Modern Video Cards

[RallosZek]

Hello i havent been keeping up much with video cards since the radeons came onto the scene, i was wondering if i can get a breif description of models on the radeon and these new GF9XXX models and how they stack up against the old Ti 4600 etc
is the cheapest FX9XXX (which is it? lol) better than a Ti 4600? etc

thanks for your help

and also with Nforce boards how good are the chips on those?

 

[Viper96720]

Yes the cheapest 5900 is better than a ti-4600. Go to the main anadtech page and click video at the top to check out some reviews of modern cards.

 

[RallosZek]

what sort of card would you all suggest to upgrade a GF4 440mx 128mb (other than anything =p) my budget is max $300AUD i was thinking a 9600XT they are roughly 250AUD here in aus but any other suggestions? im also thinking a Ti4200 even, i want to play most of the games out now at a decent framerate.

My current system is a 1.2GHz T'bird, Epox 8kta3l+ mobo, 512SD Ram GF4 440mx 128mb using XP.

thanks

 

[Pete]

If a 9600XT is the same price as a 5900/XT, buy the latter. A 4200 would also be a big upgrade, and may be a better bargain depending on the price.

I really don't know how expensive various cards are in Australia, so I can't say for sure which would be your best buy. You can decide for yourself by reading various comparative benchmark articles (Anandtech as a bunch of recent ones, TomsHardware has their VGA Charts III, Digit-Life has their 3Digest) and comparing their performance to the prices near you. Your system will be fairly CPU-limited, though, so you won't see anywhere near the framerates in those benchmarkfests, but the relative performance should be about the same.

Keep in mind the 5900XT may stress your power supply if it isn't rated for 300W or more.

 

[PCTweaker5]

If you can spare a few more dollars and the price for a 9800 Pro here is the same there than go get that and it will be a big improvement over that mx440.

 

[dgerard]

For best gameplay performances (according to reviews and personal experience), I'd go with a Radeon 9800 Pro or XT. Prices on the 9800 pro has dropped a bit.
dgerard