GFx cards - which one??

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 1:11 pm

I've settled on:

Athlon 64 3200+
Gigabyte NF3 250GB motherboard
2 x Corsair 512MB XMS PC4000

but for the life of me, I can't decide on a new graphics card. There seems to be great leaps in price, from Too Cheap to Too Bloody Expensive, and precious little in between. What I want is bang-per-buck and enough horsepower to play Doom 3 and HL2 without slowdowns and with eyecandy enabled.

I'll consider either manufacturer. X700 isn't available here yet, and I understand the vanilla 6800 isn't that impressive. So what'm I gonna get?

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:14 pm

Wait for a Nforce4 SLI chipset (soon, read reviews on anandtech) and get a PCIe 6600 GT. Later when you feel like a speed boost, get another PCIe 6600 GT and SLI them together.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:39 pm

Hmmm, that's a distinct possibility - but aren't these NF4 boards going to be pretty pricey? Plus, it may take months for them to reach NZ.

Grendel · Post by **Grendel** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 4:48 pm

Do NOT get a 6600 based card -- you need two of those to get into a single 6800 range.. *click* If you stay w/ AGP, get a 6800 GT -- preferable a Gainward 2400 GS. If you act quickly you may get one of these eVGA 6800 256mb Limited Edition cards -- it's a downgraded 6800 Ultra (!) card that couldn't do 425MHz core reliably but will run at 400+ just fine. Comes w/ dual DVI and large heatsink

Edit: THG on nF4 PCIe

Edit2: sorry, looks like the LE cards are gone..

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 6:53 pm

*sigh*

Vanilla 128MB 6800 = NZ$ 568.13

http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_16.html

Capm · Post by **Capm** » Wed Oct 20, 2004 11:21 pm

Hey Mobi, I just built a system on that motherboard, and used THIS card. It screams! (NZ$533)

Oh, and don't even think about putting an ATI card in that nforce3 - you'll have problems.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Thu Oct 21, 2004 12:58 pm

CapM - where did you see that card for NZ$533???? o_O

Oh, you mean at current exchange rates?

Sorry, I'm not importing any parts for a PC. If they fail it's 3 months for a replacement to arrive. Just not worth the risk.

Best in NZ price for that is GeForce 6800 GT 256MB $789.00

suicide eddie · Post by **suicide eddie** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 1:54 pm

how about one of these mobi?
http://tech-report.com/reviews/2004q3/g ... dex.x?pg=1
probably the best speced 6600 out there so far. we got four of these on order for the network, they seem the best value to play any games at a reasonable framerate that may come out in the next year. but they are still a bit rare on the hight street due to the majors grabbing them all for factory builds.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Sun Oct 24, 2004 6:21 pm

Don't think of using ATI with the nForce3? why not?

Thenior · Post by **Thenior** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 9:49 am

New egg has a decent card>> http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 056&depa=0

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 2:15 pm

Thenior wrote:New egg has a decent card>> http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDe ... 056&depa=0

Newegg doesn't ship internationally.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 4:42 pm

Yeah - like I said - I won't import a GFx card. I've had to return two of them now, and they take 3 months to turn around - which sort of defeats the purpose. Plus, shipping from the USA is like profiteering prices.

In adjusted dollars, it costs 4 times to post from the USA as it does TO the USA.

Bonz · Post by **Bonz** » Mon Oct 25, 2004 5:35 pm

Ferno wrote:Don't think of using ATI with the nForce3? why not?

Yeah I'm curious also, I have a 9800pro,
epox EP-8rda3+ nforce2 ultra mb and it works flawlessly. I know he's looking at an nforce 3 but I can't imagine their is too much difference in compatability.
Before giving someone advise on what not to buy you might want to make sure the advise you give is accurate

Admiral LSD · Post by **Admiral LSD** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 3:52 am

Isn't AGP handled internally by the AMD64 CPU itself now meaning the chipset has little, if anything to do with it?

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 1:44 pm

Mobius wrote:In adjusted dollars, it costs 4 times to post from the USA as it does TO the USA.

Actually, it only cost me $13 to ship a sound card to a buddy of mine in Auckland. (USPS) Amazingly, it got there long before it was ever supposed to.

Mobius · Post by **Mobius** » Wed Oct 27, 2004 4:05 pm

Must have got some special rate man! When Testi returned a card to me it cost him $44 USD to post it!

Mr. Perfect · Post by **Mr. Perfect** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 2:48 pm

Admiral LSD wrote:Isn't AGP handled internally by the AMD64 CPU itself now meaning the chipset has little, if anything to do with it?

Nope. The AMD64 handles memory, not AGP. Infact, about the only thing left for a traditional north bridge to do is the AGP(which is probably why Nvidia combined the north and south bridges).

MD-2389 · Post by **MD-2389** » Thu Oct 28, 2004 7:43 pm

Mobius wrote:Must have got some special rate man! When Testi returned a card to me it cost him $44 USD to post it!

kinda pays to research before shipping

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Sun Oct 31, 2004 10:19 pm

yea that's kinda what I figured the answer would be Capm.