Buying a new graphics card

my_ark_4 · 17-03-2005, 03:42 AM

Well i desperately need an upgrade from my MX440

and I was looking at a Radeon 9600 or 9800. Im looking to spend under $175 CAD ($145 USD). I found a 128mb 9600 XT for $135 CAD ($112 USD). This seemed like a great deal bassed on the high clock speed and other factors, the only thing is lagged behind on the 9800's (sub XT) was a few factors which I have a vauge idea of what they mean (geometry rate, pixel fill rate and it only has 4 pipelines vs the 9800's 8) and the memory speed. Ive heard fairly good things about this card, but with technology as it is, to be able to play recent games on semi decent settings (read: medium to medium low) on my rig (P4 2.4 512DDR (going to a full gig soon) will it last me long before i need to upgrade. I'm not expecting it to last the almost 2 years that my MX440 did, but something close to that.

ProcalX · 17-03-2005, 04:53 AM

A 9600XT is a very good card, however if you can wait, or stretch your budget i would go for a 9800Pro or 9800XT.

Or IF you can find one, get a 9700Pro.

The 9700/9800 Range all have 8 pipelines, where as anything lower only has 4

for newer games you really would be Much better off with the 8 pipelines as it make a big difference.

The 9700Pro has slightly lower clock speeds than the 9800Pro, however has 8 Pipelines, the problem is that this card is rather hard to find.

Or, if you wanted a cheap 9800Pro, buy a: ATI Radeon 9800SE All In Wonder, it will cost you slightly more if not equal to a 9600XT, and with a simple software modification (merely done by downloading different drivers), you can "unlock" the other 4 pipelines, as they are Actually on the card, just disabled by the drivers

Exfoliate · 17-03-2005, 09:12 AM

ProcalX is absolutly right, I sold my 9800 SE to someone so they could softmod it to a 9800 Pro. The 9700 is also an excellent card in your price range, you can run World of Warcraft without slowdown on the higher settings.

harrack52 · 17-03-2005, 11:27 AM

Although it might work, I wouldn't advise you to buy a card in the hope of soft-modding it.

Sometimes (like the 9500 to 9700 mod), the disabled pipelines are disabled because they are not working right. Therefore, once you enable them, you get artifacts.

I suggest you at least get a 9800 Pro 128mb. Anything slower is a waste of money IMO, because you'll have to replace it soon, whereas the 9800 pro still has some life into it.

my_ark_4 · 17-03-2005, 12:48 PM

So would you recomend a 9800 Pro or SE above a 6900XT?

EDIT: I will probably end up with a Saphire made card if i go into the 9800's if it makes a diffrence (which i doubt)

Addis · 17-03-2005, 01:07 PM

Go for a Radeon 9800pro if you can over a 9600XT. But keep away from SE cards.

harrack52 · 17-03-2005, 01:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Addis

Go for a Radeon 9800pro if you can over a 9600XT. But keep away from SE cards.

^^

my_ark_4 · 17-03-2005, 01:33 PM

Sorry, one more thing, what about the straight 9800?

Exfoliate · 17-03-2005, 04:24 PM

The performance (and price) should be very similar when compared to the Pro, it should run FarCry and maybe even HL2 on higher settings without much of a hitch. It's a little harder to come by though, Newegg only has one in stock but it's over $200.

Waffle · 17-03-2005, 04:29 PM

yeh I have the sapphire 9800 pro 128mbm, and it's so far handled every thing I've thrown at it and spat it back out again. And with my new chip n mobo, only D3 slows me down on 1600*1200, which is no major biggy.

my_ark_4 · 17-03-2005, 04:44 PM

The place where i found them (this is in Canadian funds)

Sapphire ATI 9800Pro Atlantis AGP8X 256MB DDR W/VGA/DVI/TV-out W/Completed Cables
$265

Sapphire ATI 9800 Atlantis
AGP8X 128MB DDR W/VGA/DVI/TV-out/ADP

$179

Given, the pro does have double the ram, but i really like the price of that 9800, without any objections, i think i might go for that once i sell my old bike.

Exfoliate · 17-03-2005, 04:58 PM

I think you should, it's a better deal in the long run. Why pay $86 dollars more for something that will only give you between 5-10 fps better (or less)? The Pro does have more vram but depending on what your playing you wont notice it. My card has 128mb's of vram and I only have one stick of 512mb ram yet FarCry still runs smoothly. There are 9800's with 256mb's of vram but you will have a hard time finding them for $179 CAD. If you had PCI-express I'd suggest the GeForce 6600 line but oh well.

Exfoliate · 17-03-2005, 05:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Waffle

yeh I have the sapphire 9800 pro 128mbm, and it's so far handled every thing I've thrown at it and spat it back out again. And with my new chip n mobo, only D3 slows me down on 1600*1200, which is no major biggy.

Wow, what detail settings were you using? I'm impressed you cranked it up that high before the slowdown became particularly evident.

ninja fetus · 17-03-2005, 10:58 PM

remember this, every SE card has 64bit vRAM. Not 128, or 256 like the 9800pro/XT's. So they cannot be fully softmodded. They will still be SE's.

ProcalX · 18-03-2005, 04:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Exfoliate

Wow, what detail settings were you using? I'm impressed you cranked it up that high before the slowdown became particularly evident.

He's exaggerating.

Im running 1GB Dual Channel 2-2-2-5 / AMD64 3200+ / 6600GT @ 900/1.04GHz using DX9.0C & Omega Forceware and i can't run 1600x1200 at high graphics using my system (he'll be on lower graphics).

17-03-2005, 03:42 AM	# 1 (permalink) Top
my_ark_4 Geek Trainee Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 Status: Offline	Buying a new graphics card Well i desperately need an upgrade from my MX440 and I was looking at a Radeon 9600 or 9800. Im looking to spend under $175 CAD ($145 USD). I found a 128mb 9600 XT for $135 CAD ($112 USD). This seemed like a great deal bassed on the high clock speed and other factors, the only thing is lagged behind on the 9800's (sub XT) was a few factors which I have a vauge idea of what they mean (geometry rate, pixel fill rate and it only has 4 pipelines vs the 9800's 8) and the memory speed. Ive heard fairly good things about this card, but with technology as it is, to be able to play recent games on semi decent settings (read: medium to medium low) on my rig (P4 2.4 512DDR (going to a full gig soon) will it last me long before i need to upgrade. I'm not expecting it to last the almost 2 years that my MX440 did, but something close to that.

17-03-2005, 04:53 AM	# 2 (permalink) Top
ProcalX all grown up Join Date: Nov 2003 Age: 23 Male Posts: 1,537 Times Helpful: 30 My Mood: Cheerful Status: Offline My Computer	A 9600XT is a very good card, however if you can wait, or stretch your budget i would go for a 9800Pro or 9800XT. Or IF you can find one, get a 9700Pro. The 9700/9800 Range all have 8 pipelines, where as anything lower only has 4 for newer games you really would be Much better off with the 8 pipelines as it make a big difference. The 9700Pro has slightly lower clock speeds than the 9800Pro, however has 8 Pipelines, the problem is that this card is rather hard to find. Or, if you wanted a cheap 9800Pro, buy a: ATI Radeon 9800SE All In Wonder, it will cost you slightly more if not equal to a 9600XT, and with a simple software modification (merely done by downloading different drivers), you can "unlock" the other 4 pipelines, as they are Actually on the card, just disabled by the drivers __________________ Laptop // Toshiba Satellite A210-11P // AMD Turion 64 X2 1.8Ghz Dual Core // 4GB DDR2 // 200GB Sata HD // Dual Layer DVD-RW // ATI Radeon HD2400XT 256MB // 15.4" HD Crystal Display // Vista Premium Desktop // HP DC7700* // Pentium Dual Core 3.4Ghz // 2GB DDR2 // 2x 160GB Sata2 // 16x DVD-RW // Crucial Ballistix // ATI Radeon X1950GT 512MB // 20" Dell Screen // XP Pro SP2*

17-03-2005, 09:12 AM	# 3 (permalink) Top
Exfoliate Alpha Geek Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 20 Male Posts: 4,296 Times Helpful: 225 My Mood: Busy Status: Offline My Computer	ProcalX is absolutly right, I sold my 9800 SE to someone so they could softmod it to a 9800 Pro. The 9700 is also an excellent card in your price range, you can run World of Warcraft without slowdown on the higher settings. __________________

17-03-2005, 12:48 PM	# 5 (permalink) Top
my_ark_4 Geek Trainee Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 Status: Offline	So would you recomend a 9800 Pro or SE above a 6900XT? EDIT: I will probably end up with a Saphire made card if i go into the 9800's if it makes a diffrence (which i doubt) Last edited by my_ark_4; 17-03-2005 at 12:55 PM..

17-03-2005, 01:07 PM	# 6 (permalink) Top
Addis The King Join Date: Jan 2004 Age: 19 Male Posts: 5,260 Times Helpful: 404 My Mood: Drunk Status: Offline My Computer	Go for a Radeon 9800pro if you can over a 9600XT. But keep away from SE cards. __________________ Never trust a program you don't have the source code for. My website \| Powerful Desktop Linux \| Linux for human beings \| Linux for power users \| Linux for ricers

17-03-2005, 11:27 AM	# 4 (permalink) Top
harrack52 Supreme Geek Join Date: Jan 2003 Age: 28 Posts: 1,638 Times Helpful: 16 My Mood: Sick Status: Offline My Computer	Although it might work, I wouldn't advise you to buy a card in the hope of soft-modding it. Sometimes (like the 9500 to 9700 mod), the disabled pipelines are disabled because they are not working right. Therefore, once you enable them, you get artifacts. I suggest you at least get a 9800 Pro 128mb. Anything slower is a waste of money IMO, because you'll have to replace it soon, whereas the 9800 pro still has some life into it.

17-03-2005, 01:33 PM	# 8 (permalink) Top
my_ark_4 Geek Trainee Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 Status: Offline	Sorry, one more thing, what about the straight 9800?

17-03-2005, 04:24 PM	# 9 (permalink) Top
Exfoliate Alpha Geek Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 20 Male Posts: 4,296 Times Helpful: 225 My Mood: Busy Status: Offline My Computer	The performance (and price) should be very similar when compared to the Pro, it should run FarCry and maybe even HL2 on higher settings without much of a hitch. It's a little harder to come by though, Newegg only has one in stock but it's over $200. __________________

17-03-2005, 04:29 PM	# 10 (permalink) Top
Waffle Alpha Geek Join Date: Apr 2004 Age: 21 Male Posts: 2,270 Times Helpful: 51 My Mood: Angelic Status: Offline My Computer	yeh I have the sapphire 9800 pro 128mbm, and it's so far handled every thing I've thrown at it and spat it back out again. And with my new chip n mobo, only D3 slows me down on 1600*1200, which is no major biggy.

17-03-2005, 04:44 PM	# 11 (permalink) Top
my_ark_4 Geek Trainee Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 4 Status: Offline	The place where i found them (this is in Canadian funds) Sapphire ATI 9800Pro Atlantis AGP8X 256MB DDR W/VGA/DVI/TV-out W/Completed Cables $265 Sapphire ATI 9800 Atlantis AGP8X 128MB DDR W/VGA/DVI/TV-out/ADP $179 Given, the pro does have double the ram, but i really like the price of that 9800, without any objections, i think i might go for that once i sell my old bike.

17-03-2005, 04:58 PM	# 12 (permalink) Top
Exfoliate Alpha Geek Join Date: Jan 2005 Age: 20 Male Posts: 4,296 Times Helpful: 225 My Mood: Busy Status: Offline My Computer	I think you should, it's a better deal in the long run. Why pay $86 dollars more for something that will only give you between 5-10 fps better (or less)? The Pro does have more vram but depending on what your playing you wont notice it. My card has 128mb's of vram and I only have one stick of 512mb ram yet FarCry still runs smoothly. There are 9800's with 256mb's of vram but you will have a hard time finding them for $179 CAD. If you had PCI-express I'd suggest the GeForce 6600 line but oh well. __________________

17-03-2005, 10:58 PM	# 14 (permalink) Top
ninja fetus I'm a thugged out gangsta Join Date: Mar 2004 Age: 20 Male Posts: 3,525 Times Helpful: 70 Status: Offline My Computer	remember this, every SE card has 64bit vRAM. Not 128, or 256 like the 9800pro/XT's. So they cannot be fully softmodded. They will still be SE's.

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