New Videocard

Discussion in 'The Living Room' started by esaul17, Jan 7, 2006.

  1. #1
    esaul17

    esaul17 antichrist

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  2. #2
    Neil

    Neil Super Duper Member LPA Super Member

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    Of the ones you posted, for gaming, the ATI All-In-Wonder 9600XT 128MB AGP Video Card is the best.

    However... it's outdated. If you want something that's going to play new wave games that are coming out, you're probably going to need to spend around 350.

    You DON'T want a card that says 'All-In-Wonder' unless you need a video in port, if you don't know what that is, you don't need All-In-Wonder. AIW is just higher in price.

    If you're going to stay at that budget approximately, get a 9800 Pro 256MB card.
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2006
  3. #3
    esaul17

    esaul17 antichrist

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    That card is a $400. Far above my price range.

    $400 is Canadian
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2006
  4. #4
    Neil

    Neil Super Duper Member LPA Super Member

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    9800 pro 256 meg is 400? Where? Damn. Whereabouts do you live in Canada... anywhere near Ottawa per chance?
     
  5. #5
    esaul17

    esaul17 antichrist

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    I meant on ATIs site.

    http://mirror.ati.com/buy/pricespccdn.html

    It is listed on there. And I live in Midland, which is quite near Barrie (and about 2 hours from Toronto). We were looking at a 9600 Pro 256MB. What would you think of that?

    EDIT: What is the difference between a Graphics card and a Videocard?
     
    Last edited: Jan 7, 2006
  6. #6
    Theazninvasion68

    Theazninvasion68 It's like blood to a vampire, our tragic desire. LPA Super VIP

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  7. #7
    Canadian Joe

    Canadian Joe Bacon strips LPA Super VIP

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    If you want some serious balls behind your card, and it has to be an AGP interface (as mine has to be - I'm building a new computer and got a deal on the vid card), go with the ATi Radeon X850XT - 256MB. It's got some real muscle for an AGP-based card...anyways, I'd still go with PCI Express if you can, but you might have to switch out your motherboard to do that (once my system is paid off, I'll be doing just that, and going for the Radeon X1800 PCI-E 512MB card). PCI-E is faster/better, but AGP isn't that much slower for a card like the X850.
     
  8. #8
    Theazninvasion68

    Theazninvasion68 It's like blood to a vampire, our tragic desire. LPA Super VIP

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    Better off waiting for new cards with Directx 10.
     
  9. #9
    Tomi

    Tomi   LPA Addict

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    Agreed with Neil and Joe. And yes, the best card out of those 3 (9600XT) is out of date. Go with Joe's suggestion for the X850XT, that's top notch right there. They don't cost a lot if you know where to get them. Company websites tend to sell them more expensive, always look around for your best deal.

    When you're gaming, you want to get something top notch, not out of date. One example of a game that requires you to have a highend graphics card is Battlefield 2. It requires at least an X800 card.
     
  10. #10
    Canadian Joe

    Canadian Joe Bacon strips LPA Super VIP

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    I got that sucker at CDC for 300 bucks :lol:
     
  11. #11
    Tomi

    Tomi   LPA Addict

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    ...fuuuck. Why didn't you tell me!?
     
  12. #12
    Canadian Joe

    Canadian Joe Bacon strips LPA Super VIP

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    Cause I got the last one ;)

    I think you can still get some cheapo deals there though...
     
  13. #13
    Tomi

    Tomi   LPA Addict

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    ...bastard. >_<
     
  14. #14
    Neil

    Neil Super Duper Member LPA Super Member

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    256 megs means nothing if the GPU is old.

    Radeon 9250 isn't good for any recent games really...

    Video and graphics card is the same thing.

    And a video card has nothing to do with video playback, you could have a 2 meg video card and play movies just fine.
     
  15. #15
    esaul17

    esaul17 antichrist

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    Ended going for a Radeon 9600 Pro (256 Meg). It runs Quake four great (with the help of a GIG of RAM). It is a bit old, but seems to be working for now.
     
  16. #16
    Theazninvasion68

    Theazninvasion68 It's like blood to a vampire, our tragic desire. LPA Super VIP

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    Well, a 9250 radeon is good from what i used to have.

    and what i had wasnt even 126...


    Now i got a256 :D

    Soo yea, if your Cpu, mother board and mostly everything is new, or recent or soemthing within that generation, its all good.
     
  17. #17
    Canadian Joe

    Canadian Joe Bacon strips LPA Super VIP

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    ...Now that I think of it, I shoulda just sold you my X850XT for 250 bucks and bought an X1800PE :lol: Damn am I dumb :p
     
  18. #18
    Detri

    Detri Well-Known Member

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    Stop looking at ATI, nVidia is the way to go, it's a proven fact that the current generation of graphics cards is being dominated by nVidia. Price to performance ratios are excellent.
     
  19. #19
    Canadian Joe

    Canadian Joe Bacon strips LPA Super VIP

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    Yeah, but when you get a card below cost, you can't complain ;)
     
  20. #20
    palingenesis

    palingenesis Well-Known Member

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    okay okay...i have been shopping for video cards FOREVER and i finally got one for xmas and i can say that it is very suitable for gaming at an affordable price and are much better than those cards you have chosen for gaming. quite frankly, those cards you chose will not perform well at all especially with new games unless you wanna play games on low settings.

    okay check out these cards and tell me the extra 30 bucks isnt worth it.

    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131317
    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814142052

    memory and clock speeds are great on both and will satisfy needs for gaming. i myself got the X1600 XT only because of Pixel Shader 3 compared to the X800 GTO which only supports Pixel Shader 2 and trust me there is a big difference. as a hardcore PC gamer on a budget i took the X1600 XT and i am happy camper. With my X1600 XT, i can play COD2 on HIGH Settings, 1024X768 with AA. Similar settings apply with other games like HL2 (HDR baby), Farcry, and Fear work great on high as well. i wasnt disappointed and it appears the other customers werent on newegg either. the card is mid-range so there is a step up if you feel like spending 150 more for the next card up.

    the X800 i picked is a bit faster but doesnt have as many features as the X1600 XT so games will run faster but no PS3 like i said. the X800 also overclocks great.

    the only thing all-in-wonder really offers is a built in TV card which allows you to record and watch TV on your computer and most gamers dont get all in wonder cards for games. if you find something better, tell me i will gladly go for it. if ATI cards dont do it for ya there is always Nvidia cards.

    if you ever need anymore help with deciding or even tweaking a video to odds and ends i am here to help because i have been down just about ever road there is with video cards.
     

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