ATi or nvidia for a mid-range purchase?

[giocopiano]

By mid-range I mean about $100-170, thereabouts.
My gaming needs are: often simulators of various kinds, 1024x768 is standard, and I want FSAA and anisotropic at a good quality to performance ratio.
Extra monitor/DVI support for the future would be an enticement to think about.

Radeon 9700 looks attractive but is possibly too expensive overkill for my uses.
Radeon 9500 I do not wish for... I remember how review sites were complimenting the Geforce2 MX at first for its value compromise. 6 months later when prices came down, it was just an inferior shoestring card. For double the bandwidth the price of the 9700 makes the 9500 look a similarly poor choice.
Ti4200 seems to fit the bill. In budget, very good but not leading basic performance, and a performance penalty for basic image cleaning proportionate to its effect (~20% for 2x FSAA). nview.
Is it as much an "open and shut" case as it seems? I had a look at Radeon 9000 and 9100 and although they are cheap their supersampling seems to gobble too much performance so I left them out.

 

[mboy]

Check out my hotdeals thread. gameve.com has a ti4220 Abit siluro (comes stock at 4400ti settings 275/550mhz) for $114 shipped brand new.

 

[lchen66666]

TI4200 is out dated if you compare to ATI 9500.

ATI 9500 supports DirectX9, and FSAA mode is much faster than TI4200.
Plus ATI(BBA) has better 2D/3D image quality than Nvidia's.

I think you can get ATI 9500 Pro somewhere near $170.

 

[Sarge1]

If I hadn't bought a 9700, I would definitely have a 9500 Pro!

 

[giocopiano]

ATi have a little way to prove themselves about bugs and things. I think I trust nvidia better and besides, a Ti4200 is much cheaper. Maybe next year a 9700 will be $114 too or something even better will come.

 

[sandorski]

Radeon

 

[mboy]

Originally posted by: giocopiano
ATi have a little way to prove themselves about bugs and things. I think I trust nvidia better and besides, a Ti4200 is much cheaper. Maybe next year a 9700 will be $114 too or something even better will come.

My thoguhts exactly. By the time I need one for Dx9 games, or games my t4400 wont play, the 9700 pro or NVX will be $115 shipped

This is PERFECT for the gamer on a budget like myself (dumped 4k into down payment on new car this weekend and getting married in 2 weeks, So I know all about being on a budget

 

[jiffylube1024]

My gaming needs are: often simulators of various kinds, 1024x768 is standard, and I want FSAA and anisotropic at a good quality to performance ratio.

This really narrows down your options. Go for a Radeon 9500 Pro. The GF 4 sucks for FSAA and Aniso, and gets particularly trounced by the 9500/9700 series.

 

[nick1985]

4200 for your budget, i have it and it is a kick ass card, it has yet to lag in a single game with everything cranked

 

[Gretzky]

Radeon 9500pro

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: mboy

Originally posted by: giocopiano
ATi have a little way to prove themselves about bugs and things. I think I trust nvidia better and besides, a Ti4200 is much cheaper. Maybe next year a 9700 will be $114 too or something even better will come.

My thoguhts exactly. By the time I need one for Dx9 games, or games my t4400 wont play, the 9700 pro or NVX will be $115 shipped

This is PERFECT for the gamer on a budget like myself (dumped 4k into down payment on new car this weekend and getting married in 2 weeks, So I know all about being on a budget

I think the GF 4 is also the best deal for a budget gamer (I myself have a Ti4200 which I love) however, if you really want good AA and AF performance, then there is no question. ATI does much better with AA and AF on; even a Radeon 8500 is competitive with a GF4 when AF is enabled.

If he didn't want AA and AF, I'd say go for the GF4 and don't look back. However, since he wants to be able to run with good performance, the 9500 is the clear winner between the two.

 

[giocopiano]

Thanks for the advice guys. nvidia FSAA isn't a perfect cure, even on 4xS and anisotropic, but I have never been able to use 1024x768 4x FSAA at enough speed on any card so far, so a blazing 2x will have to do. I liked the Geforce 3 but the Geforce 4 just murders it at 2x.
I still can't bring myself to buy either a $250 card or a "lite" version, because we all know how much they stink later. There were actually people proud to have a Geforce2 MX and Radeon SDR when they came out... I can't see why I would choose a halved bus for $170 instead of the full one for $250. And the cheaper you buy, the less you lose on trades...

 

[kylebisme]

apples and oranges are two very differnt things giocopiano.

 

[giocopiano]

A student of philosophy I see!

 

[Martrox]

Well, I own 2 9700Pros & a 9500Pro, and, unless you want to use it above 1280X1024, you gain very little with the 9700Pro. This is no putdown of the 9700Pro, just tells you how great a 9500Pro is! BTW, IF you want to use FSAA & AF, the 9500PRO absolutely destroys ANY nVidia product currently available(TI4600)

 

[Bovinicus]

The Radeon 9500 is only $30 more than a Ti4200 (The 128MB versions) and it is much better in pretty much every way. It is slower without FSAA and AF, but you want to use both. It has better 2D quality. It has DX9 support. There is no reason to go with a Ti4200 in my opinion, unless that $30 is a lot for you. The Radeon 9500 Pro is only another $20 on top of that, and will last you quite a while.

 

[LP29]

Another vote for radeon 9500pro.

 

[Shagga]

Originally posted by: mboy

Originally posted by: giocopiano

This is PERFECT for the gamer on a budget like myself (dumped 4k into down payment on new car this weekend and getting married in 2 weeks, So I know all about being on a budget

Just thought I'd cr@p on ya thread by congratulating mboy on getting married and having the sense to buy the car first!

 

[mboy]

Thanks

My other car died so I had no choice . Marriage I have a choice ( I know I know,lol)