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Need Suggestion for New Video Card! (1 Viewer)

DaveJJ

Stunt Coordinator
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Jan 20, 1999
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79
My current video card is 2 years old. I am thinking about ATI's Radeon 9800 Pro 128 or 256MB card. I play current games like Painkiller & Far Cry which require heavy duty computer hardware. I also surf the net, DVD converion, pictures and other graphics programs. Any other suggestion? Thanks!!


DaveJJ
 

Rob Gardiner

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Feb 15, 2002
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Sounds like a good choice to me. :emoji_thumbsup:

A little tip: "Sapphire" branded cards are the exact same as "ATI" branded ones but may cost less.
 

Chris

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Jul 4, 1997
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Yeah, I'd agree with the above. You've got a good pick, I'd agree on Sapphire as well.
 

Kyle McKnight

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Mar 8, 2001
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I put an ATI 9800 pro 128mb in my shuttle system a while ago....I love the card, but the extra fan is annoying since I leave my PC on 24/7 in my bedroom all the time. It's an AWSOME card though. I assume if you're looking for the best, you're not gonna be worried aobut the sound.

Hell, for me, I shouldn't be letting my system run as is. It's a P4 2.4ghz, 512mb ram, 120+200gig 7200rpm HDs, and my DVD-+rw, all running off a 200watt power supply with only the stock heatsink/fan. Poor machine runs so hot that you can't leave your hand on the case.
 

Neal_C

Second Unit
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Mar 15, 2001
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476
The 9800 Pro 128mb is definitely the best card in the $200 range right now. I would say if you are considering spending more and looking at the 9800 pro 256mb, you might just want to spend a little more money than that and get the x800 pro.

I picked up a brand new 9800 Pro 128mb at Compusa several weeks ago for $180 after I got a price match from Fry's. I couldn't pass that up :)

Neal
 

Rob Gardiner

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Kyle,

Zalman makes a fanless heatsink for the Radeon cards. Costs about $30 and has absolutely no moving parts. It comes with complete installation instructions and a small gague screwdriver for removing the existing heatsink & fan, but I paid my dealer an extra $20 to install it for me. Look up "Zalman heatpipe cooler".
 

DaveDickey

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Aug 18, 2003
Messages
235
What do you have now? My rig has a Radeon Pro 9700 and Fry Cry and Painkiller looked great. I think you can pretty much shop by price...The card wars are in full swing. Ain't capitalism grand!!:emoji_thumbsup:
 

WayneO

Supporting Actor
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Nov 10, 2003
Messages
625
The extra cost of the 256MB version is a waste since there are virtually no performance improvements to be had. The 128MB 9800Pro is the best deal now IMO.
 

Shane Martin

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Sep 26, 1999
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Dave,
If you have the money I'd buy the X800 or the X800XT which can be had for $430. I paid alot for my last card but its lasted me now almost 4 years so I've gotten my money's worth. If I was buying a card now, I'd get the latest and greatest and pay for it because I will get my moneys worth from it.
 

Francois Caron

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Rob,

The Zalman fanless heatsink will NOT work very well in a Shuttle case. The box is 8 inches wide, 7.5 inches high, 11 inches deep, and only has one PCI and one AGP slot. The heatsink will occupy the PCI slot and the case can't be closed up afterwards unless you cut a huge hole in the aluminium case.

Kyle,

Have you thought about using a third party VGA cooler like the Titan copper coolers? I have one mounted on my 9600 XT (Overdrive active) and the fan speed setting in Speedfan is 2%. The fan still runs fast enough to keep the card from overheating even when playing graphic intense games, yet it's surprisingly quiet.
 

Wayne Bundrick

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May 17, 1999
Messages
2,358
Do the ATI cards run cooler than the Nvidia cards? I've got an Nvidia 5900 and it contributes a lot of heat to the innards of my case, which requires me to use more fans and faster fans than I'd rather have.
 

Rob Gardiner

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Francois,

Thanks for pointing that out. I don't have any experience with the Shuttle case and I wasn't aware of that limitation.
 

Nathan Porteous

Stunt Coordinator
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Feb 18, 2003
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109
I was just at my computer store and the 256mb ati actually ran slower in the tests than the 128 they performed, I also got the sapphire.
 

Chris

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The newest drivers fix this.

Still, the benefits of the 256MB are very few, as not many games put out that kind of textures, and complex CAD is not something people are doing with this card.
 

Scott L

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Feb 29, 2000
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Just for comparison's sake I bought both a 9800np that overclocked passed XT speeds and a 5900 flashed to 5950U bios. I got the best benchmarks from the 5950U. You can get both under $200 used.

I second the Zalman heatipe if you can get it to fit. If not the Artic Cooler has been given rave reviews.

Pic
 

kyle ^_^

Agent
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Jul 6, 2004
Messages
42
the 256mb 9800 pro is certainly not worth the extra money... ive had a few different 9800 Pro's and they have all performed well. Some overclocked better than others however. If you have the pockets, look to get an X800XT, it will keep you in business for a long time!
 

Jon Bell

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 14, 2001
Messages
170
I hope you don't mind if I ask my own question here rather than starting a new thread...

Please bear with my limited knowledge. I would like some recommendations for an inexpensive video card to put into my Sony Vaio desktop. The card that came with the machine won't run Direct X. Here's the background-- my son bought a Lego Bionicle game on clearance for $10. We haven't run anything on the machine before that requires higher level 3D functionality. I don't want to spend more than I have to, but I would like the game to run smoothly for him, plus, I would imagine that we'll be getting more games in the future.

Are there good options in the $60 to $80 range? I also don't want to have to install an extra fan if I don't have to.
 

Rob Gardiner

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Feb 15, 2002
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Jon,

I would start by looking at the lower-end Radeon cards. I bought my Sapphire Radeon 9500 18 months ago for $129. I'm not sure what the price is now, and it performed reasonably well with Star Wars KOTOR (a relative new game).
 

kyle ^_^

Agent
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Jul 6, 2004
Messages
42
There are only two cards i would consider in that price range. THe nvidia GF4 ti4200 and the radeon 9550. The ti4200 can be had for $50-60 used on ebay, and its a very good card for the price. You cant beat it for the price really. The new radeon 9550 from ATi looks pretty good as well. Its $75 shipped for a nice asus one from newegg. i would give you a link but since i dont have 15 posts i cant post a link :rolleyes... The 9550 should be about as fast as a ti4200 with the added benefit of being able to run DX9 applications. If you go for a 9550, make sure its the 128bit version, not the 64 bit version. 64bit video cards are castrated rejects and are a disgrace to video cards.
 

Jon Bell

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Jan 14, 2001
Messages
170
Thanks, Rob. I did an ebay search and came up with a bunch of 9600 series Radeon cards. There is one called Sapphire Atlantis ATI Radeon 9600 that is $95.00, and there are a lot of cards that are Sapphire Radeon 9600 SE and they are in the $170 range. Do you (or anyone else)know what the difference is between the two?
 

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