Curse

SSE4 · Apr 20, 2005, 12:49 AM // 00:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by metalkobra

and i plan on getting an amd fx64 5500 as well =D

Do you mean the AMD 64 3500+?

The 6600GT will be worth your money. Believe us when we say it's a good card.

Zorque · Apr 20, 2005, 02:07 AM // 02:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZennZero

No worries Zorque -- an 8x card will just run at 4x on your motherboard. There shouldn't be any substantial difference in performance either.

Well thats good news! Yes I have a 400W power supply, although I got it with my case from PriceWatch $20 for both together, haha - so I question how "good" it is. Hopefully it works ok, either way...

The deal is done:

XFX GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR3/8x-AGP/TV-Out/Dual-DVI (Retail Box)
1 $188.00
Shipping: Federal Express Ground - Five (5) to Seven (7) Day

Woot! Should get here just in time for the 27!

Thanks for all your help guys. See you on the 27th!

ZennZero · Apr 20, 2005, 02:47 AM // 02:47

Well, in my experience the case is the one component you can cheap out on and, as long as it can handle enough fans for adaquate cooling, you will be fine (+/- a few cut fingers from the cheap stamped steel). Now having said that, I currently have an absurdly expensive case (compared to my former $15 model) and it was worth every penny:

http://www.silverstonetek.com/products-lc03.htm

Anyway, I'm glad we could help.....And don't forget the rebate -- that is what really makes the price on that 6600gt hot!

Beelzebubba · Apr 20, 2005, 06:11 AM // 06:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorque

Well thats good news! Yes I have a 400W power supply, although I got it with my case from PriceWatch $20 for both together, haha - so I question how "good" it is. Hopefully it works ok, either way...

Chances are good that if this is true, your power supply is actually not putting out 400W. The cheapo power supplies are very unreliable and rated at higher power than they actually provide. As long as you don't have a lot of other hardware running it should be fine, but with a couple of extra hard drives and things you may have some power problems.

I've had to replace power supplies on quite a few of those budget cases, so I'm talking from experience.

Of the choices, the 6600GT is definitely the way to go.

Also, Monarch Computers is located about 2 miles from my house, and they are very reliable, I buy hardware from them quite a bit.

Brett Kuntz · Apr 20, 2005, 09:36 AM // 09:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zorque

I'm upgrading my vid card from geforce 2 64mb, which ran the game well on low quality. I want to be ready to run high details for the release though! I found these 3 cards all on best buy's site, they are all $130 which falls in my budget. I'm leaning towards the geforce since I was pretty happy with my last one (plus its on sale, normally 150), but I figured I'd ask for other opinions, maybe radeon runs GW better. Your thoughts please:

ATI - RADEON 9250 Graphics Card 100-436012
256MB DDR memory; PCI interface; 400MHz clock speed; ATI CATALYST software

ATI - RADEON 9550 Graphics Card 100-437105
256MB DDR memory; AGP interface; TV-out; 400MHz clock speed; 128-bit memory

PNY - Verto GeForce FX 5700 VE Graphics Card VCFX5756VA
256MB DDR memory; AGP 8X/4X interface; S-video output; 400MHz clock speed; NVIDIA ForceWare

Memory isn't what makes a card good, so don't aim for 256mb which it seems you are. Also, those cpu's are not 400MHz, it's the RAMDAC which is 400MHz, and cooincendently, all RAMDAC's are 400MHz and the RAMDAC speed has absolutely no difference in performance, it's the frequency in which your card communicates with the monitor.

If you want a cheap card which performs insanely well for it's cost, the ATi 9600 XT is your best bet, by far. The 9600 XT support PS/VS 2.0 I believe, and has a very fast GPU clock (526MHz) which means it can perform shader operations faster then most cards. Although shader operations aren't everything there is to graphics, in newer games, shading is taken advantage of extensively.

A Saphire 9600 XT will be best, not only are they cheaper, but they have better fans which allow for more overclocking. Don't let the OC scare you, ATi supports and condones overclocking, they even build it into their drivers, and will replace your video card if the OCing breaks it, for free. You can pick up a 9600 XT for about $125 usd, or $93 refurbished.

It's closest competetor is the nVidia 5600 XT, which retails for about $102 usd, but this card benches significantly lower then the 9600 XT, the extra $23 is worth the extra oomph you'll get from going with the 9600 XT.

ThinkHarder · Apr 22, 2005, 05:12 AM // 05:12

Do not listen to what kunt0r said!

While he is right in saying the amount of memory actually has little effect on the performance of most modern graphics cards but sadly the card he recommends, the ATi Radeon 9600XT is so VASTLY inferior to the Nvidia GeForce 6600GT in so many ways its not even funny. Let me go a little deeper...

The ATi 9600XT is quite an old card now. Its bigger brother, the 9800XT, is also getting on a bit. It's quite a bit faster than the 9600XT. The Nvidia 6600GT is faster than the ATi 9800XT in most if not all cases. The ATi 9600XT does not have a leg to stand on. Its performance is nowhere near that of the 9800XT let alone the 6600GT! While the 6600GT is slightly more expensive its performance will more than make up for it and its really not worth getting anything less than a 6600GT these days.

ATi and Nvidia drivers have a facility that automatically overclocks your card to levels which it believes are safe. While doing so will never break your card but if you manually overclock then be very very careful. I must point out that while overclocking is a great way to get extra performance out of your hardware for nothing but IF YOU BREAK YOU CARD DUE TO OVERCLOCKING IT YOU WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND WILL NOT GET A REPLACEMENT, be it an ATi card, Nvidia card or otherwise.

Studio Ghibli · Apr 22, 2005, 05:35 PM // 17:35

Anyone know what card the GW staff use for those screenshots?

I went out and bought an AIW 9800 Pro to replace my GeFore MX 440 because of Guild Wars, and I can't tell if I'm getting the same quality or not.

I mean, dayam, it sure looks nice.

Just can't tell if they're on par.

ThinkHarder · Apr 23, 2005, 04:21 PM // 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Studio Ghibli

Anyone know what card the GW staff use for those screenshots?

I went out and bought an AIW 9800 Pro to replace my GeFore MX 440 because of Guild Wars, and I can't tell if I'm getting the same quality or not.

I mean, dayam, it sure looks nice.

Just can't tell if they're on par.

Not sure what card they use but a 9800 Pro is still a very good card, being a little slower than the 6600GT we were talking about. It will run Guild Wars easily on max detail.

Then you also have the AIW features - you can watch TV on your PC!

Loviatar · Apr 23, 2005, 04:27 PM // 16:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThinkHarder

IF YOU BREAK YOU CARD DUE TO OVERCLOCKING IT YOU WILL VOID YOUR WARRANTY AND WILL NOT GET A REPLACEMENT, be it an ATi card, Nvidia card or otherwise.

mostly right but there are exceptions
my 6600GT came with a maker specific overclocking utiity and no warning of using it voiding the warranty
i havent used it because it is fast enough out of the box and a few more FPS are meanless except for bragging rights

NiknudStunod · Apr 24, 2005, 01:50 AM // 01:50

Stay away from retail stores like best buy when buying computer parts. Sites like Newegg.com are the way to go. There delivery is cheap and efficient and they have some unbeatable prices.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0&order=priced

Here is a couple pages of prices for vid cards $180 down to $26

4.99 for saver shipping is the way I would go to.

ThinkHarder · Apr 24, 2005, 06:36 AM // 06:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

mostly right but there are exceptions
my 6600GT came with a maker specific overclocking utiity and no warning of using it voiding the warranty
i havent used it because it is fast enough out of the box and a few more FPS are meanless except for bragging rights

Most come with overclocking tools but that does not mean they will replace it if you break it! All overclocking utilities I have used have given a very strong warning saying you can break your card by using it. Its also in the warrenty, which translated into normal every day talk says something like "if you break it then buy a new one cos it aint our fault".

pepper · Apr 24, 2005, 08:09 PM // 20:09

hi , I have a choice of 2 cards to install one is being the Nvidia fx5500 256mb
or the Sapphire Radeon 9600 pro 256mb
please tell me which is best to install

I want a super duper video card...not a super duper pooper scooper