DirectX 9 video card....9600xt or wait it out?

[Mike 'Naggas' Anagno]

Hi,

I'm upgrading to a P4 2.6gHz HT, 512mb ram setup soon (upgradable to 3.6gHz
& 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now, my main
intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games *nicely*, most of
which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3, Stalker, Far Cry...)

After doing some research, it seems the Radeon 9600xt is the best mid-range
card at the moment, not too expensive but not too cheap either. However, I'm
not sure how worthwhile it is in the long-run....do you think it will last
another couple of years properly? i.e. will I be able to play DirectX 9
games with high detail at 1024x768 resolution with acceptable frame rates? I
don't want to spend ~$900AU on a high-end card, so should I take the 9600xt
($300AU), or wait for the 9800pro to come down in price? (from $550AU)

Also, anyone know if ATI or Nvidia plan to release a new line of cards soon?
(obviously influencing current prices)

TIA,

 

[J.Clarke]

Hi,

I'm upgrading to a P4 2.6gHz HT, 512mb ram setup soon (upgradable to
3.6gHz& 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now, my
main intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games *nicely*,
most of which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3, Stalker,
Far Cry...)

After doing some research, it seems the Radeon 9600xt is the best
mid-range card at the moment, not too expensive but not too cheap
either. However, I'm not sure how worthwhile it is in the
long-run....do you think it will last another couple of years
properly? i.e. will I be able to play DirectX 9 games with high detail
at 1024x768 resolution with acceptable frame rates? I don't want to
spend ~$900AU on a high-end card, so should I take the 9600xt($300AU),
or wait for the 9800pro to come down in price? (from $550AU)

Also, anyone know if ATI or Nvidia plan to release a new line of cards
soon?(obviously influencing current prices)

Wait until you _need_ to before you upgrade--in other words until there
is something you really want to do that your current hardware is
preventing you from doing or preventing you from enjoying.

 

[Mark]

Hi,

I'm upgrading to a P4 2.6gHz HT, 512mb ram setup soon (upgradable to 3.6gHz
& 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now, my main
intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games *nicely*, most of
which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3, Stalker, Far Cry...)

The best advice is to not upgrade video cards based on upcoming
releases. Many a gamer have be burned buying a video card believing
that a particular game will be out on a specific release date. For
example, if you believed original release dates, Half Life 2 would have
been on the shelf for three months already, and Doom 3 would have
been released a while ago too.

After doing some research, it seems the Radeon 9600xt is the best mid-range
card at the moment, not too expensive but not too cheap either. However, I'm
not sure how worthwhile it is in the long-run....do you think it will last
another couple of years properly? i.e. will I be able to play DirectX 9
games with high detail at 1024x768 resolution with acceptable frame rates? I
don't want to spend ~$900AU on a high-end card, so should I take the 9600xt
($300AU), or wait for the 9800pro to come down in price? (from $550AU)

I believe the 9600XT will be decent enough to do what you want,
at least for the time being. Considering that you are getting a 2.6GHz
processor, I have no reason to believe that the games you mentioned
won't run nicely at 1024x768 on it unless you crank up the AA and
AF considerably.

What the 9600XT (or any other video card) will be like in two years
is purely speculation. It would probably get by for two years running
games at 1024x768 with medium to high detail, but that's just a guess
and it also depends again on how much AA and AF mean to you.

The wild card (if you'll excuse the pun!) in all of this is PCI Express
for Graphics, which will be released along with Intel's Grantsdale
processor in the fall of 2004. This slot will replace AGP completely
and it has been said that the very first top-end video cards coming
out for this new slot will have double the performance level of the
9800 Pro video card. While game developers obviously want to
accomodate those who don't have current-generation video cards
(otherwise they'd lose sales), PCI Express for Graphics will no
doubt raise the bar considerably and I should not be surprised to
see those with such hardware getting some really nice bells and
whistles graphically compared to those of us "stuck" with AGP.

Also, anyone know if ATI or Nvidia plan to release a new line of cards soon?
(obviously influencing current prices)

You'll probably see a new generation of video cards in mid-March
to early April.

 

[Burn999]

Consider the 9700 Pro over the 9600XT. It's not much more $. Search the
web and look for benchmarks. The 9700 Pro kicks ass over any 9600, and is
actually very close to a 9800.

 

[Dirk Dreidoppel]

I'm upgrading to a P4 2.6gHz HT, 512mb ram setup soon (upgradable to
3.6gHz

& 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now, my main
intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games *nicely*, most of
which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3, Stalker, Far Cry...)

Depends on how you define nicely. I've been content with my 3dfx Voodoo 5
for long 3 years. It even ran UT 2003 at low-end but still playable FPS.

After doing some research, it seems the Radeon 9600xt is the best mid-range
card at the moment, not too expensive but not too cheap either. However, I'm
not sure how worthwhile it is in the long-run....do you think it will last
another couple of years properly? i.e. will I be able to play DirectX 9
games with high detail at 1024x768 resolution with acceptable frame rates? I
don't want to spend ~$900AU on a high-end card, so should I take the 9600xt
($300AU), or wait for the 9800pro to come down in price? (from $550AU)

I've just replaced my V5 with a 9600 XT. It does well enough, and with AA
and AF enabled it scores even better against comparable Nvidia offers. That
said, a 9800 XT outruns it considerably, especially in newer titles. But
seeing that this card is 2-3 times more expensive, I don't see any reason
besides geekyness to actually get it. 1024x768 will be very well possible
for a 9600 XT for quite some time to come.

Also, anyone know if ATI or Nvidia plan to release a new line of cards soon?
(obviously influencing current prices)

Q1 or Q2 2004. Both companies have meanwhile (more or less) mastered the
transition to the 0.13 manufacturing process and DX 9, so product cycles
should speed up a little again.

 

[Tod]

If Nvidia or ATI are planning on any card releases soon,
they will not say anything about it till after the Christmas season.
Talking about any upcoming releases during the holiday season will hurt
current product sales.
I don't think there will be any real price drops on ATI cards in the near
future.

I just upgraded from a Sapphire ATI 9100 to an ATI AIW 9600 PRO.
I'm really happy with it, plays C&C Zero Hour very nicely (1280X1024)

 

[John Hall]

Check out Tom's Hardware site. They have just published their latest review
of all of the video cards out there and have included a new chart called
"fbucks". Basically it looks at performance/cost ratios of the current
video cards, and performance/quality/cost ratios of video cards. Purely on
performance the Radeon 9600XT rates highest I believe. But when quality is
factored in the 9800 non pro does very well. Anyhow, give it a gander.
It's very interesting.

JK

 

[John]

Then don't get the 9600XT. I'd recommend the 9800 Pro instead, which
will last you longer and can now be bought for $239 at this link:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0157390

 

[Mike 'Naggas' Anagno]

Thanks to all who replied, I guess waiting could be a better bet for now,
especially hearing about this PCI Express slot I had never heard about
before.

 

[PB]

Thanks to all who replied, I guess waiting could be a better bet for now,
especially hearing about this PCI Express slot I had never heard about
before.

PCI Express will not even be an issue for another year, don't waste time
worrying about it.

 

[J.Clarke]

Thanks to all who replied, I guess waiting could be a better bet for
now, especially hearing about this PCI Express slot I had never heard
about before.

There's nothing new about PCI Express--the standard has been out for a
year and a half and so far not one single product has been officially
announced, let alone shipped.

 

[willbill]

I'm upgrading to a P4 2.6gHz HT, 512mb ram setup soon (upgradable to 3.6gHz
& 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now, my main
intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games *nicely*, most of
which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3, Stalker, Far Cry...)

After doing some research, it seems the Radeon 9600xt is the best mid-range
card at the moment, not too expensive but not too cheap either. However, I'm
not sure how worthwhile it is in the long-run....do you think it will last
another couple of years properly? i.e. will I be able to play DirectX 9
games with high detail at 1024x768 resolution with acceptable frame rates? I
don't want to spend ~$900AU on a high-end card, so should I take the 9600xt
($300AU), or wait for the 9800pro to come down in price? (from $550AU)

get an nVidia 5900

go to www.pricewatch.com and search on: 5900 video

you'll find that the 5900 has dropped to roughly $200
(due to it having been discontinued for the 5950)

or if you want a more flexible card (that you can
use in older mobos that only have AGP 1.0/3.3v),
then search on: 9700 video

fwiw, the 9500 is still out there too, and is flexible
like the 9700, and at still more attractive prices
than the 9700

all of these have full DX9 capability

bill

 

[tq96]

The wild card (if you'll excuse the pun!) in all of this is PCI

Express for Graphics, which will be released along with Intel's

My impression was that PCI Express would be like AGP 8x is to AGP 4x,
negligible. It isn't the AGP 8x that makes a 9800Pro that much better than
the Geforce 4, it's the GPU.

 

[tq96]

3.6gHz & 1024mb). What I'm wondering about is the video card....now,

my main intention is to be able to run advanced DirectX 9 games
*nicely*, most of which aren't even out yet (e.g. Half Life 2, Doom 3,

Stick it out as long as you can. Buying a card now to run games that are
not yet out comes with no guarantees.