zfleebin

I am deciding on a new video card and I just got through reading two pages of previous posts on the subject. It seems that Lasereth and others completely support the Radeon 9800 pro. Now when I went to newegg to get one, they have a bunch of different ones. I understand about the sapphire one but I am left wondering which one is the best for me. I have a MSI 865PE Neo2 motherboard with a 2.8c p4 and 780 ddr ram. I am running winxp pro and really just want a video card that will run all the new games that are out and HL2. I am willing to spend $250 and maybe a little more if there is a significant performance gain. So what I am asking is which one of these is the best bang for my buck? Any help is appreciated and if you have a reasonable argument for getting a different video card please speak up.

Lasereth

The Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB is the best deal for $200. If ya wanna spend a little more, get the retail version of the same card. No other card is worth the money right now. The GeForce FX 5900 Ultra is an excellent video card, but it's too expensive compared to the 9800 Pro.

If you want to spend $350-$400, I'd go for an ATI Radeon X800 Pro.

Right now, I wouldn't spend money on anything else. The Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB being so cheap literally ruined NVIDIA's competition, the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra. It's a great card, but being nearly $300 or over is simply too high of a price when compared to the 9800 Pro's $200.

The ATI Radeon X800 Pro is one of the next-gen super elite videocards on the market. For $350-$400, it simply cannot be beat until NVIDIA releases their GeForce 6800 GT. I haven't seen benchmarks of it, and I haven't seen a price range of it either, so I can't recommend it. Hell, I don't even think it's out yet.

*EDIT* I read up on Anandtech's benchmarks of the GeForce 6800 GT. It's definitely worth buying for $400, but I'm not sure if it's out or when it will be out.

-Lasereth

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zfleebin

I had a feeling you were gonna answer me. You seem to know whats up so I trust you. I am looking at the retail 128mb and the 256 version. Newegg has them priced at $222 and $276 respectively. Is the jump from 128mb to 256 noticeable? Also how good are the drivers for these? Thanks for the info.

Lasereth

256 MB = waste. 5% increase at most, and only under super high resolutions with anisotropic filtering turned up high and front side anti aliasing blasting at full speed.

Drivers = decent, but not as good as NVIDIA's. I know a few people that have had to format their PCs because of ATI's Catalyst drivers, but overall, they're definitely acceptable. Just use the most up to date drivers and you'll be fine.

-Lasereth

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zfleebin

Thanks for all the info and the quick responses. I think i will do a backup before it gets here just in case.

Redjake

Get the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, 128 MB version. That's the best deal of the century man.

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MooseMan3000

I don't have much to add to Lasereth. I just want to echo that the Sapphire versions of ATI cards are generally very reliable, and a good deal for the money (in my experience). It should work out well for you.

Peryn

depends on how long you are willing to wait. If you dont need it immediately, seems like someone is always having a sale on ATI built cards for $200. Got one at best buy a while back and i couldn't be happier. I have experience with ATI built stuff, and it seems to be extremely reliable and well built, where i dont have any personaly experience with Saphire. In my case, i thought it was worth it to wait for a sale rather than possible sacrifice quality. Either way youll be very happy with it, and ATI is real good about support and keeping drivers up to date.

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Pyke

Wait until the next generation comes out, there will definitely be price drops across the board, that is if you can bear to wait.

Gotenks

16-20 bucks extra for retail is definately the way to go (if your going for the 9800 pro 128). Included in the bundle package is a key for halflife2 (40-50 bucks when it hits shelves).

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Redjake

uuuhh they're already out.......

the only thing that decreases video card prices is time. it's like the video game console myth. "wait 'til christmas and it'll go down in price!" bullshit. it just takes time. and lots of it.

the ATI Radeon X800 Pro and GeForce 6 6800 are already out, and there have been no price drops since then

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Sunrise

sapphire make good quality cards, just get their 9800 pro. you'll be happy.

Dilbert1234567

right now the diferance is not realyt noticible (1-2 FPS) but when we get larger textures in newer games, you will notice the difrence with higher texture settings.

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