Whats the best card or should I wait ?

[Brad]

I have an AIW 32 meg radeon. Im now getting choppyness and stuttering in
newer games that want more power so i think upgrading is going to be needed
soon.

I like the AIW video features so that would be nice to have in my next card
but not necessarily too important.

Instead of going up in small steps, I would like to upgrade to the highest
end card. Im in no hurry to get one, but I can see myself getting half life
2 and having some difficulties when it comes out, so I figure around then i
may spend for something

Is there any word on new products or what may hit the market then ?
Something like a top end 256 meg AIW sounds pretty good to me and I wouldnt
need to upgrade for quite some time again. Thanks for any info

 

[dino]

if your are still running an AIW32 mb..my first question is..what is the
rest of the system and is it up to handling the newer games?

 

[Brad]

if your are still running an AIW32 mb..my first question is..what is the

rest of the system and is it up to handling the newer games?

- AMD 1.4 ghz athlon
- gigabyte GA-7VTXE mb ( only 4x agp)
-120 gig maxtor
- 512 pc2700 ram

Its been handling any game ive played on it so far. The drawback is that the
newer the game, the more detail im turning down to avoid
choppyness...leading me to consider upgrading. Im seeing many games on the
shelves now are stating 'minimum 64 meg ram card'.

One thing that jumps to mind is the MB is 4x agp. A new card would support
8x agp so would I have a great card that isnt going to be used to it
potential cause of the MB now ? It would considerably suck if i needed a new
MB solely for the purpose of that agp slot

 

[dino]

no..they are backwards compatible to certain degree...and they say 8X
doesn't make that huge a difference in performance...

 

[Kai Robinson]

I had virtually the same board (7VTXH) and my XP1600+ ran at the same speed.
However - i changed to a different mobo (MSI KT3 Ultra) and got vastly
better performance. I'm running my DDR at 2-5-5-2 timings - which werent
possible on the Gigabyte board. All in all - you might want to consider
upgrading the CPU/Board AND the Video - your hard disk and memory are okay
though for the time being. I went from 256mb DDR to 768mb and the difference
was sooooo noticeable.

Kai

 

[DaveW]

Can the rest of your system (RAM, CPU) keep up with a top end card??? They
have to be balanced or you're just throwing your money away.
The new ATI cards should be out in about two months.

 

[We Live For The One We Die For The One]

Get a Barton 3.2 and a Radeon 9800 Pro

Dont forget the 1 Gig of Dual CHannel PC 3200 Ram.

Thats important

 

[Brad]

Sounds like a great .. but I have a feeling that its going to come at quite
a price

 

[We Live For The One We Die For The One]

Under a grand Australian.

Sounds like a great .. but I have a feeling that its going to come at quite
a price

 

[GTD]

Sounds like a great .. but I have a feeling that its going to come at quite
a price

One way you could save a little is to get a mainboard, a barton 2500+
(which easily overclocks to 3200+ with stock cooling), and 1 good
stick of 512meg ddr400 (pc3200). If you do this, avoid 2x256 ram if
you feel you will add another 512 in the near future, so you'll be
able to run your mem in dual channel then. If you don't think You'll
upgrade the memore, then go for 2x256 so you get dual channel right
off the bat. Also, if you can find a 9700pro, grab it. they seem to
be much less than a 9800pro, but (acording to a review I can not find
at the moment), are 90% as powerful as the 9800pro. The only problem
is that they aren't made anymore, so any you find may be a lesser card
that had been modded to 9700pro specs or used. If you know someone you
truse that is selling a 9700pro though, I'td be worth a look.

The ABIT NF7 series are great overclocking boards, the only drawback
is that you may need another PSU to run it, as it has the additonal
12v power header.

an nf7, 2500+barton, and a gig of pc3200 is about the same price as
the 9800pro. give or take



You should start drinking prune juice and KY jelly cocktails right now,
that will make things a lot smoother.
-Felatio Love

 

[Julian Richards]

Get a Barton 3.2 and a Radeon 9800 Pro

Dont forget the 1 Gig of Dual CHannel PC 3200 Ram.

Thats important

There is always the next big thing on the horizon. You'll end up
waiting forever.

The RAM thing is true. I had to go from 1 Gig to 1/2 Gig at one point
for a short while. UT2003 was starting to choke badly.
--

Julian Richards
julian-richards "at" ntlworld.com

XP Home
L7S7A2 motherboard
Powercolor 9800 SE 8 pipelines with Omega drivers
1 GB RAM
10 GB + 80 GB HDs
CD+DVD/CDRW drives