i am going to buy a new graphics card. i have 2 options:
1)128MB DDR GeForce FX5200 TV-Out - APGx8
2)128MB GeForce4 MX440 · DDR · AGPx8 · 128Bit
i was leaning toward the fx, but it is the entry level card in the geforce fx range, so should i intsead order the mx440?i would like my new card to last longer than my old one(18 months before my tnt2 was phased out of modern games)
Any Advice would be well appriciated.
sps.
Negative on the MX and negative on the FX5200...As Gabe Newell said, treat the GeforceFX family as dx8 hardware!
Hell, NEGATIVE ON nVidia!!!
Go for an ATi 9500pro...they should be realy cheap by now. they have the good IQ and running AA and AF give you little to no performance hit...
1. AGP 8x is useless, current card just don't require as much bandwidth as AGP 8x provides.
2. GeforceFX cards are bad! Reason: http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030918/index.html
To sum up the article; GFX cards only perform at about 55% of what an ATi Radeon counterpart performs if you use drivers that work correctly (43.03 < last correct working detonators!!!)
If you'd like to know, these are the counterparts:
ATi - nVidia
Radeon 9200 - GeForceFX 5200
Radeom 9600 - GeForceFX 5600
Radeon 9800 - GeForceFX 5900
Now, as for the MX440; you might as well buy a V5 5500 because the MX440 is one of the worst cards out there today.
My suggestion:
Buy an ATi Radeon 9500 or 9600 if you want a DirectX 9 card.
Buy an ATi Radeon 9100 or 9200 if you want a cheaper card than a 9500 or 9600 but still would like to be able to play todays games.
Note though that the 9100 and 9200 are only DirectX 8 cards!
hmm,i could get a
Mentor 128MB ATi Radeon 9200SE · DDR · AGPx8
but i checked the specs, + the mx440 has a higher core clock speed.
however,i suspect the radeon has a higher fill rate.( by 0.1 billion, if my memory is correct)
as for direct x, my tnt2 is a dx 6 card, but still plays 'jedi knight: jedi acadamy' which requires dx 9 or higher, so im not particularly bothered about direct x.
1 thing i am seriously worried about is driver problems concerning ati. can i download any driver from ati.com, or dont some of them work?
thanx,
sps
I believe that's a very old issue. The ATi Catalyst drivers work with every ATi card.
would dx 9 still work with a 9200?
Yes, though not every DX9 feature would be hardware supported.
lol, your tnt does dx6 features, but it's drivers have been brought up to dx9 compatablility...with that said, jkII uses ogl, so there's your dx9 theory out the window...
Now, as far as a gefore4mx, did you know that they perform on the level as a geforce2? Believe it, they do! Btw, the geforce 4mx has no shaders whatsoever...So like Phalanx said...go for a 9500pro, since they only sell for ~$130 atm...
don't listen to lecram, he's nuts. heck, look at his sig, he's got a 9500np, same as me (haven't updated my sig lately). If you get a red sapphire 9500 non pro (it has to have the RAM in an "L" shape), there's a chance (some say about 50%) that it can softmod, or be modified by drivers, to a 9700pro because the card actually includes all the stuff a 9700pro does, it's just turned off to create a lower model card. don't ask why this is, nobody's really certain...on the other hand, a 9500pro can't be softmodded at all, because it uses a different board design. oh, and a 9500np is $145 on //www.allstarshop.com, that's where mine came from.
Quotedon't listen to lecram, he's nuts. heck, look at his sig, he's got a 9500np, same as me (haven't updated my sig lately). If you get a red sapphire 9500 non pro (it has to have the RAM in an "L" shape), there's a chance (some say about 50%) that it can softmod, or be modified by drivers, to a 9700pro because the card actually includes all the stuff a 9700pro does, it's just turned off to create a lower model card. don't ask why this is, nobody's really certain...on the other hand, a 9500pro can't be softmodded at all, because it uses a different board design. oh, and a 9500np is $145 on www.allstarshop.com, that's where mine came from.
And at what point was I wrong? And if you read my post carefully, I told him to get a 9500
pro...He's looking at a 5200 or a geforce4mx; if he wants to play any games at decent framerates with AA and AF enabled, he's gonna have to forget nVidia. I think he's gonna have to fork ot at least $130...a 9500pro would run a hell of alot better...hell, a 9500pro can actually run dx9 intensive games with AA and AF enabled...I can't say the same for the 5200 running dx9 intensive games...
So pipe down little boy if you don't know what you're talking about!
No need to flame me!
P.S.: regarding the price...oh I was $40 off, big woop! 9600pros with 256mb go for $143...
Don't be fooled! 256MB of memory on a videocard is useless! Various benchmarks have shown that 256MB is actually worse sometimes than 128MB. Simply because current games don't need those extra 128MB.
So save yourself some money by buying a videocard with 128MB of memory.
These prices are roughly what you pay for a Radeon in The Netherlands;
$ 80 Radeon 9200
$100 Radeon 9200 Pro
$130 Radeon 9500
$250 Radeon 9500 Pro
$130 Radeon 9600
$150 Radeon 9600 Pro
$250 Radeon 9700
$280 Radeon 9700 Pro
$310 Radeon 9800
$380 Radeon 9800 Pro
isnt it a real shame that you pay as much for an 9500pro as for an 9700 non pro? i wish video card prices dropped as fast as cpu prices after new cpu's are introduced.... :(
I don't really get why the 9500 Pro is worth as much as a 9700.
A 9500 should be worth as much as a 9700 since that's the card you can turn into a 9700(pro).
ive seen a sapphire 9200 256mb and a sapphire 9200se 128mb at pretty much the same price, + the ure saying the extra 256 mb is useless?!? (actully, the 256mb version is cheaper)
the slight problem with the 9500 is that u cant get it in the uk. ive also seen a 9600se 128 mb, so im confuzed for which card to get.
Do not get an SE card! They are clocked lower than the normal cards and are not something you want.
Go for a normal card (9x00) or a Pro (9x00 Pro) with 128MB of memory.
If you keep that in mind than all that matters is how much money you can spend.
QuoteI don't really get why the 9500 Pro is worth as much as a 9700.
A 9500 should be worth as much as a 9700 since that's the card you can turn into a 9700(pro).
Don't get confused. Not all 9500np can be turned into a 9700np/pro. It's only the earlier ones that had the red 9700 PCB as well as having the L-shaped memory. Seeing that the 9500pro and the 9700np are the same price, I'd go for the 9700np; 9700np have 8pipes and a 256bit memory bus whilst the 9500pro have the 8pipes and a 128bit memory bus...but seeing that those prices are pretty high, you can get a 9700pro for ~$250...
lecram, read my post: I AGREED WITH YOU, except on the "Pro" part of the card. Nvidia's suck, don't become another nVidiot, there are too many in the world already. But, as I stated before, many, about half, of the non-pro radeon 9500s with L shaped ram (the ram makes an upside-down "L" around the GPU, not an "I" above it) can be softmodded. mine's softmod screwed up, but then the whole card started screwing up (randow PC lock-ups, with soft mod uninstalled), so now I'm getting an RMA so I can return it and get another chance. But lecram, how can u reccomend a Pro when the non pro has a chance at becoming something much greater, and at ~half the price?
I'm not an nVidiot, lol. I'm an XGtremIst ;)
I recommend a pro because the 9500np that can me modded are not available anymore; and it's been that for about 6-8months. All the new 9500np have their memory all in a staright line. And all the new Sapphire ones all have black PCBs now...
try again: this (http://www.allstarshop.com/shop/product.asp?pid=6538) is my card, it softmodded, but I had to send it back, because it had other problems.
ok, here's the thing...the 9500np with the 9700 red PCD with the l-shaped memory can softmod into a 9700np/pro (depending if you overclock it). All other 9500nps can be softmodded, but only into 9500pros...also, an issue that can occur with softmodding 9500nps into 9700s is the artifacts issues, i.e. the extra 4 broken pipes...
so, all 9500 no pros can be softmodded into pros (i.e. their extra pixel pipelines enabled, but with 50% change of it working without artifacts)?
No.
Softmodding is to turn your 9500 non-pro into a 9700(Pro)
QuoteOriginally posted by qrazi
so, all 9500 no pros can be softmodded into pros (i.e. their extra pixel pipelines enabled, but with 50% change of it working without artifacts)?
yes and no. all radeon 9500 non-pros
that have the "L" shaped ram(i.e. the little black squares make an upside down "L" on the board) have a really good chance of softmodding to a 9700 or 9700 pro, depending on how lucky you are. most common ones are made by sapphire and powercolor, and the boards are almost always red. I have heard that the black board from sapphire also might softmod, but I wouldn't risk it, as I know the red ones do.
thats what i thought, but Lecrams remark put me off... ah well, i'm not getting a new card anyway... :D
to the TS: if you want to spend little, but do want speed, get a ti4200.... its really cheap now, and it will perform ~9600pro level without fsaa and af...
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
don't be an nvidiot! buy ATI! 9500s - $122! Pros - $225! 9600 - $127! Pros - $145! Avoiding nVidiocy - Priceless! All at //www.allstarshop.com! (but look for better prices before you buy)
then again, without fsaa and af, the ti4200 performs better then the non-pros, and is on par with the 9500/9600pro, and all that for just $77 dollar (got it from pricewatch.com).
btw: i'd go for a 9500/9600pro, but i havent got the money for it yet. perhaps the TS is short on money too, since his original choice was between a gf4mx and a fx5200. both are way below the Pros pricerange....
yeah, i aint got that much dough. roughly $120 (£80). all i can afford is a 9600se, and scince some 1 advised me not to get a se card, im going for a 9200 (non-pro)
Good choice!
ASUS P4S533 | Intel Pentium 4 2,261GHz | 512MB Samsung PC2700 DDR-SDRAM | Voodoo 5 5500 AGP
i think you should be able to get 9600 non pro for that price...:
http://www.pricewatch.co.uk/results.asp?MinPrice=1&MaxPrice=1000&Category=&Orderby=Price&Keyword=9600+radeon&Brand=
watch out though, many people have been ripped off by those pricewatch sites. look for one that supplies a working phone number and an address.
thats a good price for a 9600 non pro, but i am a little put off by amp_man's post. then again i could just get it directly from komplett.co.uk rather than through pricewatch.
what does 64 bit agp mean? or are they just two things im confuzing for 1...
i just used www.pricewatch.co.uk because it is the only site i know from the top of my head to be UK based. use it to get a indication of the prices around.
i've placed that link after looking speciffically for a normal radeon 9600 not to Pro, not the SE.
i must admit i didnt look that long at the offered cards, just that there was no pro or se in the description.
im not to sure about the first offering, but the second seems to be regular radeon 9600.... e-mail the vendor to be sure.
a 9600 is faster then a 9200, and it is fully directx 9 compliant, while the 9200 is still base don the r200 (radeon 8500) core... and therefore only directx9 compatible...
the thing is, my system spec is pretty grim (850MHz Duron,128mbRAM,32mb TNT2 M64 @ 160MHz with hrdware T+L emulated) and if my h T+L emulater really does work(my friend is lending me NOLF 2 to test it) id rather get more RAM to play the games i want to but cant for lack of T+l + RAM.
those games are vietcong, unreal 2,splinter cell, + call of duty. and maybe hl2. if i get a new card instead, the only game that i want to play is soilder of fortune 2.
of course, if any of those games (bar SOF 2) dont work, you know which card ill be getting.
well, that hardware emulator (i take it you use 3danalyser) doesnt work alway in my experience. it may help in some games, but in others it will have no effect. at least, that is what it does for me.
with the system you have, you might consider a bit of a larger upgrade. you will have to save a bit more money, but it is really worth it. none of the games you mentioned run to well with either a memory upgrade or a videocard upgrade, altough only a new videocard would probably help the most of those two options.
sps,
Stay away from any of the Radeon SE cards because they are poor performers just like the nVidia MX cards are very poor.
IMO, the Radeon cards are better than the nVidia cards right now. Since price is a consideration the 9200 128 Mb card is a good choice but the 9600 cards are much better. If you are against buying a ATI card and really want to get a GeForce card, get a GeForce4 TI card. They are still faster than the FX line.
Vietcong requires 256Mb RAM and a video card with at least 32 Mb but they recommend 64Mb video RAM. IMO your CPU and RAM will prevent you from playing the newer games more than your video card. You can get a 1.4 GHz Duron for $36 USD, a 1.6 GHz Duron for $42 USD or a 1.3 GHz Athlon (not AthlonXP) for $41 USD and another 128Mb stick of RAM for $26 USD.
-edit
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