question on video card purchase.....help

[Qblunt]

I have a questionj to ask u guys and aunixm3. I have a pIII 1.0 ghz pc with 768 mgs of ram. I currently have a geforce 2mx 440 PCI card. Well some games look good but some new one like black hawk down is so choppy and slow at 640x480 at 16 bit. Well I want a new graphics card. My pc has an agp slot. SO I'm not that big into gaming on my pc as much as I use too. I have an xbox. But I do want a new card and I dont want to spend more than a $100 on a card. What would u reccomend on that price point. Radeon 8500 128mb non LE version, Radeon 9000 128mg for $99 or a leadtek geforce 5200 ultra 128 mg for $100. Thanks.

and also someone here posted that bestbuy has a pny geforce ti4200 for $79?? With that also thrown into the equation if they still have them in stock what would you think of that card compared to the rest. Thanks.

 

[sash1]

The 5200 Ultra is far better than the 8500 and 9000. So go for that.

As for the BestBuy deal; that deal never happened where I live. I wish it had, because I definitely would have picked it up. If that is going on where you are, and is still in stock, definitely get the Ti4200. It is better than the 5200 Ultra (not by much though, but definitely an improvement fps-wise).

If the Ti4200 is not available, then the 5200 Ultra is your choice.

~Aunix

 

[Qblunt]

Originally posted by: AunixM3
The 5200 Ultra is far better than the 8500 and 9000. So go for that.

As for the BestBuy deal; that deal never happened where I live. I wish it had, because I definitely would have picked it up. If that is going on where you are, and is still in stock, definitely get the Ti4200. It is better than the 5200 Ultra (not by much though, but definitely an improvement fps-wise).

If the Ti4200 is not available, then the 5200 Ultra is your choice.

~Aunix

yea I went to best buy and didnt see that card or that price listed fro that card. So it was BS. So I guess I will jump on the leadtek 5200 ultra that live warehouse has. Is that a good deal and do u know a better one on the net? Thanks. The live warehouse deal expired this weekend. And comparing leadtek to the evga which is better???? And what u posted in the other thread for $88 was a non ultra card. These are ultras listed below for $95 and $99 with 128 mg of ram and 350 ramdac speed. The $88 car5d at new egg was only 250 and 64 mgs of ram.

leadtek 5200 ultra

evga 5200 uktra

 

[sash1]

the leadtek is the better of those. It uses 4ns RAM as apposed to the 5ns the eVGA one has.

~Aunix

 

[Qblunt]

Originally posted by: AunixM3
the leadtek is the better of those. It uses 4ns RAM as apposed to the 5ns the eVGA one has.

~Aunix

Cool I just placed my order for it at livewarehouse!

 

[natopotato]

i'm not so sure that card is an ultra. the FX5200ultra comes clocked at 325/325(650). 4ns ram is only rated to 250(500)mhz, thus i doubt that it is something they would be advertising. futhermore, if those pics are accurate, it is NOT and ultra due to the TSOP ram packaging as opposed to BGA packaging that is supposed to be on the ultra (from what i hear).

 

[Qblunt]

Originally posted by: natopotato
i'm not so sure that card is an ultra. the FX5200ultra comes clocked at 325/325(650). 4ns ram is only rated to 250(500)mhz, thus i doubt that it is something they would be advertising. futhermore, if those pics are accurate, it is NOT and ultra due to the TSOP ram packaging as opposed to BGA packaging that is supposed to be on the ultra (from what i hear).

I asked livewarehouse if what was pictured was the card they were selling. They forwarded me this link and said this is what leadtek gave them for info. And it looks like doing some research the non ultra in 250 ramdac chip while the ultra was 350 ramdac and the ultra has 128 mgs on the card I think the non ultra is 64 mgs.


leadtek info

here is the spec from leadtek.
----------------------
Hardware Features:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 GPU with AGP8X Support
CineFX Engine
nView Multi-display Technology
High Precision Graphics
AGP 8X
Digital Vibrance Control (DVC)
Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
350MHz RAMDAC
Architected for Cg
Microsoft® DirectX®9.0 Optimizations and Support
New 64-phase Video Scaler
OpenGL®1.4 Optimizations and Support
On-board DVI support up to 1600x1200 resolution
On-board TV-out support up to 1024x768 resolution
Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoder
New 64-phase Video Scaler
Vivid NTSC/PAL TV-out support with flicker filterGraphics Core: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 10.4GB/sec.
Fill Rate: 1.3 billion texels/sec
Vertices per Second: 81 million/sec
----
Here is specs from nvidia's site as specs for geforce 5200 ultra


Graphics Core 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth 10.4GB/sec
Fill Rate 1.3 billion texels/sec
Vertices per Second 81 million/sec
Maximum Memory 128MB

 

[natopotato]

Originally posted by: Qblunt

Originally posted by: natopotato
i'm not so sure that card is an ultra. the FX5200ultra comes clocked at 325/325(650). 4ns ram is only rated to 250(500)mhz, thus i doubt that it is something they would be advertising. futhermore, if those pics are accurate, it is NOT and ultra due to the TSOP ram packaging as opposed to BGA packaging that is supposed to be on the ultra (from what i hear).

I asked livewarehouse if what was pictured was the card they were selling. They forwarded me this link and said this is what leadtek gave them for info. And it looks like doing some research the non ultra in 250 ramdac chip while the ultra was 350 ramdac and the ultra has 128 mgs on the card I think the non ultra is 64 mgs.


leadtek info

here is the spec from leadtek.
----------------------
Hardware Features:
NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 GPU with AGP8X Support
CineFX Engine
nView Multi-display Technology
High Precision Graphics
AGP 8X
Digital Vibrance Control (DVC)
Unified Driver Architecture (UDA)
350MHz RAMDAC
Architected for Cg
Microsoft® DirectX®9.0 Optimizations and Support
New 64-phase Video Scaler
OpenGL®1.4 Optimizations and Support
On-board DVI support up to 1600x1200 resolution
On-board TV-out support up to 1024x768 resolution
Integrated Full Hardware MPEG-2 Decoder
New 64-phase Video Scaler
Vivid NTSC/PAL TV-out support with flicker filterGraphics Core: 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth: 10.4GB/sec.
Fill Rate: 1.3 billion texels/sec
Vertices per Second: 81 million/sec
----
Here is specs from nvidia's site as specs for geforce 5200 ultra


Graphics Core 256-bit
Memory Bandwidth 10.4GB/sec
Fill Rate 1.3 billion texels/sec
Vertices per Second 81 million/sec
Maximum Memory 128MB

i think you are confused, RAMDAC speed does not equal ram speed. it is something having to do with refresh rates not speed.

 

[Qblunt]

I was giving you specs on the leadtek card I ordered for $95 and it matches exactly what nvidia has listed for a 5200 ultra card vs the regular 5200 card. The 5200 has a 250 ramdac chip and the 5200 ultra has a 350. And according to specs the 5200 is just a 64 mg card and the ultra has 128. Thats why I assume the one I bought is an ultra.

 

[sash1]

Originally posted by: natopotato
i think you are confused, RAMDAC speed does not equal ram speed. it is something having to do with refresh rates not speed.

Yeah, he's right.

No card has a 250MHz RAMDAC nowaday, that'd be complete hell. RAMDAC (random access memory digital analog convertor), to sum it up, deals with 2d quality. Higher normally equals better, but there are a few other variables. Not really a concern @ this point for you nor on topic.

"The 5200 has a 250 ramdac chip and the 5200 ultra has a 350. And according to specs the 5200 is just a 64 mg card and the ultra has 128. Thats why I assume the one I bought is an ultra."

That's not RAMDAC! the 5200 has a 250MHz core clock, the 5200 Ultra has a 325MHz core clock. Both cards have a 350MHz RAMDAC.

~Aunix