graphics manufacturers

[molsen]

i'm sold on the 6600GT (AGP version)...but i have a couple questions before i buy.

1) is there a manufacturer i should prefer or stay away from? e.g. leadtek, msi, sapphire, etc.

2) is the price jump to go from 128mb to 256mb worth it in performance?

I'm trying to keep it around $150... are these good choices?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150089

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122206

thanks in advance

 

[DoomUK]

Generally, people will favour manufacturers like BFG and EVGA, who overclock their video cards at the factory, hence providing an extra small ounce of performance out of the box. But you just as easily save a few $ and go with names like Leadtek, XFX, Gigabyte or ASUS (some of whom also produce overclocked cards, look out for tags like 'Extreme Edition' or whatever) for the 'vanilla' product (that is, standard core clock/memory frequencies).

More texture memory will be invaluable in shader-intensive games like BF2 and F.E.A.R., but you have to remember that a low-end card/GPU with a massive frame buffer (e.g the GeForce 6200 512MB) is simply not going to cut it; more VRAM does not always mean more performance.

 

[Trifid]

Out of my personal experience from a couple of weeks ago, stay away from XFX. They overclock their cards (I think) more than others from stock, and the card couldn't handle it for me, and it overheated. I just got a BFG 7800gt and it seems like a very nice card, and seeing as alot of people have got them at OCUK forums, they haven't had any problems with them. eVGA are liked alot here due to their trade in policy when you want a new card. Leadtek is very nice, as they put huge all copper heatsinks on their cards. Saphire is for ATI only.

I wouldn't spend my money on the 256mb version, but I would spend it on getting a 6800 (vanilla.) But the price difference in the UK is literally nothing. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202 (it is a bit bigger in the US.)

 

[molsen]

thanks