Is It Worth Upgrading My Geforce 3 To Radeon 9600

[sHaDdoW]

IS IT WORTH UPGRADING MY GEFORCE 3 TO THIS http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?rb=1286910271&action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=63696

 

[Gunner]

Well if your budget allows you to go higher, I recommend you pick something more powerful. It also depends on your current setup, but best advice I can give you is wait and see how HL2 or the CS beta runs on your pc, if it's really choppy then yeah time to upgrade, oh and fix your allcaps key

 

[sHaDdoW]

SRY IT WILL NOT TURN OFF LOL I'M GOING TO HAVE TO OPEN MY KEYBORD

OH AND MY SETUP IS A
ATHLON 2000+XP
256MB PC2700
GEFORCE 3 128MB
SOUND BLASTER AUDIGY PLAYER :x
IT'S A BIT OLD I RELLY NEED A NEW ONE BUT I CAN NOT AFFORD IT BECOUSE I'M 15 YEARS OLD.
MAN I SURE COULD GO FOR ONE THOSE ATI X800 XT CARDS

I ALSO THINK THAT 9600 CARD IS QUITE CHEAP FOR WHAT IT IS IT IS THE CHEPEST ONE I COULD FIND

 

[Gunner]

Hehe keyboard problems aye? hope you didn't spill any coke in there!

And about your setup, I guess the 9600 is a good choice but on the other hand maybe a stick of 256 ram wouldn't be a bad idea either. If you can get both well that would be even better but if you have to go for one the graphic card is probably the best pick. Just make sure the 9600 is "DX9 compatible", I think it is I'm just not sure.

And I think you can flash it to a 9700, you have to check that out too.

 

[Dead-Inside]

You'd be best off to scrap the RAM and get a 9800 Pro instead. Trust me on that one.

 

[Johan_Tayn]

the 9600 Pro will do fine with 512 of RAM.

And just because you're 15 doesn't mean you're unable to have large piles of cash. I'm 15 and built myself a AMD64 system with money I got from selling my $1500 laptop I bought when I was 13 from money I had saved. Plus I pay for two dedicated servers each month out of pocket, so let it never be said 15 year olds are unable.

 

[sHaDdoW]

I don't seem to own $1500 laptop and all i get is £20 a month, but thanks for the advice. oh no i'm being assimlated theres too many. we are the borg resistance is futile (bad spelling)

 

[iamaelephant]

In my opinion, the 9600 series is utter crap and not the least bit future proof. HL2 will probably only run on medium with a 9600, and any game developed after HL2 will struggle with it. Go for the 9800 pro if you want to be playing games for the next few years.

 

[Maxi]

I'd get a 512mb stick of ram and a 9800, if you can afford it.

 

[Malfunction]

First I'd buy another stick of 256mb RAM, then, if you can, hold out until you can afford a 9800 pro.

 

[sHaDdoW]

i have a extreme budget though

 

[Malfunction]

Like, how much of a budget?

 

[sHaDdoW]

£65 i also get £20 a month

 

[blahblahblah]

Find a 9600 Pro 128 MB (the one with a 600 MHz memory clockspeed, not 400 MHz). The difference between a Pro and non-Pro is quite substantial, so the extra cost is worth it.

A 9800 Pro is a quantum leap (in terms of performance) over a 9600 Pro, but it costs 70% more than a 9600 Pro.

If you are a casual gamer, get the 9600 Pro and scrap together some cash to buy another 256 MB stick of RAM.

If you are a serious gamer, get the 9800 Pro and buy another stick of 256 MB of RAM.

People who say the 9600 Pro is junk usually have their head where the sun doesn't shine. Not everybody can afford $200 or more for graphic card upgrades. If you are willing to turn down some graphics options, the 9600 Pro is meant for you.

Take a look at some benchmarks comparing a whole bunch of graphics cards.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

 

[iamaelephant]

blahblahblah, actually I say the 9600 XT is crap because I used to own one, and it was crap. Those cards are slow as hell. Mine had 500MHz memory clock.

 

[blahblahblah]

blahblahblah, actually I say the 9600 XT is crap because I used to own one, and it was crap. Those cards are slow as hell. Mine had 500MHz memory clock.

I bet you game a lot though. THe 9600 Pro is meant for the person who occasional games (with CS:S or HL2). They don't care about graphics that much and usually don't want to spend a lot of money on PC gaming. The 9600 Pro/XT series is perfect for that type of person.

Most games right now will run at near high/max settings at 1024 resolution with 30 FPS on a 9600 Pro. Some people demand more FPS or better graphics, and they have cards for those people. There should be no reason to recommend to a person to buy a $200+ graphics card when they do not want or need one.

I used to own a 9600 Pro. And I'm not a casual gamer anymore so I don't have it anymore.

PS - The 9600 Pro and 9600 XT have the same memory clock speed (600 MHz). The core clock speed is a 100 MHz faster on the XT (500 instead of 400 MHz).

 

[iamaelephant]

Yeah you're actually probably right there blahblahblah, I wouldn't be so inclined to buy a 9800 if it were not for my obsession with pretty graphics and smooth frame rates