Some video card advice, Crixx, don't read.

[Spazosaurus]

Ok here's the deal. I have a 2800 sempron (AM2), a gig of meenselfknow branded memory and a k9n (ordinary) MSI board. As you can tell, this is pretty weak by today;s standards. Anyhow, I want to get a card to replce the 6200tc i'm currently running like yesterday. Now i would love to go g80 with the 8800gts, but at ~$500us, that's a hard pill to swallow, so i'm looking at a dx9 part, either a 7950gt @ $300 or a similar performing ATI card. Which should I go for? I'm looking at $300 max. Should i really bite the bullet and go fo dx10?

[Berzerk]

ati x1950 pro 256 mb. goin for 175 usd in some places.

 real bess card..


but dont take my word for it...

.http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/31/the_best_video_cards_for_your_money/page2.html

[TriniXaeno]

hahhaha @ meemselfknow ram

I'd go with the 7900 / 7950. (being an nvidia fan)

Got a 7900 myself and I have yet to throw a game at that card that it could not handle. US$250-300

That X1950 Pro @ 175 sounds pretty good too. Can't go wrong either way.

one more thing though...if you want rock solid performance on the cheap, you also can go with the 7600 GTS for US$115.00

Awesome card for the money and it also eats up all of todays games at respectable resolutions.

I use a couple of 'em on similar spec machines at HQ. (Sempron 2800, msk branded ram, msi mobo) and they work excellent. Not breaking a sweat.

[Spazosaurus]

Great, thanks. I'm more looking at the $250-300 price range though so I think i'll go the way of the 7950gt @ $575 on Newegg. What's the deal with Crysis? Would it only be playable on dx10 hardware or would the higher end previous gen take care of it?

[W1nTry]

Actually i'd tell you check out a X1950XT @ 270USD. It should at least offer similar performance. It really comes down to preference as they are competing products. I would go ATI for DX9 parts as it has more features (HRD+FSAA+Ansio). Otherwise the X1950Pro at 175USD yuh really can't go wrong there at all (even though i've not been able to get those since they out of stock atm). And to be honest, unless there is a 8600GT or some other lower end part in the DX10 arena, with your current rig specs, it'd be a waste of your money to get a 8800 since even X2s and conroe can't feed that beast. Unfortunately your platform is too weak to go the highend route. I honestly think the X1950Pro is your best route atm.

Here are some links:
X1950XT @ $270USD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102067

X1950Pro @ $210USD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131027

7950GT (512) @ $270USD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143071 <- this seems like a good buy as well (with more memory).

[TrinireturnofGamez]

 Crysis will play well with a 7900/x1800  , but seeing as you have a whole pile of new cards around the corner , burning 300 us on a card now isn't a smart thing to do...
      I suggest you get an 80 dollar 7600GS to hold you till ATI and Nvidia launch the whole line of DX10 cards for all sectors . It will play all games great , and you can sell it over and make back some of your money .
    DX10 games will be launching as soon as vista is out , going for an expensive DX9 card now is a waste of money.

[Crixx_Creww]

since iam not supposed to be reading this, all i have to say is that, arent the cards except for the 7600 gt, being recommended over kill for his overall machine specs??, investing in a mid high and high end  dx9 card, in the age of dx 10, when your machine obviously needs an overhaul is a bit of a waste not so??

If you have a mid high and high end machine, like prowl and stuff and jedi and baego and stuff, then buying the now cheapened high end dx 9 makes sense of sorts

but when your machine lacking as badly as yours dude, i think it best to go 7600 gt as baego suggested, then when you do a machine overhaul, then you can either get dx 10 or high end dx 9

think about it, this is not a fan boy thing, its just sense, i dont know whats the ati equiv of a 7600 gt, but @ 115 usd, thats a great price for a card well suited for your needs and machine capability.

[W1nTry]

Crixx posted something sensible... *W1nTry applauds crixx...* yeah anyways... what you may want to consider is as crixx and baego suggested, get a 7600GT and use difference (since its 300USD limit) to get yourself an AM2 X2. In the least it puts you that much closer to your rig being able to handle say a 8600GT when the time comes.

So how about:
4200+ AM2 (65W): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103741

and

7600GT: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814141043
(even better if you can get someone in the US to get this item for you since they will get the mail in rebate pushing the price to below 100USD.

And right there, for ~300USD you've push the performance of your system up substantially both video wise and processing power wise (whilst still being very conservative on the overall power of the system).

[Spazosaurus]

Hmmmm very nice idea going with the x2 and 7600gt guys. Thanks. That's how i'll go.

[Crixx_Creww]

..... of course I never said to go and waste your money on yet another amd processor

but whatever

[W1nTry]

..... of course I never said to go and waste your money on yet another amd processor

but whatever

Sure crixx, he could yuh know, replace his mobo, ram, case, cpu, PSU, etc JUST to get an intel platform... cause we ALL KNOW it'll cost him 300USD to get ALL that as opposed to the 40% increase in performance as I am sure he will get with the way i've suggested, pfft... I was wondering how long it'd take to see the fanboy comment :p

[Spazosaurus]

Lol, hence the comment "Crix, don't read" but props for a sensible post nonetheless.

[Crixx_Creww]

as opposed to how long it took for you to suggest yur fan boy amd/ati nonsense?

yes it will cost more to switch completely over to intel

but he would be doing so for like wat a 70-80 % performance increase?

the reason i suggest that path, is not fanboyism

its like pouring money into a busted up crappy leaking old car, instead of saving a bit and buying a newer used car, that has much less issues and would cost him less to maintain, plus it performs better.

THats what my suggestion was, maybe it came off as my usual amd bashing, but i simply meant, if you gonna upgrade
then stop pouring money into amd, make the shift to intel, get a conroe and coast on that for a long time

[W1nTry]

Do the words prohibitively expensive mean anything to you? Crixx the fact remains that there is NOTHING wrong with the performance of the AMD platform. So yeah its not AS GOOD as intel atm, but you're still running P4? that to me speaks mounds... as in you didn't SEE THE NEED for much more for some time, thus him saving, selling organs and waiting for some time JUST to get a new platform (and not even the best of that platform) doesn't make sense. He can just do as he is going to, spend a mere 300USD and get a nice boost in performance that will last him for some time to come. Not to mention I am sure a 8600 will run just fine with that system and he will be good to go for the next 2-3 yrs. Its AMD bashing imho, not common sense.

[Arcmanov]

I can personally attest to the fact Unkown that the 200-250 price point is where the real value for money is.
For example you can have a 7900GS for about 210 US, which will give a significant increase from what you currently
have, (and not to mention a BIG leap over the 7600GT/GS) and still save some money for that X2 CPU.

Cant go wrong with the X1950 Pro either for about the same price.

[Spazosaurus]

Wow, just when I thought I had my mind made up about the 7900, Arc suggests the 7900gs for...just about $30 US more!!. Hmmmm....(7900gs spotted on Newegg for $180 btw!!!!)

[Beomagi]

7900gs for $144 after rebate (dunno how accessible that is to you)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143070

TBH, i wont mind mailing it in for you or sending the check (would be in your name anyway) back.