same brand. I will get the ATI 9600 XT 128mb because from benchmarks i red and from people view, this card perform better on many games compare to the GeForce FX5700 at 256. Thanks again guys, your help and hints always appreciate :-) What happened over the last couple of years is that companies started making 256MB cards with cheaper (slower) memory than their 128MB counterparts. They were banking on the fact that people would see 256MB as an advantage over 128MB and buy the cards regardless. That accounts for the 128MB cards outperforming the 256MB versions, and for the 256MB versions being cheaper. The truth is that only the very top of the line vid cards (ATI 9800 and above, Nvidia 5900 and above) are fast enough to use the 256MB of memory anyways...an FX5200 with 256MB is a complete joke. Only the very latest games, and the very latest cards are able to take advantage of 256MB, so any card produced before now with 256MB, was simply a marketing ploy.... A similar thing happened when cards were going from 64MB to 128MB...for example, the card I use (GeForce4 Ti4200) had higher benchmarks as a 64MB card than the first 128MB ones that came out. As time passed, they made 128MB cards that were the same speed as the first 64MB ones and were able to out perform them... The same will happen with the current line of vid cards. I would imagine that 128MB will still suffice for another year or so, by then cards will be fast enough to make use of the full 256 and you will need to buy them... For now, unless you are buying an Nvidia 6800, or an ATI X800, stick with 128MB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FBeaule04 Posted August 3, 2004 Author Share Posted August 3, 2004 Thanks Spitoon, that was great to read information like that! Just a question now, what about the GeForce FX 5700? Is the 128 mb better than the 256? In the case of the ATI 9600, i assume, after what you said, that the 128 is overpowering the 256. Last one for you, since you have great knowledge on video cards. What about the price difference between a ATI card and ASUS card? From what i saw in Montreal, ASUS card are 20-30$ cheaper than the ATI version. Is there a difference on that one? Thanks again :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAM Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 well the asus card is POWERED by ati, meaning all the main "components" of the card is by ati but the card itslef is put together by asus. many of these cards are great and perform as well as the "PURE" ati cards. check out newegg.com to get a feel for specs and to read some user reviews. pay close attention to reviews that might say there was a problem using ati's current drivers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spitoon Posted August 3, 2004 Share Posted August 3, 2004 Thanks Spitoon, that was great to read information like that! Just a question now, what about the GeForce FX 5700? Is the 128 mb better than the 256? In the case of the ATI 9600, i assume, after what you said, that the 128 is overpowering the 256. Last one for you, since you have great knowledge on video cards. What about the price difference between a ATI card and ASUS card? From what i saw in Montreal, ASUS card are 20-30$ cheaper than the ATI version. Is there a difference on that one? Thanks again :-) It will depend on the actuall memory chips used which can, at times, be hard to find out without actually looking at the chips...do you have links to any 5700's in particular? As far as I am concerned, the only way a 256MB 5700 would outperform the 128MB version would be if the 256MB was clocked higher, either at the core or the memory, otherwise it would be a waste, as even the 5700 would have a hard time using 256MB. Same with the 9600, it will depend on the chips used. As far as the price goes, cards made by ATI are generally the most expensive ones...I guess it's something like buying real "Kraft Dinner" as opposed to some other brand, you'll pay a bit more for it. The other manufacturers just buy the GPU's (and rights) from ATI and then make cards with components from other (maybe cheaper) suppliers. ASUS has a good reputation, and if I recall correctly, ASUS used to make ATI's cards for them anyways...I'm not sure if they still do. Another good manufacturer for ATI based cards is Sapphire. Another thing to look for if you want to save some money is to try to get OEM or "Lite" versions of the cards...OEM's just come in a plain white or brown box with very little literature and as such are usually a bit cheaper. "Lite" versions don't come with any extra software (games, apps etc) and therefore are cheaper too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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