GeForce or Radeon?

[josbd]

My bro has a pc running Athlon XP3000+, Gigabyte board. I have said I will buy him a graphix card for around the £70 ($140) mark. He plays games continually, but I have zilch idea of decent cards for gaming.

So guys, what are you ideas of a decent card for that kind of price.. and since there doesn't seem to be much of a divide between GeForce and Radeon, any preferences there?

Cheers for your help!

 

[beedubaya]

GeForce all the way. You get way more card for the price.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I don't know how prices/availability in the UK compare to in the US, but here the best you can get for that price range is a nvidia 6600(non gt). It's about 140 US now.
Like this for agp (I'll assume you have agp)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-197&depa=1

 

[shadow_29]

i agree with vnf4ultra's recommendation,this card is the best value for money in the video card market,get this without worrying if its in your price range also consider a 6600gt if you could spare the nominal difference,each extra buck would be worth it.

 

[Ph30nIX]

Ok, NVidia GeForxe all the way.
My friend is one of the computer guys at Australian Buerua of Statistics, when he helped me buy my computer from the local fair, he said that Nvidia was MUCH better for playing games than a Radeon.

I also agree with the 6600Gt, it compares much better than high range ATI's in the way I see it.]

I have attached a document comparing the ATI and nvidia 6600 series.

Thanks,
Ph30nIX..

 

[josbd]

Awwww, thanks guys!

Yep, AGP slot there.

Thanks so much for taking the time and trouble to help me out! I shall check out your suggestions, and get the best that funds will stretch to.

Cheers all!

 

[Ph30nIX]

Your welcome, may the force be with you.

 

[Need_a_Dell]

You may want to look into the Radeon 9600XT. I bought this card and it's quite decent. It has 128mb of video ram and boasts full direct x 9 support. This was alos one of the cards recommended for playing Half-Life 2. I don't doubt that the GeForce cards that were previously mentioned are bad cards, but ATI is still a pretty good bet. Personally, all I have ever used are ATI cards. I have a new computer that I have ordered from Dell which I am eagerly anticipating, but has not yet arrived. It comes stocked with an nVidia Geforce 6800. Once I check it out, then I will have some hands-on experience with an nVidia card. So, in closing, seriously consider taking a look at the ATI Radeon 9600XT, lots of bang for your buck. (Or pound in this case!)

 

[josbd]

Excellent stuff! Well best of luck for your new arrival!

 

[isatippy]

Geforce man, it's the best!

 

[zephead]

Yep, AGP slot there.

taking the interface into account you would get better performance out of a radeon 9800 or 9600 based card. here in chicago the 9800pro is being sold for about $220 (USD) but you will notice the difference.

 

[shadow_29]

guys,i've said this earlier and say it again,a 6600 gt would wipe the floor with a 9600/9800 pro.9800 pro is 50$ more expensive than a 6600/6600gt and yet it has nothing to actually justify that price like shader model 3.0,doom3 "optimization".its a nobrainer get a 6600(gt preferably) and forget about the old 9800 pro, its golden days are far gone as the leader in the market now its only a medium range budget performer.so now you tell me a good reason why someone should shell out an extra 50$(9800 pro for 220$) for lesser performance than what a 6600gt(almost 50$ cheaper)could have given.

 

[vnf4ultra]

guys,i've said this earlier and say it again,a 6600 gt would wipe the floor with a 9600/9800 pro.9800 pro is 50$ more expensive than a 6600/6600gt and yet it has nothing to actually justify that price like shader model 3.0,doom3 "optimization".its a nobrainer get a 6600(gt preferably) and forget about the old 9800 pro, its golden days are far gone as the leader in the market now its only a medium range budget performer.so now you tell me a good reason why someone should shell out an extra 50$(9800 pro for 220$) for lesser performance than what a 6600gt(almost 50$ cheaper)could have given.

^Agreed. The gt performs similarly or better than the 9800pro, and the 9600xt is no contest. Plus you gt sm 3.0.

 

[isatippy]

guys,i've said this earlier and say it again,a 6600 gt would wipe the floor with a 9600/9800 pro.9800 pro is 50$ more expensive than a 6600/6600gt and yet it has nothing to actually justify that price like shader model 3.0,doom3 "optimization".its a nobrainer get a 6600(gt preferably) and forget about the old 9800 pro, its golden days are far gone as the leader in the market now its only a medium range budget performer.so now you tell me a good reason why someone should shell out an extra 50$(9800 pro for 220$) for lesser performance than what a 6600gt(almost 50$ cheaper)could have given.

agree too :grinthumb

 

[scooter6139]

guys,i've said this earlier and say it again,a 6600 gt would wipe the floor with a 9600/9800 pro.9800 pro is 50$ more expensive than a 6600/6600gt and yet it has nothing to actually justify that price like shader model 3.0,doom3 "optimization".its a nobrainer get a 6600(gt preferably) and forget about the old 9800 pro, its golden days are far gone as the leader in the market now its only a medium range budget performer.so now you tell me a good reason why someone should shell out an extra 50$(9800 pro for 220$) for lesser performance than what a 6600gt(almost 50$ cheaper)could have given.

agree three!

just replaced 9600XT with 6600GT. very happy. :giddy:

 

[josbd]

Well, looks like the GeForce 6600 is a clear cut winner!

I always wanted the 9800 Pro for meself, but since I am not a gamer............. it was just an "I want, and I want it NOWWWWWW" type of thing!

I shall get the boy the 6600 (gt if funds allow).

Thanks very much to all of your for your input. I really do appreciate it!

 

[isatippy]

hope it works out the funds and all

 

[RamenNoodles]

Go GeForce

 

[zephead]

i believe the avaliable money mentoined already disqualifies the 6600/6800. keep in mind there are numerous flavors of the 6600 and the decent ones costs more than $250 (USD).

 

[vnf4ultra]

I don't know how prices/availability in the UK compare to in the US, but here the best you can get for that price range is a nvidia 6600(non gt). It's about 140 US now.
Like this for agp (I'll assume you have agp)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-197&depa=1

Click the link, the 6600 is ~$140. The 6600gt is around $185. So he probably can afford a 6600, and maybe the gt if he can spare some more money.

 

[isatippy]

this is a nice 6600gt for $179usd http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-130-214&DEPA=0

 

[zephead]

this is a nice 6600gt for $179usd http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprodu...-130-214&DEPA=0

it's to bad his board doesn't have a pci express slot...

you have to be careful about video cards because different versions run at different clock speeds. the fact that it's got a 6600 gpu isn't the only factor in performance. the cheaper cards are generally run at a lower clock speed and therefore performance decreases. the cards that have been linked here are cheaper cards made by other companies that buy cheaper lower speed components and sell it with 6600gt name to attract buyers because the consumer sees a 6600gt for $179 and considers it a good buy.

and yes, a 6600gt or a 6800gt running at the full clock speed would 'wipe the floor' with pretty much every ati product. the 9800pro was the best card in it's class (were talking agp and comparing it to cards such as the fx series cards at the time) performancewise, with the 6600 and 6800 in a class of newer cards made for pci express.

nvidia does make a 6600gt for AGP but there is a lowered clock speed and memory speed for that particilar product. if you get the cash then by all means go for it, but if you can't get over $250 or so then a 9800pro would be the next option.

 

[C0d3Warr10r]

"Wipe the floor"?

I'm not sure I would say that the 6600(gt) would "wipe the floor" with the 9800Pro... Granted the 3Dmark03 score will obviously be higher, but real world gaming may not be as dramatic. Example: I've seen the performance of EQII with a 6800GT get choppy in areas that my 9800Pro would be smooth as butter. Performance optimizations and overall system stats are definately a factor as well. I've also seen people who enable "Fast Write" in their BIOS for ATI cards thinking it will provide a performance boost... in reality the opposite is true. If you are using an ATI card, fast writes = off is the only way to go. Tweaking your system to squeeze FPS to the max (w/o overclocking) will get the best performance per dollar (or pound sterling) spent. As an ATI fan, my opinion may be biased, but because I use their products and not just talk about them, I genuinely believe they offer a competative product.

Just my 2cents,

C0d3Warr10r

Big Blue:
Asus P4P800 I865PE
P4 2.8GHz 800MHz
2048MB KingMax PC-3200
Maxtor DiamondMax 9 /160GB /7200RPM /8MB Cache
ATI Radeon X800 Pro
Enermax 420W PSU
Aspire X-Dreamer II
Lite-On 12X DVD+/-RW
Sony 48X CD-RW
Samsung SyncMaster 997DF 19" CRT
3DMark03 Score: 10,035

 

[shadow_29]

first zephead,6800 and older fx series card have been designed afor agp interface and the former has been 'bridged to pci express'while the 6600gt has been designed as pciexpressfrom ground up and 'bridged'to agp using the hsi bridge chip.there might be a marginal differene between the performance of an agp and pciexpress 6600gt but that would only be because of the simultaneous transfer ability that pci express has,the agp on the other hand haas hit the cieling in terms of performacne but that doesnt mean agp interface is clocked slower and has slower memory interface than its pci express counterpart.now if you've overlooked the price that 6600 and 6600gt comes at is still 50$ CHEAPER than a 9800 pro so how can you recommend a 9800 pro as a second option.

as for what cod3warr10r said,well dude i dont understand your dilemma,i think fps count in games is real world gaming scenarios,below is a link which i think you need to check out it shows a albatron and asus geforce6600gt getting 60/61 fps in doom3 against a 9800 xt's(which i think is faster than a 9800 pro)35/36,in riddick too the 6600 gt scores almost 10fps higher and only in hl2 a 9800xt goes neck and neck and even a bit higher than a 6600gt(this was much publicised earlier wich earned valve the deal of bundling hl2 with radeon cards...if you remember).now i think these games reflect the real world scenarios and performance and after seeing these result especially in doom3 one could say that 6600gt 'wiped the floor' with a 9800xt especailly if you see that a 9800xt is twice the price of a 6600gt with half its performance(except in hl2 ofcourse)add to that shader model 3.0 and it gets even more apparent as to who the winner is.that it i hope that i justified 'wipe the floor' analogy after doom3 scores.looking forward to hearing your opinion on the subject.

link to benchmarks:http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050404/geforce_6600-31.html

 

[zephead]

i already said what was wrong with the cards that have been linked to here. they may be cheaper than a 9800 but only because thier respective manufacturers have used less expensive parts run at lower speeds, thus lowering actual performance. just because it says 6600gt on the box doesn't make it automatically better.