Video Card and RAM Upgrades
#21
Wyrm,Feb 26 2005, 12:12 AM Wrote:...I still have my 4600...
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I have a Radeon 9200SE. I am the leader of the "Crappy Video Card Lurker Army".
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#22
DeeBye,Feb 25 2005, 08:20 PM Wrote:I have a Radeon 9200SE.  I am the leader of the "Crappy Video Card Lurker Army".
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I bought this computer in November of 2002. This is my first computer that didn't use onboard video. I'm in the club. :lol:
The Bill of No Rights
The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. Robert A. Heinlein
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#23
Wyrm,Feb 25 2005, 11:12 PM Wrote:...I still have my 4600...

Exactly. STILL HAVE. As in, didn't just buy brand new. World of difference. Try to read the full post, and you'll see that I stated that it's a waste of money to buy NOW, not that it was originally a waste of money to buy.
Roland *The Gunslinger*
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#24
jahcs,Feb 25 2005, 06:03 PM Wrote:  Would that A310 Ultra TD My VIVO then work on my system if I upgraded the power supply?

And about 75% of my game time is First Person Shooters.  Resolution 640x480 (800x600 on older games), options set to low, has been my mantra.
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Accroding to this image of the A310, it has a universal AGP conenctor (2 notches) which indicates it will even work in AGP 2x slots.

http://www.bjorn3d.com/read.php?cID=295

The 5600 Ultra is not the king of value, the used market seems to prefer nVidia cards despite the fact that similarly priced ATi cards performed much better in that generation (I guess brand loyalty). If your friend is willing to dip below used market value, go for it, otherwise, you can probably do better for the money on eBay.
Conc / Concillian -- Vintage player of many games. Deadly leader of the All Pally Team (or was it Death leader?)
Terenas WoW player... while we waited for Diablo III.
And it came... and it went... and I played Hearthstone longer than Diablo III.
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#25
Hi,

link: ATI X800 pro vs. NVidia 6800 GT
The gist of it (I know it's German, but the benchmarks and comparisons are useful nevertheless) is that the NVidia card is superior, if:
- you play Doom 3
- you play other non-Direct-X-based games

The ATI card is superior, if:
- all other cases, really. And much more quiet.

link: test of ATI's X850 XT PE
This link features a lot of benchmarks of the highend ATI card versus its main opponent, the GeForce 6800 Ultra SLI of NVidia.
The gist:
The two cards are fairly equal, sometimes it's the ATI card which is in the lead, and sometimes it's the NVidia card. While the 6800 Ultra SLI may have a small edge over its opponent, this edge is rather pricy: it costs nearly double the price that must be paid for ATI's top model.


Greetings, Fragbait

Edit: prices
-------------
ATI X850: >445€
ATI X800 Pro: >350€
ATI 9800 Pro: >195€
ATI 9600 Pro: >115€

NVidia 6800 Ultra: >465€
NVidia 6800 GT: >365€
NVidia 6800: >245€
NVidia 6600 GT: >185€
Quote:You cannot pass... I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The Dark Flame will not avail you, Flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass.
- Gandalf, speaking to the Balrog

Quote:Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash! Be water, my friend...
- Bruce Lee

Quote: There's an old Internet adage which simply states that the first person to resort to personal attacks in an online argument is the loser. Don't be one.
- excerpt from the forum rules

Post content property of Fragbait (member of the lurkerlounge). Do not (hesitate to) quote without permission.
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#26
Fragbait,Feb 28 2005, 08:03 AM Wrote:Hi,

link: ATI X800 pro vs. NVidia 6800 GT
The gist of it (I know it's German, but the benchmarks and comparisons are useful nevertheless) is that the NVidia card is superior, if:
- you play Doom 3
- you play other non-Direct-X-based games

The ATI card is superior, if:
- all other cases, really. And much more quiet.

"Quiet" is implementation dependent; not all manufactures of Geforce-based cards are the same when it comes to cooling options. ATI's problems with OpenGL shouldn't be downplayed too much. The Carmack engines end up in a lot of games, and he isn't the only GL programmer in the world either. Overall these cards offer similar performance at the same price, IMO. Buying anything more expensive than these for gaming is a waste of money right now.
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#27
Nystul,Feb 28 2005, 02:57 PM Wrote:"Quiet" is implementation dependent; not all manufactures of Geforce-based cards are the same when it comes to cooling options.  ATI's problems with OpenGL shouldn't be downplayed too much.  The Carmack engines end up in a lot of games, and he isn't the only GL programmer in the world either.  Overall these cards offer similar performance at the same price, IMO.  Buying anything more expensive than these for gaming is a waste of money right now.
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From tom's hardware guide:

"NVIDIAs Software scheint in Battlefield Vietnam, Race Driver 2 und Joint Operations Probleme zu haben. Es gibt zwar keine Fehldarstellungen, aber die Performance ist verglichen mit ATI-Karten zu gering. ATI andererseits hat Leistungsprobleme in OpenGL, zumindest in Call Of Duty und Doom3."

translation:

"NVIDIA's software seems to have problems in Battlefield Vietnam, Race Driver 2 and Joint Operations. While there are no erroneous displays, the performance is too minor compared to ATI cards. ATI on the other hand has performance issues in OpenGL, at least in Call Of Duty and Doom3."

So, not only ATI is struggling. There really is no such thing as the 'best' manufacturer of graphic chips at the moment.

Greetings, Fragbait
Quote:You cannot pass... I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The Dark Flame will not avail you, Flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass.
- Gandalf, speaking to the Balrog

Quote:Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash! Be water, my friend...
- Bruce Lee

Quote: There's an old Internet adage which simply states that the first person to resort to personal attacks in an online argument is the loser. Don't be one.
- excerpt from the forum rules

Post content property of Fragbait (member of the lurkerlounge). Do not (hesitate to) quote without permission.
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#28
Concillian,Feb 26 2005, 01:48 AM Wrote:.
.
.
N 6600GT / 6800
-----------------
A x800 Pro
---
N 6800GT
N 6800 ultra / A x800XT
.
.
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Hi!

This link shows that the ATI Radeon X800 Pro really IS on a par with the NVidia GeForce 6800 GT. (admittedly, Doom 3 wasn't tested, but by now we all know that this game favors NVidia)

Also I'd like to add that as a direct rival to the 6600 GT and the vanilla 6800, the X700 Pro should be listed.

Last but not least, I believe that the Radeon X850XT Platinum Edition is the pick of the bunch at the moment, only beatable by a SLI construction of NVidia chips, which would be significantly more expensive.

Greetings, Fragbait
Quote:You cannot pass... I am a servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Anor. The Dark Flame will not avail you, Flame of Udun. Go back to the shadow. You shall not pass.
- Gandalf, speaking to the Balrog

Quote:Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle. You put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow, or it can crash! Be water, my friend...
- Bruce Lee

Quote: There's an old Internet adage which simply states that the first person to resort to personal attacks in an online argument is the loser. Don't be one.
- excerpt from the forum rules

Post content property of Fragbait (member of the lurkerlounge). Do not (hesitate to) quote without permission.
Reply
#29
Roland,Feb 23 2005, 03:27 PM Wrote:Short:
nVidia GeForce 6800 ($300) or nVidia GeForce 6800 GT ($400)
2x 256MB PC800 RDRAM ($250)

There's your $500 - $600. I'd go for the higher video card, but the choice is yours. It's worth the extra dough, though. Very much so.
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I was also in the need of an upgrade and decided to put togeather my own computer and buy the components I needed; see my story:
Quote:http://www.lurkerlounge.com/forums/index...topic=5385

I don't agree with your listed prices for those items (see my links below). After my experience in building computers, yes they can be cheaper if have reusable components from your old computer, and yes they can be more powerful for a lot less money if you get the right components, but buying a complete (new) computer saves tons of headaches, not to mention you have a wide option list of warrenties for upcomming problems and live tecj-support.

6600 Video Card with SLI: Leadtek WinFast PX6600GT TDH with nVIDIA's 6600GT chipset, 128MB DDR3 Memory PCI Express Video Card with SLI ($171.20).
Quote:http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdes...08R&DEPA=0

1GB DDR Memory Stick: Kingston 1GB PC 3200 400 MHz 2x512MB Dual Channel Model #KVR400X64C3AK2/1G ($139.99 - $99.99 after rebate)
Quote:http://shop4.outpost.com/product/3956148...IN_RSLT_PG

Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 Motherboard (249.99)
Quote:http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdes...524&DEPA=0

Proccessor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ ADA3200BIBOX-939 ($169.00)
Quote:http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdes...83R&DEPA=0


Computers keep on improving. For a new computer that will last at least 5-years before becomming obselete, PCI-express video card capability is a must. So is DDR RAM memory; I recommend no less than 2GB of DDR RAM in newer computers. A good quality, high-end video card can run about $399.00 to $699.00. A good 939-socket motherboard/2Ghz+ propccessor combo can run anywhere from $299.99 to $599.99 upwards depending on what you want it to do. RAM will cost around $179.99-$299.99. If you choose to build your own with completly new components, you will have to consider: Tower (with fans), power-supply, ROM and floppy drives, (possible) tower fitting connector cable, hard-drive(s) (more than one required if you want RAID or SATA), a NIC card, optical mouse, keyboard, 5.1 satelite speakers, and a 17" to 19" moniter (I recommend CRT for low price and FPS quality). You also might want to consider a printer (I got a refirbished printer/scanner/copier/fax machine combo for about $200.00), printer ink, printer paper, CD & DVD-r/wr+ discs, and a modem. All-in-all, building a completly new computer with all the components you want will cost you hundreds, maybe even thousands more than buying a brand new name-bran computer.

If you already have most of the computers components and just want a memory, motherboard, and possibly video card upgrade, I'd get two nVidia 6600's video cards with SLI on an Asus motherboard with SLI and an AMD 64 3200+ proccessor. This set-up will run you about $901.38 starting price and will be more powerful than the most powerful (and expensive) video card to date. You will still need more components to complete this set-up.

A powerful new computer with everything you need and want (except SLI) at an affordible price will cost you anywhere from $800 w/out a monitor or printer, to $2,500 (the works).
"The true value of a human being is determined primarily by the measure and the sense in which he has attained liberation from the self." -Albert Einsetin
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