In this forum we keep getting constant replies about which Video card is better, and what does this do, and when is this coming out. Well this thread will hopefully answer all of those questions.
***NOTE: I Will be updating with the newer graphics cards and will be incorporating some suggestions... that is why this is rev 1.5***
Video Card Basics
With many different graphics cards out there one of the most common things people talk about are the graphics pipeline, and how it works. Well this is the basics so commonly youll hear about 8x1 or 4x2 etc. This has to do with the Video Cards Pixel Shading capabilities.
If you have a 2x2 array that means that you have 2 pipelines, with 2 texturing units. The first number (2) indicates the number of pipelines, or how many pixels are able to be drawn per clock; the second indicates the number of texture accesses you can perform per pipe per clock. All this has to do is how texturing occurs. If a card is single texturing you will likey have it performing in an Xx1 state. If it is multi texturing you will likely have it performing in an Xx2 state.
6800(U)(UE)(GT)...32x0, 16x1, 8x2*
X800XT(PE):.........16x1, 8x2
6800NU :..............24x0, 12x1**
X800Pro:..............12x1
59xx:...................4x2, 4x1***
98xx:...................8x1, 4x2
97xx:...................8x1, 4x2
9500:...................8x1; 4x2****
955x:...................4x1
57xx:...................4x1 ; 2x2
5600:...................4x1 ; 2x2
96xx:...................4x1 ; 2x2
52xx:.................. 4x1
92xx:...................4x1
91xx:...................4x2
* : The 6800U is able to run as a 32x0 only when doing Z-Stencil Ops. After looking at that you may be suprised to see Xx0. This is an Nvidia exclusive feature which occurs during zixel, or z-stencil operation in games like Doom III.
**: The 6800NU can run in 24x0 as it only has 12 pipelines.
***: Youll notice that the 59xx series is not able to single texture while retaining all 8 pipelines like the 9800Pro. This is one of the reasons the 98xx series is somewhat superior to the FX series.
****: Though this may seem like a 9700Pro it is... the only difference is the 9700Pro has a 256bit memory bus whereas the 95xx only has a 128bit.The easiest way to think of this is a highway. 128bit has 128 lanes and 256 has 256 lanes. There are two other exceptions.
NOTE: The Geforce 2 MX200 has a 64bit data bus width, along with the 9600SE, and the 5200SE. The lack of 128bit severely hampers performance.
Acronyms
VIVO: Video in/ Video Out, essentially allows you to hook up a comcorder or diogitally edit video.
GPU : Graphics Processing Unit
HD: High Deifinition allows resolutions (on a TV) up from to 1080i, which allows for a shaper clearer image
HTPC: Home theatre PC
ALU: Arithmetic Logic Unit
API's... features
There are 2 different types of API's that are widely used, Microsoft's DirectX and OpenGL.
Direct X generally supports more features as it isn't just an API it is a complete set of tools and programs used for audio, visual (etc). Also it is more widely know (also DX hasn't been around as long), however DX is only updated by Microsoft as OpenGL is updated freely by a group of designers and can be added onto as needed. Currently the latest version available are DX9.0C and OGL 1.4.
The only card that fully supports BOTH of these are the GF 68xx series of cards. In a nutshell these are to different ways of making a scene appear, nice and pretty, on your monitor.
Here is a rundown of features (Courtesy of Sticky Sauce )
Feature...................................................OpenGL.......DirectX
Vertex Blending.......................................N/A.............Yes
Multiple Operating Systems.......................Yes.............No
Extension Mechanism................................Yes.............Yes
Development:..........................................Multiple member Board / Microsoft
Thorough Specification.............................Yes..............No
Two-sided lighting....................................Yes..............No
Volume Textures......................................Yes..............No
Hardware independent Z-buffers...............Yes..............No
Accumulation buffers................................Yes..............No
Full-screen Antialiasing.............................Yes..............Yes
Motion Blur..............................................Yes..............Yes
Depth of field...........................................Yes..............Yes
Stereo Rendering.....................................Yes..............No
Point-size/line-width attributes...................Yes..............No
Picking....................................................Yes..............No
Parametric curves and surfaces.................Yes..............No
Cache geometry:.....................................Display Lists.Vertex Buffers
System emulation:...................................Hardware not present / Let app determine
Interface.................................................Procedure calls / COM
Updates..................................................Yearly..........Yearly
Source Code...........................................Sample........SDK Implementation
The next very common thing talked about in the world of graphics is SM or Shader Model. Currently the latest version is SM3.0. This is not software but how advanced the pixel shader in a graphics card are, and how complex of instructions they can handle. So it can only be updated by updating the entire architecture. SM and PS (Pixel Shader) are commonly confused. You see a shader model is made up of a bunch of different sub features, the two main ones are pixel and vertex shaders.
Clockspeeds... and the specifics
Now onto clockspeeds. Many people think that card is faster because it has a higher clock speed. IE a 5700U vs a 9800Pro. This is not true. The 9800Pro has a 256bit memory data width along with many more advantages. Yes clock speed helps, however it does not override other features. Here is a complete list (Facts obtained from Toms)
GeForce FX 5950 U.....................475 950 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 U.....................450 850 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 .......................400 850 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 XT...................300 700 256-bit
GeForce FX 5800 U.....................500 1000 128-bit
GeForce FX 5800........................400 800 128-bit
GeForce FX 5700 U.....................475 900 128-bit
GeForce FX 5700........................425 550 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600 U Rev 2............400 800 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600 U.....................350 700 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600........................325 550 128-bit
GeForce FX 5200 U.....................325 650 128-bit
GeForce FX 5200........................250 400 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4600-8x...................300 650 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4600........................300 650 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4400........................275 550 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x...................250 514 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200 128.................250 444 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200 64...................250 514 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 460........................300 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 440-8x...................275 512 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 440........................270 400 128-bit
Radeon 9800 XT..........................412 730 256-bit
Radeon 9800 Pro256...................380 700 256-bit
Radeon 9800 Pro........................380 680 256-bit
Radeon 9800..............................325 580 256-bit
Radeon 9800 SE.........................380 675 128-bit
Radeon 9700 Pro........................325 620 256-bit
Radeon 9700..............................275 540 256-bit
Radeon 9600 XT.........................500 600 128-bit
Radeon 9600 Pro........................400 600 128-bit
Radeon 9600.............................325 400 128-bit
Radeon 9600 SE.........................325 365 64-bit
Radeon 9500 Pro........................275 540 128-bit
Radeon 9500 128.......................275 540 128-bit
*:By increasing the core clock speed you increase the cards peak fill rate.
**:By increasing the cards memory speed you increase the cards bandwidth. So essentially what happens here is when you increase the data bus width you increase the memory bandwaidth. Also by increasing memory speed/frequency you increase bandwidth. Technically if you clocked a card fast enough a 128bit card COULD overcome a 256bit card. 256bit doubles the bandwidth, whereas increasing the memory frequency increases it more gradually. Therefore that is why a 5700U with a memory speed of 900 is not able to beat a 9800Pro with a clock speed of 730. The 256bit increases the bandwidth far beyond what we could increase by just adjusting clock speeds.
Softmods
Currently there are a few softmods available by flashing a Video Cards BIOS, or by using a certain set of drivers.
**Note there are other methods of softmodding a card**
ATI cards
The First card is an older card but still very good the 9500NU. Now this softmod can only be performed IF you have a 9500 with L shaped memory. All you do to softmod this card is download the Omega drivers. (This is the easy way). During the installation process it will give the option to do 2 softmods. Click on the one labeled 9500->>9700. What this does is reactivate the remaining 128bit data bus, essentially turning it into a 9700 and with OC a 9700Pro.
The second card is the 9800SE. The 9800SE has comes in 2 flavors. It comes in one that has 4 pixel pipeline and a 128bit memory bus and one that has a 4 pipelines with a 256bit memory bus. This only works on the 256bit memory bus. THe cards most widely used for this mod are the Powercolor C3 cards. All you do is follow the same steps as above only this time instead of selecting 9500-->> 9700 select 9800SE -->> 9800Pro. What this softmod does is reactivate the remaining 4 pixel pipelines essentially giving you a full fledged 9800Pro.
The third card available for softmodding is pretty much one model, but becoming more frequent. The MSI RX9800Pro is soft moddable into a 128mb version of the 9800XT. Also all 256mb 9800Pros are softmoddable into 9800XT. To do this you need to find a BIOS that will work with your card. If you are planning on doing a BIOS flash the best thing to do would be to post a thread as you do it so you can ask for peoples prior experiences. However if you dont want to 1 KEY THING YOU MUST DO is make sure to back up your old BIOS. If not you just screwed yourself over if the new BIOS doesn't work right, and would have to attempt a "blind flash". (FInding everything without seeing it on the monitor.
The fourth card available for softmodding is the X800Pro w/ VIVO. This only works if you have the Pros that comes with VIVO (Video in/Video Out). Most commonly the Asus card. Also you need to make sure your memory is rated fast enough. For this mod you need 1.6 ns memory. This mod is a little more involved so i will link to a previous thread that goes into great detail about it Mega Works Thread on X800Pro BIOS Flashing what this does it unlock the remaining for pixel pipelines.
Nvidia Cards
The last card available for modding is the 6800NU. This mod is even more involved than the previous ones so again for the sake of time and space i will link to another thread RacerX's link to softmodding a 6800NU
Of course there are always little mods you can do but these are the main ones you will hear talked about.
Graphics Reccomendations
High End
Currently the High End is made up of the Geforce 6800U(E) and the Radeon X800XT(PE). Neither are available in sufficient quantities but the 6800 is a little more widely available than the X800. Both cards have very equal performance. The thing that sets them apart is feature set. The 6800U has more or features that will be more widely used than the features of the X800XT.
X800XT: SM2.0b; 3dC; Temporal AA
6800U(E): SM3.0; onboard video encoder decoder; dual DVI; Ultra Shadow II
Both cards have pretty even benchmarks and can run all games very well. However the 6800U takes up 2 slots in your system and you should leave 1 more open for air circulation so essentially 3 slots. Also it requires 2 molex connectors. The X800XT(PE) requires 1 slot (and 1 more foor circulation), and 1 molex connector. All in all the 6800U SEEMS to be the better choice as those things really dont matter if you are spending this much money on a video card. Odds are if you have that much money you can afford a decent cooling system. Right now however the polls seem to lean a tad in the favour of the 6800U(E). If however you do not want to hook up 2 molex connectors, and only want a 1 slot cooling design than the X800XT(PE) is your choice. Either card is excellent and you wont be sorry with either one.
Mid High End
The Mid High end was supposed to the 6800GT vs the X800Pro however the GT outclasses the pro at higher resolutions and features so i will edit this part when/if ATI releases their X800Gt.
Low High End
At the Low High End is the 6800NU. Not much to say.. so far ATI hasn't answered this card.
Last Generation Highend
5950Ultra vs 9800XT. Well, this generations lead is more pronounced. The recommendation here is an ATI card. ATI cards of that gen were and are superb and beat Nvidia cards most of the time. However dont get me wrong the Nvidia cards are very fast, just not quite as fast as ATI's cards.
Mid High End
The 5900U vs the 9800Pro, well the 9800Pro wins most of the tests and my recommendation above still stands.
Low High End
Well now it gets tricky because the 5900XT doesn't have a direct competitor, the maincompetitor is the 9800Pro (or even the 9700Pro) which is a little more expensive and is normally faster than it. If your strapped for cash get the 5900XT as it performs very well and comparable to the 9800pro however if you have $200 go ahead and either save for a next gen card or get a 9800Pro. (MSI is probably the best as it softmods very well )
Mid Range Cards
57xx vs 96xx well in this section Nvidia takes the crown. It beats the 96xx series, albeit not by much, but on average it beats the 9600's. I would get a 5700U before the 9600XT... but the performance is extremely close but in the end the 5700U edges out. However the 9600XT is extremely fast in current games also and should not be looked down on as it wipes the floor with the Nvidia cards when using PS2.0 games etc.
Low End
God what do I even say here. Well i dont want to go into this because of all the different SE models but if you must the FX5200U is the card. But in my opinion it is a waste of money, and you should get a Geforce 4 Ti or any previous Ti or just save your money.
Price reccomendations:
For the high end bleeding edge card.................1. 6800U(E)..... 2. X800XT(PE)
For the Mid High end.......................................1. 6800GT........ 2. X800Pro
For Low High End............................................1. 6800NU
Last Gen:
High End:......................................................1. 9800XT 2. 5950U
Mid High End:.................................................1. 9800Pro 256 2. 5900U.
Low High end:................................................1. 9800Pro 128 2. 5900XT.
Mid Range:....................................................1. 57xx 2. 96xx
Low End: Dont get them. If you want a new card either save or get Geforce 4Ti or even a Geforce 2 Ti out performs these cards by a large margin.
Drivers
Ati Catalyst Reference Drivers
ATI Omega Drivers
Nvidia Forceware Reference Drivers
Nvidia beta drivers
Benchmarks (A big thanks to Schadenfroh)
High End to Mid Range
Toms Hardware Guide
Massive 80 Card Review (Thanks to Pray For Death)
Detailed Card Info Charts (Thanks to Russian Sensation)
***NOTE: I Will be updating with the newer graphics cards and will be incorporating some suggestions... that is why this is rev 1.5***
Video Card Basics
With many different graphics cards out there one of the most common things people talk about are the graphics pipeline, and how it works. Well this is the basics so commonly youll hear about 8x1 or 4x2 etc. This has to do with the Video Cards Pixel Shading capabilities.
If you have a 2x2 array that means that you have 2 pipelines, with 2 texturing units. The first number (2) indicates the number of pipelines, or how many pixels are able to be drawn per clock; the second indicates the number of texture accesses you can perform per pipe per clock. All this has to do is how texturing occurs. If a card is single texturing you will likey have it performing in an Xx1 state. If it is multi texturing you will likely have it performing in an Xx2 state.
6800(U)(UE)(GT)...32x0, 16x1, 8x2*
X800XT(PE):.........16x1, 8x2
6800NU :..............24x0, 12x1**
X800Pro:..............12x1
59xx:...................4x2, 4x1***
98xx:...................8x1, 4x2
97xx:...................8x1, 4x2
9500:...................8x1; 4x2****
955x:...................4x1
57xx:...................4x1 ; 2x2
5600:...................4x1 ; 2x2
96xx:...................4x1 ; 2x2
52xx:.................. 4x1
92xx:...................4x1
91xx:...................4x2
* : The 6800U is able to run as a 32x0 only when doing Z-Stencil Ops. After looking at that you may be suprised to see Xx0. This is an Nvidia exclusive feature which occurs during zixel, or z-stencil operation in games like Doom III.
**: The 6800NU can run in 24x0 as it only has 12 pipelines.
***: Youll notice that the 59xx series is not able to single texture while retaining all 8 pipelines like the 9800Pro. This is one of the reasons the 98xx series is somewhat superior to the FX series.
****: Though this may seem like a 9700Pro it is... the only difference is the 9700Pro has a 256bit memory bus whereas the 95xx only has a 128bit.The easiest way to think of this is a highway. 128bit has 128 lanes and 256 has 256 lanes. There are two other exceptions.
NOTE: The Geforce 2 MX200 has a 64bit data bus width, along with the 9600SE, and the 5200SE. The lack of 128bit severely hampers performance.
Acronyms
VIVO: Video in/ Video Out, essentially allows you to hook up a comcorder or diogitally edit video.
GPU : Graphics Processing Unit
HD: High Deifinition allows resolutions (on a TV) up from to 1080i, which allows for a shaper clearer image
HTPC: Home theatre PC
ALU: Arithmetic Logic Unit
API's... features
There are 2 different types of API's that are widely used, Microsoft's DirectX and OpenGL.
Direct X generally supports more features as it isn't just an API it is a complete set of tools and programs used for audio, visual (etc). Also it is more widely know (also DX hasn't been around as long), however DX is only updated by Microsoft as OpenGL is updated freely by a group of designers and can be added onto as needed. Currently the latest version available are DX9.0C and OGL 1.4.
The only card that fully supports BOTH of these are the GF 68xx series of cards. In a nutshell these are to different ways of making a scene appear, nice and pretty, on your monitor.
Here is a rundown of features (Courtesy of Sticky Sauce )
Feature...................................................OpenGL.......DirectX
Vertex Blending.......................................N/A.............Yes
Multiple Operating Systems.......................Yes.............No
Extension Mechanism................................Yes.............Yes
Development:..........................................Multiple member Board / Microsoft
Thorough Specification.............................Yes..............No
Two-sided lighting....................................Yes..............No
Volume Textures......................................Yes..............No
Hardware independent Z-buffers...............Yes..............No
Accumulation buffers................................Yes..............No
Full-screen Antialiasing.............................Yes..............Yes
Motion Blur..............................................Yes..............Yes
Depth of field...........................................Yes..............Yes
Stereo Rendering.....................................Yes..............No
Point-size/line-width attributes...................Yes..............No
Picking....................................................Yes..............No
Parametric curves and surfaces.................Yes..............No
Cache geometry:.....................................Display Lists.Vertex Buffers
System emulation:...................................Hardware not present / Let app determine
Interface.................................................Procedure calls / COM
Updates..................................................Yearly..........Yearly
Source Code...........................................Sample........SDK Implementation
The next very common thing talked about in the world of graphics is SM or Shader Model. Currently the latest version is SM3.0. This is not software but how advanced the pixel shader in a graphics card are, and how complex of instructions they can handle. So it can only be updated by updating the entire architecture. SM and PS (Pixel Shader) are commonly confused. You see a shader model is made up of a bunch of different sub features, the two main ones are pixel and vertex shaders.
Clockspeeds... and the specifics
Now onto clockspeeds. Many people think that card is faster because it has a higher clock speed. IE a 5700U vs a 9800Pro. This is not true. The 9800Pro has a 256bit memory data width along with many more advantages. Yes clock speed helps, however it does not override other features. Here is a complete list (Facts obtained from Toms)
GeForce FX 5950 U.....................475 950 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 U.....................450 850 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 .......................400 850 256-bit
GeForce FX 5900 XT...................300 700 256-bit
GeForce FX 5800 U.....................500 1000 128-bit
GeForce FX 5800........................400 800 128-bit
GeForce FX 5700 U.....................475 900 128-bit
GeForce FX 5700........................425 550 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600 U Rev 2............400 800 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600 U.....................350 700 128-bit
GeForce FX 5600........................325 550 128-bit
GeForce FX 5200 U.....................325 650 128-bit
GeForce FX 5200........................250 400 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4600-8x...................300 650 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4600........................300 650 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4400........................275 550 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200-8x...................250 514 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200 128.................250 444 128-bit
GeForce4 Ti 4200 64...................250 514 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 460........................300 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 440-8x...................275 512 128-bit
GeForce4 MX 440........................270 400 128-bit
Radeon 9800 XT..........................412 730 256-bit
Radeon 9800 Pro256...................380 700 256-bit
Radeon 9800 Pro........................380 680 256-bit
Radeon 9800..............................325 580 256-bit
Radeon 9800 SE.........................380 675 128-bit
Radeon 9700 Pro........................325 620 256-bit
Radeon 9700..............................275 540 256-bit
Radeon 9600 XT.........................500 600 128-bit
Radeon 9600 Pro........................400 600 128-bit
Radeon 9600.............................325 400 128-bit
Radeon 9600 SE.........................325 365 64-bit
Radeon 9500 Pro........................275 540 128-bit
Radeon 9500 128.......................275 540 128-bit
*:By increasing the core clock speed you increase the cards peak fill rate.
**:By increasing the cards memory speed you increase the cards bandwidth. So essentially what happens here is when you increase the data bus width you increase the memory bandwaidth. Also by increasing memory speed/frequency you increase bandwidth. Technically if you clocked a card fast enough a 128bit card COULD overcome a 256bit card. 256bit doubles the bandwidth, whereas increasing the memory frequency increases it more gradually. Therefore that is why a 5700U with a memory speed of 900 is not able to beat a 9800Pro with a clock speed of 730. The 256bit increases the bandwidth far beyond what we could increase by just adjusting clock speeds.
Softmods
Currently there are a few softmods available by flashing a Video Cards BIOS, or by using a certain set of drivers.
**Note there are other methods of softmodding a card**
ATI cards
The First card is an older card but still very good the 9500NU. Now this softmod can only be performed IF you have a 9500 with L shaped memory. All you do to softmod this card is download the Omega drivers. (This is the easy way). During the installation process it will give the option to do 2 softmods. Click on the one labeled 9500->>9700. What this does is reactivate the remaining 128bit data bus, essentially turning it into a 9700 and with OC a 9700Pro.
The second card is the 9800SE. The 9800SE has comes in 2 flavors. It comes in one that has 4 pixel pipeline and a 128bit memory bus and one that has a 4 pipelines with a 256bit memory bus. This only works on the 256bit memory bus. THe cards most widely used for this mod are the Powercolor C3 cards. All you do is follow the same steps as above only this time instead of selecting 9500-->> 9700 select 9800SE -->> 9800Pro. What this softmod does is reactivate the remaining 4 pixel pipelines essentially giving you a full fledged 9800Pro.
The third card available for softmodding is pretty much one model, but becoming more frequent. The MSI RX9800Pro is soft moddable into a 128mb version of the 9800XT. Also all 256mb 9800Pros are softmoddable into 9800XT. To do this you need to find a BIOS that will work with your card. If you are planning on doing a BIOS flash the best thing to do would be to post a thread as you do it so you can ask for peoples prior experiences. However if you dont want to 1 KEY THING YOU MUST DO is make sure to back up your old BIOS. If not you just screwed yourself over if the new BIOS doesn't work right, and would have to attempt a "blind flash". (FInding everything without seeing it on the monitor.
The fourth card available for softmodding is the X800Pro w/ VIVO. This only works if you have the Pros that comes with VIVO (Video in/Video Out). Most commonly the Asus card. Also you need to make sure your memory is rated fast enough. For this mod you need 1.6 ns memory. This mod is a little more involved so i will link to a previous thread that goes into great detail about it Mega Works Thread on X800Pro BIOS Flashing what this does it unlock the remaining for pixel pipelines.
Nvidia Cards
The last card available for modding is the 6800NU. This mod is even more involved than the previous ones so again for the sake of time and space i will link to another thread RacerX's link to softmodding a 6800NU
Of course there are always little mods you can do but these are the main ones you will hear talked about.
Graphics Reccomendations
High End
Currently the High End is made up of the Geforce 6800U(E) and the Radeon X800XT(PE). Neither are available in sufficient quantities but the 6800 is a little more widely available than the X800. Both cards have very equal performance. The thing that sets them apart is feature set. The 6800U has more or features that will be more widely used than the features of the X800XT.
X800XT: SM2.0b; 3dC; Temporal AA
6800U(E): SM3.0; onboard video encoder decoder; dual DVI; Ultra Shadow II
Both cards have pretty even benchmarks and can run all games very well. However the 6800U takes up 2 slots in your system and you should leave 1 more open for air circulation so essentially 3 slots. Also it requires 2 molex connectors. The X800XT(PE) requires 1 slot (and 1 more foor circulation), and 1 molex connector. All in all the 6800U SEEMS to be the better choice as those things really dont matter if you are spending this much money on a video card. Odds are if you have that much money you can afford a decent cooling system. Right now however the polls seem to lean a tad in the favour of the 6800U(E). If however you do not want to hook up 2 molex connectors, and only want a 1 slot cooling design than the X800XT(PE) is your choice. Either card is excellent and you wont be sorry with either one.
Mid High End
The Mid High end was supposed to the 6800GT vs the X800Pro however the GT outclasses the pro at higher resolutions and features so i will edit this part when/if ATI releases their X800Gt.
Low High End
At the Low High End is the 6800NU. Not much to say.. so far ATI hasn't answered this card.
Last Generation Highend
5950Ultra vs 9800XT. Well, this generations lead is more pronounced. The recommendation here is an ATI card. ATI cards of that gen were and are superb and beat Nvidia cards most of the time. However dont get me wrong the Nvidia cards are very fast, just not quite as fast as ATI's cards.
Mid High End
The 5900U vs the 9800Pro, well the 9800Pro wins most of the tests and my recommendation above still stands.
Low High End
Well now it gets tricky because the 5900XT doesn't have a direct competitor, the maincompetitor is the 9800Pro (or even the 9700Pro) which is a little more expensive and is normally faster than it. If your strapped for cash get the 5900XT as it performs very well and comparable to the 9800pro however if you have $200 go ahead and either save for a next gen card or get a 9800Pro. (MSI is probably the best as it softmods very well )
Mid Range Cards
57xx vs 96xx well in this section Nvidia takes the crown. It beats the 96xx series, albeit not by much, but on average it beats the 9600's. I would get a 5700U before the 9600XT... but the performance is extremely close but in the end the 5700U edges out. However the 9600XT is extremely fast in current games also and should not be looked down on as it wipes the floor with the Nvidia cards when using PS2.0 games etc.
Low End
God what do I even say here. Well i dont want to go into this because of all the different SE models but if you must the FX5200U is the card. But in my opinion it is a waste of money, and you should get a Geforce 4 Ti or any previous Ti or just save your money.
Price reccomendations:
For the high end bleeding edge card.................1. 6800U(E)..... 2. X800XT(PE)
For the Mid High end.......................................1. 6800GT........ 2. X800Pro
For Low High End............................................1. 6800NU
Last Gen:
High End:......................................................1. 9800XT 2. 5950U
Mid High End:.................................................1. 9800Pro 256 2. 5900U.
Low High end:................................................1. 9800Pro 128 2. 5900XT.
Mid Range:....................................................1. 57xx 2. 96xx
Low End: Dont get them. If you want a new card either save or get Geforce 4Ti or even a Geforce 2 Ti out performs these cards by a large margin.
Drivers
Ati Catalyst Reference Drivers
ATI Omega Drivers
Nvidia Forceware Reference Drivers
Nvidia beta drivers
Benchmarks (A big thanks to Schadenfroh)
High End to Mid Range
Toms Hardware Guide
Massive 80 Card Review (Thanks to Pray For Death)
Detailed Card Info Charts (Thanks to Russian Sensation)