looking to upgrade from Ti4200

S

Song0330

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 2, 2003
Messages
134
My Ti4200 has served me adequately for just over a year now, as a replacement for my former GF2 MX. I was very surprised when it ran Doom 3 and Half-Life 2, somewhat decently.

The time has come to upgrade to something new. I started doing research on all of the latest cards out, and was quickly overwhelmed with the dozens of choices awaiting me. And my previous method of judging a video card's quality by it's number (higher the number, usually newer and better) won't work due to all of the weird naming schemes (X800...9800...6800 Ultra...FX 5950...what??) they're up to.

What is currently the three highest performing video cards I can purchase from the internet (via pricegrabber, pricewatch, froogle, etc) for under $250 USD? I'll be attending a LAN party on the 26th of this month (my first since the summer of 03), and I don't want to be left behind.
 
well.. nvidia has the better cards this generation almost everyone will agree w/ you on that ...

so really i will only go into nvidia cards.

top of the line is the 6800 ultra.
then the 6800 GT
then the 6800 OC
and then 6800 vanilla.

then you have the mid range segment
6600 gt
6600

then budget , yet to be released in volume
6200.

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then previous generations like 5950, 5900, 5800, 5700, 5200 to say a few.

then the 4200 line.

now as far as what to buy w/ 250 bucks. well.. if you can spend more.say 305.. you can get a 6800 ultra 128 meg.

if you cant.. for 230 you can get a 6600 GT 128 meg.

the real difference b/t a 6800 and a 6600 is

1. bus width. the 6800 has a 256 bit bus whiile the 6600 is a 128 bit bus. this means in laymans terms that more traffic can flow at once. this of it as a 256 lane highway vs a 128 lane highway.

thats the main differnce..

make sure you get an AGP version. since i think you do not have PCI-E.
 
geekcomputing said:
well.. nvidia has the better cards this generation almost everyone will agree w/ you on that ...
Click to expand...


On this forum yeah

But very debatable.

They are about even...ATI handles high res with AA and AF at decent framerates, Nvidia offers PS3.0...

I think you'll find when PS3.0 games hit the shelves in numbers we'll be talking about a whole new gpu range.

Put simply if u play high res and like AA and AF, which u should shelling out that amount on a gfx card, there is only one choice.
 
Bah! its higly debatable who´s makin better vid cards, but for upgrades and such I would go for GF 6600 SLi, but not everyone has a PCIe mobo.
I think in this case as a pure vid card upgrade from Gf 4200 considering budget and all, a X800 Pro/ X800 XT or a Gf 6600 /6800 would be the answer.
I had a Gf 4600 Ti and upgraded it with a X800 pro and it makes a world of difference in games like Far Cry, Doom 3 and Half Life 2.
What you need to do is to get the latest vid cards for the latest games. Trust me, you will see what you payed for.
I would recommend either X800pro or Gf 6600, as a price/performance ratio, I dont care if I get 15-20 more fps for 100-150 $ more, not worth the money if you ask me.
If however you got some $ to burn, go for the big guns, Gf 6800U or X800 XTPE
Hope this helps =)
oops Didn´t see that $250 budget, a 9800xt 250mb would be nice for that money.
 
Slightly off topic, I dont know anyone IRL who has a PCIe mobo, nor anyone who was the want/will to buy one. I wish these companies would stop shoving them down our throat, we dont need a zillion pcie cards right now. X700 in AGP now ati! your losing the mid-range market share because you are retarted and think people will just jump on the bandwagon because its the new technology.

As for the topic get the 6600gt, but ive had it side by side with the 9800pro, and didnt notice a difference, in fact I think dx9 that the pro looked nicer.
 
Ztalin said:
Bah! its higly debatable who´s makin better vid cards, but for upgrades and such I would go for GF 6600 SLi, but not everyone has a PCIe mobo.
Click to expand...

haha, people use PCI-E? :p

For about $250 I'd get a 6800LE:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-170-074&depa=0

But, the difference in performance between an LE and Non-Ultra is night and day:
For about $20 more you can get a GeForce 6800 Non-Ultra:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-068&depa=0

I would usually recommend a 9800 Pro, but a 6800LE would most-likely kick it in the ass and the spit on it.
 
I think the 6600GT is by far the best bang for the buck. Can't wait to get mine. I've got an old AthlonXP 3200+ and didn't want to over buy since it will be my last AGP card. $250 Canadian for a card that's not going to be obsolete anytime soon seems like a smart choice.

A 6800 would be a good choice too if you have a pretty modern system and are willing to spend more.
 
The 6600GTs will be easier to find for around $250...but if you still can find a 6800nu for $250...snap it up. It'll be on par with the 6600GT in most regards, plus you have the possibility of unlocking the extra 4 pipes, which will make it far faster.
 
I'm going to say a NVIDIA 6800 would be your best choice. It is more powerful than the ATI 9800 cards. If you go to the hot deals forum, you'll see a thread there where you can get one for $227. If you are lucky, you'll be able to unlock the extra pipes and have a 16 pipe card. This will blow away anything in the same price range.
 
i had your exact problem/issue/delema

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I too had a ti4200 (gainward golden sample, overclocked).. But decided to build a new system after 2 years, and needed a new Video Card that was AGP, becuase my new mobo was AGP only.

So i too looked at the 6600GT vs the 6800 vanilla becuase ATI just didn't have anything to compete in the 170-230 price range AGP.

I decided to go with the 6800 vanilla. For a few more bucks than the 6600gt, its just a superior card standard.. and a LOT better card if your going to try overclocking and unlocking some pipes. As it is now the Avg 6600gt is around 220-230. The Avg 6800 is around 280. I would spend the few extra bucks for the 6800. I waited for a Sale and got the PNY 6800 vanilla at CompUsa for the $199, so i really lucked out. And unlike others I didn't have any problems with mine. No broken transistors, etc.. it installed like a dream, and overclocked like a dream.. though unfortunately unlike some other cards, when I unlocked the pipes, i got a lot of artifacts. But no biggie to me, i still overclocked it, and opened up the 1 extra shader with no problem. For $199 i am one happy puppy.

Just so you can understand the difference, in my old system (athlon XP 2200, 512 ram, ti4200) i got a score of 1531 in 3dbenchmark(futuremark.com) and when i loaded the 6800 in, my score jumped to 7500. And when i overclocked, i jumped to 8300. Thats a huge jump in perfomance.

So to sum it up, i would definately go with the 6800 over the 6600gt. The 12/5 pipes/shaders is a big increase over the 8/3 in the 6600GT, and in some cases the 6800 can be unlocked to a 16/6. So i would try and find a sale for a 6800 in your price range if money is an issue( i have seen 2 such sales, the PNY 6800 at compusa for $199, and the BFG for 250 at bestbuy) , or spend a little money and buy one now.

Heres is a high regarded card for $270 from new egg, the XFX 6800. For a non-sale thats a decent price for a high rated 6800. If you have any other questions feel free to email me.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-150-068&depa=0

Chris
 
Thanks for the advice everyone.

My current system has a P4 2.9 ghz, 1.5GB of ram (PC2100 in dual-channel), and makes use of all of the IDE slots. I've decided it'll be time to upgrade the mobo/cpu/HDs this year, and will all be simultaneously upgraded about one year from now (including the vid card).

Meaning, I will only use this video card for about a year, after which it will be replaced by a PCI-E card for my new setup. Do you guys still suggest I purchase the 6800, or do you believe the 6600 GT will get the job done? Also, there's barely any mention of the 9800 in this thread, other than that the 6800 is superior to it. How does the 9800 compare to the 6600 GT?
 
Put simply if u play high res and like AA and AF, which u should shelling out that amount on a gfx card, there is only one choice.[/QUOTE]

true,,, nvidia.
 
i agree as well, the 6600GT blows away the 9800 in all tests.

BUT, you threw in and added wrinkle. You are going PCIe later on. If that is the case. I would wait. and get and SLI comp. MOBO when you upgrade. Becuase in those mobo's your going to be able to chain up 2 6600gts, or 2 6800gt's at the same time, and have some mind blowing performance. So if it was me, i would wait if i was going to get a sli/pcie mobo.

Chris
 
geekcomputing said:
Put simply if u play high res and like AA and AF, which u should shelling out that amount on a gfx card, there is only one choice.
Click to expand...

true,,, nvidia.[/QUOTE]


That made me chuckle....please tell me you don't actually beleive that....Lemme guess, you still bought a 5800/5950 Ultra when the 9700/9800 Pro was clearly the superior card....and you still defend Nvidia??

Yes it is closer WITHOUT AA and AF enabled this round......but with it enabled the latest ATI cards just take the piss. If you can't see that then take a look in the ATI only forum and see how many ppl are jacking in the 6800 series cos it cannot compare....
 
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