I need a video card for my new system...

[scared0o0rabbit]

And I'm not sure what to get.

My budget is around $200 for the video card give or take (I can go a bit higher if it makes a difference, but I'd like to keep it right around that price).

My dilemma is that the nvidia 8 series and 9 series cards appear to cause graphical glitches in the pc game I play the most (an old MMO called Asheron's Call). My wife of course plays some newer stuff and every once in a while I do too.

The graphical glitches aren't terrible (I've seen videos recorded with FRAPS), but I do imagine it could get irritating over time. I suspect I'd be willing to put up with it if the nvidia cards at that price range are a ton better than the ATI (I've always been an ATI person, but I've also always been an AMD person and this new system will be a C2Q...).

So if people could state the case for some nvidia cards and some ati cards give me some pros and cons for the different cards available at that price range I'd appreciate it. (If it helps I'll be building with an evga 750i FTW, and I probably won't be overclocking anything including the graphics card as I'm trying to keep the system quiet, stable, and cool. In the past I've even underclocked graphics cards to help obtain cooler temperatures).

[blazed]

From nVidia side the best cards for your price range would be a 9600GT, 8800GT 512mb or 8800GTS 512mb. Thats slowest to fastest and each costs a bit more then the last but all great performers for the money. nVidia's cards have a distinct advantage with running up to 4x AA over the AMD cards.

For AMD (ATI) you have the 3850 and 3870, generaly the nVidia cards are a bit faster but these are still great performers for the money, and have a distinct advantage with HD video encode/decoding. The stock coolers are also generaly better on these cards then the nVidia cards, though all can be found with improved coolers either preinstalled or bought seperately.

[cabose1227]

8800gts 512 has no problems on my pc no complaints and its great with crysis and aa stuff. I think they go for $230 ish, its worth it. I cant realy recomend a ati for $200 because the 3870's are $170, you could do 3870 plus 3850 but it would cost alot more than a gts and it wont perform as well in games.

[scared0o0rabbit]

Good to know.

From an ATI standpoint, this is the card that was recommended to me:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102732

Are there others I should consider if I go ATI?

[chrome-187]

From nVidia side the best cards for your price range would be a 9600GT, 8800GT 512mb or 8800GTS 512mb. Thats slowest to fastest and each costs a bit more then the last but all great performers for the money. nVidia's cards have a distinct advantage with running up to 4x AA over the AMD cards.

For AMD (ATI) you have the 3850 and 3870, generaly the nVidia cards are a bit faster but these are still great performers for the money, and have a distinct advantage with HD video encode/decoding. The stock coolers are also generaly better on these cards then the nVidia cards, though all can be found with improved coolers either preinstalled or bought seperately.

+1 :) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102719 this 3870 isnt bad either if you want the single slot space savers...this is the one i have...it idles @ 39c w/out the fan spinning...when gaming it maxes out to 54c when i have it o/ced to 875/1300 and the fan @ 55%...at stock speeds it dont go past 47c when gaming...its a little cheaper then the toxic...for dual slot solutions i'd go with the diamond or the HIS...the diamond is the only 3870 that can be crossfired on nforce SLI motherboards...so that imo gets some xtra brownie points... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814103050

[scared0o0rabbit]

8800gts 512 has no problems on my pc no complaints and its great with crysis and aa stuff. I think they go for $230 ish, its worth it. I cant realy recomend a ati for $200 because the 3870's are $170, you could do 3870 plus 3850 but it would cost alot more than a gts and it wont perform as well in games.

Well I'm fairly certain the motherboard I'm going with is nvidia chipset. I haven't built a computer in a long time, but last time I did I seem to recall that some motherboards supported crossfire and some supported nvidia SLI.

I'm just really afraid that the nvidia cards would get really irritating with that graphical glitch.

[chrome-187]

Well I'm fairly certain the motherboard I'm going with is nvidia chipset. I haven't built a computer in a long time, but last time I did I seem to recall that some motherboards supported crossfire and some supported nvidia SLI.

I'm just really afraid that the nvidia cards would get really irritating with that graphical glitch.

with that in mind...if you go nvidia mobo i'd go with a nvidia video card... the 9600gt or 8800gt...if you go with a intel chipset that supports crossfire (the x38 would be ur best option for that route) then i'd consider the ati's...thats why i went ati is cuz i have a crossfire mobo...if i buy a nvidia sli mobo i will go nvidia...to me that just makes more sense...if you match the card to the chipset you leave yourself open for a later upgrade of a 2nd video card...if you mismatch you just restricted yourself to be able to use 1 video card only...if you buy a single pci-e mobo that dont support neither xfire or sli i'd recommend the 8800gt...

if you are dead set on a ati card on a nvidia sli mobo..the Diamond 3870 might be the best choice since that it can be crossfired on sli mobos with there xdna technology..they have special chips on them to enable the crossfire on sli mobo's...

[cabose1227]

I dought theres a graphix glitch that you will see more than a couple times over your cards life time. If the 3870 is your price point go with it, if you can get a 8800gt or gts it will beat the 3870 by a good amount. I think you can get the 8800gt for as much as a 3870 now, if you can theres no point in not getting the gt because it performs better. you will be fine with a nvidia card!

[scared0o0rabbit]

I dought theres a graphix glitch that you will see more than a couple times over your cards life time. If the 3870 is your price point go with it, if you can get a 8800gt or gts it will beat the 3870 by a good amount. I think you can get the 8800gt for as much as a 3870 now, if you can theres no point in not getting the gt because it performs better. you will be fine with a nvidia card!

Well the problem is in the main game I play, the graphical glitches occurs almost constantly when you're outside... The creators of the game refuse to even acknowledge the issue, but everyone who has the 8 series and 9 series.

There any kind of side by side reviews I can read for the 3870 vs. the 8800? I'd love to get some side by side reviews.

[blazed]

More then you can shake a stick at, google is your friend. Remember to pay attention to what settings (AA especially) and resolution are being used, nVidia's cards do have a distinct advantage when up to 4x AA is used.

All the 3870s linked to are good, the Toxic is pre-OCed a bit and keeps the GPU the coolest, the sapphire is the cheapest it would seem but cooler isn't quite as good as the dual slot out-the-back design of the stock cooling.

Either you have an nVidia chipset or Intel chipset its all the same for 1 card, and I wouldn't really advise going SLI or Crossfire, after a while if your no longer happy with the performance of a 3870/8800GT you can buy a single new mid range card and it will outperform your 2x older cards.

I'd recommend getting an Intel chipset board, such as a P35, or X38 if you really want the Crossfire support and unofficial SLI support (yes it works just needs a "hack" patch). You can get more for less then with the nVidia boards.

[chrome-187]

http://www.techspot.com/article/88-geforce-9600gt-versus-radeon-hd3870/page5.html

[NettieZoom]

You can get a 8800GTS 512mb for $170 after rebate from the Egg and it is a good bit better then anything ATI offers in that price range.

[chrome-187]

You can get a 8800GTS 512mb for $170 after rebate from the Egg and it is a good bit better then anything ATI offers in that price range.

yep AFTER rebate...look to be paying $230 up front...just fyi

[NettieZoom]

Better to have to wait on a rebate and get a good card then pay less and get a so so card.

[chrome-187]

lol...you guys are missing the point...he said budget...i dont think paying $250 upfront is too much of a low budget buy...he can get the 9600 get for $140 upfront and then $115 after rebate...$115 is pretty good for a card that will play all the new games out w/out a problem...115 after rebate and 180 after rebate is a pretty big gap..and the performance really isn't that big of a diff...not worth $65 more per card...if you wasn't on a budget, sure go with the card thats only 10fps at the most on high res and $65 more...

[NettieZoom]

The 9600Gt is a viable choice if you do not want to play any games in higher resolutions with any eye candy, it is crippled due to having half of its stream processors removed.

You can pick up a 8800GT 256mb for as little as $130 or a 8800GT 512mb for$170 or less with a rebate which just plain blows away the 9600GT.

I play AC myself on my 8800GT and 8800GTS and have not had any glitches yet.

It is well worth spending the extra $25 to get a 8800GT despite what some less informed might suggest.

[chrome-187]

The 9600Gt is a viable choice if you do not want to play any games in higher resolutions with any eye candy, it is crippled due to having half of its stream processors removed.

You can pick up a 8800GT 256mb for as little as $130 or a 8800GT 512mb for$170 or less with a rebate which just plain blows away the 9600GT.

I play AC myself on my 8800GT and 8800GTS and have not had any glitches yet.

It is well worth spending the extra $25 to get a 8800GT despite what some less informed might suggest.

wat are you talking about? the 9600gt blows the 256mb 8800gt out of the water while closely trailing the 512mb 8800gt...only a 5-10 fps difference between the 8800gt and the 9600gt...

[ratbuddy]

wat are you talking about? the 9600gt blows the 256mb 8800gt out of the water while closely trailing the 512mb 8800gt...only a 5-10 fps difference between the 8800gt and the 9600gt...

5-10 FPS at what resolution and detail settings? As a blanket statement, that's just incorrect. In Oblivion, for example, the 8800GT 256MB beats the 9600GT at any resolution. Most other games, the 9600GT wins by a good bit, however.

[NettieZoom]

The "blows away the 9600GT" statement was directly after the 8800GT 512mb and that is how I meant it and it is true. Sorry if you took it another way LOL.

It is ALOT more then 5-10fps at higher resoulutions and depending on eye candy.

[Psykoikonov]

According to THG Link (http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-geforce-9600-gt,1780.html)

According to THG these are the facts:
Resolution 1680x1050 AA4x AF8x

Test Drive Unlimited: 8800GT 512 is faster by 5.4fps
Supreme Commander: 8800GT 512 is faster by 0.7fps
S.T.A.L.K.E.R Shadow of Chernobyl: 8800GT 512 is faster by 6.6fps
World in Conflict: 8800GT 512 is faster by 1.6fps
COD4: 8800GT 512 is faster by 4.5fps
Crysis: 8800GT 512 is faster by 3.4fps
Age of Empires III: 8800GT 512 is faster by 16.4fps
Oblivion: 8800GT 512 is faster by 5.7fps
UT3: 8800GT 512 is faster by 2.6fps

Overall avg difference is 5.2fps, imo not much of a "blow away".
Also I'm not sure about the 8800GT but the 9600GT does have a fair bit overclocking headroom as can be seen in my sig.
Deafult speeds were 650MHz Core 1600Mhz Shader and 800Mhz Mem.