Games and Graphics cards!

Ok gents, like i was saying im about to get a new computer (i said that like a month ago), but the plan to rent fell over because i dont want to be locked in for 3 years!!! So, instead im doing it the old fashioned way and saving up every penny and just buying it outright.

Im looking to get the new athon 64, 3000+, gigabyte motherboard, 256mb (for now), 150gb HDD. Just for now. That will set me back about~ 650. Clearly im missing graphics card, DVDrw, sound card and monitor, but ill buy all them later.

However the graphics card id like to get very soon after, so i was wondering which one i should get! I want this to be a game playing =machine=, so im willing to spend up to 700-800. This amount however i want only to cover me for the following games im going to get: HL2, Doom3, WoW, NFS:U2, etc...

I was looking at,
nVidia FX 5700LE, 8X AGP, DDR, w / TV Out, DVI - 256 Meg Video ram, Include Driver CD, TV cable ...(This one is "78)
GEF6800GT,256MB,256BIT,AGP8X,DDRIII8X,D-SUB,TVOUT,DVI,TWINV ($800)
RADEON X800PRO 256MB,256bit,TV-OUT,DVI,AGP 8X, ($783)
RADEON9600XT / 256MB / 128BIT / AGP8X / TVOUT / VIDEOIN / TWINVIEW / GAME ($304)

Now, take into account, i want to spend as little money as i need to, i just want to play these games and have some fun, every cent i earn i sweat for! So if the radeon9600XT is ok, or the nvidia 5700LE will do me (256ram is sweeeeet) please let me know, thanks!

Also, what power supply will i need? :S

Its been a while since i upgraded, so i dont know much about this stuff anymore!

do whatever you have to do to get 512mb of ram in that machine instead of 256.

Yep, mistake, i did mean 512mb ram. I can get it for around "30.

Also, I can tell you that doom3 runs great on an x800 pro, and the other games you mentioned all run better than doom3. the 6800 is a hard card to get still, and the other two, while still decent cards, are pretty much the bargain bin at this point, and are beginning to show their age.

my 9600XT runs Doom3 fine..

Doom3 runs good on my 4200 at medium gfx @ 800 x 600
about 60 - 70 fps

I recently got similar for myself.

1 x MBDG60001 - Gigabyte GA-K8VNXP AMD Athlon 64 Motherboard 244.00
1 x RAMGL0008 - GEIL DUAL DDR 1GB (2 x 512MB 400MHz DDR RAM) With Heat Spreader 288.00
1 x Free Far Cry Game With Any AMD AThlon 64 Or AThlon FX CPU PROSW0001 - Far Cry (OEM) DVD (No Warranty/Support) 0.00
1 x CPUA60002 - AMD Athlon™ 64 3000 Processor (2Ghz 512k L2 cache) (Socket 754) 262.00

TOTAL: 825.00

Then I got a 9800Pro 256-bit 128MB for $350

For the price I managed to get myself Gigabyte's previous flagship motherboard for the AMD64 system and 1Gig of RAM. It's not per se top of the line ram, but it's a lot of ram. Of which I still haven't had any problems with yet.

Of course missing a HDD, but you can get a 120G for about "30 these days.

On the video card, you don't need the fastest and best regardless of what marketing tells you these days. Although if you do a bit of hard work you may be able to find a shop holding onto a 9800 somewhere for the price of a 9600

go the sparkle 6800GT. its awesome..and was only about 700.

I think a 9600XT should do the trick quite well. Also, Anything above 350W should run that all fine. I have a 420W - these things are only about < "30. It's good for you to be saving money like that! :) It's hard work though!

Any new games... I would absolutely hate to run on anything less than a 9800Pro... bleh!~

The 6800GT is an absolutely awesome card. Worth the dollars... and better value than the X800Pro imho.

Also, don't necessarily think that because the card has 256mb of VRAM that it's going to be better than a card that has less... it's just not true in some cases. (A 128mb 5700 or 5700Ultra will destroy the LE)

The 5700LE is absolute crap compared to the 9600XT, btw.

Also, saving money is great... just don't skimp. A bad PSU can kill other components in your system - unlike a bad ram stick.

Hey Bluey

Im buying a new gfx card next week, going down to a swap meet probs, and also going to pick up a new 120gb hdd.

The gfx card that im looking @ are the, 6600GT 128mb(AGP hopefully, when they come) or the Ati 9800Pro128mb.

THe 6800 GT is probably close to one of the best cards out in the market now. im spending Max $400 on my card.

The swap meet is next sunday:
Sunday 28 November 2004

Kingston City Hall
(ex Moorabbin Town Hall)
985 Nepean Hwy (South Road Intersection), Moorabbin

Yeah ok, by the looks of things ill be getting one of the top ones, a x800 or 6800. Bluey ill go with you :)

hehe, im going with my mate, i'll seeya there if ya go. not sure what time i will go though. Im going for the 6600GT 128mb

Quote from BlueMania:
... so im willing to spend up to 700-800.

get the 9800xt 256mb for that price, its well worth your effort ;)

Or not. A 9800XT is definitely old news... especially at $700 or $800. In fact, that's a rip off. $800 will get you a 6800GT clocked at Ultra speeds (Gainward Golden Sample) - a 9800XT doesn't even compare.

meh, I'm only saying that because I have it (paid about that price at the time it was released) - and its a ripper card for all those games stated above.

my x800 xt wasn't much more than that, doyen :P

Well looking at the price difference between the 6800GT and the x800pro your best bet will probably be the 6800GT... Its got 4 more rendering pipelines over the pro and performs better in most cases. With an x800pro you might be able to unlock 4 locked pipelines and get just as good performance (if not better) but that might require some painstaking soft/hard modding (depends) and a luck of the draw.

Quote from doyen:
meh, I'm only saying that because I have it (paid about that price at the time it was released) - and its a ripper card for all those games stated above.

I agree that it's a ripper card. I love my 9800Pro (at XT speeds)... but not for the price that they are still selling for (The price you pointed out).

Yeh dont be stupid and buy a card over the value of 400 dollars i rekon

You can get a 9800pro quite easily under 400 and it will run any game well enough

What about those PCI Express 6600s? They any good? I saw some prices and some benchmarks, it seems they hold their own and are not too far behind the x800 or 6800, and well priced about 350-500

Don't bother with the PCIe stuff... the 6600 is not as good as any of the AGP 6800's. The cost of upgrading to PCIe isn't worth the downgrade in the video card.

AGP version 6600GT for $361.00
http://www.techbuy.com.au/products/47338/VIDEOCARDS_GEFORCE_PCX_SERIES/Sparkle/VGSPAG43GC3/GeForce_6600GT_128MB_AGP8X_HDTV_DVI.asp

HL2 Benchmark for 6600 vs 6800
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2278&p=13

6600GT vs Other Cards - Call Of Duty

Doom 3

FS2004 (if you're into that type of game)

Joint Operation: Typhoon Rising

Battlefield Vietnam

Yeah the 6600 is an impressive card, particulary for the AGP version, ill post up some prices. Ta longtom for the price quoted, im going to see if there are any 256mb models.

Well i couldnt find any 256mb cards in melbourne (green guide), but the 6600 gt looks like the card for me.

Actually, I was pointing out that it isn't that good (a 9800Pro beats it in quite a few of those benchies). But hey... whatever.

Blue, remember... 256mb isn't always better.

Yeah but if he wants to play games like doom3 and hl2 on high detail it might be better to be safe than sorry...

*sigh* Read my other posts on the topic.

I'm not saying he should get the 9800Pro OR the 6600GT - I was comparing it to the 9800Pro saying that it isn't a good thing that it's putting out framerates that low. IMO, he should aim for the 6800GT because it is the best BFYB (Bang for your buck) out of every card available on the market today.

Aye, but i dont think i want to spend the extra $500 for the difference :S.

Acknowledge that it will take a while for the next generation games to come out, so i can get a 6800 card later for much much cheaper.

my 6800GT ran HL2 @ 1152 high quality, x4 AA, x8 AF and didnt loose enough frames to notice :)

ATI's drivers support and general all round stability i recon isnt as good as Nvidia :)

and mine is more shiny.

What about this one?
Is there a major difference between AGP and PCI atm?
http://www.techbuy.com.au/products/47300/VIDEOCARDS_RADEON_SERIES/Gigabyte/RX60P128D_CD/RX60P128D_Radeon_X600Pro_128MB_PCI-Ex16_TV_DVI.asp

Absolutely nothing ATM

there is a difference, but ddr2 and the mobos and everything that comes with PIC-E is more expencive by quite a bit. which is why i didnt bother. that and the 6800 was available on pci when i bought it,

Quote from Seqo:
*sigh* Read my other posts on the topic.

I'm not saying he should get the 9800Pro OR the 6600GT - I was comparing it to the 9800Pro saying that it isn't a good thing that it's putting out framerates that low. IMO, he should aim for the 6800GT because it is the best BFYB (Bang for your buck) out of every card available on the market today.

I was referring to your comment about 256mb cards :P

what is the best/cheapest card u can buy to get over 80fps in CS ?

my new mobo doesn't have AGP.. so i'm getting a sparkle 6600GT PCI-e, cos i'm not prepared to spend over $500 on a video card.

im getting the PCI e of the 6800gt... its gonna be sweet!!!

don't lie matt :P

i am getting it fool.. trying to look for a place in australia that sells it..

hehe, i needed mine asap. maybe when they drop in price i will get one.. or there is a game that hammers my card.