Which gfx card do i go for ???

[Douglas]

Im buying a new system (Abit board with 2600 AMD CPU) and Im not sure
what gfx card to buy, in the roughly 100 quid region.
I have the option of the following 3 and would appreciate some input
as which one to get

ATI RADEON 9600 PRO Priced at 110 quid
Chaintech Nvidia GeForec4 Ti 4200 128Mb Priced at 130 quid
Geforce FX 5600 256MB Priced at 120 quid

Thanks in advance

Doug

 

[Ben Pope]

Im buying a new system (Abit board with 2600 AMD CPU) and Im not sure
what gfx card to buy, in the roughly 100 quid region.
I have the option of the following 3 and would appreciate some input
as which one to get

ATI RADEON 9600 PRO Priced at 110 quid
Chaintech Nvidia GeForec4 Ti 4200 128Mb Priced at 130 quid
Geforce FX 5600 256MB Priced at 120 quid

Definately the 9600 - it'll beat the GeForces hands down - especially with
eye candy (PS, AA, AF etc)

Ben

 

[stu]

ATI RADEON 9600 PRO Priced at 110 quid
Chaintech Nvidia GeForec4 Ti 4200 128Mb Priced at 130 quid
Geforce FX 5600 256MB Priced at 120 quid

Ti4200, superb frame rates, nevermind DX9 support.

 

[Sean]

Ti4200, superb frame rates, nevermind DX9 support.

Nevermind AA and AF too.


Get the 9600 Pro. You'll be glad you did when you enable 4xAA and 8xAniso.

 

[stu]

Ti4200, superb frame rates, nevermind DX9 support.

Nevermind AA and AF too.
Get the 9600 Pro. You'll be glad you did when you enable 4xAA and 8xAniso.

Shame about the shit frame rate.

But HEY, it's only games, who cares abour frame rate, AA and AF are what
matters!

Dick.

 

[stu]

I own 3 GFX cards (strange but true - 3 identicle systems all based on
XP2700)

The cards just happen to be.......

NVidia Ti4200 128Mb Vivo etc..
PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro 128Mb
PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro 128Mb

I also own a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI but we'll not go into this.
(and a 1mb Cirrus Logic SVGA card!)

Top performer amongst all the cards is obviously the 9800 Pro, it's GORGEOUS
and thrashes my mates Nvidia 5900 Ultra 128mb, when I say thrashes....it
actually doesn't, but it is slightly faster and it looks much better
onscreen with AA and AF turned up full. Then comes the Ti4200, it's a
stunning card, capable of playing any RELEASED games at resolutions of
1600x1200, if AA or AF is enabled then the FPS will take a drop, but frame
rate wise on average resolutions (1024X768 etc) it is a superb cards, rock
solid. My 9600 is also a great card, it has DX9 support and handles AA and
AF much better than the Ti4200, but it's simply NOT AS FAST as the Ti4200,
the Ti4200 is on average 15-25 FPS faster than the 9600 on practicvally all
games with no AA or AF enabled.

Listen to someone who owns and uses these cards.

 

[Ben Pope]

I own 3 GFX cards (strange but true - 3 identicle systems all based on
XP2700)

The cards just happen to be.......

NVidia Ti4200 128Mb Vivo etc..
PowerColor Radeon 9600 Pro 128Mb
PowerColor Radeon 9800 Pro 128Mb

I also own a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI but we'll not go into this.
(and a 1mb Cirrus Logic SVGA card!)

Top performer amongst all the cards is obviously the 9800 Pro, it's
GORGEOUS and thrashes my mates Nvidia 5900 Ultra 128mb, when I say
thrashes....it actually doesn't, but it is slightly faster and it looks
much better onscreen with AA and AF turned up full. Then comes the
Ti4200, it's a stunning card, capable of playing any RELEASED games at
resolutions of 1600x1200, if AA or AF is enabled then the FPS will take a
drop, but frame rate wise on average resolutions (1024X768 etc) it is a
superb cards, rock solid. My 9600 is also a great card, it has DX9
support and handles AA and AF much better than the Ti4200, but it's
simply NOT AS FAST as the Ti4200, the Ti4200 is on average 15-25 FPS
faster than the 9600 on practicvally all games with no AA or AF enabled.

Listen to someone who owns and uses these cards.

A couple of questions then:

Does the 9600 struggle with any released game?

If you played a game with the 9600 at say, 1024x768, 4xAA, and 8xAF, what
sort of resolution and AA / AF options would you need on the ti4200 in order
to get a comparable image quality, and are the frame rates comparable?

Ben

 

[stu]

Does the 9600 struggle with any released game?

It struggles in thick fog etc, otherwise it's fine.

If you played a game with the 9600 at say, 1024x768, 4xAA, and 8xAF, what
sort of resolution and AA / AF options would you need on the ti4200 in order
to get a comparable image quality, and are the frame rates comparable?

Image quality on both cards are different.....

ATi = stunning
Nvidia = Very Good

ATi FPS = good/average
Nvidia FPS= Very Good

If you want image quality then the Ati 9600 is the winner, if you want nice
fast playable games then the Ti4200 is the best.

 

[Ben Pope]

It struggles in thick fog etc, otherwise it's fine.

Does the ti4200 deal with the fog better? Or does it just render the fog in
a less nice, less computationally expensive manner?

I wonder if you could change settings in order to reduce the image quality
on the 9600 and thus speed it up.

I'm not being argumentative, I'm interested in the differences between the
two as I've never had the opportunity to directly compare them.

Ben

 

[stu]

Does the ti4200 deal with the fog better? Or does it just render the fog
in

a less nice, less computationally expensive manner?

Ti4200 fog is very good looking, 9600 fog is also good looking, Ti4200 does
it better.

I wonder if you could change settings in order to reduce the image quality
on the 9600 and thus speed it up.

You sure can, disable AA and AF and V.Sync, but you will loose image
quality.

I'm not being argumentative, I'm interested in the differences between the
two as I've never had the opportunity to directly compare them.

Ati9600 = Slower Frame rate / Superb image.
Ti4200 = Faster Frame Rate / Very Good Frame Rate.

 

[Sean]

8xAniso.

Shame about the shit frame rate.

But HEY, it's only games, who cares abour frame rate, AA and AF are what
matters!

Dick.

Wow, when did this turn into a pissing contest? I LOVE PISSING CONTESTS!
LOL...idiot. btw, here's some info on the performance of the 9600 Pro Vs. a
Ti4800 (not the Ti4200).


http://firingsquad.com/hardware/ati_radeon_9600_pro_review/

 

[bob cox]

good article

 

[Dan]

The 9600 pro is what you should get. The 4200 doens't even compare. The 9600
pro is more future proof and the 4200 cannot even play games using full
image quality ATM let alone in a years time. Cough cough tomb raider, halo
and any other game that uses directx9. Besides it's an excellent overclocker
and its cheapers!!! What more could you ask for!

Dan

 

[Sean]

An apology from STU for calling me a dick? LOL =)