Curse

OrangeHunter · Aug 25, 2006, 07:08 PM // 19:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by gabrial heart

Problem is, your not going to get any sort of performance jump from $45 - $90 range. Each card manufacture fluctuates that much anyway. You won't see anything major till you hit around the $120 mark.

I don't need a boost, i just need a replacement card.

Alias_X · Aug 25, 2006, 07:15 PM // 19:15

gabrial said it.

-Extremely old and outdated vid card without support for modern technology.
Price: $0-30

-Old cards but can still do a half @$$ed job on games made in the last 5? years. The LOW end.
Price: $31-120

-Decent cards. Not the high end, but not too far away. Run most games on medium, and are rock solid with their performance. You aren't gonna get 10FPS in one game then 40 in another, you are going to stay relatively similar.
Price: $121-200

Good cards. They support new technology, and can get great FPS in most recent games. The low end. What seperates these from high end is that they might not be clocked as fast, or have as much ram. They are expensive, but still called "mid range." This is where you find the most bang for your buck (IMO).
Price: $201-350

Extremely high end. These tings pump out all the force needed to run todays games, and tomorrows. (Well, we will leave DX10 out for now.) They are often big, beast-like cards that look extremely intimidating.
Price:$351-XXXX

So where you actually start getting good performance is the "mid range." Until you go there you are always going to want more. A $10 difference in a card doesn't mean anything.

Quote:

I don't need a boost, i just need a replacement card.

If you don't need a boost just pocket the extra $30. The 5xxx suck just as bad as the 6xxx. both will run it, but you aren't going to notice a big difference, not even a little one.

OrangeHunter · Aug 25, 2006, 11:43 PM // 23:43

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alias_X

If you don't need a boost just pocket the extra $30. The 5xxx suck just as bad as the 6xxx. both will run it, but you aren't going to notice a big difference, not even a little one.

I have absolutely no problems with the video quality. I'd rather spend my €20 euros on memory.

Mushroom · Aug 26, 2006, 06:35 PM // 18:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeHunter

Does it really matter that much? I can get both the Nvidia's for €30 each, the 9800 is more than twice that price. (I'm talking about used cards, I'm not getting a new one)

Then you might want to look at the ATI Radeon 9550.

The 9550 uses the exact same GPU as the 9800 (R350), it is simply clocked down a bit (250 MHz Vs. 325 MHz). It is what I currently use (I bought it last year, am waiting for next year to build a new PCIE system with Direct X 10). I have played side by side in other games with a friend that has a 9800, and never noticed a more then 2-5 fps difference (not even noticeable).

I did some checking on-line, and a new 9550 with 256 meg RAM seems to run between €34-38. And there are programs out there to let you ramp the speed back up to what the 9800 is capable of.

Oh, and as an added bonus, you get a coupon good for a free account for Guild Wars, with 10 hours of useage.

Loviatar · Aug 26, 2006, 07:44 PM // 19:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by OrangeHunter

I have absolutely no problems with the video quality. I'd rather spend my €20 euros on memory.

HI

just wanted to say on one pc here is a 5600 ultra which runs GW great.

the other is a 6600 GT (GT is a huge performance jump over 6600 plain)

NOTE TO STAY AWAY FROM HIDDEN BUDGET VERSIONS WHICH ARE DESEGINATED WITH THE SUFFIX LE/LS/OTHERS I FORGET

THEY SAVE MONEY BY DISABLING PART OF THE CARD WHICH DEGRADES PERFORMANCE BADLY

AVOID THE LE/LS

EDIT PREFIX FOR SUFFIX