Video Card Advice

[Peter Harrington]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is playing
Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which my present
$20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are worth paying the
money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock speed important. Going
from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am presently
considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X
for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of RAM. I also like
the fact that it does not require its own power cable because I think all
the molux outputs from my power supply are used. The other question is that
some cards have flowery language about 3D and texture processing or
anti-aliasing. Will these extra processors make a difference or are all
cores basically the same.

TIA,

Pete

 

[John Doe]

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He
is playing Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x
compatability, which my present $20 card lacks (it is also 3
years old). What factors are worth paying the money for in
other words is GPU and Memory clock speed important. Going from
400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am presently
considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit
DDR AGP 4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg.

Currently I would think 9800 Pro or better for a gaming video
card.

It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of RAM.

A lot of memory does not necessarily mean faster.

 

[spodosaurus]

Currently I would think 9800 Pro or better for a gaming video
card.

Overkill for his specified use. A 6600GT based card would be slightly
better, especially considering price differences.

A lot of memory does not necessarily mean faster.

True.


--
spammage trappage: remove the underscores to reply

I'm going to die rather sooner than I'd like. I tried to protect my
neighbours from crime, and became the victim of it. Complications in
hospital following this resulted in a serious illness. I now need a bone
marrow transplant. Many people around the world are waiting for a marrow
transplant, too. Please volunteer to be a marrow donor:
http://www.abmdr.org.au/
http://www.marrow.org/

 

[ja steed]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is playing
Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which my present
$20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are worth paying
the money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock speed important.
Going from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am presently
considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP
4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of RAM. I
also like the fact that it does not require its own power cable because I
think all the molux outputs from my power supply are used. The other
question is that some cards have flowery language about 3D and texture
processing or anti-aliasing. Will these extra processors make a
difference or are all cores basically the same.

TIA,

Pete

Sometimes there is a difference between vendors. The 9600XT is good
enough for you and your son after all he is playing Rome already. Compare
to nVidia 6200 or 6600 prices pick the cheaper one that doesn't require a
power cable.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050302/graphics_power-08.html

What matters is the number of frames per second (>55 fps is minimum), DX
support, GL support. Faster more efficient GPU provide more frames per
second at higher resolutions. Which means you can play games at
1024x800x32m with the highest resolutions the game provides. I think AA
and texture generally smooth out image and edges so you see the Ring in
water from 5ft away instead of 3ft.

 

[Cuzman]

Peter Harrington wrote:

" I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. "


If you state your components then people can then get a better idea of
compatibility.

 

[Peter Harrington]

Peter Harrington wrote:

" I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. "


If you state your components then people can then get a better idea of
compatibility.

Thanks to all the replies. I mentioned the 256 MB of video RAM, because
ROME will detect it and use it when available.
The system is an AMD XP 1900+ (not overclocked chip) with 512 MB DDR (333
MHz) RAM running Windoze XP Pro SP2. There is plenty of fragmented
harddrive space. The board is an Epox 8k5A with a 4X AGP slot. Once the
caps pop on this board like our other Epox boards, we plan on replacing the
board and the processor.

TIA,

Pete

 

[Van Shania]

I have installed sapphire radeon 9600 chips in 2 computers a year ago and
haven't heard any complaints. They have 256 mb vid ram and they go for $130
Canadian plus that excellent tax. Though I have used ati for about 7 years
now I think Gforce may be the better way as ati may be in some financial
difficulty.( according to the latest maximum pc mag)

 

[Flow]

Thanks to all the replies. I mentioned the 256 MB of video RAM, because
ROME will detect it and use it when available.
The system is an AMD XP 1900+ (not overclocked chip) with 512 MB DDR (333
MHz) RAM running Windoze XP Pro SP2. There is plenty of fragmented
harddrive space. The board is an Epox 8k5A with a 4X AGP slot. Once the
caps pop on this board like our other Epox boards, we plan on replacing the
board and the processor.

TIA,

Pete

To put your mind at ease,rome,total war runs great on a TI4400/128mb.

So purchasing an ati radeon 9600pro would be sufficient for this task.
However the speed of your cpu is very important also,because i ran the game
on a xp2400 with 1Gb ram.

 

[Pete]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is
playing Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which
my present $20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are
worth paying the money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock
speed important. Going from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra
$20. I am presently considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT
256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit
interface and 256 MB of RAM. I also like the fact that it does not
require its own power cable because I think all the molux outputs from
my power supply are used. The other question is that some cards have
flowery language about 3D and texture processing or anti-aliasing.
Will these extra processors make a difference or are all cores
basically the same.

TIA,

Pete

I'd suggest this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122212

änd then Google "6800le unlocking"

I got one last week and it flies. 128MB, 256-bit. Comes with a splitter
for the P/S.

Pete (too)

 

[axess68]

I went from a Radeon 9600se to an nVidia 6600GT and it is AMAZING!!!

I love it! It will run Half Life 2 at MAX settings + 4xAA + 8x AF.
What a big difference!

I highly recommend one. It beats out a lot of 256 cards in benchmark
tests.

Also, I would bring that ram up to a Gig. RAM is pretty cheap right
now. Cash in on it. You can't go wrong with more RAM.

I am getting Elder Scrolls: Oblivion in November and plan to have 2
gigs of RAM in my system by that time.

 

[Peter Harrington]

I am thinking now of getting a Geforce 6200 and trying to unlock the extra
pipes using RivaTune so it mods to a 6600. Has anyone tried this mod? Is
the probability of success 100% or 50% or less?

The specific card that I was going to try is a
eVGA 256-A8-N327-LX Geforce 6200 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card -
Retail

TIA,

Pete

 

[Larry Roberts]

I am thinking now of getting a Geforce 6200 and trying to unlock the extra
pipes using RivaTune so it mods to a 6600. Has anyone tried this mod? Is
the probability of success 100% or 50% or less?

The specific card that I was going to try is a
eVGA 256-A8-N327-LX Geforce 6200 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card -
Retail

TIA,

Pete

The newer batches of 6200 cards are being shipped with the
NV44 chip instead of the NV43. The NV44 has only 4 pixelpipes on it,
and no masked pipes like the NV43 6200s did. There is no extra pipes.
The best way I know to tell if the AGP version still has the NV43 chip
is that the NV44 equipped versions don't have the HSI chip, and the
card doesn't have external IDE power connector.
Don't know if any of the PCI-E cards could have the extra
pipes unlocked, or not, but since the PCI-E versions never had the HSI
chip, or an external IDE power connector, it would be hard to tell
which NV chip is used.

 

[pjdd]

The newer batches of 6200 cards are being shipped with the
NV44 chip instead of the NV43. The NV44 has only 4 pixelpipes on it,
and no masked pipes like the NV43 6200s did. There is no extra pipes.
The best way I know to tell if the AGP version still has the NV43 chip
is that the NV44 equipped versions don't have the HSI chip, and the
card doesn't have external IDE power connector.
Don't know if any of the PCI-E cards could have the extra
pipes unlocked, or not, but since the PCI-E versions never had the HSI
chip, or an external IDE power connector, it would be hard to tell
which NV chip is used.

FWIW, XFX indicate the chip version in the model numbers they give to
their cards. According to their website, they have 4 models using the
NV43 GPU - 2 in AGP and 2 in PCI-E.

 

[ja steed]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is
playing Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which
my present $20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are
worth paying the money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock speed
important. Going from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am
presently considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit
DDR AGP 4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of
RAM. I also like the fact that it does not require its own power cable
because I think all the molux outputs from my power supply are used.
The other question is that some cards have flowery language about 3D and
texture processing or anti-aliasing. Will these extra processors make a
difference or are all cores basically the same.

Sometimes there is a difference between vendors. The 9600XT is good
enough for you and your son after all he is playing Rome already. Compare
to nVidia 6200 or 6600 prices pick the cheaper one that doesn't require a
power cable.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050302/graphics_power-08.html

What matters is the number of frames per second (>55 fps is minimum), DX
support, GL support. Faster more efficient GPU provide more frames per
second at higher resolutions. Which means you can play games at
1024x800x32m with the highest resolutions the game provides. I think AA
and texture generally smooth out image and edges so you see the Ring in
water from 5ft away instead of 3ft.

 

[ja steed]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is
playing Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which
my present $20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are
worth paying the money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock speed
important. Going from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am
presently considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit
DDR AGP 4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of
RAM. I also like the fact that it does not require its own power cable
because I think all the molux outputs from my power supply are used.
The other question is that some cards have flowery language about 3D and
texture processing or anti-aliasing. Will these extra processors make a
difference or are all cores basically the same.

Sometimes there is a difference between vendors. The 9600XT is good
enough for you and your son after all he is playing Rome already. Compare
to nVidia 6200 or 6600 prices pick the cheaper one that doesn't require a
power cable.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050302/graphics_power-08.html

What matters is the number of frames per second (>55 fps is minimum), DX
support, GL support. Faster more efficient GPU provide more frames per
second at higher resolutions. Which means you can play games at
1024x800x32m with the highest resolutions the game provides. I think AA
and texture generally smooth out image and edges so you see the Ring in
water from 5ft away instead of 3ft.

 

[ja steed]

Hi:

I need a recommendation for a gaming video card for my son. He is
playing Rome: Total War which requires Direct 9x compatability, which
my present $20 card lacks (it is also 3 years old). What factors are
worth paying the money for in other words is GPU and Memory clock speed
important. Going from 400 - 600 MHz on the GPU worth an extra $20. I am
presently considering a POWERCOLOR R96E-TD3 Radeon 9600XT 256MB 128-bit
DDR AGP 4X/8X for $92 at NewEgg. It has 128 bit interface and 256 MB of
RAM. I also like the fact that it does not require its own power cable
because I think all the molux outputs from my power supply are used.
The other question is that some cards have flowery language about 3D and
texture processing or anti-aliasing. Will these extra processors make a
difference or are all cores basically the same.

Sometimes there is a difference between vendors. The 9600XT is good
enough for you and your son after all he is playing Rome already. Compare
to nVidia 6200 or 6600 prices pick the cheaper one that doesn't require a
power cable.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050302/graphics_power-08.html

What matters is the number of frames per second (>55 fps is minimum), DX
support, GL support. Faster more efficient GPU provide more frames per
second at higher resolutions. Which means you can play games at
1024x800x32m with the highest resolutions the game provides. I think AA
and texture generally smooth out image and edges so you see the Ring in
water from 5ft away instead of 3ft.