Is this a good deal for a 9600XT AIW???

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nosed_b18b

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Nov 9, 2004
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Hello all. I am planning a new build for this winter as a huge upgrade from my current rig. I really want to get back into gaming and am undetermined as to what kind of Video Card to get. I have already purchased a few parts and this is what I am planning:

-P4 2.4c(overclock to 3.0) (ordering from Newegg)
-Asus p4p800SE (waiting for new shipment @Newegg)
-2x512 Geil Value (purchased for $139 @ Fry's)
-80gigWD (already have it)
-Video Card (undetermined)

I am going to mainly use this computer for Video Editing(learning as a new hobby) and probably get back into some gaming. The newest games I've seen lately are fckin sick. I'm an old school gamer, mainly from the beginning of CS/Halflife, and Starcraft days. So I'm assuming my current rig isn't going to be able to handle the new stuff like FarCry and HL2. I really wanted to get a 9800pro from Outpost, but they ran out of the one that I wanted. Click Below.
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3628345?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG

The other card that I am considering and asking for your advices on is a 9600XT AIW. In the description, it says that it is 256bit and has 8pixel pipelines. It seems virtually the same as the 9800 pro I was gonna get and has a $50 rebate which makes it $150??? What do you guys think?? Is this a good buy?? Let me know fast before this is sold out too. Click the link below. Thanks.
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/4008902?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
 
Is the 9700pro much better than the 9600XT AIW that I have linked??? The 9600 says that it does have 128DDR and is 256bit w/ 8 pixel pipelines. Is the 9700pro better than that??
 
The only problem is that I cannot find a decent priced one. Outpost had them for 179.99, but they are currently out of stock. The only other ones that are even remotely around that price are the 128bit versions. I mean, what would the difference be between this 9600XT AIW and a 9800 pro???
 
nosed_b18b said:
Is the 9700pro much better than the 9600XT AIW that I have linked??? The 9600 says that it does have 128DDR and is 256bit w/ 8 pixel pipelines. Is the 9700pro better than that??
Click to expand...

its wrong. all 9600's are 4 piped, 128bit cards.

edit: just looked at outpost, and damn, thats very misleading. looks like they took the description of hte AIW 9800 and changed the 8 to a 6, seriously. the 9600 series all have 4 pipes and 128-bit, there are no exceptions. i would soundly recomend the 9800, and if you want TV capabilities, get a PCI tuner, the two cards togehter would work better than one AIW anyway, especilally if you get a hardware rendering card.
 
Dammit. I knew it was too good to be true. Anybody find any good deals on 9800 pros? Preferably any that aren't out of stock?? Or any that are going to be replenished soon. The only one I found is this Rosewill at Newegg. Click below. Tell me what you think about this one.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-164-025&depa=1

Also, another thing I found is a 9800Pro EZ??? Click below.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-278&depa=1
I was wondering how this card would compare to a cheap non-pro 9800 and the 9600XT above??
 
Stay away from those 128-bit 9800's as they are almost as much as a 256bit 9800 and the performance on those are not even close to a 256bit 9800 or 9800Pro.
 
nosed_b18b said:
But how would they fair against the 9600XT/Pro??
Click to expand...
a 128bit 9800 pro, it would have a slight edge on the 9600xt, but not much. its most definatly not worth the money, if you are getting a video card, definatly go with the 9800 pro 256bit, the rosewell looks fine.
 
if you want to play games that are coming up, you are gonna need a 9800 pro or better to get decent performance on them.. you can find them for $180 or so if you look hard enough on our forums or elsewhere
 
Unfortunately, I cannot purchase used from members because this whole system is going on my credit card. Also, paypal is not an option due to previous experiences. I think I'm just gonna wait a couple more weeks and get the rosewill. Seems to be the best price on any 9800pro at this time.
 
IceWeasel said:
if you want to play games that are coming up, you are gonna need a 9800 pro or better to get decent performance on them.. you can find them for $180 or so if you look hard enough on our forums or elsewhere
Click to expand...

Haha that almost sounds blasphemous, like the words of us gamers looking for self satisfaction of spending an unreasonable amount of money on a video card. Sorry to break it to you but I got "decent" framerate on all current games (minus half life2 of course) on my 4200ti, not to mention on my 9600xt and 9800 pro. Either of the two would play any game up to this point, and in the not too distant future at a decent framerate. Even a 128bit 9800pro.
 
I have a 128mb 9700 pro aiw and my friend has the 128mb 9600 xt aiw. I get better frame rates with my 9700 in older games but his kicks mines ass in newer games. the 9600xt also comes with the newer remote wonder 2. its deffinately worth it. I can really see the difference in graphics with different games. the 9600xt looks alot better.the 9600xt aiw came out 2 years after the 9700. it supports the newer smart shader and many other options that werent available when the 9700 was produced. as far as newer games, my friend plays doom 3 at a higher level of detail than my card will and he still gets better frame rates. I would like to have the 800xt aiw. but the 9600xt aiw can do all my 9700 aiw can and more.
 
Did you think of maybe a 9800 pro gfx card and an addon $40 VIVO card? That way you wont be a shrew next time you have to upgrade your gfx card cause the VIVO card would be extraneous.

~Adam
 
get a used 9800 pro off hardforums for about 120.

or buy a 6600 graphics card . those are very nice.
 
independantvariable said:
Haha that almost sounds blasphemous, like the words of us gamers looking for self satisfaction of spending an unreasonable amount of money on a video card. Sorry to break it to you but I got "decent" framerate on all current games (minus half life2 of course) on my 4200ti, not to mention on my 9600xt and 9800 pro. Either of the two would play any game up to this point, and in the not too distant future at a decent framerate. Even a 128bit 9800pro.
Click to expand...

Thank you for your rather rude post, it was completely unnecessary. I don't consider 20-30 fps a "decent" framerate in any game, which is probably what you were looking at with your 4200 with all the eyecandy turned off. Also, the buyer stated that he wants this card to get back into gaming, as well as doing video editing.... both of those have the potential to take up a lot of resources. I simply stated that anything older than a 9800 pro wouldn't be a great idea because prices have been dropping on the newer cards and everything is more affordable now.

You could have been a little more courteous about your post, but whatever, its not a big deal. Everyone has their own opinions.
 
I would suggest at least a 9800 Pro for any gaming system. You should be able to find a Saphire 9800 Pro off ebay real cheap.
 
IceWeasel said:
Thank you for your rather rude post, it was completely unnecessary. I don't consider 20-30 fps a "decent" framerate in any game, which is probably what you were looking at with your 4200 with all the eyecandy turned off. Also, the buyer stated that he wants this card to get back into gaming, as well as doing video editing.... both of those have the potential to take up a lot of resources. I simply stated that anything older than a 9800 pro wouldn't be a great idea because prices have been dropping on the newer cards and everything is more affordable now.

You could have been a little more courteous about your post, but whatever, its not a big deal. Everyone has their own opinions.
Click to expand...

I would rather be rude than ignorant. BTW my friend gets good framerate on his 50 dollar 5200, play counter strike source at 800x600.

And also I do not have to be a little more anything. I am entitled to post in what ever way I feel like, following moral guidelines set by these forums. Whether or not you think my opinion is correct or not.
 
independantvariable said:
I would rather be rude than ignorant. BTW my friend gets good framerate on his 50 dollar 5200, play counter strike source at 800x600.

And also I do not have to be a little more anything. I am entitled to post in what ever way I feel like, following moral guidelines set by these forums. Whether or not you think my opinion is correct or not.
Click to expand...

you honestly feel that playing cs: source at 800x600 is decent? wake up man, you are on a hardware enthusiast forum! we stopped settling for 800x600 in the days of the voodoo!

we arent ignorant, we just obvoiusly have higher standards. the fx5200 was a vile peice of garbage, im surprised cs: source will even run!

far cry looked pretty cool on my 9600 pro. its fuckin awe inspiring on my GT. (with double the frames!)
 
Yes but I am awestruck that everyone keeps posting this propaganda claiming that if you do not have a card greater then (x amount of dollars) then you will not be able to play the game decently. In a sense we are becoming so media driven we can not realize that you do NOT need such a top notch dollar video card to play computer games. True this is a hardware forum, but we can not outcast some and shove it in their face that they will not be able to play these games unless they have as good as video card as you do. I think you need to take a good look around you, it just happens that quite a lot of people do not have the amount of money avaible to spend as many of us do. It angers me when I see these post (not just this in particular) of gamers asking for advice on a new video card. Many occurances of budgets mentioned and yet its.."well 20 dollars more...50 dollars more and.." Please stop this inentelliable nonsense and realize that many midranged cards can play these bloody video games.

On a side note if you hate to read anything that I write than no one is forcing you to read it, I am just giving you the other side of the story. Contrary to what some of your corporate media driven minds are telling you.
 
you are crazy :rolleyes: you are taking way too much offense at our suggestions that a 9800 pro is a mid-level gaming card. the fact of the matter is just because some cannot afford to buy the newest technology, it still doesn't take away from the fact that those cards are the best performers.. meaning the 9800 becomes a mid-grade card, and the 5200 and the others are low-end solutions. In no way is anyone slighting those low-end cards, for some they are satisfactory, however I am speaking from a gamer's perspective when I say that the low-end cards just won't cut it (for me) because of all the extra effects that the newer games are utilizing
 
nosed_b18b: Whichever card you end up getting, please report on its noise level. I'm considering building a home theatre PC based on an MSI MEGA barebone and an AIW TV/graphics card.
 
anyone with a halfway decent job out there can afford a 180 dollar video card. its a matter of importance. of course, if you are not going to be gaming, only boot up CS once in a while, then yes, go for a ti200 or an mx4000 or somehting like that.

if you want to game and be impressed at what these programmers are bringing you, to play the game as it is meant to be played(no, im not trying to pimp nvidia) you will invest in an at LEAST mid level card, which is where the 9800 pro is at now. the 9600 was a good solution at 200 a year ago, which is why i bought it a year ago, it was best bang for the buck. if you are going to spend ~200 dollars, it should not be on a 9600xt. theyre too slow compared to the 9800 pro, and they are about the same price. for VIVO, just get a 40 dollar tuner with the 9800 pro, you wont regret it.

if he only had, say, 100 dollars to spend, then i might suggest a 9600 pro. in his price range however, 9800 is the best he can get ATM
 
I have a 9600XT and it's fast becoming obselete.

My geforce 6800GT will arrive tommorow, and I suggest you make the same purchase. Either that or an x800XT PE
 
Just thought I'd update this thread for anyone who is interested. I decided to just go w/ a 9600pro because I figured that I won't be gaming that much anyways, but if I did, I assumed that a 9600 pro would be able to play a lot of the newer games just at low settings. Well, I placed my order on Sunday from Outpost.com and I just got it today. Which is a great turnaround by the way. I highly recommend them. But the cool thing about this order is that they messed up. Not in a bad way, but a good one. Instead of getting my expected 9600pro, they sent me a 9600xt AIW. :D Not the best card in the world, but for only $100, I'll take it. :D
 
Thanks. How are the features on the AIW??? Are the TV out/in/multi-display options any good?? Will it wear down the card if I use them?? The reason I ask, is because I"m thinking of hooking it up to my TV to play dvds so I don't have to buy a new home DVD player.
 
the AIW cards work fine, they dont however have the hardware based encoding/decoding that the PVR and e-home wonder (among others) have, so dont expect anything super spectacular. if watching television wears down a card which is made to watch television, id say its a pretty crappy card :p

as for multi display and all that stuff, ive never owned an AIW, so youre gonna have to test all that out yourself.
 
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