Graphics card upgrade

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I think sapphire is ok, the only thing I know is that some sapphire 9600pro's don't run at 9600 pro speeds. 9600pro should be 400 core 600memory. Some sapphires, and other brands, substitute 400mhz memory, which makes it perform slower.

Edit: Found this.
" In fact, I've noticed a couple of other manufacturers who sell crippled
R9600 Pro's as well - PowerColor (Bravo Edition is the "normal" fast
version), Sapphire (Advantage Editions run memory @ 446Mhz)."
From: http://www.videocard-forum.com/ati/GeCube_ATi_Radeon_9600_PRO_info_please_199960.html

So if that's right, then that card doesn't run at true 9600 pro speeds.
 
GF4 is old

Dude you can't have a good GFX card without a good CPU. If you wan't a PC as old as yours must be, then you need a new computer. If you going 9600 then your probably on a buget. Save up some Cash for a new computer. People say upgrade upgrade n'stuff right. Don't fallow that path. If you have a good GFX card and a trashy 4 year expired CPU then you are in the hole. I'm talkin about the lag hole. Your computer will run slower and even more trashy then it probably is already. You have to balance your CPU and your GFX card or your in for a slap in the face. Take it from me. Don't fallow in my footsteps. I built a new bujet computer for my friend. I think that it would soot you as well.

AMD athlon 64 3000+ 939 90nm
motherboard of your choice with PCI-X
1 gig of kingston value ram
X 600 XT by sappire.
Try to have at least a 160 gig drive.

That's balance. It is a catigorized as a semi gaming machine but runs like a a full scale gaming PC

balance is the key. If only people relized that.
 
A 2000+, like he lists in his profile, isn't that bad of a cpu, a 9600pro would be an ok match for it. I know what you mean though wotrop, sometimes a system upgrade is in order, but I think he can get by with just updating his video card for now, especially if he's on a budget.
 
Dude

I had a 1800+ and when I installed my 9550 it ran like a snail compared my P3 with a 16 mb card. His GF4 is ok for his 2000+ but if he wants a 9600 he needs to match the Horse power. the 9600 is a powerful card but I think he needs a change. When it comes down to it our computers are almost the same.

1800+/9550
2000+/9600

not a whole lot of change. Only thing is that 9600 is HL2 base quality and 9550 just works ok/good.

If my pc lagged up to trash his will 2.
 
hey wotrop,i beg to differ a 9600 is in no way as powerful as you seem to think it is,pairing it off with amd 64 3000+ (939 pin)would be a mistake,there might even be some bottleneck.first of all a 9600 is a watered down version of the 9800 pro,9800 pro is atleast 3+(or around that)years old.after the 9800 pro comes the 9800 xt and then the x800/x850 cores,if you draw you attention to the nvidia camp the geforce 6800 which clearly desamates all in terms of performance in feature would be a suitable match for a 64 3000+ not in any way a 9600.my advice check out the geforce 6600 gt they are more or less in the same price range as the 9600pro,it will give you much more bamg for the buck check out some benchmarks and you'll see it outpaces a 9800 pro much less a 9600.if you dod ecide to upgrade it will still be a suitable card for a new amd 64 but for now it will be more than enough for your rig(not that its a problem).
 
HuHum

tough talk your computer didn't run like trash. And try not 2 base your life on statistics on X-bit and stuff. Not everyone has HL2 and doom 3. But for almost every other app it runs like a beast, almost as well as my computer with an X800 pro give a few mind you. So start to think before you post somthing that I'll just shoot down in seconds. I'm just trying to save the guy some cash in the long run. Not every day somone responds to your post that had the same problem. If he want's to go ahead and buy the 9600 I can't stop him. But I sure wish I had people tell me otherwise. I cuda saved a few dollas. :mad:
 
But der is hope

If you have a 2000+ OC it to about 2300+/2500+ install another fan and you should have an ok system. I don't know anything about ur pounds or franks and stuff but I know that ero cash is about the same value as amarican. So about 6* whatever is a good deal. you can get fans cheep so just drop by any old store and pick one up. This will help if when you OC. it will cool down the CPU'n stuff.(in case you didn't know that already). Then the 9600 card should be ok. I don't recomend OC'ing over one fourth of your CPU's power. If you do this you should be ok. But I still recomend a New PC in a year or 2. Your CPU will be stressed even under web games. Don't buy anything more damanding than Halo PC version (duuu) close all other apps other than the game you would like 2 use and you should have a good time. I recomend however that you don't use windows XP. It is a speed demond. I use windows 2000 even on my new PC for optimum performance.
 
You won't notice much of difference in fps, but you will be able to turn on some eye candy, and things will look a little better. (AF and AA)
 
I built my current computer on a budget 6 months ago and im not prepared to save up all my money to buy another one, even though that would be the best solution.

Although it is a fairly old computer is some respects, it does play well on new games like far cry and doom3 aslong as i dont run the the games on highest settings.

WOTROP is have considered overclocking my cpu but my motherboard cannot be multipliyer unlocked, therefore the only way i could increase the cpu speed would be to increase the voltage, but i dont wanna risk frying my pc.

Anyway thanks for the feedback guys.
 
wotrop,i think you overlooked the point that i was trying to make.first of all,the main reason any consumer upgrades there video card is for gaming(or maybe for newer features)doom3 and hl2 are the scales against which performance of these cards is measured,that of course doesnt mean that everyone wants to play doom3 or hl2.in terms of performance of these cards the only thing that i was pointing out is that 9600 pro is an old card,its price does not justify its performance as compared to nvidia camp namely the geforce 6600,6600 might be priced a bit higher than a 9600 pro but the performance increase between the two is huge(6600gt matches a radeon x800 pro and even performs better in some cases for about half its price).as for a 9600 pro running "other applications" "like a beast"well so would an onboard intel gma900 and match a 9600 pro.schnewb said he is already playing doom3 and farcry(so he does play games like doom3 hl2) much against your advice to not play anything more demanding than halo,i think you underestimate the geforce4 4200 and overestimate a 9600 pro.also i never posted any link or benchmarks or even mentioned x-bit and "stuff",I'll agree with you on this 'cause i also don't follow benchmarks blindlly,that doesnt mean there arent any showing the 6600 gt wiping the floor with 9600 even a 9800 pro.thats it,hope i didnt offend you in my last post or this one to deserve the angry icon,i was just stating my point of view and hope there are no hard feelings.

as for scnewb the best advice that anyone can give you is to get a geforce 6600 (gt version...hopefully)if you can spare the minor price difference between it and the 9600 pro.if you really want to see some eye candy with aa,af on and everything set at max(in most games) and still get good fps scores than go blindly with the 6600.the other reason is if you do decide to upgrade in the future (1-2 year)this card would still be a good match for any rig,9600 is atleast 3 years old(maybe more)while 6600 is about 6 months old(maybe less),if the 9600 still has people recommending the card today than you'll be pretty safe for atleast a couple of years with it.
 
Sapphire=no

shadow_29 said:
i didnt offend you in my last post or this one to deserve the angry icon,i was just stating my point of view and hope there are no hard feelings.
Click to expand...

I totally respect your opinon, but you did come off a little strong...

I own two shappire cards. A x600pro and a x700xt. I bought them at the same time from newegg. The x700 can handle most games very well, but the x600 struggles a bit.I dont like doom3 and have no intrest in HL2 (i know shocking rihgt?) I have no complaints with the chipset of the cards, but i do with the quality of sapphire. Both of the cards had faulty fans within the first 3 months, and the x700's RAM went up about 2 months after that. Im not saying all sapphire are bad, but the expirence i have had with them is not good.

Sean

BTW-its just my opinion
 
atk spade,my main point was focused on the price these cards come at(namely price to performance),x800 pro for eg. comes at almost twice the prices of a geforce 6600gt and yet you can easily find benchmarks which shows the card beating or neck and neck with x800 pro in most of the demanding games like doom3(check out thg for benchmarks).as for yor cards x600/x700,well exactly my point first these cards arent delivering the performance that they should looking at their prices and poor quality of these cards make it even less desirable,they can play most games so can an old geforce 3 or 4 but try it with aa and af on and everything at max and then talk about performance,switch to nvidia camp-pop in a geforce 6600gt or 6800 and just forget about it for a couple of years.again sorry if i am coming off too strong but ati has lost the glory of old 9800pro days when it was the ONLY choice for gamers and nvidia was struggling with fx5600/5900 and 5950.
you've had a bad experience with a sapphire card,i never advocated buying a sapphire card.i was only talking about the gpu's not the card manufacturers,nvidia might have a better hand in this and more reliable cards as they are more focused on retailing rather than ati focusing on oem's.well thats all,let me know what you think,i completely respect your opinion or anyone else point of view for that matter,sorry if seem a little ignorant or strong with mine.
 
I think shadows kinda got it but don't spend what you dont need 2 if you ask me, wait a bit. Raise ur buget and get yourself sumtin nice. But it aint my cash. So do wat U want. Just be happy with what you have. :slurp:
 
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