Video card buying woes...

[StinkyMojo]

Hey guys.. I currently have a 2500+ which I plan to oc to 3200+, seated on a Asus A7N8X Deluxe. I have Corsair XMS twinX low latency 2x 256mb sticks in dual channel mode. I haven't powered up my system yet, I need a video card. I know that ATI has the slight edge on nVidia for HL2 graphics, but I hear that nvidia will be releasing a good follow up driver to try to even the odds. So, I have been considering a Geforce 5950 Ultra. Why I am posting is because I've seen a set of benchmarks that point out that geforce fx cards are slightly faster than ATI cards running on the nforce 2 chipset. Is this true? If not, which video card do you think I should get? 9800XT? Money is not an issue. I plan on not going all-out for the pci express untill next year so I want to get the best AGP video card there is. Thanks

 

[RandomPING]

Well the difference between the 9800XT and the 5950 Ultra is going to be slight at best right now, maybe 10 FPS difference max, give or take depending on the game. The thing about the 9800XT is that it has more of a future, it has pixel shaders and it's great with DX9 effects, which will be in more and more games as time goes on, The 5950 just can't handle DX9 effects as well, and there's been a lot of reports from gamers that the IQ (image quality) on the nvidea cards isn't quite the same as the radeons. This may all change with the next generation of graphics cards from these companies, but for right now it's something that's there, and no ammount of PR or paying games to put "The way it's ment to be played" logo on their packaging will fix it.

So i'd strongly recomend the 9800XT, the difference is slight now, but 9800XT has more of a future.

 

[Meteor_of_War]

Go with ATi.:thumbs:

Nvidia's future may be looking bright right now as they've redeemed themselves with their latest releases and they have the NV40 coming up, but ATi is still on top. So as of right now i'd say go with ATi.

 

[psyno]

I would recommend the 9800XT as well, but really both cards run HL2 just fine. You'll find the ATI card to be faster when using newer pixel shaders.

Also, nVidia cards won't do pure trilinear filtering, and their quality of anisotropic filtering is behind corresponding ATI quality. ATI also does near horizontal/near vertical anti-aliasing better.

 

[csmighty1]

If you need to get a card RIGHT now, I'd say the 9800XT is the best bet but If your willing to wait a month, ATI and Nvidia are releasing their next generation cards (nvidia is the NV40 and ATI's is the R420 I think.)
And you plan on overclocking a 2500 to a 3200? I don't know, that sounds like your really pushing it.

 

[Shuzer]

And you plan on overclocking a 2500 to a 3200? I don't know, that sounds like your really pushing it.

I have my 2500+ OCed to 3200+, running on a vantec aeroflow, 39ºC idle, doesn't even reach 50º at load

It all depends on your cooling/ambient temp, though, but, that OC's not pushing it, per se

 

[Asus]

Basicly they will win some and loose some on older games (basicly a tie depending on the game).
With DX9 in mind, stay way from FX.
No mater what "driver" they put out, it will be false hope for FX picking itself up in DX9 games and keeping the quality.

Click Me

Radeon 9600Pro-9800XT > FX 5600Ultra - FX5950Ultra

It's not because ATI is so great but because FX sux so bad @ dx9

 

[StinkyMojo]

Thanks guys, Ill look into a 9800xt then - newegg.com has a sapphire retail for $409. Ill be getting this in a couple weeks.

 

[Meteor_of_War]

Thanks guys, Ill look into a 9800xt then - newegg.com has a sapphire retail for $409. Ill be getting this in a couple weeks.

Read this thread about the Sapphire 256mb 9800 Pro's before you committ to buying an XT.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=29788

 

[StinkyMojo]

thats awesome... though I'm a noob in the bios flashing department. I found the card the guy was talking about:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-340&depa=0
only $300. But for some reason I'm being sucked in for this one:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-268&depa=0
almost a whole $100 cheaper. I think that $210 is a great buy for the 9800 pro. What do you guys think?

 

[Meteor_of_War]

Choice is your's.

The XT bios isnt anything that special anyways.