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which ati midrange card should i get?

M

MysticX23

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 2, 2003
Messages
285
my choices are:

8500(64MB) ($??)
ATI Radeon 9000(64MB) ($50)
Sapphire 9000(128MB) ($50)
Asus 9200SE(128MB) ($60)


and 2 questions:
1) how much difference does 64MB and 128MB memory on these cards make

2) how much decrease in performance will I see from downgrading from my ti-4200 to one of the above cards (alot, not much, or some). Most games I'll play is Warcraft III and the new World Of Warcraft (when it comes out).
 
8500(64MB) is the best out of the cards you have posted. I found the 8500Radeon to be a really underrated card as it still performs quite good even in todays games.

the ti4200 and the radeon are pretty equal in performance with the ti4200 better in some things.(Stock that is lol)
 
LOL..9700 wayy outta my price range. so the 8500 best value/performance out there from those cards? should i even consider the others?. i'm asking because the 9000's that i listed are cheaper than the 8500. why is that?
 
The 9000 and 9200 dont perform anywhere near as good as the 8500.The 8500 is a bargin for the price but the 9000 and 9200 are really bad cards there pretty much the new 7500's lol:p
 
I'd get the 9200 personally. (I thought that the 9200 was a rebadged 8500. Correct me if I'm wrong...)
 
so it looks like i should avoid the radeon 9000 for sure right?..otherwise, i'm prolly leaning toward the cheapest card i can find out of those.
 
Originally posted by MysticX23
what about the "LE" version of the 8500? How is that card?
Click to expand...
The 8500 and 8500LE are similar cards, but the LE has slightly slower core/memory clocks. Try to get a non-LE card, and you'll be good.
 
I wholeheartedly agree with the recommendations for the 8500/9100 series. (And this coming from a 'neutral' person, one who's neither an 'ATIdiot' nor an 'nVidiot'.) :)
The 9200 (non-SE) is basically an 8x AGP update of the 9000 (non-Pro). And the 9200SE is the worst of the cards that you've listed here--it is crippled by a 64-bit memory interface (the other cards mentioned here have a 128-bit memory interface), in addition to sharing the deficiencies of the 9000 (only one pipeline in each of its four texturing units, versus two pipelines in each of the four texturing units on the 8500/9100).
 
Originally posted by Roost426
The 9100 is a rebadged 8500.
Click to expand...
Originally posted by _Korruption_
8500LE*
Click to expand...
At least the 8500LE/9100 isn't crippled in any other way except for slightly slower clockspeeds. (Compared to the original 8500)
 
since you play warcraft3(my main game) the 64-128 MB difference shouldnt be too noticable

i went from a 7000PCI to a 9600XT....awesome, i went from 1024x768(no AA/AF) to 1280x1024 to 4xAA/8xAF

the 8500/9100 will serve you well in that game, dont be fooled by the 8500's 4x AGP because that game wont even take up all that bandwidth
 
9200 really aint half bad even though its bashed all the time,it has 4 pipelines and is great for its price with the latest catalyst drivers it blew my friend ti4200 out of the water in halo
 
The 9200 would be ok if you can find one that's not an SE model. Personally I'd still get the 8500/9100 out of the cards on that list though.
Just out of curiosity, why are you swapping out the 4200? Did it die or something?
 
Originally posted by zandor
The 9200 would be ok if you can find one that's not an SE model. Personally I'd still get the 8500/9100 out of the cards on that list though.
Just out of curiosity, why are you swapping out the 4200? Did it die or something?
Click to expand...

getting another card cuz i'm going to a small form factor...and my current card is an abit siluro otes, which takes up a pci slot (which wouldn't work with a sff). not to mention i don't play any graphic intensive games, i can sell my gf4 and save some $$ by going for a cheaper radeon. thanks for all the help.
 
Well, the small form factor changes everything, then. Almost all of the "good" graphics cards may be too big in physical size for a small-form-factor system. Secondly, most small-form-factor motherboards have integrated graphics that cannot be upgraded at all, since most have no AGP slot at all.

That said, small-form-factor systems from Shuttle are the exception rather than the rule - you can fit most regular AGP cards in that small case. Just make sure that your ventilation isn't blocked by that steaming pile of sloppy cables that inevitably results from cramming so much stuff in a small case.
 
Originally posted by xbreaka
9200 really aint half bad even though its bashed all the time,it has 4 pipelines and is great for its price with the latest catalyst drivers it blew my friend ti4200 out of the water in halo
Click to expand...
Thats interesting, considering I have both cards within 400 feet of here.
The Ti4200 is at least 33% faster in everything I've run it with.
The 9000 is on par with a Geforce 2 MX in most of my games. Any game with a high polygon count chokes on the 9000, however it does take less of a hit running AF...
 
Originally posted by 0ldman
Thats interesting, considering I have both cards within 400 feet of here.
The Ti4200 is at least 33% faster in everything I've run it with.
The 9000 is on par with a Geforce 2 MX in most of my games. Any game with a high polygon count chokes on the 9000, however it does take less of a hit running AF...
Click to expand...

In most new games, the 9000 barely has enough power to run the game, much less use AF.
 
Originally posted by zandor
The 9200 would be ok if you can find one that's not an SE model. Personally I'd still get the 8500/9100 out of the cards on that list though.
Just out of curiosity, why are you swapping out the 4200? Did it die or something?
Click to expand...
no my friend had the ti4200 and we had a lan party and halo looked much better on my 9200
 
you can buy an ati radeon 9600se, thats what someone told me to buy when i needed to upgrade my 9200, but then i didnt because i might be getting a 9800 when the price lowers
 
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