Aaaarrrghhh Shoot Me Please!!!

[Tazon]

ok this cry of agony is inspired partially by this (http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=272888&perpage=30&pagenumber=1) thread here. It is obvious you can no longer trust the market "name" of a video card, or many other products for that matter, but let's stick to video cards. i am sick of 8500 being better than 9000 and 9200 but not 9100, or maybe yes . . . GF3 Ti200 is better than GF4 mx440, and FX5200 is crap compared to Ti4200. so to escape all this black-magic cursed mantras that developers use in their card names, i would like someone to tell me how to READ a card, that is, a list of specs IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE that should be considered when deciding wheter a card is better than another card, and how much of an improvement it is. this is what i know should be looked at but i don't know how important each thing is:

GPU speed
RAM speed
Dx compatibility
Bits ???
RAM quantity
RAM quality
builder ?

so please help!

emilio

[Cerberus2k7]

*Shoots*

The best thing to do is just google the card you want, and put "+Problems" after the card and check reviews and then google groups to see how the card has treated other people, and then look at the configs they used because some cards don't like certain configs. Hope this helps.

-=[C]=-

[RedArmy]

Better yet, take it to the OC forums. IMO depending on a card, different parameters become more important than others. ( sry no examples).

[Aslan]

http://oc3dmark.octeams.com/cardguide.html

It's a bit out of date, but it will still help you to make an informed decision.

As RedArmy mentioned, check the OC Forums (preferably doing a search before asking questions ;) ). I agree that it has become quite confusing, as some cards with much higher memory and GPU frequencies are slower than others.

[JigPu]

Here's a list of stuff I'd look for:

GPU Speed
-- Really only comparable within a specific core generation (eg. all R350 MHz will be equal in value)
RAM Bandwidth [MHz * Bits / 8 = MB/sec bandwidth]
-- Let's you determine what card has a better memory system
RAM Quantity
-- Not really important in speed, but can make a card be more future-proof for large texture games of tommorow
DX Compatibility
-- Once again, not really important in speed, but good for future-proofing your investment

Once you've found a card that you like based on the stuff above, brand specificness comes into play. Stuff like higher than average GPU and RAM speeds, type of RAM used (Samsung, Hynix, Infinion, etc), and who actually made the card.

The forum is a great help on finer details if you need any. Stuff like how the FX sucks at DX9 can't be found out from specs alone, and you just have to ask around.
JigPu

[Tazon]

ok guys, i guess there's no way of going about this "by the book", i'll just keep asking around. thanks

[Overclocker550]

let me make it simple. a ti4200 will own anything below a 9700 or fx5900 ;)

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by Overclocker550
let me make it simple. a ti4200 will own anything below a 9700 or fx5900 ;)

R9500Pro, R9600Pro, R9600XT, R9500np(w/ 256bit bus)...
:rolleyes:

[Falcon-K]

Originally posted by Overclocker550
let me make it simple. a ti4200 will own anything below a 9700 or fx5900 ;)


all i can say to you is NO

[Steven4563]

Originally posted by PreservedSwine


R9500Pro, R9600Pro, R9600XT, R9500np(w/ 256bit bus)...
:rolleyes:

sorry to say the 9600pro doesnt own the ti4200 the only time it becomes owning the Ti4200 is when u turn on AA and AF

[UmX69]

"shoot" Must be nice to have a up 2 date card sigh =D

[PreservedSwine]

Originally posted by Steven4563


sorry to say the 9600pro doesnt own the ti4200 the only time it becomes owning the Ti4200 is when u turn on AA and AF

I didn't say that it owned it...O/C 550 claimed the Ti4200 "OWNED" everything below an R9700, which it clearly doesn't...
Although you are correct, the R9600PRO does indeed display ownage over the Ti4200 when AA and AF are applied
:)

[Steven4563]

oc550 applied that the TI4200 owned it then u listed cards that "own" it

well thats how i see it never mind :p :)

[syberspy9]

ok well you wana know just what they preforem like (because u cant relie on any thing but there over all preformance (as uve learned).
well this is a nice and easy grafh done by pros that shows scores and over all preformance rates (evry oone look at this sweet link)

stats of cards:
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

unreal turnament 2003 scores on all cards:
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-03.html

call of duty scores:
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-05.html

(this is a real gpu buster imo)
aquamark 3
http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-12.html

look at the bottem of the pages there is section were u can choose the game that they tested and it will show the scores
good luck

[Steven4563]

TOM is full of Bulls*** :rolleyes:

[brakezone]

I think going into the next generation of games, the more direct x hardware support you have the better. Then you want to look at the cards memory bandwidth. Good dx9 hardware, good memory bandwidth.. can equate to a good card moving into the future of gaming. Memory bandwidth is probably the most important feature to look at, next would be the level of hardware support. Between dx 7, dx 8, and dx 9, memory bandwidth is the most important throughout all of these; however, as directx has moved into the future it has become less as important, although it is still the most important.

I'd say the two most important things to judge card would be, is it fully direct X hardware, and not just compatability. Then you want to take a look at the memory bus interface. Is it 64-bit, 128-bit, or 256-bit?

I would say as far as dx7 and dx8 games, a dx7 card with 128-bit memory is about on par with a 64-bit memory fully dx9 card. So in other words the bottom of the barrel cards are 64-bit memory interface dx7 cards. Next up are 128-bit dx7 cards, 64-bit dx9 and 64-bit dx8 cards (9200se). Then you move on towards the 128-bit memory dx8 cards. 128-bit dx9 cards. 256-bit dx9 cards. I might have missed some combonations but i'm not sure. This could be all wrong though because its based upon my assumption that dx suport and memory bandwidth are most important.