radeon 9800xt??

[GNFURY]

hey guys. I want to upgrade to a badass video card. I here this one is the best. What do you guys think? do you need a super computer to use this card? I'm also gonna upgrade to a 19" lcd moniter.

 

[Tony87gn]

It will turn your computer into a super computer.

 

[Gokou]

Save your bucks for a little while, or buy a step down (say a 9800 pro 128 meg). There are no games out currently that will need the 256 megs of memory on the XT. The best price point right now for high performance is the 9800 pro 128 meg at around $290.

Keep in mind we are near the end of the product life cycle for the current generation of video cards from both ATI and Nvidia. Come next spring the next generation cards from ATI and Nvidia will be coming out, so if you buy a 9800XT now you'll be paying big bucks to be "king of the hill" for only a couple months. I'd wait until next spring and buy the new cards fresh at the beginning of their lifecycle if you really want to be king of the hill, buy a step down now for the most bang for the buck, or wait until spring and buy the XT then as prices will probably drop substantially.

Also, what do you think you need an XT for? If you aren't a hardcore gamer, you won't really be using it to its full potential, and as I said, the 256 megs of memory is overkill for software on the market now. Even the cutting edge anticipated games due out early next year that most people think will be hogs (say HL2 and Doom 3) probably won't need it; their developers have said that 128 megs on the video card will be perfectly fine. IMO you'd be better suited with a 128 meg 9800 pro, and if you want it faster, overclock it.

However, if you feel the need to be king of the hill, feel free to cough up the $425 or so to get one. I'm just trying to say it's not the wisest choice at the moment given that the next generation is just around the corner and the benefits of that extra 128 megs of memory is dubious at best.

Also, what's the rest of your computer specs? If you're lacking on other things such as processor speed, memory, etc, then an XT would not make much sense.

Troy

 

[Robes87GN]

Pretty much what Gokou said, but with HL2 and Doom 3 coming out... look out for that 256k card to be in use sometime soon. Radeon and ATI are in an all out battle for supremecy. Every time my new Computer Gaming World hits my doorstep, there seems to be a newer and improved video card upping the other. Radeon seems to be just above ATI everytime though. My ATI Geforce 2 seems to hold up well on most games even at high ass resolutions on UT2003, SWAT 3, BF1942... If I were you I would buy the best thing out there now, because that 256 will be good for anything for at least 2-3yrs I'd say. Some 128's are doing damn good as well, if you want to save some cash. Like Gokou said, that 9800 pro will hold you up for a long while as well.

 

[progress1vebmx]

Any 256 cards are not much better than 128. I've seen some benchmark tests, not an incredibly amount of difference. If you want the best, buy it when the new games come out (hl2..). A month ago I bought the ATI Radeon AIW 9800 Pro because I wanted to record stuff, but an ATI Radeon 9800 128 Pro should do you just fine.

 

[TylerDurden]

two posts up he says radeon and ati are competing, but why is my card and other cards mentioned on here ATI Radeon XXX-XX?

I also ask because when i bought TRON 2.0 my 3 month old HP lattop had issues playing it and it led to a video driver issue...even when i dl'd updated software from the game maker, and ATI it still didnt work, then a user on #buickgn sent me a separate DL that all of a sudden worked when used in conjunction with the TRON software...no probs since.....I have no idea where the patch that worked came from...but none of the ATI stuff would actually install on my comptuer. Kept saying hardware was missing....

 

[BOOSTD]

Heres a little help for you confused people out there
-Ford makes the Mustang GT, Cobra, etc
-Chevy makes (well, did make) the Camaro Z28 and SS
-ATI makes the Radion 9800, 9600, etc
-Nvidia makes the G-force4 5900, 5600, etc

As for the XT idea, I would wait. The XT realy isnt all its cracked up to be. If you want a realy good card to hold you up unitill next years releases, get a 9600 pro. Mine only cost me $150 and its a sweet card. Next year, when the new cards come out, you'll have some extra change to spend on those. IMO, ATI is much better than Nvidia

BOOSTD

P.S. HL2 rocks!! Ive got it

 

[progress1vebmx]

IF you want good frame rates (ie 100+ in certain games) get the 9800. The 9600 is pretty good, but why not spend an extra 100$ to get the 9800.

 

[TylerDurden]

BOOSTD that may explain my issues, i run an ATI card trying to play an Nvidea game........they had a lot to do with TRON

 

[Reaper]

i just bought a gigibyte Ati 9200 se pro or something... for 50 bucks its got great reviews! www.pcclub.com if you want it.


everything i have read says it wil keep up wiht hte best of them.


Dathan

 

[jbc455]

I'm not big on ATI cards. They seem to be more expensive than cards with the nVidia chipset of the same size.

There will always be a weak link in any computer you buy. This "bottleneck" will either be RAM (in megabytes), CPU speed, Video RAM, or the hard drive.

If you install a 256mb card in a Plll 550, you're wasting money. You'd see a much larger improvement by installing as much RAM as possible, or saving the $ towards a new computer.

As far as LCD monitors, make sure you get one with a fast pixel refresh rate, they are different. Slower rates will result in reduced frame rate on your games.

John

 

[BOOSTD]

TylerDurden, my roommate had the same problem with Tron 2.0. Not sure how he fixed it but hes got it working. Thats what happens when a game is developed with the help of a graphics company; you get compatability problems.

Heres one more reason why you should get an ATI card...they are working together with valve to produce HL2. Everything in that game is going to be optimized for ATI, not Nvidia. So if HL2 is on your wish list, you'd be better off getting an ATI card

BOOSTD

 

[jbc455]

Does ATI release their chips to "no-name" companies to use on their cards?

I saw an off-brand card with the 256mb nVidia chip on it for $99. It's GOT to be faster than any 64mb card!

John

 

[Gokou]

Originally posted by BOOSTD


As for the XT idea, I would wait. The XT realy isnt all its cracked up to be. If you want a realy good card to hold you up unitill next years releases, get a 9600 pro. Mine only cost me $150 and its a sweet card. Next year, when the new cards come out, you'll have some extra change to spend on those. IMO, ATI is much better than Nvidia

BOOSTD

P.S. HL2 rocks!! Ive got it

I wouldn't say the XT isn't all it's cracked up to be, but I will say that the extra 128 megs of video memory it has is next to useless as nothing right now will take advantage of all that texture memory, and even the games due out next year won't take advantage of it. Why spend $425+ on an XT with 256 megs of memory you will never take full advantage of, when a 9800 Pro with 128 megs of memory at $290 is only a hair slower and probably still has a bit more texture memory than needed?

For comparison, a 9800 pro runs at 380 mhz core / 340 mhz memory while a 9800XT runs at 412 core / 365 memory. You are paying $125 or 45% more for a 8% increase in clock speed and a 7% increase in memory speed. Will you be able to see the difference in your games? Probably not, but your benchmark scores will be a wee bit higher (whoopty-freaking-doo, unless you want to be the envy of everyone on your local 1337 computer user forum. Not knocking those as I'm a member of a few, LOL) You can also overclock the 9800 Pro's to XT speeds; their cores are easily overclocked to 420+, and that 340 mhz memory (350 mhz is the manufacturer's recommend max) can typically be pushed to 365-370 mhz or so.

Once again, the typical advice of computer purchases/upgrading is true: the top of the line stuff is generally only a hair faster than the stuff just one step down, but you'll pay dearly for that small margin of improvement. You'll be happy with a 9800 Pro. I've had one for a while now and really like it. I bought right after the XT's came out and the prices dropped on the Pro. Antialiasing with the ATI is less of a hit than a Nvidia card, and that's good for my flight sims on my 22" monitor. No jaggy edges for me.

BTW, shame on you Boostd for downloading the hacked/swiped version of HL2. LOL.

The 9600 pro he mentions is also an excellent card; depending on what you have right now, that may be a very good and wallet friendly upgrade to hold you over until the next gen cards come out.

Troy

 

[GNandGS]

4th post down:

http://www.gwtra.org/gwtra_mb/messages/2/555.html?1065923704

 

[progress1vebmx]

Originally posted by jbc455
I'm not big on ATI cards. They seem to be more expensive than cards with the nVidia chipset of the same size.

There will always be a weak link in any computer you buy. This "bottleneck" will either be RAM (in megabytes), CPU speed, Video RAM, or the hard drive.

If you install a 256mb card in a Plll 550, you're wasting money. You'd see a much larger improvement by installing as much RAM as possible, or saving the $ towards a new computer.

As far as LCD monitors, make sure you get one with a fast pixel refresh rate, they are different. Slower rates will result in reduced frame rate on your games.

John

Like he said, if you have a P3 500MHZ comp, a 128 9800 pro won't do ya any good. First things first. Get a gig of ram, video card, and processor.

Right now I have a gig of 3700 ddr ram, 1.7 cpu (i want a barton 2.5) and an AIW 9800 pro. runs nice

 

[BOOSTD]

Hey man, Valve is going to get their money out of me. Im going to be the first person in line to get HL2 when it comes out.
Im normaly against this stuff (ie Kazaa and napster) but I just couldnt pass it up. So yes, shame on boosted for downloading a stolen game...but hey, the game still rocks.

BOOSTD

sorry to get off subject

 

[TurboMike]

i'm still running my old Radeon 7500 and it works just fine.

 

[REDS HOT AIR]

any comments on the ati all in one 9000 pro ?

I was looking at one for my pc ...I dont do games really just want good video and audio along with video in and out capability

 

[bsdlinux]

Originally posted by REDS HOT AIR
any comments on the ati all in one 9000 pro ?

I was looking at one for my pc ...I dont do games really just want good video and audio along with video in and out capability

It will be great for what you want to do. Doesn't do games well though....