best video cards these days?
DiscoZombie
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
Join Date: 2003-08-05 Member: 18951Members
<div class="IPBDescription">unbiased opinions preferred =p</div>I hope there hasn't been a video card thread too recently... but I'm trying to build a new gaming PC and I have no idea what cards are good these days. Anyone have opinions? I don't care if it's ATI or nvidia or what, just as long as it's good <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile-fix.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile-fix.gif" /> I've had good and bad experiences with both brands.
I'm looking for slightly under top of the line, too - I can't afford crazy good parts. as is always the case with computers, 10% less performance will save you like 40% in costs, so I'm looking for a card that's affordable within reason.
edit: also, what're the good manufacturers and what're the must-avoid manufacturers? =p I also realized that 'unbiased opinions' is an oxymoron...
I'm looking for slightly under top of the line, too - I can't afford crazy good parts. as is always the case with computers, 10% less performance will save you like 40% in costs, so I'm looking for a card that's affordable within reason.
edit: also, what're the good manufacturers and what're the must-avoid manufacturers? =p I also realized that 'unbiased opinions' is an oxymoron...
Comments
If you really want one now, I'd suggest a 6800. Real cheap and as mid-range as you get. I'd say the smartest choice, since it performs new games decently, but won't really be of any use with DX10 like the new far-cry or UT. No use buying an expensive card that performs dx9 awesomely since all the new games are gonna be dx10.
As is customaty, avoid Club cards. I've got one, and an overclock of 1mhz produces huge artifacts and instabilities.
If you're a general purpose gamer and don't have any interest in using lunix I hear the next line of ATI cards are supposed to be pretty impressive... Which is sensical since they have gained the power of AMD.
Until then, a 6800GS is probably your best bang for the buck. Those are PCI-E I believe.
If you want one now, according to tomshardware, and I agree, the best you can get but isnt expensive as hell is a Radeon X1950 XT. Or if you want to take it just slightly under for around 100$ less get a GeForce 7900 GS. The GF has most new features and only a lower clocked core and memory.
Oh, and RustySpoon? Proof about the ATI dx10 card please.
<a href="http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5524" target="_blank">http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5524</a>
<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->The published results are very promising with AMD’s ATI R600 beating out NVIDIA’s GeForce 8800 GTX in most benchmarks. The performance delta varies from 8% up to 42% depending on the game benchmark. <!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
if youre saying you have an agp card right now, and want to upgrade everything but your video card now, yes you can do that. there are a few motherboards that support both agp and pci-e. i have one of them, im not sure if there is one for the processor you want though. just look around newegg.com and see what you can find.
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I'm sure there's some kind of downside to having a motherboard with both PCI-E and AGP, but I can't for the life of me remember what it is. Is it just that they're more expensive than pure PCI-E mobos?
ATI/nVidia aside, avoid the manufacturer "GeCube" like the plague. I'm serious. Their video cards are complete turds. I've had two die on me in a similar manner. I upgraded to an X1800XT and put my old GeCube 9800XT into my GF's computer. It's in there running at AGPx4 to stop it crashing. The fan is making a noise like a coffee grinder.
--Scythe--
<a href="http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5524" target="_blank">http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=5524</a>
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Biased report, with no independent proof and should be ignored until the actual cards are in review sites hands.
Biased report, with no independent proof and should be ignored until the actual cards are in review sites hands.
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->Same article I came here to post.
It's all he has to go buy, so I don't see why the numbers matter, however there must be some difference between the two to warrant the article, so I suggested ATI. Once he gets to actually buying the card I'm sure there'll be more objective info available.
Seems to me the only one biased here is you.
Same article I came here to post.
It's all he has to go buy, so I don't see why the numbers matter, however there must be some difference between the two to warrant the article, so I suggested ATI. Once he gets to actually buying the card I'm sure there'll be more objective info available.
Seems to me the only one biased here is you.
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Er, what? The article references another site, which provides annecdotal evidence, with a random spewed out number, and the referenced site has vested interest on the out come. That is bias. I'm just saying facts, <i>which are made in the article posted</i>. Of course the numbers matter! You can't go around suggesting the best card based on made up numbers, can you?
they had sold me on the Radeon X1900 GT but it looks like they don't make em anymore and you can't really find em... like Skorp said, the GeForce 7900 GS sounds like a good bang/buck compromise - I think I'll go that route... if I can get up the guts to plunk $1500 on my credit card -_-
I suggest you wait up a bit with the whole change of regime going on now. Pick up a new ATI dx10 card in like, 3-6 months. They outperform the newer Nvidia ones by up to 40% in some games.
If you really want one now, I'd suggest a 6800. Real cheap and as mid-range as you get. I'd say the smartest choice, since it performs new games decently, but won't really be of any use with DX10 like the new far-cry or UT. No use buying an expensive card that performs dx9 awesomely since all the new games are gonna be dx10.
As is customaty, avoid Club cards. I've got one, and an overclock of 1mhz produces huge artifacts and instabilities.
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^Ati fanboy^
The new up-coming card from ATI is rumoured to have a 20% performance gain over Nvidia's GTX8800. But it have only been shown in one shady test so far, so I wouldn't give it much credibility.
The best consumer-level card you can actually buy these is no doubt the abovementioned GTX8800, but anyway, it's solid advice to wait for ATI's new card, if nothing then to push the price abit down.