IG-64 Posted November 7, 2004 Share Posted November 7, 2004 Ok so, I was recommended in the half life 2 thread to get a Radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit graphics card but heres the deal: What I want a new graphics card for is basically for better framerates at higher graphics settings in games. I generally get 15-30 fps with very highest graphics on Jedi Academy with the card I got now, and I want a improve this for JA and more recent games like Half Life 2. But I also use 3DSMax 6 for 3D rendering alot, ya know, it's my thing. Now, my sister did some research and has told me that generally ati radeon makes cards for gamers or 3D rendering. I.E. if your a gamer you get a gamer type card and 3DSMax won't run well. But she wasn't too sure on this so, anyone got any reccomendations for me? My specs are: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 2.81 GHz 1.00 GB of RAM Pentium 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImmolatedYoda Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Ah good, I was about to post something similar...I am thinking about upgrading from my 9600SE (not that great) to one of the X800 cards. I've done some research tonight on various hardware vendors, and have come across some problems: 1. Are there actually separate X800XT and X800XT PE cards? The ATi website lists both under products but only has the XT PE in the store (for $500 I might add). Practically all online stores I've seen list only the X800XT, though. 2. Assuming that there is only one ATi card higher than the X800 Pro (either XT or XT PE), is the price difference between the two worth the performance increase? One of my friends said it wasn't worth it, but I have looked at a bunch of benchmarks and am still kind of doubtful as to the veracity of his claims. Also, I play mostly UT2004 right now and will definitely be obsessed with playing Half-Life 2 in a couple weeks. Anyway, it's gonna be 2-3 months before I save up that much money, so I still have a long time to decide (unless an X700XT AGP variant comes out, or the next next-gen cards are announced). Thanks in advance to any help, as all this 'research' has been getting me into a tizzy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 If you wouldn't mind PCI Express, you can try the nVidia GeForce 6800/6600. For something a bit cheaper, you can try 5900/5950. I don't have any idea about ATI's graphix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TiE23 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by ImmolatedYoda Ah good, I was about to post something similar...I am thinking about upgrading from my 9600SE (not that great) to one of the X800 cards. I've done some research tonight on various hardware vendors, and have come across some problems: 1. Are there actually separate X800XT and X800XT PE cards? The ATi website lists both under products but only has the XT PE in the store (for $500 I might add). Practically all online stores I've seen list only the X800XT, though. 2. Assuming that there is only one ATi card higher than the X800 Pro (either XT or XT PE), is the price difference between the two worth the performance increase? One of my friends said it wasn't worth it, but I have looked at a bunch of benchmarks and am still kind of doubtful as to the veracity of his claims. Also, I play mostly UT2004 right now and will definitely be obsessed with playing Half-Life 2 in a couple weeks. Anyway, it's gonna be 2-3 months before I save up that much money, so I still have a long time to decide (unless an X700XT AGP variant comes out, or the next next-gen cards are announced). Thanks in advance to any help, as all this 'research' has been getting me into a tizzy. Well, 9800pro will give you a good framerate for all games out today. It will give out atleast 60fps for games like FarCry, Doom 3, Painkiller, and Half-Life 2 at all highest settings. TiE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImmolatedYoda Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by TiE 23 Well, 9800pro will give you a good framerate for all games out today. It will give out atleast 60fps for games like FarCry, Doom 3, Painkiller, and Half-Life 2 at all highest settings. TiE I know that the 9800 is a great card for current games, but for some reason I'm looking more towards the new generation of cards than the 9800, I guess for better performance in the coming years. I've always been behind on computer performance, so I kind of want to get a leg up . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyrion Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by TiE 23 Well, 9800pro will give you a good framerate for all games out today. It will give out atleast 60fps for games like FarCry, Doom 3, Painkiller, and Half-Life 2 at all highest settings. TiE Uh...that's not exactly true, unless you use 1024x768, which in case it could. I got around 40fps in FarCry at 1280x1024 with slightly below maximum settings and around 40 in Doom 3 at 1280X1024 with High Quality settings. Which is still very good, considering the 9800 Pro is just 180 dollars. My advice is to get the 9800 Pro, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treacherous Mercenary Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by ImmolatedYoda 1. Are there actually separate X800XT and X800XT PE cards? The ATi website lists both under products but only has the XT PE in the store (for $500 I might add). Practically all online stores I've seen list only the X800XT, though. X800 XT and XT PE are the same. It's all just one variant pretty much. 2. Assuming that there is only one ATi card higher than the X800 Pro (either XT or XT PE), is the price difference between the two worth the performance increase? One of my friends said it wasn't worth it, but I have looked at a bunch of benchmarks and am still kind of doubtful as to the veracity of his claims. The X800 Pro has 12 pipelines, 475 Mhz Core, 900 Mhz Memory. While X800 XT has 16 pipelines, 520Mhz core, 1120Mhz Memory. It may not make too much of a difference now, but later it may very well be a difference case. The 16 pipelines will help and the higher clocks too. Though you could simply overclock Pro to XT levels, but the pipelines will be lacking somewhat. This is at least from my understanding of the question. Now I do have a suggestion and that you could go Geforce 6800 GT for the same price as X800 Pro and in some cases have better performance than the top card. This will also help with any SM 3.0 titles later. You could also easily overclock to Ultra levels if overclocking is a thing for you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Ok, so, someone posts after me and everyone forgets about me? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astrotoy7 Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by IG-64 Ok, so, someone posts after me and everyone forgets about me? c'mon IG, stop being so self centred, and just read what ppl have to say, there's a lot of uselful info there ! my recommendation : stick with Nvidia - they seem to be on the inside lane with devs atm being a laptop person, my range of available vid cards is *very* limited mtfbwya Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by Astrotoy7 c'mon IG, stop being so self centred, and just read what ppl have to say, there's a lot of uselful info there ! But as you can see, i've already said why I dont want to use a radeon, then ImmolatedYoda comes along and every one tells him "Get a Radeon!" leaving me in the dirt and killing the whole purpose of the thread for me. So anyways, let me start over. "Ok so, I was recommended in the half life 2 thread to get a Radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit graphics card but heres the deal: What I want a new graphics card for is basically for better framerates at higher graphics settings in games. I generally get 15-30 fps with very highest graphics on Jedi Academy with the card I got now, and I want a improve this for JA and more recent games like Half Life 2. But I also use 3DSMax 6 for 3D rendering alot, ya know, it's my thing. Now, my sister did some research and has told me that generally ati radeon makes cards for gamers or 3D rendering. I.E. if your a gamer you get a gamer type card and 3DSMax won't run well. But she wasn't too sure on this so, anyone got any reccomendations for me? My specs are: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 2.81 GHz 1.00 GB of RAM Pentium 4" Is there an Nvidia card thats as good or better than the Radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit for around the same price? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BawBag™ Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 I say get the 9800 Pro too. I got one last week (128Mb) and it's running like a dream. Make room for the little man, go ATI! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Ok, so, will the Radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit run 3DSMax good, and not screw it up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImmolatedYoda Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Sorry about that IG-64; I wasn't trying to steal all the glory from you, I just didn't see the point in creating another thread because it would've been so similar to this one! And thank you for the help guys, I'll give it all some thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Obi_Kwiet Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 I have that card, and it's good. The only game I have not been able to run at full tilt with good FPS (including Doom 3) is Pacific Fighters+IL2FBAEP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabrobot Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by IG-64 Ok, so, will the Radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit run 3DSMax good, and not screw it up? It won't screw it up...there are certain cards which are made specifically for the OpenGL things that 3d programs use in their real-time previews but your gaming would suffer if you went with one of them. The preveiw stuff works just fine on regular gaming cards as well (unless maybe if you're modeling multi-million poly models in which case it would slow down more then it would with one of the other cards) so you should just go with the 9800. Actual renders in your 3d program are done entirely on your CPU, so your video card won't help one bit with that. (Until John Carmack finishes his next engine that is... ) I have a 9800 Pro 128MB and I don't have any problems in either games or Lightwave 8. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IG-64 Posted November 8, 2004 Author Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by Gabrobot It won't screw it up...there are certain cards which are made specifically for the OpenGL things that 3d programs use in their real-time previews but your gaming would suffer if you went with one of them. The preveiw stuff works just fine on regular gaming cards as well (unless maybe if you're modeling multi-million poly models in which case it would slow down more then it would with one of the other cards) so you should just go with the 9800. Actual renders in your 3d program are done entirely on your CPU, so your video card won't help one bit with that. (Until John Carmack finishes his next engine that is... ) I have a 9800 Pro 128MB and I don't have any problems in either games or Lightwave 8. Alright, Radeon it is then. And, ImmolatedYoda, it's not you, it's all the people that we're ignoring me :/ But I got my answer, i'm over it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treacherous Mercenary Posted November 8, 2004 Share Posted November 8, 2004 Originally posted by IG-64 And, ImmolatedYoda, it's not you, it's all the people that we're ignoring me :/ Wasn't ignoring, but couldn't really answer your question either for that matter. At least a definate one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sabretooth Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 BTW, IG, I thought people get greeting cards on their birthdays... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crow_Nest Posted November 9, 2004 Share Posted November 9, 2004 Originally posted by IG-64 what I want a new graphics card for is basically for better framerates at higher graphics settings in games. I generally get 15-30 fps with very highest graphics on Jedi Academy with the card I got now, and I want a improve this for JA and more recent games like Half Life 2. I have a Radeon 9600XT 256MB with 512MB RAM, 2.34 GHz Athlon and runs JA flawlessly on the max settings with 16x AF. The 9800 Pro is a good choice for any game currently in the market, but you want a graphics card for todays and tomorrows games at a low price get the 6600 GT (Since its better than the new X600 and X700 ATI cards). Anyway, dont have to worry as long as you have something above a 9600 Pro / FX 5700 standard you cant go wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.