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Which card to get...

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Little DeViL

Member
Joined
Nov 8, 2003
Location
Gaborone, Botswana
These are the following cards that fall into my price range; which to you recommend for gaming/value purposes...?

  • GIGABYTE® ATI Radeon 9600XT AGP8x 256MB 128 Bit DDR / TV-Out + DVI + VIVO / DirectX 9 + OpenGL / Multi-View Function
  • GIGABYTE® ATI Radeon X600PRO PCI-Express 16X 128MB DDR 128-bit DDR with TV-out/Twin View+DVI, Memory 600MHz
  • Gigabyte® nVidia Geforce FX5700 AGP8x 256MB 128 Bit DDR / TV-Out + DVI + VIVO / PowerDVD 5 / Direct X 9.0 + OpenGL
  • Gigabyte® nVidia Geforce FX5900XT AGP8x 128MB 256 Bit DDR / TV-Out + DVI / PowerDVD 5 / Direct X 9.0 + OpenGL
  • Leadtek® nVidia GeForce FX5700 AGP8x 256MB 128 Bit (3.6ns) DDR / TV-Out + DVI + VIVO / Direct X 9.0 + OpenGL
  • Leadtek® nVidia GeForce FX5900XT AGP8x 128MB 256 Bit (2.8ns) DDR / TV-Out + DVI + Hardware Monitor / Direct X 9.0 + OpenGL
 
The 5900XT is the best of all the cards you have listed, which ever one you prefer. The x600 would require a different motherboard for the pci express and is really only a 9600xt on a pci-e board if I am right.
 
Ok... Well, at another forum, the 5900XT was also recommended....

btw... I'll probably only buy the card just before X-mas or after the new year.
 
Well these cards will probably be half the price and obsolete by then. I suggest asking a few days before you buy.
 
Thats another thing... Should I get a new card or a new CPU? Would a new cpu like... P4 2.4/2.8 or something have a better affect for gaming that a 5900XT or Geforce 6600GT/6800GT...?

Btw... I'm leaning more towards a new card than anything else ;)
 
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Depends entirely on what processor, RAM, and video you have now. Don't be surprised if people tell you that your weak point is your RAM. It's all too common to blindly upgrade a component and not gain a thing due to other bottlenecks in the system.
 
No, a card would help more, but those are all last generation cards

In other words?

omaticrail said:
Depends entirely on what processor, RAM, and video you have now. Don't be surprised if people tell you that your weak point is your RAM. It's all too common to blindly upgrade a component and not gain a thing due to other bottlenecks in the system.

So, even 512 DDR ram is not enough now-a-days?
 
hi

I can suggest u to get more RAM as well... PC3200 at least..to have like 1G RAM werent expensive and get a good boost... but try to overclock ur cpu.. to 2.2 maybe or smth... then wait for best vid card to be less expensive... (x800XT or Gforce6800 ultra) 'cause they are all new and cost too much to be bought...If u buy a new video card maybe you'll need to buy a new power supply! New nvidia's cards need alot of power.. (psu around 500WTrue not peak) ATI's cards are better but need more power than old FX or 9800 (and under). Which kind of psu do u get?
 
Little DeViL said:
Thats another thing... Should I get a new card or a new CPU? Would a new cpu like... P4 2.4/2.8 or something have a better affect for gaming that a 5900XT or Geforce 6600GT/6800GT...?

Btw... I'm leaning more towards a new card than anything else ;)

No,The video card will make the biggest difference for you right now.
All the other stuff is secondary.Example:another 512 of ram,faster cpu,etc...
That will help but you really need a better card first.The 5900XT should be a good choice,I think the 6800gt could be overkill for your Cpu though.
 
Frog_Qc said:
hi

but try to overclock ur cpu.. to 2.2 maybe or smth...


I can overclock my CPU... I can get it to about 2.1-2.2. If I go any higher, my pc won't boot and then I have to reset my CMOS battery thing.
 
i know that changing the graphic card will make the biggest diffrence but good one by now are really expensive... its not worth 500$us for a vid card... its just brand new... and he will needs a new psu for sure...wich power supply u got by now littledevil?
 
In a couple of months, there should be the X700's or 6600's which would be a better choice over any of the cards in the generation you are looking at.
 
Gregory_WE is right. I would deffinitly look for a more current solution in that price range. The 6600's should be out in AGP by then and firmly hand the older cards their colective arse's.
 
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