Question about 4200/4600 spec's

[Nolo31]

I'm currently looking into gettign a new video card, and had a few questions about the importance of certain things.

First off, is there any difference in 4x apg and 8x? I ordered a new a7n8x motherboard last night, and it supports 8x apg. Just wanted to know if 8x is worth getting.

Also, is there any difference in 64mb and 128mb of ram on a video card? I've heard from various people that there isn't much of a difference, just would like to hear imput of the people on these boards.

Although I've only had 1 video card up to this point, I've come to like gainward based cards. They are very easy to overclock and very stable. Any other brands that might be as good as gainward?

The two main things im looking for out of my video card is benchmarking and gaming. Whatever would be the best bang for my buck in those two catagories is what I will get. Thanks for your help.

 

[Cube]

Well, one question... How much are you willing to spend?

As an nVidia fan for the past few years, I'd have to go with buying an ATI 9500 Pro or above.

But if you want to stick with nVidia, dat's cool.

AGP 8x: Some people have said that there really isn't that much of a difference. Again it comes down to how much you want to spend. If you've got the money, just go ahead and buy an 8x card since later applications or motherboards might make better use of the bandwidth down the road.

64 vs 128: Generally the 64mb chips are rated at 3.5ns, giving a theoretical bandwidth of 8.1 gig/sec. The 128mb usually has around 4ns, and 7 gig/sec speed. Although it seems the newer cards might be using the faster ram chips on the 128s. You usually wouldn't notice a difference of ram size until you start playing games in high resolutions, usually over 1280x1024.

Brands: I would steer clear of Gainward. Their GF4s sometimes have pretty severe video problems, even turning your screen "pink". In my opinion, the cards that are worth your attention are made by MSI, Asus, LeadTek, and Albatron.

Also, take a look at the OC3DMark Team pages. You can see ratings about cards and what people tend to get out of them.

 

[Evnas]

If i were you, (and im assuming you are hell bent on an nvidia card) i wouldnt buy anything over a Ti4200. The Ti4400 and above really arent worth the money at all, where as the Ti4200 is a great card for the price.

 

[Nolo31]

In all the time that I have had my gainward gf4, it has never once acted up. Sure it was glitchy when i turned it up to 284/599, but that was to be expected.

 

[Nolo31]

Also, atm im looking at spending 130ish for a new card.

 

[Damian]

For $130, you can't really get anything better than your ti4200. If you're desperate for a new card, you might want to shell out the extra $30 for a Radeon 9500 pro.

 

[Lummoxx]

My Gainwards have been exceptional. Now, my 4400 did blow up a few weeks back, but I have to admit, I'm impressed with Gainward, since they sent back a new 4600.