View Full Version : Time for new graphics card
I've got up to £130 to spend on a new graphics card. Don't know much about PCs so any advice is appreciated. Assuming that you can't some how shove a PCI-E card into a PCI slot then I'm gonna need a AGP one.
I got a Redeon 9800 pro, had no problems with it at all, the one i have is £129.99 now on Overclockers, but its not the bottom one, so you can definatly pick them up for cheaper
Nikabolokov
19-01-05, 19:36
For that price, might be a little bit more, I'd get a 6600 GT.
Overclockers have a few of them, both agp and pci-e I think.
Its roughly twice as powerful, if not more than a rad 9800.
<edit>
Just looked , it seems the cheapest is £135 inc VAT.
If you can afford to put a little more, maybe £150 there are more options there.
I know you said 130, but I myself would wait an extra week or so if possible and get a 6600 GT, the 9800 is a good card, but for twice the power for an extra few quid...
yup, i bought a AGP leadtec 6600GT for 239€
just give you a warning, make sure your mainboard support 0,8V AGP3 port.
I've got up to £130 to spend on a new graphics card. Don't know much about PCs so any advice is appreciated. Assuming that you can't some how shove a PCI-E card into a PCI slot then I'm gonna need a AGP one.
Sex @ U
PCI-E is a difference architechture then normal PCI so you cant shove it into
a regular slot, and even if you could, it would be slow as fuck.
I would go with a 6600GT, it's around £130 @ scan.co.uk but i'm sure you know
of places with better prices.
--- edit
@Nikabolokov: It's not exactly twice the power, it generally outpreforms the
9800Pro, but not twice the power.
---
Anyway, if you want to see it for yourself, check it out @ tomshardware.com
Some nice stuff there, and you can see the testscores to. It's being compared
to a few cards, 9800Pro being one of them.
Nikabolokov
19-01-05, 19:44
Why If I may ask??
Having used both ATI and Nvidia cards of late, they're not that far apart. The only major difference is the ability to use high AA and AF on the ATI cards at higher resolutiuons.
Its roughly twice as powerful, if not more than a rad 9800.
Ok.
Having used both ATI and Nvidia cards of late, they're not that far apart. The only major difference is the ability to use high AA and AF on the ATI cards at higher resolutiuons.
So wich is it? Twice the power or not that far apart...
Dribble Joy
19-01-05, 19:51
I have a 9500pro...
ph34r meh..
I have a 9500pro...
ph34r meh..
I have a 9600SE ^^
Nikabolokov
19-01-05, 20:06
Sorry , I was referring to cards of the same speed range.
A 6600GT is a lot faster than 9800 and you will see significant gains. You'll be able to play at a higher rez for less fps loss, with aa on if thats your preference.
Doing the same on a 9800 would lose you more fps.
However , on an ATI card of the same power range , you would see better performance with aa and af on.
<edit>
@retron , There are too many comparrison sites to mention, I prefer to go on my own experience.
Cards I've had over the last year or so - fx5600 :),5900, ATI 9800, x800 pro (XT speeds and bios), 6800GT( ultra speeds and bios).
I have a few buds with the mentioned 6600's and they outperform my old 9800 with ease on similar spec'd systems.
Are any of these cards better than my fx 5200? ;)
Nikabolokov
19-01-05, 20:21
Just to add, a few things to take into account.
What cpu you have atm and what PSU?
DigestiveBiscui
19-01-05, 20:23
i have a 9800pro as well - got it recently
mint
Just to add, a few things to take into account.
What cpu you have atm and what PSU?
2.67GHz P4
EDIT: and 512mb of ram
Nikabolokov
19-01-05, 22:06
That should be more than enough. Some of the cards dont work so well with slower cpus.
Overclockers (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_6600_GT.html)
Apart from the most expensive one on that page which one is the best of those cards? w00t no VAT for me;)
Overclockers (http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/copy_of_6600_GT.html)
Apart from the most expensive one on that page which one is the best of those cards? w00t no VAT for me;)
Well, the XFX card is probably the best preformace card among those. I myself
chose the MSI card instead though because it's the most quite one. My current
computer is so loud i can't stand it anymore, but if you want those extra 2 or 3
fps then go with the XFX.
Nikabolokov
20-01-05, 22:32
They're all decent cards. Personally I'd go Leadtech or MSI simply because I've experience with the brand.
Like retron said, XFX are sposed to be a little faster, but I've heard more stories about bad cards from this range.
Theres always a slight chance you will get a duff card anyway.
I've heard the best is the Galaxy, as it comes with a better heatsink, but OC dont stock it.
Original monk
21-01-05, 10:24
Are any of these cards better than my fx 5200? ;)
there ok cards for there price :) i had one in my desktop and barebone, tough there not THAT strong but hey .. (ok ok there sucky :P)
my mate has a GF fx 5700 from gainward and its a daamn strong card, he plays everything open (doom3 (not on ultrasettings tough), halflife2 and CS:S, DoW, RTW etc etc)
when i made my new computer i trew in a asus extreme x800xt/td, the diffrence with my 5200's was kinda, immense :p
Jesterthegreat
21-01-05, 14:35
my mate has a GF fx 5700 from gainward and its a daamn strong card, he plays everything open (doom3 (not on ultrasettings tough), halflife2 and CS:S, DoW, RTW etc etc)
thats what im usin (XFX ultra edition though)
was good til i burnt it out :p
Bugs Gunny
21-01-05, 14:50
I had a 5900xt that i flashed to a 5950 ultra. It worked fine, except i had to clock back the mem a bit. I laos burnt this card in about 2 months.
Now i have an MSI6800-128. Very nice card.
I would go with the 6600GT if i had to buy one now though.
i was thinking i was going to save up for the next BIG upgrade (and we are talking BIG here) but now that im going to a LAN event i think i'll need something with a little more oomph than a GF4 MX440. probably get one of those 6600 GT's.
if i could pull down more cash i could really upgrade my system, but it would put me back about £2.5k
the scary thing is, i can afford that, but then id be broke at uni later this year... tough choice.
So those 6600 GTs run on standard power or do they need more than average?
Bugs Gunny
21-01-05, 15:51
The new cards suck up a LOT of power.
When i installed that 5900xt i had to put in a second psu. So right now i have a total of 600Wats in there. One does the drives and the video card, the other one is purely mobo and fans.
Nikabolokov
21-01-05, 17:19
They dont use as much as you think.
The 6800 ultras , yeah, they need a hefty requirement.
But I know people who use the 6600 in SFF systems, and their psu's arent hefty.
I used the same 430w with all the cards I mentioned, with the system also including 2 HD, 2 DVD, 6 fans, Creative SC, NIC and a few other things.
Nikabolokov
23-01-05, 16:07
another comparrison chart.
http://www.trickery.net/vb/showthread.php?t=20454
The link was originally on a french site but the above is just the listing.
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