What should I get

[Thorath]

I have read 30 reviews and benchmarks about ATI and Nvidia's top cards. Some said ATI's drivers were rarely updated and unstable. I have an ATI now, 9600, drivers seem ok to me.

Planning on getting one of these two:
Radeon x800 xt PE PCI Express - want be out till December, I think. More expensive.
Geforce 6800 ultra 256MB - have read it is a bit slower and not as good as ATI. Have also read it is faster and better.

I have a 3.4 P4 so I can run either one.

Any advice?

 

[Nick 2k4]

personally i would go for the nvidia but thats only from the fact i have never had any problems with a nvidia card yet my friends sometimes do with ati

 

[Liquidlen]

I take that P4 3.4 is the LGA.
If so ,I would go with the ATI .It is PCI express and should perform better than the 6800, as it can take advantage of the new achitecture for 775 pin Intel's

 

[Thorath]

Yes it is PCI express x16.

You see my problem, one is for ATI one is Nvidia. I may just flip a coin.

 

[Liquidlen]

General reviews place the 800 at the top of the heap today. eg Modder Mag V1.1
Tomorrow who knows.I believe in getting the best I can get when I am readyto buy, since the next day it will be 2nd best.
You said you had no trouble with ATI ,same here stick with it.

 

[Thorath]

Ok here is my decision and thank you for your input. My friend bought a Dell and sold me the ATI x800 SE for $40 that was in the Dell. The SE as you know is no where near the performance of the ATI x800 xt but it is over twice as fast as my ATI 9600; based on the 3Dmark03 tests I ran. It will handle Half Life 2 so I will save my money for a next Generation Card. The comment by Liquidlen "since the next day it will be 2nd best" helped make my decision. Why buy a new card that is only 36% faster when 6 months from now I can get a card over 200% faster. For me money plays a part of the decision process, I do cannot spend $500 every 6 months on a video card not while spending $700 every 6 months on other computer parts. LOL

Again Thanks All

 

[Liquidlen]

Thorath ;
BTW, where are my manners, Welcome to Techspot! Hope you stick around , I think it's a great Forum.

 

[Thorath]

Thanks ......................