Best bang-per-buck video card?

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sat May 22, 2004 8:36 pm

Seems like the nVidia 5900XT is a pretty good bargain right now. I like ATI's 9800 Pro 128MB card too, but the prices are very different:

Gigabyte: GV-R98P128D -- VPU: Radeon 9800 PRO, Core Clock: 380MHz, Mem Clock: 680MHz, Mem Size: 128MB, Mem Bus: 256 bit, AGP Bus: AGP 8/4X, Mem Type: DDR 4Mx32 -2.2, Direct X: 9.0, D-SUB: Yes, TV-OUT: S/AV, Video-In: No, DVI Port: DVI-I, TwinView: Yes, Fan/Heat Sink: Fansink, Tools: V-Tuner, Accessory (calbe set): Manual*1 DVI to VGA*1 TV-Out Cable*1 S-Video Cable*1 Power Cable*1, CD-Title Packing: Power DVD XP 4.0*1 NEED For SPEED*1 SERIOUS SAM*1 HeavyMetal FAKK2*1 Motocross

$480.00

Gigabyte GV-N4464T-P -- VPU,: Geforce FX 5900XT (NV35), Core Clock,: 400MHz, Mem Size,: 128MB, Mem Bus,: 256 bit, AGP Bus,: AGP 8X, Direct X,: 9.0, Accessory (calbe set),: Manual*1 DVI to VGA*1 TV-Out Cable*1 S-Video Cable*1 , CD-Title Packing,: PowerDVD 5.0*1 Will Rock *1 Tomb

$371.00

Given that I'll probably miss the X800 generation of cards - is it worth spending the extra money on the ATI?

I use Dualhead/twinview (whatever you want to call it) and I want a card that'll play Doom ]|[ acceptably and Half Life 2 as well. The big advantage with the nVidia is that their twinview drivers are better: can stretch the taskbar acroos both monitors - very handy for a developer like me.

Oh, those prices are wholesale too. and don't include 12.% tax or freight!!11

Tyranny · Post by **Tyranny** » Sat May 22, 2004 8:47 pm

Thats a bargain? Damn inflation

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Sat May 22, 2004 8:55 pm

Are those $USD or $NZ ?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:02 pm

The radeon 9800 pro is considerably more powerful then the geforce FX 5900xt.

CDN_Merlin · Post by **CDN_Merlin** » Sat May 22, 2004 9:29 pm

The 9800 Pro also comes with 2 connectors for video. I'm using this card and it rocks.

Asrale · Post by **Asrale** » Sun May 23, 2004 12:04 am

What you want to do is find a brand of Radeon 9800 NON-Pro that's flashable to Pro speeds! That gets you the most bang for your buck.

And no disrespect to all these new GPUs, but the original 9700 Pro is still a rockin' GPU and will definitely play Doom 3 and HL2 at a playable frame rate with a good number of options on, you can bet. Maybe not at a super-duper high resolution with AA/AF on, but who does that?! 1024x768 with just AA on, maybe...

roid · Post by **roid** » Sun May 23, 2004 12:51 am

how would you find one Asrale? got any hints or perhaps links?

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Sun May 23, 2004 4:28 pm

Yeah - those are NZ dollars.

Retail is like $980 and $790 respectively!!! (Or thereabouts).

Yeah - I'm liking the 9800 Pro - but it is pricey!

Mr. Perfect · Post by **Mr. Perfect** » Sun May 23, 2004 5:35 pm

Sapphire has good quality non-pros for flashing. Just make sure you've got Samsung memory on the card and not Infineon. Even the Samsung 3.3ns stuff OCs up to Pro speeds, while the Infineon 3.0ns cant...