Which Videocard Now?

[Toolbox]

Okay Gaming Guru's - I'm in need of some shopping help. I just saw a game that I really want to get (Need For Speed) and I just ordered a Force Feedback Wheel for it and was wondering what kind of videocard I should get. I don't want to spend a lot of money since I will probably only play this game once and it will be another two or three years until I find something else to my liking.

The cards I've seen out there that are within my budget are:

GeForce 6600GT
GeForce FX5900
Radeon 9800 Pro

Now, I am completely out of the loop here. I don't even understand why there are so many PCI Videocards out there. Is AGP dying?

Any help would be appreciated. My other computer parts are as follows:

Pentium IV 2.4C
Asus P4P800 built-in Soundcard
1GB DDR400
SCSI Drives
Samsung 172T Monitor

I'd like to play this game using at least 1024 X 768 X 32.

Any suggestions?

[F_A_L_C_O_N]

From those listed 6600GT is the best choice.
Its faster then R9800PRO, has better IQ and better drivers. It should also play the upcoming games better.

As for PCI express, its rapidly becoming the standard for video cards. It doesnt offer any particular speed advantage as of yet, however it should in the future when faster cards come to the market.
When buying new system, it makes sense to get PCIe system, for the sake of upgradeability.

Here are some benchmarks for NFS Underground 2 at HardOCP
They were using A64 3500+, but I think you should be able to get at least 20FPS minmum, which is enaugh for the driving game.

[Toolbox]

Thanks for the advice but now I think I'm going to have to do totally new upgrade. I've decided to change my processor and motherboard and all of the LGA775 boards don't have an AGP Slot. It's okay to just get a PCI-Express videocard right? 6600GT as well but in its PCI-Express form.

I don't know why any of these new motherboards have an AGP Slot left. I guess they're really moving away from it.

Hope to get a little more feedback on the matter.

Cheers and thanks for the help.

[James_1927]

I think they still keep an AGP slot on the newer boards, for people like me, who have paid £140 for a AGP Radeon 9800 Pro, that is by all standards still a good video card...and that want to upgrade to Athlon 64 without having to buy a new GPU.

However, when I upgrade, it will be because my 9800Pro can't play anything decently anymore, so I'll dump it on eBay and go PCI Express

[Toolbox]

I folded:

You know when you get online and you know you want to buy a single thing for your computer just to make that little tiny difference but you end up getting a whole new rig just because you see the pretty pictures of all the new stuff... Well, I just dug myself another credit card hole and bought the following:

Intel Pentium IV 3.2E LGA775
Asus P5GD1- Pro (Should've gotten the P5AD2 Deluxe)
2GB Kingston DDR533
ATI Radeon X700Pro PCI-E
Thermaltake Big Typhoon
Thermaltake Armor Casing
2 X 80GB Seagate SATA Drives
Logitech MOMO Racing Wheel

Now, I need to make some money before my credit card bill arrives.

I hope this card is a better choice than the 6600GT but all I'm going to play is Need For Speed.

Thanks for all the help... as always, it was very helpful.

[Martin_89]

is the 6600GT not slightly faster than the X700PRO? if not i know they are roughly the same.

EDIT: HERE is a review, on average in most games the 6600GT is 10-20% faster and in Doom III it is 50-70% faster

[F_A_L_C_O_N]

I also think 6600GT would be a better choice, however 256MB on X700 could come usefull.

Still for the game like NFS U2, it doesnt really matter, couse judging by HardOCP benchies, game is heavily CPU bound anyway.

Other then that, looks pretty good.

Post some benchies when you get it, will ya.

BTW you are saying when you buy stuff with credit card thats not it, you actually have to pay them eventually, damn

[Martin_89]

i ran Underground 2 on my 9600XT 128MB and it was fine, i could run it at 1024X768 with everything up high apart from FSAA. it would give a little stutter with a burnout with tyre smoke but thats about it.

[jankerson]

I wouldn't say AGP is dieing, it just being replaced by PCI-E.

I think the X700 Pro will work fine for you really.

But a better choice would have been the X800 or X800XL for the long run.

[Toolbox]

Okay... after all the comments within, I decided to cancel the X700Pro and get Leadtek's Winfast PX6600GT TDH Extreme.

It was US$60.00 cheaper too.

The X850XT was just too much for someone like me that doesn't really play games all that often.

[Martin_89]

Originally posted by Toolbox
The X850XT was just too much for someone like me that doesn't really play games all that often.

but was the X800XL? they are cheaper than a pro and faster in most games. my X800PRO is more than 50% faster than my 6600GT was. but the 6600GT is still an amazing card and will do exactly what you want it to.

[evetsrim1]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Toolbox
[B]Okay... after all the comments within, I decided to cancel the X700Pro and get Leadtek's Winfast PX6600GT TDH Extreme.

I bought the agp not extreme 128mb version of that card. Does 550, 1100 memory speeds. The games bundle is a good deal, Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia Warrior Within, around here POP Warrior sells for $40. Paid $179.

[ol' man]

You should have stuck with a LGA775 i865 or i875 or a i955 variant system as they can use the new dual core pentium 4's. For some reason the i915 and i925 do not work with them.

[Toolbox]

It shouldn't be a problem... when I do upgrades, I usually change motherboard, processor and RAM all at the same time so I'll uprade to a better chipset when I decide to get another processor.

Thanks for the tip though.

[ol' man]

Originally posted by Toolbox
It shouldn't be a problem... when I do upgrades, I usually change motherboard, processor and RAM all at the same time so I'll uprade to a better chipset when I decide to get another processor.

Thanks for the tip though.

I guess if you got the cash. I usually upgrade my weakest part at the time. So what do you do with your old mobo, CPU, and ram then?