Need advice on which videocard to buy...

[DakoPhalanx]

I'm not sure which videocard I should buy....I won't be playing Doom 3 or Halflife 2 and the only games that might be graphics intensive that I plan on playing within the next year is Battlefield 2, Brothers in Arms and The Sims 2.

These are the three video cards that I am interested in...

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR AGP8X w/S-Video & DVI-I Box 256bit for $319 CDN which is about $244 USD OR

ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB DDR AGP8X w/S-Video & DVI-I Box for $379 CDN which is about $290 USD OR

Leadtek WinFast A400 TDH GeForce 6800 128MB AGP8x for $409 CDN which is about $312 USD

Is there a big difference between what company the 6800 chipset is made from? Asus? Leadtek? MSI? Gainward? etc....Is there a big difference between the standard 6800, 6800 GT and 6800 Ultra that warrants a purchase?

Is it really worth it to buy a GeForce 6800 now or wait 2-3 years down the road to upgrade to something
better? Will the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB or 256MB models be sufficient for the next 2-3 years considering the type of games I plan on playing within the next year?

Any input would be appreciated, Thanks in advance.

 

[Corporate Thug]

6800

 

[BW86]

eVGA 6800 for 283USD

 

[DakoPhalanx]

Just stating a videocard isn't going to help me....I need advice or input otherwise I wouldn't have made a topic.......

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

If your looking to spend 300 you won't regret a 6800 same with the 9800 pro 128 at 200. It seems like you've already convinced yourself that the 6800 is too much of a card for you.

 

[someone16]

No, stating a video card is adequate. 6800.
It's definitely worth the extra 90 bux for the 6800. Ability to play current and upcoming games at any resolution and the chance for a pipeline and vertex shader mod.
The 6800GT and 6800 ultra are probably out of the price range, lowest i seen in Canada was $560

 

[bcoupland]

9800 Pros are $299 Canadian at your local Futureshop. Best price I've seen so far.

 

[heyyoudvd]

Originally posted by: bcoupland
9800 Pros are $299 Canadian at your local Futureshop. Best price I've seen so far.

The place where I bought most of my PC parts (ICCT) has them for $289 CDN.

Also, I picked up the Leadtek 6800 (NU) for $390 CDN at another place. I'm definitely glad I spend the extra hundred bucks because when you factor in the fact that it comes with a decent game bundle, the performance increase is definitely more than worth the price difference.

 

[DakoPhalanx]

Yeah I heard about the futureshop deal awhile ago, I think they still have it right now at $299 before tax.

heyyoudvd, what software bundle comes with the Leadtek GeForce 6800 nu?

Any more input would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[reallyscrued]

well, they have a BFG 6800NU OC at bestbuy with farcry and doom3 free for 300 USD. considering thats a 40 dollar and 55 dollar game bundle, id say its a great deal! i got mine with only farcry so the card for 250(theoretically) isnt that bad. especially cuz it kicks the 9800XTs ass! (except when using massive resolutions and AA and AF cranked all the way up.) oh btw, if u REALLY care about image quality, go for the 9800, nvidia has worst image quality when it comes to AA and AF. ATi's 4xAA looks like nvidias 8x. cuincunx is a nice thing though, which is why i bought it. but unless u look very close, u wont notice a diff.

 

[Marsumane]

You can find any of those cards cheaper then you have listed them for (considering the US prices). Its really hard to predict what the future holds for graphic cards. Based on the fact that many games will assumably be based on the HL2 and Doom3 engine, if i had the money ($270 USD) id get a 6800nu because in those two engines, it fairs better then the 9800p overall. You seem to like shooters, so these engines will be in your future. Also, as far as other games go, the features that the 6800nu has are more future proof then the 9800p's. NV's new archetecture really has made a good, ballanced showing this round. There really isnt any game that it is severely lacking on. On the other hand, ATI's lack of expected performance on doom 3 makes me weary of future games based on OGL and the D3 engine. Its not that they run it bad, just im wondering what their performance will translate to when we have the D3 engine equivalent of Call of Duty spun off from the Q3 engine. This is something u should consider if two to three years is your product upgrade cycle.

 

[Tuscani]

Still looking for some more advice on this one, I thought it would generate a little more debate, I know it seems to be a frequently asked question. I am litterally sitting on the verge of buying any one of these cards, just waiting for some more advice, I'm in Canada, so here's my choices,
Leadtek 6800 - $415
MSI 6800 - $430
MSI 9800 PRO - $300
MSI 6800GT - $600 (TOO MUCH)

I am still in debate over what to do about the Leadtek 6800/MSI 6800/9800 Pro whole scenario, I need to know if going to the 6800 is justified, keep in mind I am also going to be buying a new CPU Athlon XP 2600+ Barton Core.

Cheers, thanks again

 

[DakoPhalanx]

I won't be running any of the games I have above 1024x768 resolution, I would like to run the games on medium to highest quality. Most of the games I have are FPS or RTS games...

Also is there a noticeable improvement if I go with the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB DDR AGP8X w/S-Video & DVI-I Box over the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB DDR AGP8X w/S-Video & DVI-I Box 256bit? Would games actually even use the extra 128MB to its full advantage?

Thanks for the input so far, I wouldn't mind using either graphics company's cards, but I would like to know if the extra money for the Leadtek GeForce 6800nu is worth it over either of the ATI cards that I have listed.

Thanks in advance.

 

[DakoPhalanx]

Need more input....thanks in advance

 

[Denis54]

Future Shop have the 9800 Pro on sale for cdn $249 this week end.

 

[Shlong]

Plan ahead, you may like a game that may not run well enough for you on 9800. I would get the 6800.

 

[Acanthus]

Out of the short list you displayed, the Leadtek 6800 looks like the best deal, not only does it undercut MSIs price, but leadtek has a history of a very high quality product.

 

[Concillian]

Originally posted by: DakoPhalanx
I won't be running any of the games I have above 1024x768 resolution, I would like to run the games on medium to highest quality. Most of the games I have are FPS or RTS games...

Given that that basically describes what the 9800 Pro can do for Battlefield:Vietnam, you probably need to move up to the 6800 to achieve that in the upcoming Battlefield 2.

Thinking about the high end 2-3 years ago, you're talking a GeForce3 Ti 500. While that is an okay card, it's not even on the radar today. Nothing you buy now is going to be REALLY viable 3 years from now. If you want it to even be semi--viable, you need to be thinking about a $500 card.

It may be a better bet for you to go with a 9800 Pro, then, when the used prices of the 9800 Pro get around $100, sell it and get whatever the current $200 best buy is. Then do the following the next year, etc... Stay in the midrange, so to speak.

 

[MegaWorks]

Originally posted by: bcoupland
9800 Pros are $299 Canadian at your local Futureshop. Best price I've seen so far.

 

[M3ltd0Vvn]

For the games you listed - the 9800Pro {or 5900/5950U} will work WAY beyond what you need.

BUT - best bang for buck and longevity would be a 6800NU.

And if you did want to plan for the future - Go with a BFG 6800 GT OC. Lifetime warrenty, an ok game bundle and @33% faster then most other GTs of its class.

There ya go - Cheap: 9800Pro/5900U
"Mid-Range" - 6800NU {I personally like the Leadtek, it has a large HSF for OCing, also Gainward has anice product, all though confusing with 2 different GTs and two different Ultras}
High/Mid range - BFG 6800 GT OC
And of course your high end stuff thats going to cost a bit more.

-=M=-

 

[reallyscrued]

Youve got a good chance of making that 6800 mod into a 6800 GT core, id say its worth the few extra canadian. refer to my rivatuner 15.2 topic.

 

[Zebo]

:::BANG::::::BANG::::::BANG:::

http://forums.anandtech.com/me...14&highlight_key=y

 

[Delorian]

Definitely 6800, try to mod it to a GT with rivatuner then OC it and you'd be well on your way to getting an incredible value

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: reallyscrued
well, they have a BFG 6800NU OC at bestbuy with farcry and doom3 free for 300 USD. considering thats a 40 dollar and 55 dollar game bundle, id say its a great deal! i got mine with only farcry so the card for 250(theoretically) isnt that bad. especially cuz it kicks the 9800XTs ass! (except when using massive resolutions and AA and AF cranked all the way up.) oh btw, if u REALLY care about image quality, go for the 9800, nvidia has worst image quality when it comes to AA and AF. ATi's 4xAA looks like nvidias 8x. cuincunx is a nice thing though, which is why i bought it. but unless u look very close, u wont notice a diff.

Nvidia's image quality is not worse if you compare 6800nu to 9800. Nvidia's image quality was indeed worse if you compare 5900xt to 9800Pro, but with 6800's new gpu, nvidia's anisotropic is actually slightly better than old ati cards'. Also remember that with the 6800 series cards, NVIDIA did finally adapt a rotated grid antialiasing scheme just like Ati's.

As for the question.....if you arent going to play above 1024x768, getting 256mb 9800Pro will hardly gain you any benefit. Secondly, if you aren't going to play intense games, then getting 6800 could be a waste of money for you today. Just get 9800Pro and set aside $100 towards your next videocard upgrade.

With that in mind, I do not agree with your thinking that either card will be sufficient for the next 2-3 years. 9800Pro already struggles in Doom 3. It will only get worse. Since latest generation of videocards will have come out by Spring/Summer of 2005 (or lets round off to 1 year from now) a 9800Pro card will be 2 generations old. By Summer of 2006 that will be 3 full generations old. Since 9800Pro lacks PS3.0 it could become even slower later on. Also 6800 comes with Far Cry (EVGA version) or other games that could be of interest to you like Prince of Persia + Splinter Cell: pandora tomorrow (Leadtek version). For longeviety and the game bundle, i'd rather get 6800. However, if the videocard trend continues as with this generation (where performance doubled last generation), there is a potential for your videocard to be 4-6x slower in 2-3 years (this means you'll probably upgrade earlier than 2 years from now).

Use this Review to help you with your decision.