ATi or nVidia Looking to get a new graphics card. So: Nvidia 9600GT, or ATi 3870 512MB. I'll be running 1 monitor at 1600x1200, and probably later a second at 1680x1050. Thoughts? Also, how big a difference does GDDR4 make vs GDDR3 memory?
I have gone with ATI over the past decade because they used to have a trade in program where you would get a discount/rebate for trading in your old video card for a new one. Also, the ATI All-in-Wonders always had a TV-in signal, and since my VCR crapped out on me a year ago, it's the only way I can record TV right now. Only problem is, ATI drivers seem to not get along well with Soundblaster sound cards, and I have to reinstall the multimedia center every time there is some update. It's the weirdest thing. I also might switch on the next one, but I'd need to know what makes nVidea "better" than ATI, and why people are happy with it.
In general: HTPC = ATI. Gaming = Nvidia. If you are doing both on the same machine, you'll have to decide what's more important to you. Nvidia general gets faster framerates (barely) but ATI pretty much always wins image quality tests. If you want high end power, you of course have to stick with nvidia, but from the two cards you picked, it doesn't look like you are going that route. It's really a toss-up, they are both good.
It is. But I can't afford better at the moment. Tom's Hardware puts the two on the same performance level, Newegg has them for the same price. Was hoping to get some first- or second-hand reactions to their performance, ease of use, etc.
All considered, the 8800GT is the best card out at the moment. My guess is that it will remain that way until the 9800GT is out or AMD (ATI) makes some price drops/new releases that are more compelling.
Hmm... what does Newegg know about the 9600 that I don't; every model has some sort of incentive attached to it, including some with rebates to as low as $145. That puts the cheapest 5-Egg 9600 $35 less than the cheapest 5-egg 3870. Also, when did ATi stop making their own cards?
Did you ever find out what motherboard he got? EDIT: if there's no issues, I think I'll get one. Going to check if there's any deals on 8800 GT's first though.
Got a Radeon 1550 right now that hasn't caused me any trouble. My last two Nvidias were a little less reliable. First one was an XFX, think it was 4800 series and it lasted about 6 weeks before I retro fitted to a 5 year old Rage card and the last was some POS OB that came with this puter... I'm no expert, so I like stuff I don't have to do anything with once it's in.
Think I'm going to get this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127332 164.99 - $20 MIR - $15 "VGA15" coupon + $6.58 shipping = $136.57 which is less than I paid for my Radeon 9600XT (I'm seeing some minor irony here) I bought on eBay 3.5 years ago. Doesn't get much better than that. Well, there's one that has free shipping, but it's not overclocked. This one is. Also has a DVI-HDMI adapter and comes with a game. EDIT: seems I need to read the promotion more carefully. Only works on the XFX card.
All right, which is the better value: XFX GeForce 9600GT http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150277 for $130 after promos and rebates or PNY GeForce 8800GT http://www.amazon.com/PNY-XLR8-8800...1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1205812015&sr=1-1 for $160 after rebate
Well it's 15 bucks difference. The 8800GT is measurably better. Personally, I would go for the 8800GT. Really it probably isn't going to make a giant difference either way. And by that I mean the 15 bucks OR the performance gap.
It's 30, not 15; there's a $15 promo code discount on the 9600; if it was 15 I'd get the 8800 for sure.
Ah, didn't see that. I guess I'd go for the 9600GT. Still, it's tough for me to say that since I have an 8800GTS (wish 8800GT was out back then...) and I still wish it was a bit faster.
Got the 8800GT. Amazon was having them go in and out of stock all day, and the ones from other sellers didn't get the rebate. So I had to wait until Amazon had one in stock. Still wasn't totally sure about it... until I realized I had a $50 gift card with Amazon. An 8800GT for $109 with free shipping and no tax says ye? Not f'ing bad, says I. Also managed to avoid the irony of upgrading from a Radeon 9600 to a GeForce 9600.
They started at 7000 and counted upwards from there, with the following cards as the flagship of the series: 7000 replaced by 8500 replaced by 9000 replaced by 9500 quickly replaced by 9800. At which point they realized 10800 was silly, so they went to X800, then X1600, then, then 2600 HD, then 3850 HD. Within each decade, there were other models, the 9 series having the most cards (9000, 9200, 9250, 9500, 9550, 9600, 9650, 9700, 9800, not counting the mobility versions of each*). If a card was numbered higher than the flagship model, it was enhanced in some way; a lower number is a weaker version. Until the 3850, a "50" at the end (such as the Radeon 9550 or X1950) signified something different from the base, but not much different - might have been OEM-only, or had a custom something or other, or a bug fix; the 9650 XT for instance had a dual-link DVI port, and for quite a while was Apple-only; it seems now that's what the '70 is for in the 3870. For each model, there was any of several modifiers in a scheme decidedly less complex than nVidia's differentiated by features turned on, clock speed, and memory speed. For instance, the 9600 came in a bunch of versions: on the high end was the 9600 XT, followed by the 9600 Pro, the base 9600, and the 9600 SE. Not all the cards had all the identifiers; there was no 9800 SE, for example, nor a 9200XT. *and of course because there were 3 flagship cards in the 9 series, it's hard to tell what's what: is the 9200 a better 9000, or a worse 9500? Was the 9600 a better 9500 or a worse 9800? If you're curious, IIRC, better 9000, and worse 9800, respectively. It was easier to tell back then though, because of which cards were actually available at any given time.
