Hmm... 9800xt Or 9600xt
Caboose
title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
title = name(self, handle) Join Date: 2003-02-15 Member: 13597Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
I have $225 (USD) to spend, I want, for now at least, a new video card to replace my old 9000 Pro and another 512 megs of pc3200 memory.
The total with the 9800XT and 512 megs of PC3200 comes to $219.24 from newegg and the 9600XT comes to $145.23
My thing is, for now, that's all I can afford to upgrade, and My motherboard only goes up to AGP 4x, both of those cards are 4x/8x (as is my current 9000Pro)
I intend to in the future upgrade more, namley my Motherboard and CPU (I have an Athlon XP 2000+ on a Via motherboard)
I intend to get a socket 939 and an Athlon 64 when my funding allows it, but for now, I'll be running on my Athlon XP 2000+.
I know the 9800XT is better (probably by a lot) but the 9600XT looks pretty good too, esp for the price, is the 9800XT really worth the extra cost? It is a cheaper 9800XT too.
The total with the 9800XT and 512 megs of PC3200 comes to $219.24 from newegg and the 9600XT comes to $145.23
My thing is, for now, that's all I can afford to upgrade, and My motherboard only goes up to AGP 4x, both of those cards are 4x/8x (as is my current 9000Pro)
I intend to in the future upgrade more, namley my Motherboard and CPU (I have an Athlon XP 2000+ on a Via motherboard)
I intend to get a socket 939 and an Athlon 64 when my funding allows it, but for now, I'll be running on my Athlon XP 2000+.
I know the 9800XT is better (probably by a lot) but the 9600XT looks pretty good too, esp for the price, is the 9800XT really worth the extra cost? It is a cheaper 9800XT too.
Comments
Couldn't find it on newegg, but <a href='http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7048802&type=product&id=1108124982680' target='_blank'>http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1108124982680</a>
It's here to, if massivly overpriced- <a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2633619' target='_blank'>http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2633619</a>
that said, if you're set on ATI, since the cards aren't TOO distant in price you might as well get the better one :>
I'm thinking of dumping my glitchy radeon 9600 pro for an nvidia card...
I have a sapphire 9600xt 128mb and get a near constant 100 fps, plus it can play any of the other games fine.
that said, if you're set on ATI, since the cards aren't TOO distant in price you might as well get the better one :>
I'm thinking of dumping my glitchy radeon 9600 pro for an nvidia card... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Well I have an ATi card on an AMD 64 Slot 939 set up and it works perfectly. No strange artifacts or graphical glitches ever.
As did my 9000 it just crapped out after a while.
Plus I want it for games like HL2 and Doom3.
I don't have any experience with the 9800xt or Doom3, but I get the feeling that the 9800xt would bring you to 4xAA or maybe 6xAA in HL2. It would also probably serve you better for Doom3.
FEAR runs great
WoW runs
Doom3 doesn't run unless everything is on low, but that's cause that **** engine is way too resource hoggy.
a pci express 16x slot has roughly double the bandwidth of an agp 8x slot. It is available in 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x (sometimes), and 16x and is intended to replace the entire pci bus (kinda like pci replaced all the isas).
To get the better bandwidth, it focuses on DDR memory controllers and a HT bus I believe, letting the motherboard more efficiently communicate with the cpu, and better manage system resources.
The 9600xt is a good card, runs on my bro's comp with good fps in HL² and the like, and has at least decent overclocking potential. A 9800 XT would be better, but if your next upgrade is coming in less than a year and a half, don't bother. (btw HL² runs all high with reflect world in good resolution with no AA or AF, so doom 3 would probably run respectably)
As for the graphics glitches, i got some severe ones with any driver after the 5.2 cats, as did my brother after the 5.4s (9600 pro and 9600 xt respectively). To fix the problem? Use the slightly older drivers, mine still works great.
Then again if you really want a 9800, my friend recently (in the last 3 weeks) got a 9800 pro for 110 bucks on ebay.
a pci express 16x slot has roughly double the bandwidth of an agp 8x slot. It is available in 1x, 2x, 4x, 8x (sometimes), and 16x and is intended to replace the entire pci bus (kinda like pci replaced all the isas).
To get the better bandwidth, it focuses on DDR memory controllers and a HT bus I believe, letting the motherboard more efficiently communicate with the cpu, and better manage system resources.
The 9600xt is a good card, runs on my bro's comp with good fps in HL² and the like, and has at least decent overclocking potential. A 9800 XT would be better, but if your next upgrade is coming in less than a year and a half, don't bother. (btw HL² runs all high with reflect world in good resolution with no AA or AF, so doom 3 would probably run respectably)
As for the graphics glitches, i got some severe ones with any driver after the 5.2 cats, as did my brother after the 5.4s (9600 pro and 9600 xt respectively). To fix the problem? Use the slightly older drivers, mine still works great.
Then again if you really want a 9800, my friend recently (in the last 3 weeks) got a 9800 pro for 110 bucks on ebay. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
PCI-E is actually more than just double the bandwith.
Lets c....
AGP 8x: 2.1 GB/sec
1 lane of PCI-E: 2.5 Gb/sec
16 lanes of PCI-E: 40 Gb/sec or 5 GB/sec
so a PCI-E 16x card has 238.1% of the bandwidth of AGP 8x, so i was close....
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Ok, before I get my arse handed to me, I really did come here for a reason. I am considering a long overdue upgrade and I was going to ask or rather I am now asking, where do you guys usually shop? I mean, either a physical place a.l.a. some franchise I should know about, or maybe some good sites. I know newegg, and I could use eBay through my brother, but I was wondering if there are any sites that are less well known with the same assurance of actually receiving the product you ordered and no sudden loss of everything in your account followed by maniacal eLaughter. I'm pretty open to buying stuff over the Internet if other people can vouch for a site.
Lets c....
AGP 8x: 2.1 GB/sec
1 lane of PCI-E: 2.5 Gb/sec
16 lanes of PCI-E: 40 Gb/sec or 5 GB/sec
so a PCI-E 16x card has 238.1% of the bandwidth of AGP 8x, so i was close.... <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
You have to remember that each lane of the PCI-E goes two ways. In and out.
I obviously need to go reread some spec sheets....
<!--emo&:D--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/biggrin-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
If you decide on the 9800, cuzz for some odd reason you want to spend more cash. I strongly recomend you buy the X700 (agp version) instead. Yes it does come in an AGP configuration, I'm postive as I have sold one on ebay that was AGP. The X700 is a next generation chipset and will compliment your eventual shift to the athalon64 nicely. And when the next generation Windows OS hits the market you'll be happier then a kid in a candy store. But that just looking down the road, as you seem to imply in your original post.
So get the dang 9600, and save a few bucks my friend, or the madness never stops.
I wont touch either untill longhorns been out for a while
On the same note, screw PCI-E. Waste of money. Cards are barely scratching AGPx8 as it is, do we really need something with 200x more bandwidth?
Also, I personally just dislike 9600 cards. No real reason (Aside from the 9500pro is better than the non-xt 9600s, and if there was an 9500xt it would easily kick the 9600xt ****.)
Go for the 9800 card or the x700 as some other people are saying.
I wont touch either untill longhorns been out for a while <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
you do realize by the time longhorn is out there will be like 128 bit processers and every graphics card will be running a 32x PCI-E link?
Think in years, not months.
On the same note, screw PCI-E. Waste of money. Cards are barely scratching AGPx8 as it is, do we really need something with 200x more bandwidth?
Also, I personally just dislike 9600 cards. No real reason (Aside from the 9500pro is better than the non-xt 9600s, and if there was an 9500xt it would easily kick the 9600xt ****.)
Go for the 9800 card or the x700 as some other people are saying. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
if there was a 9500XT how exactly would it kick a 9600XT's ****?
And no one would want a 9500 XT anyways, cause the 9500 generation only supports direct X 8.1, and the 9600 generation supports 9.0
And no one would want a 9500 XT anyways, cause the 9500 generation only supports direct X 8.1, and the 9600 generation supports 9.0 <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Wrong, the 9500 is a fully 9.0 compatiable card.
As for why a 9500xt would kick a 9600xts ****? Its a better chipset.
The 9500pro is just a underclocked 9700pro. The reason why the 9600s even exist was because, well, ATI figured that making one card and selling it for two different prices was pretty damn stupid. So they made a cheaper card to sell for cheaper. That is the 9600 series. A cheaper card.
Get your facts straight.
And before you get angry about correcting someone, make sure all of your facts are in line.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--># Radeon 9700 PRO: The fastest and most expensive card among the ATI models. 8 pixel pipelines, 4 vertex shaders, 128 MB with 256-bit memory bus, DirectX 9 support. Clock speed (chip/memory): 325/310. Official price: $399.
# Radeon 9700: The smaller of the 9700 series differs in its lower clock speeds: 275/270. Official price: $299.
# Radeon 9500 PRO: The memory interface was reduced from 256-bit to 128-bit, but it can still accept up to 128 MB of memory. Otherwise, it has the same features as the 9700 cards, meaning that it offers full support for DirectX 9. Clock speeds: 275/270. Official price: $199.
# Radeon 9500: Again, the memory bus is only 128-bit. The maximum memory is reduced from 128 MB to 64 MB. In addition, 4 pixel pipelines are left out. However, it still offers full DirectX 9 support. Clock speeds: 275/270. Official price: $179.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
strait from toms hardware guide, which means the 9700 is an underclocked 9700 pro (makes sense) and the 9500 is a more affordable mainstream card.
Once again there is NO SUCH THING as a 9500 XT, they were never made.
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->The reason why the 9600s even exist was because, well, ATI figured that making one card and selling it for two different prices was pretty damn stupid. So they made a cheaper card to sell for cheaper. That is the 9600 series. A cheaper card.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
exactly why they did not do it. And what are they going to do? Make a cheaper card and sell it for more???
They made the 9600 regular/pro/xt for people who wanted the added benifits of the new generation cards as well as a good GPU but who couldn't afford/ wouldn't pay for a 9800. Every company does it with every generation because its a GOOD idea.
I'll give you that the 9500 series cards did perform well, and could beat a 9600, especially in overclocking potential. Too bad 9600s are much easier to find, and with the XTs now beat out any 9500.