New Video card

[Chompman]

I am going to be getting a new video card soon seeing how my geforce 2 Ti 64mb is starting not to cut it and is starting to die. My computer specs are:
1700 xp
256 2100 mb ram (going to be getting more soon too)
Sy-k7v Dragon plus Motherboard
Plenty of room on hard drive and Windows Xp

Will want at least 128 mb card and am looking to spend $150-200ish on it. Only problem I see is the newer ones are starting to be 8x only and my motherboard in only up to 4x. Would prefer to get a Geforce seeing how ATI still having problems with their drivers on some of the newer games but might try an ATI.

Any advice on what to get would be helpful.

 

[McArra]

Radeon 9700np is the best choice by far for over $200.

 

[azntiger0586]

Originally posted by: McArra
Radeon 9700np is the best choice by far for over $200.

 

[stardust]

Geforce4 Ti4200 or Ti4600 depending on how much you want to spend. (AGP4x)

Otherwise, i guess the 9700 isn't a bad choice either, but you might end up digging for those extra bills underneath your couch.

 

[1ManArmY]

You can get a 9700 PRO for 240 but the best buy out ther right now is a 9800 Non-Pro for a few more dollars. (270)

 

[themanwithapc]

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
You can get a 9700 PRO for 240 but the best buy out ther right now is a 9800 Non-Pro for a few more dollars. (270)

At 270, it does somewhat go over Chompman's budget. If he wants to stick to his budget, a 9700 NON-pro would be the best for him.

 

[Pete]

I'd recommend a ~$160 9600 Pro or a ~$210 9700.

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: McArra
Radeon 9700np is the best choice by far for over $200.

Or bump that up to $240 and get a 9800np

 

[sep]

What games do you play and what eye candy do you want to see? This will drive your entire upgrade!

If you can get by with playing games at 1024 or 1280 without AA or AS and want to stay with Nvidia then get a ti4200. With the extra money you can get more memory or a faster CPU helping your overall gaming experience.

2100+.................$70@googlegear
ti4200 128MB......$90@Anandtech Forums (For Sale) - Search 4200
DDR2100 512MB..$50@Anandtech Forums (For Sale or Hot Deals) - Search 2100

Motherboard:
http://www.soyousa.com/products/proddesc.php?id=108

*You might be able to get a couple dollars back by selling your 1700 CPU.

Good Luck and Happy Gaming,
-JC

 

[Eagle17]

Originally posted by: Chompman
Would prefer to get a Geforce seeing how ATI still having problems with their drivers on some of the newer games but might try an ATI.

Any advice on what to get would be helpful.

I do not know why you think this... in fact I have seen the reverse. it looks like Nvidia's new drivers have been having all sorts of problems with games and hardware issues. In fact the raven sheild benchmarks were pulled from the reviews on this site because of issues in that game with the latest Nvidia drivers. ATI on the other hand has been doing a very good job with there hardware and drivers and have not had any real problems for a while, the games that have been problems that I know of were caused by the game deveopers not supporting the ati hardware and not by atis drivers being poorly written. (NWN and Gunmetal the two main ones in this catagory)

If you want to use nvidia because you have always been happy with them and you are just not interested in trying something else, or like a friend of mine you bought the rageMAXX SLI multi-chip solution that does not work with NT/2000/XP than I completely understand not looking at ATI otherwise you are missinformed.

I would buy a 9600pro for the $150 range and be very happy. you will even still be able to run newer games like HL2 with it where if you stick with the ti4600/5600 cards you will be very dissapointed in PS2.0 based games.

 

[Mem]

I am going to be getting a new video card soon seeing how my geforce 2 Ti 64mb is starting not to cut it and is starting to die. My computer specs are:
1700 xp

I`ve had the same cpu and video card and replaced my GF2 TI with a 9700NP ,didn`t have to do a reformat since I used Driver Cleaner 1.9 which works great.

As to 4x AGP ,the card will run fine in 4x mode,my board is also 4X AGP only,the drivers are solid so far and going over from Nvidia to ATi has not given me any problems.

 

[Sunny129]

Originally posted by: themanwithapc

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
You can get a 9700 PRO for 240 but the best buy out ther right now is a 9800 Non-Pro for a few more dollars. (270)

At 270, it does somewhat go over Chompman's budget. If he wants to stick to his budget, a 9700 NON-pro would be the best for him.

and on top of that, i don't think a 9800np is worth the extra $30. the 9800np is just an OCed 9700np. besides, the $ difference may even be greater than that, as some 9700np's can be found for less than $240. personally i'd go with a 9700np if you can push yourself above the $200 mark. otherwise you can get a 9600 pro made by Sapphire (one of the more respectable and quality ATI resellers) for $154 shipped @ gameVE.com. you can also get 9600 pro's for as low as $130, but those are usually made by PowerColor, and i was told to steer clear of them.

 

[modedepe]

Originally posted by: Sunny129

Originally posted by: themanwithapc

Originally posted by: 1ManArmY
You can get a 9700 PRO for 240 but the best buy out ther right now is a 9800 Non-Pro for a few more dollars. (270)

At 270, it does somewhat go over Chompman's budget. If he wants to stick to his budget, a 9700 NON-pro would be the best for him.

and on top of that, i don't think a 9800np is worth the extra $30. the 9800np is just an OCed 9700np. besides, the $ difference may even be greater than that, as some 9700np's can be found for less than $240. personally i'd go with a 9700np if you can push yourself above the $200 mark. otherwise you can get a 9600 pro made by Sapphire (one of the more respectable and quality ATI resellers) for $154 shipped @ gameVE.com. you can also get 9600 pro's for as low as $130, but those are usually made by PowerColor, and i was told to steer clear of them.

A 9800np is not just an overclocked 9700np, it's a completely different card with its own gpu. A 9700 pro will perform about the same as a 9800np. A 9800np overclocked to pro speeds will be a good bit faster than a 9700 pro. Plus you can get a 9800np's for a lot less than $270, closer to $240, making it in many ways a better choice than a 9700np if you have the cash.