Beginner's question

[Simon Henderson]

Hi there.

I am currently looking to upgrade the graphics card on my Athlon 1.3GHz,
512MB machine. I have been thinking about buying either the 128MB or 256MB
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 Pro.

My question is, are these cards appropriate given my processor speed, and
will I see any difference between the 128MB and 256MB cards? I am concerned
that my machine will not be able to drive them fully, and that I'd be better
off with a lower-powered card, or by upgrading the processor.

Many thanks for your assistance,
Simon

 

[Frank Weston]

Both of the 9800 Pros are more card than any application needs now. They're
great, but they're overkill. I own a 9800 Pro 128, so I should know.

With your system, a lesser card, something along the lines of a 9200 or a
9000 Pro (if you can still find one) would probably do just fine unless
you're way beyond average in your demand on a video card.

 

[Usenetter]

Hi there.

I am currently looking to upgrade the graphics card on my Athlon 1.3GHz,
512MB machine. I have been thinking about buying either the 128MB or 256MB
Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9800 Pro.

My question is, are these cards appropriate given my processor speed,

Yes, VPU's operate independently of CPU.


and

will I see any difference between the 128MB and 256MB cards?

Yes, particularly in memory intensive sim's like Combat FS 3.1.



I am concerned

that my machine will not be able to drive them fully, and that I'd be better
off with a lower-powered card, or by upgrading the processor.

Your processor will be maxed out - but ALWAYS buy the best hardware you can
afford, it doesn't matter which old component it'll max out.
When you get a new mobo, chip and memory, you'll get the best from your
card.
Get an XP17/1800+ DLT3C - they overclock like crazy - 2200-2500 MHz
(depending on your mobo).

 

[Paul Murphy]

It depends entirely what you want to use it for and how much your budget
permits. You haven't stated that, nor what you currently have in terms of
graphics hardware. If it's only word-processing and office apps that you run
then an old Matrox Millennium 2nd hand would probably be the best value for
money solution. Given that you're proposing allot more than that, I suspect
you want to use it for much more than office apps.

The "sweetspot" in terms of bang-for-the-buck is currently around 9500 ~
9700 series cards. If you want the bragging rights of owning a 9800 Pro
(currently the fastest), then you'll pay a significant premium for little
comparative performance increase over the 9700. Its true that a newer
machine would get even more out of a 9800 Pro (particularly a board with AGP
8X support) but the fastest card would be the fastest solution in your
machine. Re the memory, 256 is only something that will be of benefit in the
future - if you've got money to burn now though it would give you some
future proofing.

Need to know more in order to comment further.

Paul

 

[Simon Henderson]

Many thanks to all for your comments. In general, the message seems to be
that I'd be better-off going for a lower rated card. This suits me just
fine, and also saves a bit of cash.

Thanks again for the advice.
Simon