ATi 9600XT versus nVidia 5700?

[sooky grumper]

I'm looking around for a new budget graphics card at the moment. I've
ruled out the geforce 5600 based cards (you have to pay too much to get
the Ultra versions) and have narrowed my search to the ATi 9600XT based
cards and the Geforce 5700 (not ultra) cards. Does anyone have any url's
they could point me to that might help me decide between these two
different classes of video cards?

 

[sooky grumper]

I'm looking around for a new budget graphics card at the moment. I've
ruled out the geforce 5600 based cards (you have to pay too much to get
the Ultra versions) and have narrowed my search to the ATi 9600XT based
cards and the Geforce 5700 (not ultra) cards. Does anyone have any url's
they could point me to that might help me decide between these two
different classes of video cards?

Just thought of something: is there even a separate 5700, or is 5700 the
same thing as 5700 Ultra? I'm not sure, and am wondering if card makers
are avoiding the 5700 Ultra for some reason. It seems that there are
very few cards with the 'ultra' label....

 

[Cuzman]

" I'm looking around for a new budget graphics card at the moment. I've
ruled out the geforce 5600 based cards (you have to pay too much to get the
Ultra versions) and have narrowed my search to the ATi 9600XT based cards
and the Geforce 5700 (not ultra) cards. Does anyone have any url's they
could point me to that might help me decide between these two different
classes of video cards? "


http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

 

[sooky grumper]

" I'm looking around for a new budget graphics card at the moment. I've
ruled out the geforce 5600 based cards (you have to pay too much to get the
Ultra versions) and have narrowed my search to the ATi 9600XT based cards
and the Geforce 5700 (not ultra) cards. Does anyone have any url's they
could point me to that might help me decide between these two different
classes of video cards? "


http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

Thanks for that. I think I was right: for the price, the 9600XT based
cards are much better than the base 5700 (and the Ultra).

 

[somebody]

Thanks for that. I think I was right: for the price, the 9600XT based
cards are much better than the base 5700 (and the Ultra).

People are trusting tomshardware way too much. Their tests and
benchmarks are not very good or even relevant, and they have agendas.
Check out the glee their General Manager let slip, the day Intel
released '86-64.

http://www20.tomshardware.com/column/20040218/index.html

I think tomshardware is actually right though. Sapphire 9600XT is what
I'd suggest, since not only price but also performance differs a bit
between manufacturers.
9600XT is better if your primary interest is D3D (DX). If you have
serious need of OpenGL I'd suggest you think about FX5700 yet another
time.

- But actually, I have a completely different suggestion: Have you
checked out prices and performance for FX5900XT lately? It's available
from about $160, and you can get a real FX5900 for $220.

ATI's high end has also slipped in price, check around for 9700 and
9800SE too.

Alternatively, if you're serious about that "budget" talk, you might
want to have a harder look at 9600pro.

ancra

 

[sooky grumper]

People are trusting tomshardware way too much. Their tests and
benchmarks are not very good or even relevant, and they have agendas.

In this case, though, it's agreeing with other reports I've just read in
last month's Australian PC User magazine.

Check out the glee their General Manager let slip, the day Intel
released '86-64.

http://www20.tomshardware.com/column/20040218/index.html

I think tomshardware is actually right though. Sapphire 9600XT is what
I'd suggest, since not only price but also performance differs a bit
between manufacturers.
9600XT is better if your primary interest is D3D (DX). If you have
serious need of OpenGL I'd suggest you think about FX5700 yet another
time.

I use linux on my other computer. It is something I'm worried about,
though, as I purchased a Canon i550 printer and it turns out Canon
refuses to provide a driver for linux even though it provides one for
Mac OS X! This has become a problem because all the computers on the
network must have their own printer driver to print from the Netgear
print server. nVidia's support for linux has been much better than ATi's
in the past as well as currently, which is a mark in their favour.
However, a 5700 Ultra based card is $60AUD (at least) more expensive for
roughly equivalent performance. The 9600XT beats the base 5700 based cards.

- But actually, I have a completely different suggestion: Have you
checked out prices and performance for FX5900XT lately? It's available
from about $160, and you can get a real FX5900 for $220.

I prefer not to order from overseas, so I'm limited to what's available
at the inflated Australian prices. If anything goes wrong, I'd rather
ship the card back to the distributor/retailer here than in another
continent. However, I'll give the prices of these cards another look here.

ATI's high end has also slipped in price, check around for 9700 and
9800SE too.

Alternatively, if you're serious about that "budget" talk, you might
want to have a harder look at 9600pro.

That performs slightly less well than the 9600XT, right? There's 9600se,
9600Pro, and 9600XT?

 

[somebody]

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

That performs slightly less well than the 9600XT, right? There's 9600se,
9600Pro, and 9600XT?

There's 9600SE, 9600, 9600pro and 9600XT.

9600 is (very) roughly 50% better than 9600SE. 9600XT is (very)
roughly 50% better than 9600. 9600pro falls in between. 9600XT being
something like 20% better than pro.
I just figured it might be a price issue. Worth checking prices like.
Like if I find the 9600XT for $150, that looks pretty good and I'm not
terribly tempted by a pro at $135, even if that is reasonable. But if
I see a 9600pro on a sale for like $80, that's what I'm buying...

But actually I'm not. The cards I have (GF4 Ti) are so fast, I sort of
have to reach for the FX5900, or it's not much point.

ancra