Graphics Card Choice

[Daniel P]

Ok, I am trying to find a Graphics Card. I play games like Battle
Field:1942. My Current Card is a Geforce 4 MX 440 64mb of DDR. Well i wanna
upgrade so i have singled it down to two. A
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 ULTRA
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&depa=1
Also an CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT Video Card
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-072&depa=1&
section=1

The 5700 ultra has higher clock speeds and the 5900XT has better video
textureing and what not.
They are almost the same price. so basically what is more important video
texturing and rendering or clock speeds

 

[Dave C.]

Ok, I am trying to find a Graphics Card. I play games like Battle
Field:1942. My Current Card is a Geforce 4 MX 440 64mb of DDR. Well i wanna
upgrade so i have singled it down to two. A
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 ULTRA
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&depa=1
Also an CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT Video Card
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-072&depa=1&
section=1

The 5700 ultra has higher clock speeds and the 5900XT has better video
textureing and what not.
They are almost the same price. so basically what is more important video
texturing and rendering or clock speeds

Geez, I don't think you could go wrong choosing between those two. I like
evga though, so I'd have to recommend that one. -Dave

 

[somebody]

Ok, I am trying to find a Graphics Card. I play games like Battle
Field:1942. My Current Card is a Geforce 4 MX 440 64mb of DDR. Well i wanna
upgrade so i have singled it down to two. A
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 ULTRA
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&depa=1
Also an CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5900XT Video Card
link:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-072&depa=1&
section=1

The 5700 ultra has higher clock speeds and the 5900XT has better video
textureing and what not.
They are almost the same price. so basically what is more important video
texturing and rendering or clock speeds

The 5900XT is the better chipset. This is the new "Ti 4200". It hasn't
captured the market yet to be crowned heir, but it's a damn good
chipset for the money.

Even if 5700ultra is hotted up, I think the 5900xt is faster. The
problem here is that eVGA is probably a better manufacturer than
Chaintech. Your call. I'd be awfully tempted going for the FX5900xt
anyway.

ancra

 

[Mark]

If you are using the card for mainly games get the latest ATI, if you surf
google for comparisons between ati and gefore you will see that in practice
the ati hardware is much better at handling games, where the geforce cards
excell is in the openGL support so 3d modelling and rendering on a geforce
is much better. Me being a 3d medeller would take the geforce everytime, but
if you don't do this type of work then definately get an ATI. some of the
output charts for the tests run on both cards are quite shocking.

 

[Daniel P]

hmmm, still not sure. I am trying to a card that will also run Unreal
Tournament without going to far behind "The Way Its Meant To Be Played"*
settings. And I don't really want to go higher priced than 180$.


*The Way Its Meant To Be Played* High Settings

 

[JAD]

AA24830 ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB AGP 8X DDR W/TV & DVI (OEM-POWERED BY
ATI) $165.00


3366449 ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB 8x AGP (Retail) Details $174.67

www.mwave.com

hmmm, still not sure. I am trying to a card that will also run Unreal
Tournament without going to far behind "The Way Its Meant To Be Played"*
settings. And I don't really want to go higher priced than 180$.


*The Way Its Meant To Be Played* High Settings

--
"Duct tape is a lot like the Force. It has a Dark side, a Light side, and it
holds all the pieces of the Universe together"

 

[somebody]

If you are using the card for mainly games get the latest ATI, if you surf
google for comparisons between ati and gefore you will see that in practice
the ati hardware is much better at handling games, where the geforce cards
excell is in the openGL support so 3d modelling and rendering on a geforce
is much better. Me being a 3d medeller would take the geforce everytime, but
if you don't do this type of work then definately get an ATI. some of the
output charts for the tests run on both cards are quite shocking.

Well, I've read tons of tests for years, and while I certainly agree
that ATI, looking at their range overall, may have a slight edge on DX
gaming, I don't see that can be generalized into "get an ATI".
Both FX5200 and FX59xx have always been doing quite well in their
price ranges.

A bit of the testing that has been made have been rigged (3Dmark and
Valve).
Other tests were done before nVidia took quantum leaps with new
drivers, some time ago. But sure, the brilliant ATI 9600 series have
the middle segment all wrapped up, and 9800xt maybe, overall, still
hangs on to the crown. But that crown may partly hang on some
questionable testing (8XAF).

Since we still haven't seen the full potential of the FX5700 and
FX59xx, remember these are highly programmable cards, while ATI's are
simply hardwired DX9 D3D, and the fact that there are OpenGl games out
there too, FX5900 makes sense even for a gamer. What's really nice
about the FX5900xt, is that it, just like the old Ti4200, and unlike
ATI's "SE" budget versions, doesn't have any vulnerabilities, or give
much away to the more expensive cards. It's an always consistently top
end performing card, for $170-$200. AFAIC it's _THE_ gem out there
now.

The test you've found "quite shocking" are probably with 8X
anisotropic filtering. Well, here the tests lie. Because ATI uses a
technique called adaptive filtering, and can't do full 8 X AF. Most
areas will in reality be done with 2X, next most with 4X, and only
some with 8X, so you can just throw away those tables.
It's not a big deal since the quality of ATI AF is quite good, it's
just that the test tables still lie! Particularly if you put the 8X
brake onto a nVidia card beside it, for "comparative" purposes. Those
Radeons are _NOT_ doing 8 X AF at those speeds. More like 2 X...

The whole FX59xx series is going to look even better after the release
of 'Doom3'. And I doubt that will be the last game to make better use
of nVidia.

ancra

 

[Daniel P]

well i found a review on the Ati from the same site as the 5700 Ultra and
the 5700Ultra scores higher than the ATi and the 5700Ultra is cheaper.

--
"Duct tape is a lot like the Force. It has a Dark side, a Light side, and it
holds all the pieces of the Universe together"

AA24830 ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB AGP 8X DDR W/TV & DVI (OEM-POWERED BY
ATI) $165.00


3366449 ATI RADEON 9600XT 128MB 8x AGP (Retail) Details $174.67

www.mwave.com

hmmm, still not sure. I am trying to a card that will also run Unreal
Tournament without going to far behind "The Way Its Meant To Be Played"*
settings. And I don't really want to go higher priced than 180$.


*The Way Its Meant To Be Played* High Settings

 

[JAD]

scores where? on a benchmark? good luck choosing a card by that.
bottom line there are plenty of cards that will run UT in your price
range whatever the brand.. hell a 7500 AIW runs UT 2003.

well i found a review on the Ati from the same site as the 5700 Ultra and
the 5700Ultra scores higher than the ATi and the 5700Ultra is cheaper.

 

[Daniel P]

http://hothardware.com/hh_files/S&V/geforcefx_5700(3).shtml

there

 

[dad]

I went your route and finally settled on the ati 9800 256 meg card. I
play as much battlefield as the ol lady will tolerate and it rocks.

 

[Daniel P]

well i would go for something like that but......... well i am on a budget

 

[somebody]

hmmm, still not sure. I am trying to a card that will also run Unreal
Tournament without going to far behind "The Way Its Meant To Be Played"*
settings. And I don't really want to go higher priced than 180$.

UT2003 is ATI country, but the FX5900XT hangs in there with the top
gang, far ahead of FX5700, ATI9700, 9600XT, 9500pro, 9800SE,
....At least until you turn on 8X AF.
FX5900XT is still my favored choice. There's a very definite gap or
step down to anything else.
I'm going to buy either a MSI FX5900xt 128MB, or Gainward FX5900ultra
256MB myself. Haven't decided yet, whether to dish out the extra money
or not.
Newegg has both Chaintech and XFX FX5900XT boards below $180.
eVGA makes an equivalent "FX5900SE" for $188 at newegg.

Powercolor has a 9700pro at something like $185, and performance, it's
a hell of a card for the money, I'm a bit wary of stability with older
ATI chips though...
Other choice, except for the ones you're already considering, is
ATI9600XT, but it's not on par with the FX5900XT. Even further down
you have the ATI9800SE, but it kinda fails in a lot of benchmarks I've
seen, so like all ATI SE boards, it's definitely a crippled budget
board. - Still, it's cheap, you save money and it should do well
enough a lot of the time.

Check around for prices on ordinary 9800 and 9700 cards as well.
They're not built much anymore (it's mostly pro and SE now), so
they're probably expensive, but you never know, could be worthwhile to
look for a sale.

ancra

 

[Daniel P]

That you for all your help i got a eVGA 5900SE 128Mb