RPG Graphics Card?

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

RMA means something like return to manufacturer.

what I mean is the actual boards they put all the chips n' stuff onto. If the color is black it's an early version which might suck. the blue ones are always good.

Well, maybe the atlantis ones are a different edition man, if so, then you shouldn't even have to worry about it.

 

[hu_xu]

The 9600 Pro is better than a normal 9600. The 9600XT is the best out of the 9600 series. But you can overclock a 9600 to a 9600 Pro. Just make sure you don't buy the 9600SE which is neutered to 64 bit bus.

Also don't go by Newegg user reviews. Get real benchmarks like from here when comparing and researching GPUs:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/index.html

Personally I don't like Sapphire but most of that has to do with their deceptive marketing practices.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Saphire makes ALL of ATI branded card's now, so your buying a different named ATI card.

 

[PoisonPorkchop]

now thats not true. I, about 6 months before I actually started to get into computers, bought a 9600 se. It was my first graphics card ever *sniff. It has 128 bit bus. I still have the box, and the card, which has helped my fight off the evil undead, hoards of alien invaders, and evil nazis. damn you evil nazis!

 

[hu_xu]

now thats not true. I, about 6 months before I actually started to get into computers, bought a 9600 se. It was my first graphics card ever *sniff. It has 128 bit bus. I still have the box, and the card, which has helped my fight off the evil undead, hoards of alien invaders, and evil nazis. damn you evil nazis!

Yes there are 128 bit versions of 9600SE but there are also neutered 64 bit versions especially earlier 9600SEs. Nevertheless 64 bit or 128 bit the 9600SE is the worst edition of the 9600 series. When I worked at Futureshop many people thought SE meant 'Special Edition' but it is commonly acknowledge by people who know it means 'Sh*t Edition'. To me that is marketing deception although one look at the price tag should suggest that it isn't that good but so customers thought it was top of the line because the SE tag. The same goes for Sapphire and their 9800 Atlantis debacle that resulted in mass confusion for many customers who thought they bought a genuine 9800 Pro only to find out they bought a neutered 128 bit version. Many people also seem to mistake video memory (measured in MBs) and memory interface (measured in bits) for GPUs.

 

[KaiserBasara]

This guy on another forum says go by the reviews

 

[KaiserBasara]

Is the Sapphire card actually better than Nvidia GeForce 4 MX Integrated Graphics Card?

The Geforce card isn't very well known. It doesn't get any reviews on Newegg

Neither is the Sapphire card, but it had tons of reviews on Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102320

Apparently, the Nvidia GeForce 4 card has 64MB DDR and the Geforce card has 256MB 128-bit DDR. But if that means it only has 128bits of DDR it must be really bad

I don't think the GeForce card is that good because I get frame rate problems watching anime and playing outdated games like Neverwinter NIghts, but there's no point of upgrading if the Sapphire card is worse

 

[ThE_MarD]

Heyyo,

Kaiser, you're confused man, I'll explain.

Now, there's 2 main vidcard companies, ATI (canadian), and Nvidia (Probably american, I dunno). ATI's main vidcard lineup is "the Radeon series", Nvidia's main card lineup is called "the Geforce series". Each have models to them. 9600 series, 9800 series, x800 series, etc. Nvidia has stuff like 2mx 220, 4mx440, 4 ti4200, fx5700, 6600gt, 6800... and so on.

Oh wait, I think you were just referring.. nevermind, you probably understood that and how you said it confused me, lol.

Anywho, benchmarks speak for themselves man.
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/vga-charts-03.html#unreal_tournament_2003

On high quality settings...
GF 4 MX440: 27.8F/S
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro: 66.7F/S

It's easily stronger man. A good upgrade.

Btw, that card's ok, but for a few extra bucks you can get a 9600 pro (advantage? lol, is this some titile they give it cause it's 256MB of ram?)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102410

But yeah, for the extra few bucks it'll work a little better.

 

[hu_xu]

Is the Sapphire card actually better than Nvidia GeForce 4 MX Integrated Graphics Card?

The Geforce card isn't very well known. It doesn't get any reviews on Newegg

Neither is the Sapphire card, but it had tons of reviews on Newegg

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102320

Apparently, the Nvidia GeForce 4 card has 64MB DDR and the Geforce card has 256MB 128-bit DDR. But if that means it only has 128bits of DDR it must be really bad

I don't think the GeForce card is that good because I get frame rate problems watching anime and playing outdated games like Neverwinter NIghts, but there's no point of upgrading if the Sapphire card is worse

Don't go by newegg reviews...look at benchmarks when researching which GPU to buy. Benchmarks tell you STATS...newegg reviews are opinions. I think one reviewer stated a 512MB 6800 U outclasses a 7800GTX...ridiculous but if one went by the "review" they would think so and waste ton of $$$.

The_Mard supplied a good benchmark link but google benchmark and the GPU you're looking at and you will get quite a few out there. Also here's some advice stay clear of all GPUs with model numbers that include MX, LE, and SE.

Oh yeah, the 64MB should be compared to 256MB. The 128 bit is the bus width...totally different. In addition, the 9600 is DX9 compliant and the MX is still what...DX7? DX8.1 at most. There are many things that determine a GPU's performance not just memory and bus width. There is the CORE, the # of pipelines, clock speed and etc. Look at benchmarks they simplify it for you by comparing their performance on apps.