Should I buy a high end card?!!!

[Cheater]

I read somewhere that ati 9800 pro only runs hl2 at around 60 FPS and that FX 5900 only runs it at around 30 FPS. Ati 9800 pro and FX 5900 are the most powerful videocards out there today, but they still don't run hl2 with extremely high framerate, like higher than 60 to 100. I don't worry whether they could run hl2, cuz i know they could and their framerate is already playable. However, I'm afraid that these videocards won't be able to run the upcoming games like doom3, far cry, etc with max detail with a playable framerate. It seems to me that other upcoming engine could require a more powerful computer than hl2 does to run in max detail with decent speed. I worry that spending 600$ canadian can only allow me to see one game hl2 in its full glory. In this case, I rather buy the ati 9600 with much cheaper price.

 

[.5c0ut-WHoR3.]

Its only getting low frame because the gfx is maxed out on highest res.

 

[Gordon'sFreeman]

Do what i did, spend the money to get the fastest PC out there, and you wont have to upgrade for another 3 years LOL!!

maybe 1 year or 2 but hey, your going to have to upgrade sooner or later.

 

[fractalbit]

Buy now the 9600pro that runs everything fine and when the next generation of cards come out buy one of the new cards.

 

[Woggy]

I think you can be confident the Radeon 9800 will last you a while.
I bought my Geforce 3 years ago. Its only showing its age now. (and its still not running at its maximum speed, my P3 1ghz is a bottleneck)

 

[Kuros]

People, please post in the appropriate forums. :|

 

[Guest]

Your choices :

9500Pro
9600Pro
9700Pro
9800Pro

 

[Cheater]

yeah i want to get the highest res and detail and everything and most importantly a playable framerate. i want to see the upcoming games in their full glory. I know my computer won't be able to run everything in the future, but at least i want my computer to run the nearest upcoming games in their max. i know i can run hl2 in max, but how about doom3, far cry, stalker, etc. i want them all in max? Is it possible with ati 9800 pro?? if it's possible, i will buy it before hl2 comes out.

 

[SpaceRain]

You pretty much said it, Cheater. I think the 9800 Pro will be fast enough to run all games decently for some time, but if you don't wanna invest all your savings in a Radeon 9800 Pro, get a 9600 Pro. Yes, you'll have to update sooner than those of us with a 9800 Pro, but nobody knows how much sooner, and all things considered, you'll be saving a fortune which you can use for whenever you DO need something faster than a 9600 Pro.

 

[dawdler]

Originally posted by Cheater
yeah i want to get the highest res and detail and everything and most importantly a playable framerate. i want to see the upcoming games in their full glory. I know my computer won't be able to run everything in the future, but at least i want my computer to run the nearest upcoming games in their max. i know i can run hl2 in max, but how about doom3, far cry, stalker, etc. i want them all in max? Is it possible with ati 9800 pro?? if it's possible, i will buy it before hl2 comes out.

Depends on how one define playable framerate. The 9800 Pro should be able to keep up 30+ fps in any of the upcoming game. Why? Because its the fastest there is! Developers know this, and the games you mention (Far Cry, Stalker, DoomIII) have been designed for max settings with worse cards than the 9800...

But we dont know. We need to actually see the games before we estimate. Only developers know...
But here's something to think on: if you want to make a trailer of a modern game, show it at its absolute best and at high speed, which card would you choose to run it on? I guess 90% of developers [that arent paid by Nvidia] would choose the 9800 Pro

 

[Alanity]

I'm probably going to wait for the next gen cards to come out. I'm not too fussed about not being able to play hl2 the second it comes out as long as noone spoils the storyline for me... ¬_¬
The 9800pro has been out a pretty long time, tech must have moved pretty far foward in that time.

 

[Nippy_Kangaroo]

Originally posted by Alanity
I'm probably going to wait for the next gen cards to come out. I'm not too fussed about not being able to play hl2 the second it comes out as long as noone spoils the storyline for me... ¬_¬
The 9800pro has been out a pretty long time, tech must have moved pretty far foward in that time.

thats what I'm planning on doin... got a 9700pro at the moment and it's not that far behind the 9800pro where fps are concerned... probably upgrade to the latest gcard whatevers out sometime nxt year then keep that for a few yrs then do the same all over again.

I hate it when you have to upgrade your CPU though.... I mean, most of the time a new chipset comes out not only do you have to upgrade cpu, you also have to upgrade memory and motherboard


I think best value for money as far as upgrading componants is concerned are the monitor (i've got a 19" liyama pro 454 with max res 2048x1536@80Hz which will last me years to come) and the soundcard.

 

[GoLiatH]

Originally posted by Irs2k3
Your choices :

9500Pro
9600Pro
9700Pro
9800Pro

man thats bullshit you can buy a 9800 non pro and have beter fps then that f¤#%#ing 9700pro dont about stuff you dont know would ya?

 

[dawdler]

Originally posted by GoLiatH
man thats bullshit you can buy a 9800 non pro and have beter fps then that f¤#%#ing 9700pro dont about stuff you dont know would ya?

Actually a 9700Pro can outperform a 9800np... I dont remember which of the sites tested it, but I do remember it had both cards tested for HL2.

 

[vissione]

You should wait for the new revolution called PCIExpress. One thing is getting marginally better performance on AGP every few months to a year, but getting a new graphics port that will offer a LOT of headroom is when you should really expect performance.