ti4200 or ATi what? Good card under $100

[Noodles]

I've really fallen by the wayside in the graphics department. But needless to say, I need a new card. I've heard the FX series blow, so I'll stay away from them. But the ti4200 seems to have glowing reviews from a lot of people. No DX9? Meh, look at my sig. I think thats DX7 I'm on now...

But ATi has some good stuff out now...do they have a card that is as FAST as the ti4200 for under $100? Its more important to me that the card be zippy enough to play newer games acceptably than it be pretty.

[snyper1982]

the 4200 is best bet with the 8500 being a close second.

[Yuriman]

You can pick up a 9600pro for a bit over $125 if you look around. If its a hard limit of $100, i'd go with the radeon 8500. It has virtualy free AF. I tried going back to gaming without it, and it seemed dull.

[wanna_b_rich_13]

What about looking at the 9600 SEs?

[David]

I'll vouch for the Ti4200. I have a 64MB Ti4200 card here, got it for £110 last year and it will take any game I throw at it with good detail settings etc.

[ajrettke]

check newegg refurbs monday evening's, you can get ti4200 128mb for around 70-80 bucks. That's your best bet. 9600pro's goto around 110, and 8500's/9100's are around 50. I'd say the ti4200 128mb is the card to get if 100 is your hard limit. If your willing to look around and watch newegg you can get a 9600pr for 110 which is the best bet IMO.

[Noodles]

Cool. I'm not planning on purchasing right away, sometime after the holidays are come and gone. But I'll keep an eye out on newegg refurbs.

[Yuriman]

The 9600np is slower than a ti4200 without turning on AA and AF, and the se is slower everywhere.

[Strida]

For that price range I'd say either the 4200 or 8500LE.

Reasons stated in above posts... =D

[glock19owner]

If given a choice between the 4200 and 8500...the 4200 will blow the 8500 away...plus the 8500 has been discontinued by ATI...but as someone pointed out...you can get a 9600 SE from gameve.com for 97.00 with free shipping...the cheapest a 9600 Pro (from a trusted retailer) is 136.00 with free shipping from gameve.com

You can get a Leadtek Ti4200 128MB 8X AGP w/VIVO from gameve.com for 93.00 w/free shipping.

I am not pressing gameve.com, but they are the best priced (once again from a trusted site) cards from pricewatch.com

[Yuriman]

You can also get a 9600np for $104. The se is slow as *** though.

[dustybyrd]

do you want dx9 (aa and af extras) or not?

if yes then you should try to get a 9600pro for $100-110 from newegg refurbs...

if no then definitely get the ti4200-ti4600...they are 15-25% faster than the 8500's and ~10% faster than the 9600pro's on games without the aa and af turned on...$75-85 on newegg refurbs...

[Overclocker550]

"you can get a 9600 SE from gameve.com for 97.00 with free shipping"


why? isnt a 9600np nearly twice the speed of a 9600se for a couple bucks more? well twice the ram bandwith that is? anyway why not check ti4200s on ebay

[glock19owner]

Originally posted by Overclocker550
"you can get a 9600 SE from gameve.com for 97.00 with free shipping"


why? isnt a 9600np nearly twice the speed of a 9600se for a couple bucks more? well twice the ram bandwith that is? anyway why not check ti4200s on ebay

because he stated around 100.00 and the cheapest 9600 Pro from a tursted site...once again gameve.com :rolleyes:...the cheapest is 136.00 and that is more then just a few bucks more ;)

[Xstatic]

Pricewatch has a 9600pro 256mb for 104. Best price and card for that price range hands down.

[ttfrog]

You better check the reseller rating on the place selling the 9600 pro for 102 bucks... I would say for the price range a ti4200 would be the best bet. One of the best cards Nvidia ever made.

[Falcon-K]

i would recommend the ti4200 as well, it wont do aa/af very well but it will play most games with most of the eye candy and at a fairly decent resolution.

[Evnas]

Originally posted by glock19owner
plus the 8500 has been discontinued by ATI

And last I checked, the Ti4200 was discontinued a long time ago too ;)

[Tw00sh]

Why would anyone recommend a TI4200 that cannot do DX9?

Its obvious he does not upgrade his video card that often, why go with an outdated DX8 card?

IMHO, save till you can get a card that can do DX9 or you will miss out on a lot of nice features in the next year plus. Even some of the less taxing system games, like RTS will use DX9 soon.

I would forget the TI series all together and get a 9600Np or Pro. Maybe it will be slower on some games? Maybe not? But, at least you can see some of the DX9 features.

[Overclocker550]

id rather have dx8 only at a much higher res than dx9 at low res such as 800x600. going to a 9600 pro gets you dx9 but you still need to compromize in the amount of details you run at. well he could get a 9600, itll still own a geforce2mx 400 anyway and as long as you keep your cpu to speed, you shouldnt have problems running games since they are cpu intensive, just not 1600x1200

[snyper1982]

the 9600 can do anything a 4200 can plus more. the difference in speed in dx8 is negligible, because they both run them well beyond playable framerates. but the 9600 can also do aa/af. and a video card is far and away the most important purchase for gaming.

[Tw00sh]

id rather have dx8 only at a much higher res than dx9 at low res such as 800x600

Some how this make absolutely no since?

So you would rather play at 1024 x 768 or higher and have low quality, then at 800 x 600 at high quality?

The reason a lot of people want to play at higher resolution is for better image quality, not to lower the image quality to just use the higher resolution.

Anyway, as mentioned already, the 9600 Pro will play at equal or better frame rates to any TI card in DX8.

Here is the real question? Which would you choose for example:

DX8
1024 x 768 at 60 FPS
Low quality visuals

DX9
1024 x 768 at 40FPS
High quality with AA/AF

Personally, I would take the 40FPS and with good visuals and just tweak it to met my play style.

[Yuriman]

There isnt a HUGE difference between Dx8 effects and 9. Ive seen pics and compared them carefuly. DX9 is a bit more colorful, and the reflections look a tad bit more real. Not something you notice while running around shooting people.

[Tw00sh]

There isnt a HUGE difference between Dx8 effects and 9. Ive seen pics and compared them carefuly. DX9 is a bit more colorful, and the reflections look a tad bit more real. Not something you notice while running around shooting people.

That is true, NOW!

Not many games take full advantage of DX9 yet. I was mainly talking about potential for future games.

Maybe you have not seen the H/L2 Screenies yet? Might want to swing on over to that thread if you have not?

[Overclocker550]

Originally posted by Yuriman
There isnt a HUGE difference between Dx8 effects and 9. Ive seen pics and compared them carefuly. DX9 is a bit more colorful, and the reflections look a tad bit more real. Not something you notice while running around shooting people.


exactly and if a 9600 pro matches a ti4200 in dx8 why would I pay much more for a 9600 pro? makes no sense and dx9 isnt special over dx8 either :rolleyes:

[Tw00sh]

and dx9 isnt special over dx8 either

**Sarcasm on**

Yeah, your right.

And,
DX8 is no better than DX7
DX7 is no better than DX6
DX6 is no better than DX5
Heck,
DX5 is the same as DX8 ?

Gee, they must not of added anything "Special" to the newer versions?

** Sarcasm off **

So why would we ever want to get pass DX 1 ?

[Risendemon]

If hes looking for a card at 100$ get the 4200 ,but if he can spare? 20-50$ more he should get the 9600Pro

[Yuriman]

I would spend the extra for the 9600, not because it has DX9, but because it takes far less hit from AA and AF. And I can see a large dif between DX7 and 8, but 9 doesnt realy add any new effects, it just pretties the current ones up.

[Overclocker550]

aa/af is good but the whole thing is, would you rather have low res aa/af or high res without? its all personal preference :)

[Yuriman]

With a 9600 you can run high res with AA though. AF can be run at any resolution because its free.

[Overclocker550]

the fill rate of a 9600 is alot less than that of a ti4200 so a ti4200 will run a much higher res without aa/af and in my opinion, this owns aa/af anyday :)

[snyper1982]

god, get off the 4200's sack. like i said, the 9600 can do anything the 4200 can and more. any res the 4200 can run at, the 9600 can too, plus run af to boot.

[glock19owner]

you have to go on what the person states for price...and no trusted site has a 9600 Pro...for 100.00 or less...just the 9600SE and the 4200 will still out perform the 9600SE...so when someone ask for something in there price range and a choice between cards...you go with what they ask...not what you THINK they want for more then what they listed as a price :rolleyes:

[snyper1982]

lol, i suggested a 4200 way back in the thread. but i do get tired of hearing oc550 pretend the 4200 is better than 9600 pro.

[glock19owner]

Originally posted by snyper1982
lol, i suggested a 4200 way back in the thread. but i do get tired of hearing oc550 pretend the 4200 is better than 9600 pro.

I agree with you on that...the 9600 Pro will blow the 4200 away...but the 4200 will beat the 9600SE...sorry for the misunderstand :)

[Overclocker550]

a fx5200 will own a 9600 se........