Graphics Cards - I've got a headache

[JonathanAnon]

Ahhh man, I got a headache. How are you meant to decide which graphcs card to buy ?? I've looked 9250 9600 9700 9550 9800 PRO SE XT, and that's just from ATI.

Which one should I buy - best value for the money... And whats a refurbished card? I see there's a ATI RADEON 9700 Pro 128 MB Graphics Card - Refurbished on ebay fairly cheap - worth it or should I just pass and get a 9800 XT/PRO

regards,
J

 

[Skivvywaver]

How much are you willing to spend? Graphics cards come in a variety of performance and price ranges.

 

[PunkPyro912]

yeah we need more info on what your looking for and going to be using the graphics card mainly for before we can help.

 

[JonathanAnon]

I meant to say, I'm looking at the range of the cost of a 9600 XT / 9800 PRO say 100-130 euro max. I dont want to buy an X850 (and have to remortgage the house) but I want to play Battlefield and half Life 2. Far Cry amazingly runs on my Creative 32MB GeForce 2 MX (GB0010), but I need to step up now to play these games.

I can get

nVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB - 170 Euro. (Not sure if I want to push to this!)
or
OEM ATI Built Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB Card - 111 Euro
or
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 256MB DDR Graphic Card 9600XT - 99 Euro
or
ATI RADEON 9700 Pro 128 MB Graphics Card - Refurbished - 67 Euro

I have an Athlon 1700Mhz with 382 MB RAM, running Windows 200 SP4

What is the best option ?? Am I ignoring a better offer, or is there any of these I should avoid like the plague. I read up on all of these and they seem good, but there's soooo many different types.

all help appreciated,

regards,
Jonathan

 

[Skivvywaver]

Jonathan, my first choice of the ones you have listed would be the 6600GT. However, the 9800 pro is very close to the performance leval of the 6600GT and in some instances actually beats it.

The 6600 is newer tech but the 9800 pro is still a very solid card. The 9600XT is getting very low mid range even with 256 megs of memory.

I guess I am saying if you can swing it get the GT, if not grab the 9800 pro. The 9700 pro would be my third choice but the refurbed part scares me.

 

[drifterrr]

I agree the 9800 pro is the best choice given the budget. ATI would still be the best if you are a little bit on the wild side and into overclocking. There are lots of resources online to overclock ATI cards

 

[JonathanAnon]

Okay,

I've decided on the ATI 9800 PRO 128MB or 256MB card.

But i see with the All in Wonder you get a TV Tuner aswell. With Video recording software and loads of other stuff. I read a review comparing it to 9600 PRO All In Wonder and it said that the 9800 All In Wonder was missing an FM Tuner, which had been a feature of the older card.

Does this mean it has onboard radio aswell or is it some other signal being passed using Frequency Modulation.

I'm going to get the 9800 PRO 128MB All In Wonder either way. Thanks for your help.

 

[Whitestar]

Yeah, 9600 AIW had a radio tuner as well as a tv tuner, but ATI got rid of that for a better quality tv tuner on the 9800. Good choice on the card tho.

 

[JonathanAnon]

Thanks for the quick response.

I'm actually looking up the ATI site right now to find out why they dropped the FM Tuner. This would be really handy for me (prob just as handy as the TV Tuner). Damned radio keeps falling off my PC at home

Might just go for the 9600 XT All In Wonder - doesnt seem to be a whole lot in the difference game wise either. Some product tho, a radio, video recorder & TV card, and oh yeah ... a kick *** gaming card. to ATI.

Just looked now - the X600 has an FM Tuner as well. DOOOHHHH.

 

[I Fix 4 U]

Hey i just found that the sapphire 9800 Pro 256 mb 256 bit DDR is reeally good for agp. I'd get that if you are still using agp and plan on playing games coming out in a year or two (possibly three, who knows) from now. it's ~$170 (card+silencer).

Or PCIE - 6600GT or the x700 are really good and still don't cost much.

Those are good cost effective cards.

Don't get the 9600, it won't do *blanked words* in games of today.

I wouldn't get an x600 either, x700 better.

 

[Whitestar]

Yeah, the 9600 isnt all that if you want to play the games of today. Don't forget that your gonna want the card to last you at least a year, maybe two, so the 9800 or an x700 would be better. Also, you can get seprate TV/Radio tuner cards that dont cost much at all.

 

[I Fix 4 U]

Yah i'd definetely go seperate. I never buy a tvtuner/fmtuner inside a graphics card.

 

[Whitestar]

Oh i dunno. Ive had a 9800 AIW for a few years now and had no problems with it exept when i tried to overclock it. Plus it saves a slot that can be used for something else. I'm waiting for the X850 PE AIW.

 

[I Fix 4 U]

expensive card (x850)

 

[JonathanAnon]

Yeah, I was getting it all in one card cos I want to save on card space. Also PCIe is out.

Any suggestion on a good TV/Radio card. I need to be able to record both aswell (I know you can do this function with 9600 XT) ?

I might just grab a 9800 PRO (not AIW) and a separate Tuner card.