Current video card recommendations

[Adcadet]

What do people currently recommend for a decently priced, good quality AGP video card? It will be used for some gaming, and dual monitor output is a must. Good compatibility with all forms of Windows is nice, too. Would I go wrong with an NVIDIA 6600GT? Should I stick with ATi, say an X700 line card?

 

[blakerwry]

I've been recommending ATi 9250's with VGA+DVI (user a DVI to VGA converter for dual VGA) for base line dual monitor support and would go with a 9550 for someone who I thought might get into games a bit. Just watch out to not get the cut down versions with 64bit memory bus.

It sounds like you want something a bit fancier (and more expensive). An x700 would work and give you a bit of headroom. As far as i know all current games will run fine on that card and new games should continue to do so for a while as well.

 

[Santilli]

No info on Nvidia.

Ati 700Xl with AMD processors seems to light it up. 200 when I bought it.

800 XL is twice as fast, but, it's 300-350 dollars.

Your choice....


s

 

[Santilli]

No info on Nvidia.

Ati 700Xl with AMD processors seems to light it up. 200 when I bought it.

800 XL is twice as fast, but, it's 300-350 dollars.

Your choice....


s

I like the 256 mb versions, and, they are so good, I wouldn't consider a 9800 or less, since they are half the speed of the 700XL.

s

 

[blakerwry]

man, I'm cheap.

 

[blakerwry]

I also like passivley cooled cards...

 

[Santilli]

man, I'm cheap.

Me too, but the new ATI cards are SO fast, it's hard to compare them to the last version, value wise.

s

 

[blakerwry]

Guess it all depends on what you do with them... If you can do everything you want with a Radeon 9550 why spend twice as much on an x700 when you could spend the money on a another 512MB of RAM, a DVD burner, a better monitor.

I see Radeon 9600's are now cheaply available with passive cooling as well...

As with anything else, watch out for the cut down versions.

 

[Fushigi]

I'm soooo glad I don't do PC gaming. I can do just fine with practically any $30 and up vid card. Passively cooled, VGA/DVI/TV out, 64MB RAM is basically all I need.

 

[CougTek]

It will be used for some gaming, and dual monitor output is a must.

You need dual VGA or dual DVI or something mixed up? You haven't defined "decently priced". This can be below 100$ as well as below 400$. We don't know your budget.

A 6600GT will beat an X700, but will be slower than an X800XL in most situations. For 200$-250$, it (6600GT) is the best gaming card to get and there are some that are passively cooled. Among those that are actively cooled, the Leadtek and Chaintech brands are the quietest.

ATI cards consume less juice from the PSU when at idle, but slightly more when on full load, if this can be a decision factor.

 

[CougTek]

Wow, just looked at Newegg and 6600GT can be found as low as 150U$ nowadays. This is crazy. Go get one. I haven't seen any that were passively cooled AND with an AGP connector though.

 

[Adcadet]

I only need to get two VGA outs, but having a DVI out would be nice. Decently priced is around $200. AGP is a must, passively cooled is nice but not key.

 

[Santilli]

Adacadet:

Look around and do a little research. Depending upon who's doing the testing,

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1808&page=9

depends on what game, and what price, is the best value card.

Also keep in mind Pci-E cards are less expensive then AGP.

http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=259&page=6&action=reviews

Puts the cards about even, 700 XL and 6600 GT, so, depends on price and the game you are playing.

If you look at running some of the games I play, the 800 XL can be twice as fast as either the 700 XL or 6600 GT, usually when you turn the features up.

Hope this helps...

s

 

[Santilli]

http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=11155&sid=148C3UVTPV5T9HR7PCP15J0K80BKENUD

and same site has an 800 card for less...

s

 

[Buck]

I've been recommending ATi 9250's with VGA+DVI.

Ditto.

 

[Mercutio]

Allstarshop almost always has the lowest prices in the US on ATI cards. But from personal experience I can also tell you they have problems with inventory - knowing whether something is in stock, and shipping it in anything like a timely fashion.

I'm a big fan of Gigabyte-based ATI cards for the passive cooling, and I personally like the 9550 since it doesn't choke on DX9 graphics and only costs about $20 more than the 9250.

 

[i]

I've been recommending ATi 9250's with VGA+DVI.

Ditto.

Buck, do you know if that card can drive both outputs simultaneously? More specifically, I need an inexpensive, 2D-capable card (just desktop app usage), that can support both a CRT and an LCD simultaneously. I know someone who uses Photoshop, Illustrator, etc., and he'd like to be able to move applications over to the CRT for occasions where high quality color work is required. I don't know if that card would be sufficient or not.

 

[Mercutio]

Er... I'm almost positive that every ATI card with two outputs can do this. It's mostly just a matter of configuring Windows' display properties for it.

A quick check of the Windows machines I can see from where I'm sitting shows three computers that all have a secondary display.

 

[i]

Nice! I've never been lucky enough to have more than 1 monitor around to try a dual setup, so this is all new to me. Thanks!

 

[sechs]

Not only has every ATi chip since I can't-remember-when had dual monitor support built-in, properly wired DVI-I ports on ATi cards can be split with dongles to DVI-D and VGA outputs.

 

[i]

I picked up four 9250 AGP cards -- they've been working very well. I've got 2 more systems that need the same options (passive cooling, boring and stable, just 2D graphics, 1 x VGA and 1 x DVI simultaneously), only in PCI Express form. I've been looking at a Radeon X550 128MB. Anyone have any experience with this card? Or have suggestions for something else?

 

[ddrueding]

I have had good luck with the MSI 6200TC 128MB card It actually does amazingly well in BF2, in addition to having good 2D performance.

 

[CougTek]

Do you already have he motherbpards for those systems? If you only need 2D and DVI, there are solutions with integrated graphics from both nVidia and ATI. There are a few motherboards with the GeForce 6150 that have a DVI output as well as at least one (from MSI IIRC) with a DVI output and the ATI RS482 chipset.

If you already have the motherboards, then I think the most interesting option could be something based on the ATI X1300 non-Pro. Those are passively cooled and most have a DVI output. The GPU and RAM frequencies are comparable to the X550 and they have a few more features for video playback and probably other picture quality enhancements (shadder 3.0 vs shadder v2.0 for the X550). I think the X1300 cards only cost some 10$ more than the X550. Here's a Sapphire variant for 69$ + shipping.

 

[ddrueding]

CougTek always impresses with his ridiculous degree of knowledge on gaming video cards, so here's another question.

My experience with the X1900XTXs the other day was really phenominal. Never before had I seen BF2 played at 1600x1200 with EVERYTHING turned way up, and it was amazing; practically another game compared to my 1024x768@Medium that I'm used to.

Because of this I am seriously considering paying more than I ever expected to. I used to be convinced that $500+ video cards were only for those with more money than sense, but I now find myself considering exactly that.

Target:

BF2
1280x1024
Highest Settings
2xAA, 8xAF
30FPS Min, 60FPS Max

I suspect I'll be buying one of these to achieve my goal. Any thoughts?

 

[ddrueding]

This seems to be a great deal

 

[CougTek]

I think all three of your choices won't meet your criteria. Assuming you have a high frequency Athlon 64, all the cards you mentioned will bust 60FPS at 1280x1024, even if push the AA to 4X instead of 2X.

For frame rates between 30FPS and 60FPS, you could save 150$ and wait for the GeForce 7900GT to arrive on the market (which should be very soon). The 7900GT, while it is smoked by ATI's 500$ offerings, is a lot less demanding for the PSU while still offering playable framerates at your targeted definition.

Seriously, why are you considering the older X1800XT since the newer X1900XT is only 30$ more? And at a low resolution like 1280x1024, I doubt you'll notice any difference between the 530$ X1900XT and the 630$ X1900XTX. That 100$ would make much more impact in my wallet than in your gaming experience. Or you could buy Santilli an automated litter for his beloved Jumpster.


P.S. I've had no first hand experience on those cards yet. My comments are based on reviews I've read.

P.P.S. Ridicoulous knowledge?

 

[CougTek]

I haven't read your outrageous deal post when I sent my previous reply. It seems like quite a bargain and it makes more sense than any of your previous choices.

 

[ddrueding]

I'm currently running a 2.8Ghz single-core A64 with 1GB of RAM @ 511Mhz. Really my X1600Pro is the limiting factor in a big way. If I can get an X1900XT-class card (what is nVidia's equivalent?) for about $500, I figure that's what I'll do.

 

[Stereodude]

If I can get an X1900XT-class card (what is nVidia's equivalent?) for about $500, I figure that's what I'll do.

It's a GeForce 7900GTX and it was released yesterday.

 

[Pradeep]

If buying a $500 dollar vid card, I would ensure that it supported HDCP. Otherwise you are going to be SOL when you try and play Blu-Ray/HD-DVD on your PC via Vista (or so goes the current thinking). Of course if your monitor doesn't support it either, it may not be an issues for you.

 

[Santilli]

David

Prior to buying the X 800 XL from you, I did quite a bit of research, and found results like this:


http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/games-2005_16.html

I did find the X1900 to do another 20-30% more speed, but, I don't think that justifys the cost difference from the X 800 XL to the X 1900 series, but, that's just me. Patience, and I'm sure the prices will drop.

I thought Quake 4 ran very well on my box. You saw it. Was the X 1900 THAT much clearer?

Greg

Cougtek:

We already have a auto liter box for Jumpster, but thanks for the link.;-)

 

[ddrueding]

HDCP is not something that interests me, but thanks for putting a reminder into the conversation. I currently use DVD-Decrypter to convert all my movies into .avi format for storage. I figure I'll use some similar software to do a similar thing to HD-DVDs.

Greg,

What I'm looking for is the cards in the bottom graph of this page. You're right, they are only 20-30% faster than an X800XL, but it really is a remarkable difference. As the guy with the $4000 gaming rig said:

"I've blayed BF2 a lot; and now I'm looking for it not just to be a fun game, but for it to be beautiful as well. If this is what it costs to make it beautiful, so be it."

Just so you know; I built his last rig, too. Specs are as follows:

3700+
X850
2GB PC4000
72GB Raptor
xFi Sound card
P180

And he gave me this one in exchange for moving his settings and helping him build his new rig.

I now have a rocketship at the game center, rigged to a nice 24" widescreen CRT, if anyone is intereted.

 

[mubs]

I currently use DVD-Decrypter to convert all my movies into .avi format for storage.

How large do the .avi files end up being??!

 

[CityK]

That would depend entirely upon the configuration settings for the choice of codecs (audio and video) that he uses.

.avi is just the container format.

 

[Mercutio]

Er... since when does DVD Decrypter make AVI files?

 

[ddrueding]

Sorry, DVD Decrypter combined with AutoGK to make Xvid-encoded .avi files.

They are ~2GB a piece, I have ~2TB, it really isn't a problem. HD content might make them ~6GB a piece, I'm still not worried.

 

[Santilli]

David:

I TOTALLY UNDERSTAND HOW YOU FEEL. I'm the one that wants a 512mb card for running Quake 4 in Ultra mode. :wink:

I've set an arbitrary limit at about 350 for graphics cards, since I can't think of anything but macs that depriciate faster.

I also want a card twice as fast, at least, as the one it's replacing. The card closest to that is the newest Nvidia offering, and, sort of, in some cases,
the X1900 cards.

Still, the 30% isn't enough, but, for what you do, and the guys you hang out with, and server raiding, I can understand why it would be worth the bucks.

Besides, I'll buy it from you in two months when it's worth 100 dollars or less...
:wink: :mrgrn:

Greg

PS I'll see if I can find a demo of BF 2 and run it...

 

[ddrueding]

I'm currently playing BF2 on a 3700+ with an AGP X850XT and a Gig of RAM. Really, really beautiful running 1280x1024 maxed. Looks like I don't have to spend that much money after all....