What Nvidia card to get?

[JHsu]

Here's the basic outline of my dilemma: Basically, after a year of monkeying with my ATI Radeon 8500LE trying to get it to run games, I've given up. I'm selling this POS card and getting some solid, reliable hardware(or at least more reliable hardware), namely, Nvidia stuff. Now, I have approximately 200 dollars to spend(I've spent the rest on a new Audigy2 card to replace the SB Live!). What NVIDIA card should I get?(I'm not even considering Radeon 9500 or 9700). Ideally, the card that I want can play nice with my processor/mobo, and handle UT2k3 and Unreal 2 at 1024x768 with everything on high. I'd also like it to handle Doom 3(if it ever comes out ) at 800x600 or so. I can get a Geforce 4 TI4200 (128MB at 8X AGP) for about 135, and a Geforce 4 TI4600 for 199 or so. which one should I lay down the bucks for? How long will this Geforce 4 last me? Should I wait for the cheaper version of the new Geforce FX?...speaking of which, is the Geforce FX even any good? I have lots of questions, and hopefully y'all can provide some answers.

 

[HumbleFish]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1643&p=1

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1613&p=1

 

[JHsu]

hmm.....how long do you think a Geforce 4 TI4600 will last me?(will it get me what I want? i.e., be able to run UT2k3 and U2 at 1024x768, all details on, at 30FPS or higher?), will it be able to handle Doom 3 decently well? What's it's lifetime?

My Specs:

Athlon XP2000+(at 1.7ghz)
512 DDR333 at CAS2
Asus A7V333 w/hyperion drivers
SB Live! w/ latency patch
ATI Radeon 8500 128MB at 285/285(soon to be replaced)

 

[gururu]

Seems that the 4600 does ok in UT2K3 so long as AA and AF aren't enabled. The one thing to consider though
with Doom 3 and future games is the use of DX9. If I were you I'd wait just a little longer to see how the retail FX
cards perform (hardware and driver wise). So far, they look pretty good. Nvidia will not likely have anything else on the market until the end of summer at the earliest. If you can wait till fall, by all means do. I doubt if doom3 will even make it out this year.

as for ati. too bad. the 9500 pro is a nice piece of work in your price range...

 

[JHsu]

sorry, I may be coming off as severely biased against ATI, but given the trememndous struggle that I've just had with my 8500, I don't think I"ll ever buy another ATI card.... Will Nvidia do anything to optimize the performance for the Geforce FX? by all benchmarks, the Geforce only beats the Radeon by a few frames(not too big of a difference)....and in games, I generally don't enable AF or AA..or even if I do, I only go about 2x

 

[Mem]

Will Nvidia do anything to optimize the performance for the Geforce FX? by all benchmarks, the Geforce only beats the Radeon by a few frames(not too big of a difference)....and in games, I generally don't enable AF or AA..or even if I do, I only go about 2x

The drivers for the Geforce FX are still beta,so expect them to improve over time,how much well nobody really knows,as for which Nvidia card well if you can wait awhile new Nvidia products are coming.

If I was buying a GF4 card right now then it would probably be an Albratron GF4 ti4200 Turbo,this card will overclock to GF4 Ti4600 speeds and above.

The bottom line is it all depends on how long you want to wait for new products to arrive from Nvidia.

 

[JHsu]

hmm...I'm not too keen on O/Cing...I have a feeling that it may have been O/Cing that killed my past Nvidia Card(MSI geforce 3 TI200 O/Ced at 220/500)....is it worth waiting for the cheaper version of the Geforce FX?(note: I have no plans to run games at any resolution higher than 1024x768, and I'm fine with not turning on AF or AA, as long as all(or most) of the details in the games are on)...I'm hoping my next video card can at least last me(by lasting, I mean make it so that I can run my games at 1024x768(preferably) with all/most details on at about 30 FPS or so) until I enter college(I'm graduating from HS in 2004)

My Specs:

Athlon XP2000+(at 1.7ghz)
512 DDR333 at CAS2
Asus A7V333 w/hyperion drivers
SB Live! w/ latency patch
ATI Radeon 8500 128MB at 285/285(soon to be replaced)

 

[ScrewFace]

I'd look at getting a (MSI) GeForce4-Ti4400. I love mine and overclocks stabily from 275/275 to 330/315 and cost $120 cheaper than the GeForce4-ti4600.

 

[Mem]

is it worth waiting for the cheaper version of the Geforce FX?(note: I have no plans to run games at any resolution higher than 1024x768, and I'm fine with not turning on AF or AA, as long as all(or most) of the details in the games are on)...

Look at it this way DOOM 3 is not out yet, so if you can wait awhile until the new Nvidia cards arrive ,there will always be reviews etc which will give you a clearer picture.

If you must buy now and don`t want to OC then the Leadtek GF4 Ti 4600 is a fine choice.

Personally I would wait and see how the new cards by Nvidia perform,you can always buy a GF4 Ti 4600 then which probably will be cheaper then it`s right now.

I`m still using a GF2 Ti card(I`ve the money for a FX or ATi 9700 Pro) but prefer to wait for a few months before deciding on my next upgrade.

 

[JHsu]

guess I'll wait a little while...tho I won't be able to play games on my computer for a good 5-6 months...thank god I got an XBOX...