Graphics Card Recommendation

[NiTaS]

Not really a handful; All 8 series nVidia GFX cards are Direct 10 ready, I'm not so sure about ATi's though.

 

[Brink]

Ok gang, here's an update.

So far I'm leaning towards a 9600GT OC card. I'm going to wait until the 9800 series is released in March to see what they bring to the table for price vs performance against the 9600GT OC.

Thank you for all of your suggestions and ideas so far,
Shawn

 

[03hdfatboy]

I've run ATI's sense the "Mach 64" days and upgraded to a Rage 128 and thought I had something LOL

FATBOY

 

[Brink]

LOL FATBOY,

I thought I had something when the Matrix card was first released way back ago. I've been running with ATI since then, but it seems Nvidia has them beat for now in price and performance from what I seen so far.

Shawn

 

[03hdfatboy]

We keep talking 'bout those Old cards and people might find out how old we are.. LOL

 

[badognobisc]

the latest info from the tech mag i get pc shopper had a lil article in it talking about the cards soon to be coming out inin 1st qtr from ati. They are saying they are finally going to push nvidia around a little if you have the money.

 

[NiTaS]

I gots a ATi Rage Pro :P

@badognobisc IF you have the money :P

and then again, AMD said that Phenom is the answer to the Intel processor machine. But. It wasn't

 

[Brink]

It would be nice to see some good even competition between ATI and Nvidia again.

 

[Rob Redbeard]

Not really a handful; All 8 series nVidia GFX cards are Direct 10 ready, I'm not so sure about ATi's though.

All ATI HD 2x00 cards are Directx 10
All ATI HD 3x00 cards are Directx 10.1
All except 2900 support hardware h.264 and VC-1, and HDCP.

DX 10.1 was actually added to expose certain features in the ATI RV670 to programmers (cubemap arrays, tessellation, etc). Essentially, the 3800 cards have the ability to do some insanely fast lighting, but it isn't transparent and needs developers to program for it. That's why Nvidia probably won't release a 10.1/ sm 4.1 compatible card until DX11.

Rob

 

[NiTaS]

Well, I guess there is still some competition eh?

But right now, ATi's Crossfire kicks nVIDIA's SLI in the ass.

Meh, nVIDIA has more powerful high end graphics cards, ATi has more bang for the buck. For now.

Signed,

nVIDIA Semi-Fanboy

 

[Rob Redbeard]

Competition is good. 8) I'm a little bit disappointed about the Aegia buyout, because I would have liked to see PhysX ported to both platforms.

Rob

 

[NiTaS]

I always prefer HAVOK, just because it sounds cooler

 

[Brink]

Ok folks, here is the graphics card I finally decided to go ahead and get.

BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB GDDR3

It's more than what I'll need, and the price is good.

WEI score:
http://www.vistax64.com/general-discussion/96219-window-experience-index-scores-22.html#post649317

Thank you for all of your suggestions,
Shawn

 

[badognobisc]

Well congrats when you have time after you have loaded up all your games, give us a review of the games running the card if you would.

 

[Asky]

Yep nice Mid-Range choice ! @ Brink.

 

[Rob Redbeard]

Ok folks, here is the graphics card I finally decided to go ahead and get.

BFG GeForce 9600 GT OC 512MB GDDR3

It's more than what I'll need, and the price is good.

Lol, until you install Steam. It's funny, I had stopped playing games. Then I got the free games with my ATI card, so I fired them up. Then I started tweaking.. Then I started browsing performance reviews. Now, somehow I have a dual HD 3870 Crossfire and I always have "Stats FPS" on while I play UT3. Be careful, there's an infectious disease that comes with decent mid-range hardware.

Rob

 

[Brink]

LOL Rob. I hear you. I must admit that I enjoy the few games that I play now and then with the effects cranked up to the max.

Shawn

 

[xguntherc]

OK.. I need your guys Help. I currently have a XFX 8600GT OC with a Zalman VF700 (added after). not the stock Zalman card..

Card was about $100, cooler was 30.

I've now built a new machine. lots of you have seen pics of it on the show me your rig page. So heres my problem.. I dn't want to use something as weak as my 8600GT on my new Quad Core system.
So I'm getting something better.. I don't wanna spend $400 on the new models coming out soon. I like Nvidia tho. the new cards comming in 6 months will cost WAY to much I'm sure.

So heres the deal. Theres a website called Craigslist.org you can find and locally buy things from people in your city.

A guy that lives about 10 mins from my house has this:

BFG 8800GTX

Brand BFG Tech
Model BFGR88768GTXOCE
Interface PCI Express x16
GPU GeForce 8800GTX
Core clock 600MHz(vs. 575MHz standard)
Stream Processors 128
Memory Clock 1800MHz
Memory Size 768MB
Memory Interface 384-bit
Memory Type GDDR3

I kno thats a very good card. the 8800GTX are about $400 anyways.
this exact model card is for sale on Newegg.com for $419, down to $379.00..

So, this guy that lives near me. has this 8800GTX in a system he's trying to sell.

to make this short. he just Graduated from IT tech school. Built this machine in class. and now got a job that provided a Lappytop.
He is selling his PC.. he said he Rarely used it.. he NEVER plays games.. does video with it.. he's a Director (or wants to be)
so he said he's never ever gamed with it.. rarely uses it cuz has the laptop. and said it's never been messed with, or settings changed.
(Might not kno what OC means) he didn't sound to much like he knows much about these cards..

He wants to sell his system but doesn't wanna part with it cuz can't sell a system without a GFX card..

So this is my offer.

I offered to give this guy, my 8600GT worth $85, with the $25 Zalman VF700 cooler.. so $110 dollar value.. and $180 Cash.
that way he will still have a full system he can sell. and I get the better card for my quad system..

He Accepted this deal.. So my 8600GT, and 180 cash. for a
BFG 8800GTX..

My question to the Forum is WHAT do you guys think about this deal..
He sounds legit, so i trust the card will run fine. he said it will work Perfect.. and is barely used, has reciept.. PC has been covered last 5 months.

What does everyone think about this deal.. Should I do it.
I kno these cards are very good, but they run HOT. thats ok. I got a great case and I'll change the Cooling on it.

Please let me kno what you think, thoughts and suggestions are very much wanted.

Sorry this is so long.. needed to explain so you get the entire picture..

thanks and let me kno

 

[Bubba]

LOL bro, you are always wheeling and dealing. You crack me up. I do the same. LOL I shocked a buddy when I called for the manager at Home Depot to haggle over a tool price. Shocked him even more when the manager accepted my offer.............

 

[DjLevel9]

I stay with ATI all the all the NVIDA cards I had didn't preform as they said they would they always crapp out or have to and reconfig them always a new update come out if fail to what it says it would for vista so no way i said to the Nvida personal choice i guess ...

once I programed all my Ati they stay the way i set them and no problems once all the cofigourations are set .

depends on you're system with the ati they always worked when the computer came poped in the cd and the settings are always there once you set you're wide scree to the recomadations and some 60 some are 75 depends on the power and the size of the Monitor.

Nvida always seem buggy and the i always have to reset them or a vid would be choppy or the sound woul d go giving me an arrow or i get a blue creen and vista kept crashing i said Fudge to this it go's back with notes and recommadation where they can pirch and twil that baby its to why alway buy something someone prommises cause might work on some systems and not all,

always take a copy of the specsification print out of you're comptuer in when you're buy any type of hardware just to be on the safe side cause most hardware is not compatable found this out many times and half to go back to the person who sold it and say look send it back it crapped out again listen and learn was always my moto when it comes to re-building and upgreading you're computer.