new vidcard time...some q's

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jagec

[H]F Junkie
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Aug 3, 2001
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Well, my 8500 seems to be having some trouble, sooo I want to upgrade. I'm a cheapskate, but I don't want to settle for crap. So, my ideal budget is $150 or so, but I'm willing to spring a bit more for a good deal/much better card.

I've been looking at the 9600XT as the best bang for my buck. But I have a couple questions.
First off, is there a difference between the various manufacturers? Do the sapphires/powercolors/gigabyte cards all include the coupon for HL2 and all perform/OC just about as well? You'll forgive my noob-ness...

Also, if there's a better/cheaper card out there that I should look at, let me know...thanks!
 
i am looking for the same card. From what i have found out lately is the ones built by ati are naturally the best. The saphires are right there thought. you need some heatsink under the gpu fan....but from what i have found out they are a good card. newegg has the saphire 9600xt for 157 shipped.
 
I would suggest staying away from the 9600XT unless $160 is an absolute price cap for you. The performance difference between the 9600XT and the 5900NU/9700Pro is worth the price difference. BTW, for $160, you won't be getting HL2. I would highly suggest the 5900NU for $184. It out performs the 9600XT in pretty much all tests (DX9 included). If you want to stick with ATI, the 9700 pro for $209 is mighty tempting. Also a very good value.
 
ok.......thanks ........its a little more than i should spend but if the difference is worth it.......
 
Yes im dissappointed with the 9600XT's performance because it loses many tests to a 9500Pro

You havent seen any threads where people are giving up their 9500Pros for newer cards yet, because they kick ass.

I believe the 5900NU will o/c quite a bit if the 9700Pro is out of your price range.

You may also look for a 5700Ultra which is the "head to head" nVidia card vs the 9600XT, and yes the 5700 is a tad faster with higher o/c room.
 
Originally posted by hamster
ok.......thanks ........its a little more than i should spend but if the difference is worth it.......
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Check out this review by FiringSquad. You're looking at a 20-40% performance difference between a 9600XT and 5900NU in every test (even ones with AA/AF).
 
while i will agree that the 5900nu is probably a better buy than the 9600xt, i could've sworn i saw someone post that a major retailer was selling built-by-ati 9600xt's (with half-life 2) for $149.
 
Originally posted by obs
If you want to stick with ATI, the 9700 pro for $209 is mighty tempting. Also a very good value.
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well, I think I'd like to stick to ATI for HL2 reasons...I guess I'm looking for a Radeon 9500 pro then. The 9700 is a bit out of my price range.
 
that must be why the price is higher on the 9500 pro than the 9600 xt.........157 vs. 189
 
Originally posted by Nihilanth99
while i will agree that the 5900nu is probably a better buy than the 9600xt, i could've sworn i saw someone post that a major retailer was selling built-by-ati 9600xt's (with half-life 2) for $149.
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I saw that too, it was Circuit City. BUT....I read the ad and it has 3 rebates, 2 of them are mail in....ugh:mad:

I made the choice to go with the 9700 pro for $25 more because it out performs the 5900nu in just about every game...for me it was worth it...for others, maybe not.
 
cant you find 9800 non pros for around 199 dollars? and they out perform the 9700 pros from the benchmarks ive seen. And if your lucky you'll get a 9800 non-pro with the L config memory, then you got yourself a 9800 pro for 200 bucks :)

when i had the 9800 non pro, my 3d mark was 200 higher then with my 9700 pro with the same system configuration. The only thing i changed was my case from steel to aluminum, plus the 9800 np came with HL2 at Fry's. :)
 
The 9600XT is a good choice depending on your other components.

Since you say you are upgrading from an 8500:

If you don't have a Pentium4 on a 800Mhz FSB equivalent or higher, then the 9600XT should be fine for you. The 9600XT is also more forgiving of a weaker powersupply.

Radeon 9700 pros and up really only start to open up with P4 2Ghz+ computers, in which case an upgrade to 300watts may be a good minimum if you don't already have a good powersupply.
 
I had a hard time finding cheap 9800's. Most of them were SE's w/ 128bit buswidth and only 4 pipelines. Newegg's jump way above the 9700pro in price when you get to the 9800np and pro's.
 
Originally posted by ZenOps
The 9600XT is a good choice depending on your other components.

Since you say you are upgrading from an 8500:

If you don't have a Pentium4 on a 800Mhz FSB equivalent or higher, then the 9600XT should be fine for you. The 9600XT is also more forgiving of a weaker powersupply.

Radeon 9700 pros and up really only start to open up with P4 2Ghz+ computers, in which case an upgrade to 300watts may be a good minimum if you don't already have a good powersupply.
Click to expand...
here's my whole system.
Antec 330W PSU
Abit TH7-II RAID
P4 1.6a @ 2 GHz
768 MB PC800 RDRAM
Radeon 8500
Maxtor 80 GB
Maxtor 160 GB
16x DVD
40x CDRW
72x CDROM
floppy
soundcard
LAN

I'm looking at someone who's selling a 9500np hardmodded to a 9700 pro for $200, including RAM sinks, pots, and GPU HSF. My other option is the Sapphire 9600XT for $175 (retail, I want HL2:) )
 
Originally posted by jagec I'm looking at someone who's selling a 9500np hardmodded to a 9700 pro for $200, including RAM sinks, pots, and GPU HSF. My other option is the Sapphire 9600XT for $175 (retail, I want HL2:) ) [/B]
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Don't spend $200 on a 9500->9700pro hardmod.... For $9 more you can get a brand spanking new 9700 pro. I would talk to guy down to $150, especially if it had any extensive use.
 
Originally posted by jagec
here's my whole system.
Antec 330W PSU
Abit TH7-II RAID
P4 1.6a @ 2 GHz
768 MB PC800 RDRAM
Radeon 8500
Maxtor 80 GB
Maxtor 160 GB
16x DVD
40x CDRW
72x CDROM
floppy
soundcard
LAN

I'm looking at someone who's selling a 9500np hardmodded to a 9700 pro for $200, including RAM sinks, pots, and GPU HSF. My other option is the Sapphire 9600XT for $175 (retail, I want HL2:) )
Click to expand...


nice computer :), glad to see its still running

the server died though :(, oh well heh
 
Originally posted by obs
I would suggest staying away from the 9600XT unless $160 is an absolute price cap for you. The performance difference between the 9600XT and the 5900NU/9700Pro is worth the price difference. BTW, for $160, you won't be getting HL2. I would highly suggest the 5900NU for $184. It out performs the 9600XT in pretty much all tests (DX9 included). If you want to stick with ATI, the 9700 pro for $209 is mighty tempting. Also a very good value.
Click to expand...

obs did you buy from enpc? If so, how was your experience? That price is too good for a 5.5 ResellerRating to get in the way.
 
Originally posted by obyj34
obs did you buy from enpc? If so, how was your experience? That price is too good for a 5.5 ResellerRating to get in the way.
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Actually yes I did. I ordered Saturday Dec 27th, it shipped that next monday. UPS fucked up the shipping and lost it for a day but when I did get it, it was a nice shrink wrapped brand new BFG box. Card works fine. I too was sceptical but after reading the reviews it seemed like most people were having problems with their monitors and the video card reviews seemed to be all good. Oh, and in addition to price, they were one of the few retailers selling the BFG 5900NU.
 
The 9500pro is a great card. Its on the same chipset as the 9700pro just underclocked. So with proper cooling you can overclock a 9500pro ---> 9700pro.

9500pro = 8 pixel pipelines
8 pixel pipelines = :)
 
hmm..after discussing it with some of my friends, I'm going to try to get a Radeon 9800 pro from ATI via the trade-up program. So that'll be like $250. Then I'm doing a complicated shift of hardware with my friend, leaving him with what amounts to the internals of my current computer, and me with some upgrades.

BTW, what's the oldest video card ATI will accept for their trade-up program? I don't see any limit on the site, but I can't imagine people are turning in their old ISA vidcards from a 486:)
 
I believe we have reached a good day and age in this thread where people dont get flamed for suggesting things, and someone can suggest both ATI and nVidia in the same post.
 
well i ended up ordering a 9700 pro. my ti 400 is on its way out so i was stuck. for some reason it will only boot in safe mode. plus there are yellow lines running down my screen. if anyone has any ideas ohter than the card is shot please let me know. you can e-mail me at [email protected]
 
Originally posted by jagec
BTW, what's the oldest video card ATI will accept for their trade-up program? I don't see any limit on the site, but I can't imagine people are turning in their old ISA vidcards from a 486:)
Click to expand...

crazy as it may sound, there are no limitations. you really can trade a 1mb trident and save 50 bucks off a 9800 pro :) .
 
Originally posted by Nihilanth99
crazy as it may sound, there are no limitations. you really can trade a 1mb trident and save 50 bucks off a 9800 pro :) .
Click to expand...
Right. One "Number Nine Visual Technology" PCI graphics card, coming their way!

New 9800 pro, coming my way!:)

This will put the rest of my system to shame...
 
Originally posted by Nihilanth99
crazy as it may sound, there are no limitations. you really can trade a 1mb trident and save 50 bucks off a 9800 pro :) .
Click to expand...

I wonder what they'd do if I sent them a Sun Creator 3D UPA card...
 
Originally posted by Cloud15x
50 dollars

and if you sent them a 5950 ultra

50 dollars
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and if you sent them a 9800 pro

50 dollars
 
Originally posted by zandor
I wonder what they'd do if I sent them a Sun Creator 3D UPA card...
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I thought about sending them an ISA vidcard I got out of a 486, but I think I'm going to send them the old PCI card instead. I hope they process my request quickly though...I'm selling my old card pretty soon.
 
The thing is, you pay shipping both ways. It just isn't worth it seeing as a 9800 pro can be gotten for $265 shipped.
 
As i understand it a lot of the 5900 NU are reaching 5950 speeds quite nicely, most of them get a massive core increase, due to the already high memory bandwidth, the memory clock speeds arent so important, although if you can find a card with 2.2ns memory (~910mhz ddr) then you'll get rather a good deal.

Im not too sure on American prices though, sorry.
 
Obs nor is a 5900nu worth it for a card that has been proven not to play dx9 correctly

The thing is, you pay shipping both ways. It just isn't worth it seeing as a 9800 pro can be gotten for $265 shipped.
Click to expand...

:rolleyes:
 
FX cards play DX 9 games perfectly correctly, maybe not as fast as some other cards. Typical stupid crap as per usual...
 
FX cards play DX 9 games perfectly correctly, maybe not as fast as some other cards. Typical stupid crap as per usual
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Frosty hows it typical stupid crap when you pay for a card in some cases such as your self a couple of hundred $ more than the competitors card an the card you brought can get matched in shader performance by a mid range 4 pipeline card?Its buyers such as your self that are stupid.It doent make sense
:rolleyes: Have a read at even the current flaghip model the 5950 review from hard forum's and even they are not impressed with its shader performace:rolleyes:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTM3LDg=
 
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