ATI Radeon 9600xt AGAIN...

[justinone]

i have a question. Is my graphics card just crap or is it dying or broken? I get alot of lag sometimes in games. I can never get "Smooth" gameplay in any game i play especially in explosions it lags until the explosion ends. Also sometimes when i boot up, the top of my screen has black flickering lines that lasts about 2 minutes when i log on then they disappear.

Pentium 4 3.0GHz HT
2GB RAM
>> ATI RADEON 9600XT 256mb <<
Windows XP
485w Enermax PSU

 

[Masque]

What games are you playing that give you the biggest issues?

 

[justinone]

well um call of duty 1, battlefield 2 and just other smaller games. (i have lowered graphics on some) but my friend has a 9550 and he can play bf2 on max settings with hardly any lag.

 

[wolfram]

Does your card have a temp sensor?

 

[justinone]

no, but i recently overclocked it from core: 400 - 485 and mem: 200 - 245, still lags in some cases. I feel im going to buy a new card anyway. Whats the best Gamers ATI card out at the moment at an affordable price? im talking a card that can take alot graphics here.

 

[wolfram]

That depends on how much can you spend.

A X800GTO or (if you have the money) a X1800XT would be great choices. Also, a X1800GTO would be good.

If you want to consider nvidia, the 7600GT is a good choice.

 

[rmdl51]

Hey! I have the same card, and got the same problem, looots of lag, playing NFS Most Wanted on the races the frame rates are horrible, it's a shame this card used to be good 18 months ago, well I'm upgrading to nVidia 7800 GS, since it's the best card for AGP it's my last purchase for AGP, even it's kind pricey, people who reccomended to me said is worth every penny, i was planning to buy the X850 but I don't want to spend more money again in a graphic card in a while so better get now something good, my specs are not to different from you.
P4 3.4Ghz HT
3GB DDR PC3200
ATI 9600 XT (at the moment)
Enlight 500W +12V 28Amp

 

[justinone]

hey rmdl51 i only brought mine about 6 months ago (thinking it was good as it was shipped with half-life 2) But yes, it is not so good at all i feel, Or maybe i am performance hungry and want the very best. I dont have a PCI-E slot by the way only AGP 8X and PCI. Whats the best with AGP? I dont want Nvidia, dont know how to use there drivers and stuff.

Also, i dunno if this is right, but these are my speeds -

Core = 400 > Overclocked to 505
Memory = 200 > Overclocked to 245

I'v been reading and most my these Radeon 9600XT's have 500 core and 300 Memory. Is my GPU an older Version>?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

The best for AGP ATM is the NVIDIA GeForce 7800GS. And NVIDIA's Control Panel is actually easier to use than ATi's. But if u want to stick with ATI, X850XT is the best u can get, although u might wanna buy an X800GTO2 and flash the BIOS to that of an X850 to unlock the extra pipelines.

 

[justinone]

alright, so i have heard about this flashing the bios. What does it do? can i do it with my card?

 

[wolfram]

It depends on the card you get. It needs to have the R480 core (not sure about R430).

That's a risky process, and the card will need better cooling. If you want a card that can last some time (1 year, 2 probably), the 7800GS is the best choice.

 

[justinone]

hm i'll go for the x850, seems a good enough card. Altho i would like the x1800xt

 

[wolfram]

If you can afford it, the X1800XT is very good. Anyway, the X850XT is a pretty good GPU.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

X1800XT is not available in AGP as far as I know. So if u want AGP, ur stuck with the X850XT.

 

[justinone]

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/ATI_AGP_Graphics_Cards.html

That has x1600 in agp?

So how good is this ?

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?SAP-X16P5

Good enough to take big games? e.g. F.E.A.R ect with no lag what so ever.?>

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

It's a good one. But if u can wait for the X850 to be in stock, then u would get a better overall card. Plus it would be cheaper too. Or u could get the 6600GT if u absolutely want a new card. It's a solid performer and about the same price as the X850.

 

[justinone]

ok so whats better :S? the x850 or x1600 lol? since the x1600 has double the x850 number im guessing x1600 is alot better ?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

It's not like that. The X1600PRO has SM3.0, which the X850 doesn't. But the X850 has faster RAM and it has a 256-bit bus. So overall, it boils down to if want SM3.0 or not.

 

[justinone]

ok so help me out.. Which one would be indeal for hard gaming ? i just want a solid performing card with minimal hassle.

 

[agi_shi]

X850 = speed : X1600 = features

ok so help me out.. Which one would be indeal for hard gaming ? i just want a solid performing card with minimal hassle.

The X850 is faster than the X1600, but the X1600 has more features (namely SM3). I would go with the X850, as that is what I have and it performs like a champ... plus, most games don't need SM3 either (either don't support it or let you turn it off).

 

[justinone]

i see. So there is absulutly nothing better than the x850 for AGP? not even the x1600 512mb? nothing inbetween ?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Nope. As I said, the X1600 has a faster core clock and support for Shader Model 3.0 which the X850 doesn't. But the X850 has a wider memory bus and faster memory. I would recommend the GeForce 6800GS(since it has equally fast memory as the X850 and Shader Model 3.0) but since ur so intent on ATi, the X850 is what u should go for.

 

[justinone]

Know any sites that have it? UK price. AGP i need remember
I saw the specs of the x850 PE like 1.20GHZ memory looks awesome. Cost £250 lol
I only got 200 memory and 400 clock speed. that sucks right?

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

Which one do u need? The GeForce or the Radeon? TigerDirect has both I think, plus they ship to the UK too.

 

[justinone]

Radeon x850