GeForce of Radeon!?!

[dmx003]

Hi + help!
I need a graphic card/motherboard/cpu set up that will be used for gaming as well as 3d work so open gl is an issue. I also need dual monitors.
Im thinking in order to save cash best bet is to go for athlon XP2400 or better, no idea what motherboard and dont know which graphic card will give best performance on games as well as a general workstation and dual monitors. I dont want to spend £300+ on a radeon 9800 Pro so any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Should I go geForce or radeon??
:crazy: help!

 

[psd99]

dont even think of radeon!!! because those guys at nvidia REALLY know how to make a good graphics card beleive me. I used to have the ti4200 it has sexy graphics for any game. I have now adopted the fx5200 as it only cost £58 and it provides world class graphics! I can confirm to you that the fx 5200 is a good card. the next up is the fx 5600 but its not £58 its well more!!

xp 2400 is great as it hits the 2.0 ghz mark which is vital in todays hectic pc life! with regards to motherboards GET A GOODEN!
msi are good so are asus, make sure it has a good FSB and make sure u go 5 pci slots, agp 8X, 4 memory slots. Find out how high of a CPU u can fit into it and you are laughing!!!

let me know your thoughts

 

[dmx003]

The price sounds good to me! I may well even spend a bit more and go for something like the fx5600. Im surprised about ure comments on radeons, Ive been advised the opposite elsewhere. Difficult to know! Too many choices!
Yeah, I think the xp2400 gives best value at the moment.
Ive also been told that the Abit NF7-S nForce 2 motherboard is a great one and at £78, not too pricey!

many thanks.

 

[muckshifter]

Both cards are fine ... however, the nVidia's drivers cause less proplems.

I too use an FX5200 ... good price good card.


now where is Flopps...

 

[1nteger]

If you currently use an nVidia card, you may have to completely reinstall your operating system if you want to switch to ATI Radeon...I know quite a few peeps who have had to do this as the only way of getting rid of all traces of nVidia drivers that can cause probs. It's not always the case, but it could be a problem with several systems.

On the cards themselves, there are many benchmarks that suggest top end Radeon cards are better than GeForce cards, but if you look carefully at these there are some sobering lessons:

1. The latest release of Geforce drivers have vastly improved the performance of top end nVidia cards and they now out-perform Radeons in many games. Always check how the cards run at the resolutions and settings you are likely to play in. One card may do marginally better than another, but only at 1600x1200 for example...when at 1024x768, the comparative preformace may be reversed...so decide what resoultion you want to play in and choose a card accordingly.

2. Different games perform differently with different cards...best thing is to check card performance with the games you like to play, not simply go for the card itself.

3. You can get good Direct X9 cards that perform very well at low prices, but to get everything out of some of the newer games like Doom 3 and Half Life2, you will probably need more power. A top end GeForceFX5900 can now cost under £250 and I thinbk, with the new drivers, it's the card to get.

4. At the very top end, most cards (like the 'Ultras') have very little extra real power but charge a lot more for it...don't get caught paying an extra £100 for only a 5% performance improvement unless it makes the difference between actually being able to run a game or not.

 

[dmx003]

Yeah, Ive been looking a some reviews this morning and it is exactly as u say. The differences are actually marginal and resolution specific. I am now slowly leaning towards the idea of paying a bit more and opting for an GF FX5900 or similar.

Many thanks.

 

[Rhua]

For Motherboard I generally use a Asus A7N8X deluxe - Great stability, great overclocking, has dual channel memory, and loadsa extras. Also officially supports 200 FSB so will work nicely when upgrading.

For Gfx, the Ati Radion 9600pro is a good capable middle-of-road processor for 100+vat

For cpu an XP2500+ barton is hard to beat as it has the same multiplier as the XP3200+ so just turn up the FSB to 200 put on a proper heatsink and save £200 on an XP3200+

Ensure you use good quality paired Corsair PC3200 or greater mem sticks for stability.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Lemme see, I'm using an ATI 8500, 2 x ATI 9200's, one VIVO, and an Nvidia FX5200 Ultra.

The 8500 just has the edge over all of them.

As for drivers, ATI have for some time now issued excellent drivers, I'm using the latest Catalyst 3.9 drivers/control panel and DX9b on all my systems with ATI cards.

I've read a lot of reviews on various sites of shoot-outs for all these cards, and all seem to agree that the ATI 9800 Pro, whether 128MB or 256MB flavour, has the edge on Nvidia's FX5900.

And shortly the ATI 9800 XT will be released, if it hasn't been already, generally reckoned to be the best available graphics card for gaming.

Here's a link to a review: 9800 XT

Myself, in your position, I'd go for the the ATI 9600 Pro, depending on manufacturer, costs between £110.00 (Saphire) to £140.00 (Hercules). It's worth buying the Hercules version for their rather unique cooling system.

Or an ATI 9800 Pro if you can afford it.

In my opinion, the driver issue is a myth, latest ATI drivers are very stable.

This is, however, just my opinion, don't wanna start a war here

 

[floppybootstomp]

Hercules 9800 XT 256MB

three hundred and eighty quid! eek! :crazy:

 

[vambo1980]

u guys joking?.. the fx5600 is crap! ive just took mine back got a full refund (thankfully) i had a fx5600 256ddr, on a 800fsb 2.6ghz p4 and 1gb of 333mhz ram and it couldnt even run the games on 3dmark2003 let alone get a decent score(1872), dont get me wrong it's an average card, but for the money it is just not worth it, hence the return. im now looking at getting an ati radeon 9700 pro, im trying to find a 256mb version but struggling can any1 help? i have £200 to spend on a card any recomendations?
vj

 

[muckshifter]

The fx5600 is fine ...

You do need to fit it in a computer however.