Geforce FX vs. Geforce 4 vs. Radeon 9700?

[C_olin]

I'm looking into upgrading my 2000+ Athlon because my Geforce 2 32mb cant run Halo very well...

But I've Heard a lot about Geforces and Radeons.... But i dont know wich one is better!?!?

I've heard that Geforce's are cheaper and worse but have better drivers, and that radeons are mroe expensive and have worse drivers but are better cards....

What are your opintions!?

 

[g5orbust]

GeforceFX: Good low range cards, but the mid ranges are trash. The 59_0 (can be 5900 or 5950), which is the highest range, is on par with top notch performance, but it still costs a fortune.

Geforce4: Dont even bother unless you find a 128MB version of the 4200Ti for like 60 bucks.

Radeon 9000 series: Low level cards suck. Mid range cards, like the 9500 pro and 9600 pro, are great cards. Mid/High range cards, like the 9700 pro and 9800 regular, are also good, but dont usually hit the price sweet spot. The high range cards, like the 9800 pro, are great if youre willing to spond cash. The highest range, the 9800XT and 9900XT, will cost you a pretty penny but, if you like high framerates, these will give you them.

Recommendation: ATI Radeon 9600 pro

Newegg.com:

Sapphire Atlantis ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV LITE BOX
Specifications:
Chipset:ATI RADEON 9600 PRO
Memory:128 MB DDR RAM
Bus: AGP 8X
Encapsulating the unrestrained dreams of the avid gamer the RADEON™ 9600 ATLANTIS PRO’s SMARTSHADER™ 2.1 and SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1 technologies construct detail rich worlds peppered with ill-intentioned villains brought to life by DirectX® 9.0 and OpenGL 2.0.
Ports:VGA + DVI + S-Video Out
OEM Box (See pics for details) Item:
N82E16814102291
Model#:
RADEON 9600PRO 128
Price:
$148.00
Shipping:
Special FedEx Saver Shipping $5.00

 

[C_olin]

wow..... thanks for the info!

I'll probebly go with the 9600 pro.... this will run HL2's and Doom3's and Halo's shaders right?

 

[C_olin]

Question:

I saw some 9600 pro 256mbs for like $120.... why do you recomend a 128mb for $148?

 

[Martin]

Those probably were the Radeon 9600 Non-Pros; performance is slightly crippled on those from the Pro variants, but can be fixed with overclocking.

Some contributing factors to the lower price include cheaper quality RAM (which can at times severely hinder its tweaking potential), par-down warranty, etc.

 

[Apokalipse]

Radeons are better than Geforces, and the best for performance verses cost is the 9600 (like what g5orbust said) and get the pro version, don't worry if it doesn't have VIVO or anything to do with a TV connection cos you won't use it, I like the 'Creative ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128mb'

 

[g5orbust]

wow..... thanks for the info!

I'll probebly go with the 9600 pro.... this will run HL2's and Doom3's and Halo's shaders right?

Yep. The 9600 pro is fully DX9 compatable, so you should get the most possible from every game in the near future.

Half Life 2 should run like a dream, same with DOOM]|[ (whenever the damned thing comes out) and Halo.

Be sure not to cheap out on your video card. As was said before, you can overclock them but cheaper videocards tend to drop their prices by using cheap hardware. Cheap cooling fans, cheap memory chips or sparse warranties. The video card I showed you from Newegg.com is just an example. I suggest that you acutally go to a store in person, if you can, when buying stuff with limited knowledge on the subject. The store clerk may be able to point you to some special deals and the store usually will service hardware bought there if you buy a replacement package.

Also, remember that the ATI branded cards run at OEM stock frequencies, which can be a blessing and a curse. Some cheaper brands of cards get cheap because they drop the core/memory clock, allowing cheap cooling solutions. The more expensive the card is of the same chipset (9600 pro), the more likely it is to have a higher than ATI set core/memory, but then again, it may just be loaded on silicon with crap that you dont need.

 

[Mm9004]

Got a GFFX for ~$250. Not bad. Basicly any card out there right now will hold Doom and Halo with ease. The question is, how long do you want it to hold you?

Go ATI if you're willing to sacrifice ease for speed. If not, go nVidia, as I used to be an nVidia fan but now I switched to ATI. Better cards.

 

[g5orbust]

Basicly any card out there right now will hold Doom and Halo with ease.

Im not sure how well the hardware of today will hold up against DOOM3, but it will definitely hold its own and will run games like Halo like a dream. DOOM3 is shaping up to suck royally, so Im not even sure if its worth investing in a video card that can run it well if games like Half Life 2 are in here and now.

 

[Mm9004]

True, the gaming world will now begin to move faster than comprehesion... but I still hold that it will run on my GeForce FX 5200 Ultra (128DDR, 650 MHz)... But then what do I know? I haven't seen the trailer.