Comparing video cards

[david_1475]

Hi all. I'm putting together a new computer and ive found a few video cards which i am tossing up between. I'd prefer to spend about $200, but i'll go another $50 if it will make a big difference. Can you please take a look at this list and let me know if you have any suggestions. (prices in australian dollars). I'd like to get something which will run the latest games fairly well, but some cards which appear to be almost identical to these cards cost about 3 times as much, so im not too sure what to think.

Gecube Radeon X700 256MB PCI Express - $179

GeCube ATI X700 256meg PCI Express MODEL : RX700-D3 Dual display S-Video TV-out - $179

Sapphire X700 HYBRID ADVANTAGE 256meg DDR3 PCI Express TVout / DVI - $195

Gecube Radeon X800GT2 DDR2 256MB PCI Express Uni-Wise Fan Edition - $245

Sapphire Radeon X800-GT 256meg PCI Express TVout / DVI - $249

How do sapphire and gecube compare with other brands and each other, and how would an x700 compare with a x800gt?

By the way, the system i am planning on buying would have an intel p4 3.2ghz 2mb cache L2 processor, an asus p5gd2-x motherboard (with sata, DDR2 ram, PCI-E, and a 800/533 cache (or something like that)), 1gb DDR2 ram, 160gb western digital SATA HDD, and a 500W case. Sound ok?

Thanks for your advice

 

[beedubaya]

You will be far better off getting a 6600 GT from Nvidia. They give far better peformance and are cheaper. They also have Shader Model 3 support which is almost required for games like Call of Duty 2, and many in the future will be that way too. Don't go ATI, believe me...I have an X800 Pro and i have not been pleased with it. Get a 6600 GT.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814164038

Here, for $148...better than all the ATI X800 cards up until the very expensive X800XT.

 

[david_1475]

I hadnt really considered those cards too much seeing as they are only 128mb cards, as opposed to 256mb. What difference does that make? Would having 1gig of DDR2 ram make up for that reduction of memory in the video card?

I found a couple of similar cards to the one you provided a link for from an australian site. How do these compare with the others i mensioned, and the one you recommended?

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=82&&bid=2&sid=11230

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=82&&bid=2&sid=13554

Also, what problems have you had with the x800?

Thanks

 

[DoomUK]

Would having 1gig of DDR2 ram make up for that reduction of memory in the video card?

Absolutely not. Video RAM is a ultra-high-bandwidth frame buffer used to store texture/shader data used in 3D games/apps, amongst other things. When your frame buffer is full, the game engine will look to the next available space to store this (per frame) data - the slower system RAM - thus resulting in frame 'stuttering' and whatnot. So as a rule of thumb, you should not substitute a limited frame buffer with more/faster system RAM.