New Video Card
Smoke_Nova
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8697Members
Join Date: 2002-11-15 Member: 8697Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Help me, again, Ooby Dooby Scooby Kanoob</div> So, my current video card is a POS for running Next gen games, but it does fine with HL so i'm set for a while but...I'm looking to get a new one soon, preferably after the november price drop.
The cards i'm looking at are: (just the models & builds, though they might change)
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset:ATI RADEON 9600
Memory:128MB DDR
Bus:8X AGP
New SMARTSHADER 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
Industry's only 4-pipeline graphics solution in its 2nd generation, providing twice the rendering power of any currently competing product.
First to fully support DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
Ports:VGA + DVI + S-Video Out
well, ok, that's the only good one i've seen so far on Newegg.
The cards i'm looking at are: (just the models & builds, though they might change)
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset:ATI RADEON 9600
Memory:128MB DDR
Bus:8X AGP
New SMARTSHADER 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
Industry's only 4-pipeline graphics solution in its 2nd generation, providing twice the rendering power of any currently competing product.
First to fully support DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
Ports:VGA + DVI + S-Video Out
well, ok, that's the only good one i've seen so far on Newegg.
Comments
That card is really cheap right now (even new) and still kicks major arse. I've had one in my computer for the past 8 months and have been completely satisfied with the level of complexity it can handle.
Personally, I'd save up a little more and go with an R9600 XT when they come out. $200 (minus $50 with HL2 bundled in... after all, you WERE going to buy it anyway, right?), and from benchmarks they outperform an R9700 Pro in all aspects, even with the cut-down four pixel pipelines.
Sapphire, however, is a 'good' name for a third-party manufacturer, or so I hear. Wouldn't know, as I only go with Built By ATI gear. They have set standards, and know what'll make the chip fly. Won't skimp on bridging capacitors, so your image quality will be high, colours vibrant, and on a CRT will be crisper than a number of third-party cards. Plus, if you have *any* problems with the card, their tech support is <b>extremely</b> good. Hours instead of days to get a response. Heck, when I was having difficulties with mine, I received a return mail in less than twenty minutes thanking me for bringing a driver bug to their attention. It was fixed in the next Catalyst revision (unfortunately, since then it has broken again... minor overdraw error in Maya when placing new isoparms.. hopefully it will be fixed again soon).
The 9600 XT will be around $200, a very good price for a very good card, my recommendation.