View Full Version : what will i buy
hello
i have a pentium 4 1700 mhz with 512 mb of random access memory, i use audio on board (i really can'y find anything aggainst it),a geforce 2, two hard drives and two compact disc writers. agp 4x motherboard
i think i need to buy a new graphic card... i really don't play many games, but one of them needs a better one, anarchy online, and i also want to try the new games like doom 3 or half-life 2, etc...
i always play in my 17 monitor, same resulotion of 1024 by 768 pixels which isn't much, this means that i don't need a really new\good card to play those games in maximum detail,right?
the problem for me is the power supply... i know many of the new cards take a lot of power, and the only thing that i don't want is to buy a new one! i have one of those normal power supply to a pentium 4 system...
what graphic card can i buy that will let me play with no problems and not having to change anything else?
thanks
I think a Radeon 9600XT is the only card that will play HL2 and Doom3, and not require a better power supply (assuming the one you have now isn't good enough for a 9800Pro, which it may be). Then again, with only a 1.7GHz P4, you may not really get much of an increase if you went a 9800Pro over the 9600.
Do you know the power rating of your PSU?
thanks for your replay.
i don't know the power rating...
maybe i will go to the shop and tell me to see what they can install hehe, the prices for those cards will drop, and they work in a agp4x motherboard, true?
i will play in 1024 by 768 pixels, so those cards should be okay, i think.
Yeah, I'm only running in 4x AGP with my 9600.
i found:
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 256MB € 219,00
ATI RADEON 9800 SE new 185,00
ATI 9600PRO 256MB € 160,00
ASUS ATI RADEON 9800XT 256DDR € 447,00
ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB DDR AGP8x Venda € 415,00
Asustek NVIDIAFX 5950 Ultra 256Mb DDR € 455,00
the "ASUS ATI RADEON 9800XT 256DDR" is the best, i wish i could use it hehe, theres also the 9600xt for half the price...
they are all from auction websites... is there anyway for me to know if i can use them without buying a new power supply
is the price too high? i will continue to look
in your case, I would like to recommend a R9800Pro, but the fact is your power supply may not be strong enough, and your CPU will limit the R9800's performance anyway.
The R9600XT is your best choice, and it should handle DoomIII and HL2 well enough. As I mentioned your CPU will limit your performance a little, but with that card you should be able to play at 800x600 at least :)
stncttr908
04-19-04, 12:32 PM
At that resolution and with your P4 1.7 holding you back, I wouldn't waste the money on the 9800 Pro. You'd be fine with the 9600XT in that case. However, if you were looking to upgrade the rest of your system in the near future, you might want to invest in the 9800 Pro.
thanks for the replay's
what about the prices, are they good?
well... i could buy the best one and then move it to the future computer that i would buy, but... if you tell me that my power supply maybe couldn't handle it, theres nothing to do
the ati 9600 xt you say could work? can anyone check if it requieres lots of power or like a normal one? i hope it will run the new games that i said hehe
thanks
im really thinking about the ati radeon 9600 xt http://www.power-color.com/r96e-d3.htm
the person that is selling it says:
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 400 MHz, 256MB 128 bit DDR 600 MHz, RAMDAC 400 MHz, AGP 8X com 2,12 Gb/s (S-Video) DVI-I, arquitectura 4-pixel pipeline, SMARTSHADER 2.1, SMOOTHVISION 2.1, FULLSTREAM, VIDEOSHADER, HYDRAVISION. DirectX 9 e OpenGL 1.4 2048 x 1536 @ 85Hz
he also says that this card doesnt have a "molex" connection and only takes power from the agp...
selling for 220 euros, what do you think?
im really thinking about the ati radeon 9600 xt http://www.power-color.com/r96e-d3.htm
the person that is selling it says:
ATI RADEON 9600 XT 400 MHz, 256MB 128 bit DDR 600 MHz, RAMDAC 400 MHz, AGP 8X com 2,12 Gb/s (S-Video) DVI-I, arquitectura 4-pixel pipeline, SMARTSHADER 2.1, SMOOTHVISION 2.1, FULLSTREAM, VIDEOSHADER, HYDRAVISION. DirectX 9 e OpenGL 1.4 2048 x 1536 @ 85Hz
he also says that this card doesnt have a "molex" connection and only takes power from the agp...
selling for 220 euros, what do you think?
TOO MUCH.
I paid 150 USD for a retail 9600XT that included Half Life 2 (Voucher) and the Counterstrike series. I would think that you could get a better deal than 220 euros.
maybe you are right...
that was in a auction website!
looks what i found in a local store
http://www.chip7.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=5631
http://www.chip7.pt/catalogo/detalhes_produto.php?id=4194
now i don't know what that person is selling in the auction.
i also found
GeCube ATI 9600 PRO 128Mb DDR ATI Rad. 9600Pro - 400MHz € 148,00
GeCube ATI 9600 PRO All-In-Wonder AGP 8x 128Mb DDR 400MHz€ 270,00
GeCube ATI 9600 XTG AGP 8x 128Mb DDR - 400MHz € 186,00 h
GeCube ATI 9600 XT AGP 8x 256Mb DDR - 400MHz Sim € 189,00
GeCube ATI 9800 PRO OEM (only the card) AGP 8x 128Mb DDR ATI Rad. - 400MHz Sim € 354,00
GeCube ATI 9800 XT AGP 8x 256Mb DDR 400MHz € 543,00
i could buy the card of any website from the european union (so that i don't have to pay taxes) that ships to portugal.
there are too many cards im confussed
I don't want to add to the confusion but......
I have a 9600 pro (gigabyte) and I must say that it is GREAT at everything I have tried on it so far.
It has started to show it's 'age' when I play FAR CRY.... I can play 800X600 with everything VERY HIGH but I get below 30 fps.... maybe around 20-25 (with aniso set to 4 and aa set to 4 in game). For me that is fine., (I played the game the first time on lower details... medium settings with aa set to 4 and it was relatively smooth the whole way through.)
Now....
regarding the newer games.... they will be more shader limited than cpu limited (refering to hl2 and doom3), so your cpu doesn't matter as 'much' anymore, as long as it is strong enough.
I have a 2600+ rig and I am going to get one of the new cards (either ati or nv40) as the games I want to play in the future (the same you want to) will be more limited on my current 9600 due to shader speeds, not cpu speeds..... This is from discussions with people on rage3d. but I have a more powerful cpu than you..... I think if you got the 9800 as your base then you would be okay in those games shader wise, but you will be limited by your cpu a little as well.....
Here is the link about cpu's vs gpu's speed:
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthr...readid=33753835
best of luck...
Johnmcl7
04-20-04, 07:01 AM
One point to bear in mind, don't bother with a 9600XT with 256MB of memory, it's a waste of money with no benefit, stick with 128MB versions.
John
can anyone confirm about the memory?
GeCube ATI 9600 XTG AGP 8x 128Mb DDR - 400MHz € 186,00 h
GeCube ATI 9600 XT AGP 8x 256Mb DDR - 400MHz Sim € 189,00
for tree euros... hehe i think i can pay that
what do you think about this card?
then in another website i found:
ATI Radeon 9600 XT-256MB TV-OUT 256MB DDR, memory 128bits, DirectX 9.0. and OpenGL 1.5 DVI-I and TV-Out. 200 euros
ASUS ATI Radeon 128MB A9600XT/TVD (with the details: ATI Radeon 9600 XT, 128MB de RAM.) 230 euros
too many cards with the same name!!! im confussed
i still don't know what to get... i just wanted the best that my power supply can handle
found retail for 170 euros
ATI Radeon 9600XT 256M DDR
VPU ATI Radeon 9600 XT
256MB DDR
core / memória: 500MHz
2 Gpixéis / seg.
AGP 4X / 8X
D-Sub
DVI-I
TV-Out
SMARTSHADER™ 2
Pixel / vertex shaders
DirectX® 9.0 OpenGL
SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1:
TRUFORM™
FULLSTREAM™
VIDEO IMMERSION™
ATI HYDRAVISION
could anyone guide me... i should really get a radeon 9600xt !? but which!
if you want a 256mb version, make sure the memory speed is at least 600mhz. Ideally a 128MB version is at least 650mhz.
170 Euro's is about $170us I think... so that seems like a fair price. I'm not certain you need the 256mb version, but that's up to you. I doubt you would see much difference between it and the 128mb version.
now here i really need your help!
i found:
ASUS ATI RADEON A9600XT/TVD 214,09€
C3D RADEON 9600XT 128MB 165,07€
c3d = club3d http://www.club-3d.nl/club-3D.html
GC RADEON 9600XT 256MB TV/OUT 165,90€
gb = gigabyte http://www.gecube.com.tw/
Sapphire Fireball 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 186 euros
Sapphire Ultimate 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 220 euros
what do you think? which to choose
Gigabyte is the same as Gecube? If that's the case, then that's a company I like. And if the memory is at least 600mhz then I'd go with that Gecube R9600XT 256mb :)
The Asus card seems a little over priced I wouldn't pick that one. Sapphire is good but I don't see the need to spend extra on it when the Gigabyte is cheaper, and all the Sapphire Ultimate has is a fanless heatsink so I wouldn't bother with its higher price. Club3d I know nothing about.
no! not gigabyte, my error, i mean gecube, about that card, you don't know portuguese but they use the english terms maybe you will understand hehe http://nemesis-informatica.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=32_92&products_id=732 it says core/memory 500MHz / 600MHz
i wish someone could find a solution to see which is the best...
attention! i opened my case and i found a conector from the power supplyer that has the text "p6" it has siz "holes" or whatever you call it, is that what i need to use a better card? if yes, maybe i should think in another, or would i still have to buy a new power supply, i heard that the new geforce uses 100 power_thing!!
in the website of Sapphire Ultimate 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI
they say that the card comes with half-life 2... for that price i think i could pay it. but i don't know if the card is worth it
i also found a for 180 euros a asus 128mb 9600xt that also comes with half-life 2!
but my biggest question now is: which has the best perfomance?
ASUS ATI RADEON A9600XT/TVD 214,09€
C3D RADEON 9600XT 128MB 165,07€
c3d = club3d http://www.club-3d.nl/club-3D.html
GC RADEON 9600XT 256MB TV/OUT 165,90€
gb = gecube http://www.gecube.com.tw/
Sapphire Fireball 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 186 euros
Sapphire Ultimate 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 220 euros
please tell me about the other power cable conection that i have... and if it works what else should i think about.
we are only talking about ati cards, no problem with that... but i also have no problem if there is a better nv or other card
report...
Sapphire Fireball 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 186 euros
Sapphire Ultimate 9600 XT 128 Mb AGP 8x Tv-Out + DVI 220 euros
for what the seller said... the ultimate version has a very good heatsink, he really didn't say any other difrence. what do you think about this card? the guy is going to phone and tell me if it does come with half-life 2, if it comes, do you think i should buy it? please view: http://www.sapphiretech.com/vga/9600-xt-ult.asp
then theres also the asus 128mb just for 170 euros and the seller confirmed that it comes with half-life 2!
as always the big problem is not knowing what\which to choose, what has the best performance
Johnmcl7
04-20-04, 11:30 AM
Gator: Why would you go with a card with 256MB memory? The 9800 pro and 5900 barely show any improvement with the extra 128MB memory, I've not seen anything that shows that the 9600 pro/XT gains any advantage at all from the extra 128MB - the only time this memory can really be used up is when running high resolutions with AA on as well which the 9600 simply isn't powerful enough to do.
Thing: Are you bothered abou noise? The ultimate Sapphire is the fanless, so it's obviously very quiet, I don't believe the standard 9600XT is noisy though, personally I don't think it's worth the extra money, up to you though!
John
what do you mean? the seller said that the ultimate has that special heatsink which will remove all heat... what do you say? i shouldn't care? he also said that it has faster memory
the asus and ultimate come with half-life 2...
what about the extra power cable that i have
that what?
now yet said something about the extra power cable that i have...
there are so many cards errr
that what?
now yet said something about the extra power cable that i have...
there are so many cards errr
you don't need an extra power connector for the R9600XT so don't worry about it. It's the R9800 series that need the extra power
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