Comparing graphics cards

[SteveThaiBinh]

I have (I think) a P4 2.6Ghz, with 1GB RAM, so I'm assuming that the graphics card, a lowly GeForce FX 5200, is the weakest link and am hoping to upgrade it. A brief look at a retailer's website reveals too many cards available for for me to get my head round at the moment. Can anyone recommend a good card for about

[Judge Hades]

It also depends on what slot you have available. Do you have a AGP, PCI, or a PCI Express slot available to you?

[mkreku]

There's a ATI X800 that's supposed to be extremely good value for your money. It has the exact same specs as the much more expensive cards, and if you reflash the bios you unlock massive amounts of power. I'll look it up and get back to the thread.

 

Edit: Here it is! It's a X800 that's flashable to a X850! Great value for your money.

 

http://www.ciao.co.uk/Sapphire_ATI_Radeon_..._Review_5537302

 

Edit 2: Also, I'm assuming from your listed specs that you're using AGPx8. If you can find the above mentioned card, it's well worth it. But I just looked p my favourite swedish online stores and none of them had any left

 

Edit 3: http://www.komplett.se/k/ki.asp?sku=311656&cks=PRL

Edited November 8, 2005 by mkreku

[Kaftan Barlast]

but another thing is that if you want to be able to access the full eyecandy in comming games such as NWN2, you need a card that supports Shader Model 3.0 which means atleast a nVidia Gf6600. I do not believe the ATI 800 series supports it.

[mkreku]

And just because this is a thread about GPU's, I have to add this:

 

http://apps.ati.com/ir/PressReleaseText.as...eleaseID=772964

 

)

[mkreku]

but another thing is that if you want to be able to access the full eyecandy in comming games such as NWN2, you need a card that supports Shader Model 3.0 which means atleast a nVidia Gf6600. I do not believe the ATI 800 series supports it.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yeah, but the GF6600 is a weaker card than even my old Radeon 9800 Pro, so I would still not recommend it to anyone. I'd go for at least the 6800, but then there's that price thing..

 

[Shadowstrider]

I assume you have an AGP 4x/8x socket? Or were you going to upgrade that, as well?

[SteveThaiBinh]

I assume you have an AGP 4x/8x socket?  Or were you going to upgrade that, as well?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I might. :ph34r: Hypothetically speaking, if a person had no idea whether he had an AGP 4x/8x socket, or indeed PCI or PCI express, how might he find this out?

[mkreku]

You have a AGP 8X, I am certain of it. I'm not even sure the Gf 5200 comes in a PCI-Express version. And even if you only had a AGP 4X slot, it wouldn't matter as all 8X GPU's work on those too, and you wouldn't notice any difference in most games, except the very most demanding ones.

 

You can check this yourself though. If you have ONE large slot and several small ones, then you have AGP. To see if it supports 8X, just go into the BIOS and look for your AGP features.

 

If you have lots of similar looking slots (where one has a different colour), you're using PCI-E. Then it's PCI-E 16X. Simple as that.

 

Edit: I lost a t in "matter", but found it under my desk and replaced it in the post.

Edited November 8, 2005 by mkreku

[Shadowstrider]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814122193

 

Not too pricey, and I believe it is one of the top-of-the-line AGP 8x cards available. Depending on the manufacturer you'll get varying prices and benchmark/overclocking.

 

I know its a USA company, but the card should be available in the UK.

 

I don't like ATi, for several reasons. Under ideal situations they perform perfectly, but many games simply perform better with an nVidia card.

[mkreku]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814122193

 

Not too pricey, and I believe it is one of the top-of-the-line AGP 8x cards available.  Depending on the manufacturer you'll get varying prices and benchmark/overclocking.

 

I know its a USA company, but the card should be available in the UK.

 

I don't like ATi, for several reasons.  Under ideal situations they perform perfectly, but  many games simply perform better with an nVidia card.

The problem with the card you linked lies in its memory: 128 MB is not a good buy nowadays. 256 MB is pretty much the standard now, and ATI are just releasing cards with 512 MB now. I'd really go with a 256 MB card.

 

As for ATI and Nvidia: apples and oranges. My entire reviewing crew runs ATI (cheaper, faster, more reliable) while other say the same thing about their Nvidia GPU's. It probably just means that both manufacturers make good cards since everyone seems to be so happy with theirs.

[Sargallath Abraxium]

...the Connect3D X800GTO comes in AGP flavor and apparently has the potential, like that of the Sapphire Radeon X800GTO2 Limited Edition that mkreku linked to (awesome GPU, btw; a proud owner of one meself), to be flashed to a 16-pipeline card...and Kaftan, Shader Model 3.0 won't really make that much of a difference when you're talking mid-range cards; only when you get up there in High/Ultra settings at high resolutions will Shader Model 3.0 start to really shine...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[Shadowstrider]

The memory could be a problem depending on what games he intends to run.

 

I use a card very similar to that on my home PC and can run most games on top settings with little slowdown. He has two factors working against him, really. The depreciation of AGP and my lack of knowledge about his particular PC.

 

Curiosity, what kind of power supply does your PC run, Steve?

[Kaftan Barlast]

All I know is that when I had ATI cards, all my nVidia-using friends were free of problems while I had to constantly swicth drivers etc. to be able to play the same games. Just look at the K2 fiasco.

 

 

 

...and Kaftan, Shader Model 3.0 won't really make that much of a difference when you're talking mid-range cards; only when you get up there in High/Ultra settings at high resolutions will Shader Model 3.0 start to really shine...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Well, I did say "atleast a Gf6600" ..meaning "buy a 7800GTX"

[SteveThaiBinh]

Thanks for your help, everyone. Every two years when I upgrade or buy a new computer, it seems that what little I ever knew about computer components is obsolete already.

 

I checked, and Windows says I've got an AGP 8X. Is that good enough, or should I be upgrading/switching to this PCI-Express? That would mean changing the motherboard, I suppose, which I'd rather not do. But the PCI-Express cards all seem to be much cheaper (for the same card) than the AGP cards. Why is this?

 

If the ATI 800 doesn't support fancy thingies for NWN2, then I'd like to try to get something that does, if it's possible with my budget.

 

I found something on my local retailer's website calling itself the "GeForce 6800Ultra 8x AGP DVI TV Out Graphics Card", for just over

[Kaftan Barlast]

PCI-e cards are cheaper because the manufacturers wants you to buy a new motherboard, its really that simple.

 

 

A 6800u should be great, it can run even cutting-edge games like Q4 with very high settings and still get a good framerate. And it supports ShaderModel 3.0

[Shadowstrider]

What company makes the card, Steve?

 

Some company cards are bad if you overclock and open up new pipelines. With the depreciation of AGP 8x, you might want to invest in a card that performs well after an overclocking, etc... unless you want to buy a new motherboard and video card in another year or two.

 

When purchasing video cards, I generally go with nVidia and generally Leadtek.

[SteveThaiBinh]

Well, the full name of the card is Novatech Geforce 6800Ultra 8x AGP DVI TV Out Graphics Card . Novatech is the name of our (fairly large) local computer supplier, but I can't imagine they do much more than attach a sticker with their name on it on a component that's come in from the Far East. They do sell LeadTek cards, just not this particular one. Do you think it's worth hunting around for another retailer that will give me a LeadTek version of the 6800Ultra?

 

I plan for this to last another 2 or at most 3 years, at which point my computer will be 5 years old, and it will be time to scrap it and buy a new one. So if a decent AGP card will serve me until then, it makes sense for me to stick with it, I guess.

Edited November 8, 2005 by SteveThaiBinh

[Hildegard]

Well, the full name of the card is  Novatech Geforce 6800Ultra 8x AGP DVI TV Out Graphics Card  .  Novatech is the name of our (fairly large) local computer supplier, but I can't imagine they do much more than attach a sticker with their name on it on a component that's come in from the Far East.

 

I plan for this to last another 2 or at most 3 years, at which point my computer will be 5 years old, and it will be time to scrap it and buy a new one.  So if a decent AGP card will serve me until then, it makes sense for me to stick with it, I guess.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Go with Novatech Steve, in my opinion they're better then Assus, Gainward and Leadtek put together when it comes to nvidia graphic cards

Edited November 8, 2005 by Hildegard

[Shadowstrider]

I've never used Novatech (not sure we even have it in the states), but that looks like a good card.

 

Just make sure you have a sufficient power supply (at least 350w).

[SteveThaiBinh]

Go with Novatech Steve, in my opinion they're better then Assus, Gainward and Leadtek put together when it comes to nvidia graphic cards

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

OK. At least if the thing explodes, they're local and I can take it back.

Just make sure you have a sufficient power supply (at least 350w).

They sold me my computer, so they'll probably know if I have enough power. I'll order it in the morning. I need a good night's sleep before I can face Novatech's customer service. :ph34r:

[Sargallath Abraxium]

Go with Novatech Steve, in my opinion they're better then ...and Leadtek put together when it comes to nvidia graphic cards

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

...you do realize that Leadtek is one of nVidia's premier partners and that the Leadtek versions of the 6800 series and the 6600GT were rated by many reviewers (Anandtech, Tom's, ExtremeOverclockers, etc...) as the best overall choice in nVidia GPUs???...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

[Hildegard]

Go with Novatech Steve, in my opinion they're better then ...and Leadtek put together when it comes to nvidia graphic cards

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

 

...you do realize that Leadtek is one of nVidia's premier partners and that the Leadtek versions of the 6800 series and the 6600GT were rated by many reviewers (Anandtech, Tom's, ExtremeOverclockers, etc...) as the best overall choice in nVidia GPUs???...

 

 

...WHO LUVS YA, BABY!!...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

...don't know about the 6800 series and Leadtek, but I had another nvidia Leadtek GPU and it was the biggest piece of sh*t I ever put in my PC....

[Kaftan Barlast]

Leadtek used to be the "cheap & dirty" alternative.

[Shadowstrider]

Used to be a long time ago, yes. Not since the 4200 era, at least.