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So confused!!!

B

badasspenguin

Gawd
Joined
Jan 8, 2001
Messages
544
Ok, here's the dilemma. I have a GeForce4TI4200. It's decent, but it doesn't cut it anymore, Halo and Farcry just don't run well. I recently got a FP2001 Dell LCd, so i'd like to run games at it's native res of 1600x1200.

I'm looking at a 9800XT: It's top of the line, fast, quieter, but expensive.

I'm looking at the $220 9800 Pro: It's a great bang for your buck, I think I'd like some ramsinks for it, kinda loud

I'm looking at a BFG 5900NU: good price, flashable to a 5950, kinda loud.

Thing is, I'm hearing the new cards from both ATI and NVidia are supposed to hit in April, is this retail in April or announced? I'd definatly like to upgrade soon, don't know if i want to wait another 2 months. What would you do?
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin


I'm looking at a BFG 5900NU: good price, flashable to a 5950, kinda loud.

Click to expand...

Where'd you hear loud? Mine isn't.

You might as well upgrade. There is new tech always coming out, and, if you get stuck in the waiting game, you'll be waiting forever. Well, almost.

Get the BFG 5900NU. I got mine this weekend, and now can't believe I waited so long to get it. Except maybe for good pricing. :p
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin
I'm looking at a BFG 5900NU: good price, flashable to a 5950, kinda loud.
Click to expand...
It's loud? I can't hear either of the two I have when the case is closed. Even with the case open, it's not noticeably louder than any other video card I've bought.

Maybe you're thinking of the the 5800 FX Flow cooling. Even the 5950U cooling isn't that loud.
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin
well, not loud loud, but not as quiet as an XT. That is what I've heard....
Click to expand...
The BFG 5900NU does have 2 fans on it, so it's not going to be as quiet as a card with only 1 quiet fan on it. 2 fans is only 1.2 times louder than a single fan, not twice as loud. It's still pretty quiet.
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin
Thing is, I'm hearing the new cards from both ATI and NVidia are supposed to hit in April, is this retail in April or announced?
Click to expand...

We don't really know for sure, but the word is ATI is going to announcing their new cards at the end of march. I heard the NV40 is running a tad late so we won't likely see that in April.
 
i hate to sound like an ati fanboy, but i guess i really am turning into one. now that i have a 9800pro and play with all AA and AF cranked to the max, performance under those conditions means everything to me. from what i've read the geforce cards can't handle those settings as gracefully, no matter what the clock speed. additionally, the ati cards run ps2.0 software more efficiently, which should make a difference in newer games like doom3 and hl2 (if it ever comes out). the card is no louder than my gf3 i upgraded from, i cant tell the difference (old card was a gf3ti200 gainward golden).

i can't say that this generation of nvidia cards sucks, they are definitely good product, and a few dollars cheaper than ati's comparables. seeing that i always wanted to play with full eye candy, i switched to ati because they're high end cards are better at it.

other than that, it comes down to drivers, which we could argue till the end of time. neither of the companies drivers are perfect, they all have some kind of issues.

all that said i'd tell you to get a 9800pro and buy some ramsinks, o/c around 10%, crank everything up and enjoy.
 
well...i've been an NVidia fan, and i was dead set on switching to ATI on my next card buy. Then I bought an ATI TV Tuner, and it was absoulte trash. So that kinda put a wrench in the wheel.

And that's the other thing, the BFG would be an easier transition than t othe ATI.

Also, i'm not interested in AA, I've never liked AA, or how it looks, it's just me though. Iust want it to be able to handle 1600x1200, or at least 1280x1024 with ease.
 
If you want to keep playing without upgrading as more and more things use PS2.0 you want ATi. Period, end of story.

Get the 9800 Pro.
 
you wont be running halo at 1600x1200 with ease with either card :D i run halo 800x600 with no aa or af because the game was coded so bad. if you want the best out go with 9800 xt, if you want a card thats only about 5-10% slower for less than half the money go with 9800 pro, or if you want an investment that will really last you wait for the r420, its supposed to be 2x as fast as the 9700 pro, although no proof yet
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin
yeah...well...i think i might pick up the BFG as a hold over until the next batch of cards come out.
Click to expand...

Excellent choice. You'll be more than happy once you see what it can do.
 
If u don't turn up aa & af up on all your games the nvidia card will be fine.

But if you're sane and turn up the eye candy as much as possible the clear choice is ATI.
 
Originally posted by ZigZagZeppelin
If u don't turn up aa & af up on all your games the nvidia card will be fine.

But if you're sane and turn up the eye candy as much as possible the clear choice is ATI.
Click to expand...
Maybe you should look at the other 5900 thread. I ran a bunch of benchmarks on my BFG 5900 flashed to a 5950. I think you'll be a little surprised. It easily beats my last 9800.

There's nothing wrong with the 9800/9800 pro of course. IMO, the 5900 flashed to a 5950 just offers a better price/performance ratio right now. If/when ATI makes a $170 (not a refurb from newegg) card that performs at that level, my opinion will change.
 
Originally posted by ZigZagZeppelin
If u don't turn up aa & af up on all your games the nvidia card will be fine.

But if you're sane and turn up the eye candy as much as possible the clear choice is ATI.
Click to expand...

Honestly...I think AA makes games look worse. The text is too soft, the textures are too soft, things almost look "blurry". I like the sharpness of textures....Granted i've never seen really good AA, i've seen it on a 9700Pro before and wasn't that impressed. I just rather run it at a higher resolution.
 
Originally posted by badasspenguin
Honestly...I think AA makes games look worse. The text is too soft, the textures are too soft, things almost look "blurry". I like the sharpness of textures....Granted i've never seen really good AA, i've seen it on a 9700Pro before and wasn't that impressed. I just rather run it at a higher resolution.
Click to expand...
supersampling AA works that way, but multisampling AA mostly preserves the sharpness of the textures. Anisotropic filtering also helps clear up some of the blurriness on far/angled textures. FSAA and AF done right look very good.

I mostly play at 1024x768 with FSAA and AF enabled, but after running the benchmarks in that other thread, I'll probably switch over to 1600x1200 with at least 8xAF and 2xFSAA enabled. It looks awesome on my 1600x1200 20" LCD through DVI.
 
If you have the $220, I would get the 9800 Pro. I believe its a better card than the 5900NU. Not everyone wants to risk flashing the card. I think its AA is better, and takes less of a hit doing it.

The 5900NU is slightly louder, but its not really loud enough to make a difference in choice. The XT's fan is larger and spins slower. If you do flash, it raises the fan speeds some to offset the increased voltage, so Ive read.

It all depends on how much $$ you have, and if you think you will flash the 5900NU.
 
alright, I'm going with the 9800 Pro. I've said I need to give ATI a chance, and this will help my decision down the line as well. Thanks for the help guys!!!
 
Congrats and you will be very happy indeed, and you wont even need to think about flashing it to run at 1600X1200;)

And its very capable in DX9 so enjoy and welcome to ATI :D
 
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