NationStates Jolt Archive

Not sure whether this should go in "Technical"...since it's got nothing to do with the game or website, probably not.

Anyways, I'm not much of a techhead, and I have to choose between two video cards:

The one I have now is a Radeon 9600 XT GexCube or something like that. It has 156MB of memory.

The second is a Sapphire Radeon 9550, and it is a 256MB card (apparently the card can be had both in 128 and 256 versions). However, its low price throws me a bit, and that's why I'm asking.

Given that my dad already bought the new one, and is willing to swap it for my current card and 35 Australian Dollars - should I accept the deal?

I'm mainly playing strategy games, and now Oblivion (which is the thing I really need a decent card for). No 3D-simulations, animations or other graphic design work.

Not sure whether this should go in "Technical"...since it's got nothing to do with the game or website, probably not.

Anyways, I'm not much of a techhead, and I have to choose between two video cards:

The one I have now is a Radeon 9600 XT GexCube or something like that. It has 156MB of memory.

The second is a Sapphire Radeon 9550, and it is a 256MB card (apparently the card can be had both in 128 and 256 versions). However, its low price throws me a bit, and that's why I'm asking.

Given that my dad already bought the new one, and is willing to swap it for my current card and 35 Australian Dollars - should I accept the deal?

I'm mainly playing strategy games, and now Oblivion (which is the thing I really need a decent card for). No 3D-simulations, animations or other graphic design work.
Yes. It is a superior card, and thus worthy of usage. You may find yourself using this computer for some time, and possibly for something even more resource intensive than Oblivion at some point, and as such could use the best that you can get.

Okay, so I accept the deal and take my PC apart now? Just looking for one more affirmative to make me do it.

Just in case it matters - Processor is a Pentium IV with 3GHz, 512MB DDR RAM (I need to get some more for Oblivion as well, I feel...it's running very slow).

Go for the Radeon 9600XT. Memory size isn't the only thing that effects performance. The internal structure of the 9600XT allows for better performance than the 9550.

Wait, which did your dad buy? If only one of the cards is $35 go for that one.

*snip* Radeon 9600 XT *snip*

I have that card, with 256mb, and it's never caused me any problems. But it's really up to you whether you want to change or not, with you current setup it probably shouldn't matter which card you use. I'd do it, but then I just like taking apart my PC and putting it back together for some reason.

Wait, which did your dad buy? If only one of the cards is $35 go for that one.
I already have the Radeon 9600 XT. It's in my PC.

The problem is that I can't play Oblivion properly - it lags often and I can't put the details very high at all.

So now my dad bought this new card for another PC in the house. And when I wondered whether this new one was better than my current one, he offered me the deal.

My Radeon 9600 XT + $35 in exchange for a Radeon 9550 with 256MB.

I already have the Radeon 9600 XT. It's in my PC.

The problem is that I can't play Oblivion properly - it lags often and I can't put the details very high at all.

So now my dad bought this new card for another PC in the house. And when I wondered whether this new one was better than my current one, he offered me the deal.

My Radeon 9600 XT + $35 in exchange for a Radeon 9550 with 256MB.
Ok I understand the situation now. I looked up some old hardware reviews, and your 9600 is marginally better than the 9550. The 9550 is only about .8% slower.

But Oblivion takes a really good video card. You would have to buy one of ATi's or NVIDIA's last generation cards (Xn00 and 6n00 rexpectively, n being a number) to run the game decently.

Actually, Oblivion can be played quite well on my GeForce 6600GT. I don't know what Radeon's equivalent of that is; but that doesn't matter because Radeon SUCCCCCCCKKKKKKSSSSSS.....

Ok I understand the situation now. I looked up some old hardware reviews, and your 9600 is marginally better than the 9550. The 9550 is only about .8% slower.
Okay, so you say that the extra memory is cancelled out by the rest of the card in this case?

I will say this right now, i had a nvidia fx5500 with 256mb of ram. I updated to a nvidia 6600gt with 128mb of ram. The difference in ram size did not bother me, for the ram runs alot faster the 6600gt has ddr3 compared to the 5500 that had ddr. Now also the pixel pipelines and overall speed of the 6600gt was higher aswell.
The moral of this story, (im not just saying ha i have a 6600gt), is that it is not all down to the amount of ram, speed of ram comes into it, also the speed of the gpu itself.

Actually, Oblivion can be played quite well on my GeForce 6600GT. I don't know what Radeon's equivalent of that is; but that doesn't matter because Radeon SUCCCCCCCKKKKKKSSSSSS.....
You are saying radeon suck.. do you mean ATI that made radeon, cause if you are then erm you are ignorant, the best graphics card for gaming performance is made by ATI and it is a 1900XT running 2 in crossfire easily beats a nividia 7900GTX in SLI mode any day, it also offers extra features, by having more features possible to be enabled compared to the Nvidia. e.g. the nvidia will not allow anti-aliasing and certain other modes to be on at the same time, whereas the ATI card has no problem with this task. (Still i use nvidia anyways :p )

Okay, so you say that the extra memory is cancelled out by the rest of the card in this case?
Yes. It's like the rest of your system. If you keep increasing the RAM, you won't keep seeing performance gains because it has nothing to use it for.

Yes. It's like the rest of your system. If you keep increasing the RAM, you won't keep seeing performance gains because it has nothing to use it for.
Okay.

Thanks for that guys. I rejected the deal, and I'll have a look whether I can scrape enough money together to buy another card.

Any particular recommendations, ie cards that can play Oblivion nicely, yet won't cost as much as an engine rebuild on my car?

I already have the Radeon 9600 XT. It's in my PC.

The problem is that I can't play Oblivion properly - it lags often and I can't put the details very high at all.

So now my dad bought this new card for another PC in the house. And when I wondered whether this new one was better than my current one, he offered me the deal.

My Radeon 9600 XT + $35 in exchange for a Radeon 9550 with 256MB.


The 9600XT is a faster card. It's core is clocked at 500mhz and the memory at 600mhz. The 9550 is clocked at 250mhz and the memory at 400mhz. The 9550 will be slower and perform worse that the 9600XT. The 9600XT Costs about $25 more than the 9550, your dad should give YOU @25 bucks for switching if you are the one that has the 9600XT in your system already.

You are saying radeon suck.. do you mean ATI that made radeon, cause if you are then erm you are ignorant, the best graphics card for gaming performance is made by ATI and it is a 1900XT running 2 in crossfire easily beats a nividia 7900GTX in SLI mode any day, it also offers extra features, by having more features possible to be enabled compared to the Nvidia. e.g. the nvidia will not allow anti-aliasing and certain other modes to be on at the same time, whereas the ATI card has no problem with this task. (Still i use nvidia anyways :p )
Umm, first Crossfire X1900 XTX's is ATi's best contender, which runs with a few FPS of two SLI 7900GTX XXX's. However, quad SLI is available as of now (only through Dell) which would work Crossfire.

Okay.

Thanks for that guys. I rejected the deal, and I'll have a look whether I can scrape enough money together to buy another card.

Any particular recommendations, ie cards that can play Oblivion nicely, yet won't cost as much as an engine rebuild on my car?

How much money do you have? ATI’s Radeon X1800 GTO If you’ve got $250 to spend on a graphics card. If you have $200, NVIDIA’s GeForce 7600 GT, if you have only about $130 to $150, the Nvidia 7600GS.

You are saying radeon suck.. do you mean ATI that made radeon, cause if you are then erm you are ignorant, the best graphics card for gaming performance is made by ATI and it is a 1900XT running 2 in crossfire easily beats a nividia 7900GTX in SLI mode any day, it also offers extra features, by having more features possible to be enabled compared to the Nvidia. e.g. the nvidia will not allow anti-aliasing and certain other modes to be on at the same time, whereas the ATI card has no problem with this task. (Still i use nvidia anyways :p )

And what dickhead has two cards anyway? One card is plenty.

Computers are starting to piss me off. PC users are become the new revheads, buying shit for their comps, that they will never actually need, just because it's expensive.

Okay.

Thanks for that guys. I rejected the deal, and I'll have a look whether I can scrape enough money together to buy another card.

Any particular recommendations, ie cards that can play Oblivion nicely, yet won't cost as much as an engine rebuild on my car?
A NVIDIA Geforce 7600 GS. Buy it through either XFX or EVGA. The XFX cost more but performs better. They cost $199 (EVGA)/ $207 (XFX). Those prices are in Aussie dollars, but I cannot guarantee the prices. Computer technology prices change randomly while crossing the Canadian border.

How much money do you have? ATI’s Radeon X1800 GTO If you’ve got $250 to spend on a graphics card. If you have $200, NVIDIA’s GeForce 7600 GT, if you have only about $130 to $150, the Nvidia 7600GS.
Avoid the ATi X1800 GTO. While it is more expensive than the 7600 GT, it cannot match its performance.

And what dickhead has two cards anyway? One card is plenty.
Agreed.

Avoid the ATi X1800 GTO. While it is more expensive than the 7600 GT, it cannot match its performance.

That may be true for overall games, but for Oblivian specifically with a little AA and AF turned on...
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_mainstream_performance/page8.asp

Actually, Oblivion can be played quite well on my GeForce 6600GT. I don't know what Radeon's equivalent of that is; but that doesn't matter because Radeon SUCCCCCCCKKKKKKSSSSSS.....

The ATI version is a X700. I've got 256Mb PCI Express PowerColour X700 Bravo.

That may be true for overall games, but for Oblivian specifically with a little AA and AF turned on...
http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/oblivion_mainstream_performance/page8.asp
I was talkibng Oblivion specific too. Not mcuh matter, both use detail levels that result in unplayable FPS. Here's my article:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1947834,00.asp

I was talkibng Oblivion specific too. Not mcuh matter, both use detail levels that result in unplayable FPS. Here's my article:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1947834,00.asp

Hey, how it is wimpy X700 (256Mb discrete, not that shared memory rubbish) going to handle?

I was talkibng Oblivion specific too. Not mcuh matter, both use detail levels that result in unplayable FPS. Here's my article:
http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1947834,00.asp
Okay, now I'm dumbfounded. It's irritating as hell to find two normally reliable web review websites coming up with entirely opposite results.

I have no idea. Hmmmm.



EDIT: after reading further, I'm convinced enough to say I would save the little cash and get the XFX 7600GT over the 1800 GTO

Right...I'm getting confused here right now. It seems like my current motherboard (which I bought a while back), doesn't have the 16x slots you need for new video cards.

It only has an 8x slot...that problem has come to haunt my brother a while ago, when he bought a new video card, only to find out that it won't fit. He decided to throw out the old stuff and buy a new motherboard (ending up having to buy a new processor as well because the slots on that changed as well). Dumb fellow, he is.

To prevent myself from making the same mistake, here is my new question: What are the best cards with can work with an 8x slot?

I'll also get myself more RAM (which is probably the major problem I have with Oblivion anyways).

Right...I'm getting confused here right now. It seems like my current motherboard (which I bought a while back), doesn't have the 16x slots you need for new video cards.

It only has an 8x slot...that problem has come to haunt my brother a while ago, when he bought a new video card, only to find out that it won't fit. He decided to throw out the old stuff and buy a new motherboard (ending up having to buy a new processor as well because the slots on that changed as well). Dumb fellow, he is.

To prevent myself from making the same mistake, here is my new question: What are the best cards with can work with an 8x slot?

I'll also get myself more RAM (which is probably the major problem I have with Oblivion anyways).

Then get at least a full gig of RAM and a 6800 AGP card (the 7800GS is about $300 still if you have enough money)

Right...I'm getting confused here right now. It seems like my current motherboard (which I bought a while back), doesn't have the 16x slots you need for new video cards.

It only has an 8x slot...that problem has come to haunt my brother a while ago, when he bought a new video card, only to find out that it won't fit. He decided to throw out the old stuff and buy a new motherboard (ending up having to buy a new processor as well because the slots on that changed as well). Dumb fellow, he is.

To prevent myself from making the same mistake, here is my new question: What are the best cards with can work with an 8x slot?

I'll also get myself more RAM (which is probably the major problem I have with Oblivion anyways).

No, we was not silly. He had an 8X AGP slot and probably no new cards had been released for AGP. The upgrade was longer team investment as AGP is dying apart from the nVidia 7800GS just released.

Right...I'm getting confused here right now. It seems like my current motherboard (which I bought a while back), doesn't have the 16x slots you need for new video cards.

It only has an 8x slot...that problem has come to haunt my brother a while ago, when he bought a new video card, only to find out that it won't fit. He decided to throw out the old stuff and buy a new motherboard (ending up having to buy a new processor as well because the slots on that changed as well). Dumb fellow, he is.

To prevent myself from making the same mistake, here is my new question: What are the best cards with can work with an 8x slot?

I'll also get myself more RAM (which is probably the major problem I have with Oblivion anyways).
XFX GeForce 6600GT, some more RAM too.

No, we was not silly. He had an 8X AGP slot and probably no new cards had been released for AGP. The upgrade was longer team investment as AGP is dying apart from the nVidia 7800GS just released.
I think it was more with the way he handled it all. He just sorta randomly decided on a card, bought it - and then realised that it wouldn't fit.
So something that would've cost him less than $300 suddenly cost him probably more than $500, and that extra was unplanned and not really calculated into his budget.

As for the other suggestions: Thanks, I'll look into those.

First I'll just get an extra memory stick or two and look whether that makes it perform well. And if it doesn't, then I can still look into a new video card (and it's true, even though AGP is dying, for my purposes I can keep it alive for a few years yet).

And what dickhead has two cards anyway? One card is plenty.

Computers are starting to piss me off. PC users are become the new revheads, buying shit for their comps, that they will never actually need, just because it's expensive.
You are right, i know someone with a 1900XT and they play the newest games, e.g. F.E.A.R and the such, at full settings maxed out, on the highest resolution possible on a 24 inch monitor. Now who would need 2 of them in crossfire? unless they had 2 monitors that size...

I think it was more with the way he handled it all. He just sorta randomly decided on a card, bought it - and then realised that it wouldn't fit.
So something that would've cost him less than $300 suddenly cost him probably more than $500, and that extra was unplanned and not really calculated into his budget.

As for the other suggestions: Thanks, I'll look into those.

First I'll just get an extra memory stick or two and look whether that makes it perform well. And if it doesn't, then I can still look into a new video card (and it's true, even though AGP is dying, for my purposes I can keep it alive for a few years yet).

Get the memory, Windows XP on 1GB RAM purrs! Little disk swapping and things run great. Oh, think about a new hard drive! 40Gb is too small these days.

Get the memory, Windows XP on 1GB RAM purrs! Little disk swapping and things run great. Oh, think about a new hard drive! 40Gb is too small these days.
That is true, and a larger hard drive cache would be great (i am assuming you are on a 2mb cache because that was standard on nearly all drives 3 years ago). My next purchase minus my amd athlon 64 3500+ and mobo (with agp slot, for my 6600gt) is a new hard drive with a 8 or 16mb cache. just too boost the performance a little extra.

You are right, i know someone with a 1900XT and they play the newest games, e.g. F.E.A.R and the such, at full settings maxed out, on the highest resolution possible on a 24 inch monitor. Now who would need 2 of them in crossfire? unless they had 2 monitors that size...
One card could handle that. It would have the same image on each screen so it would send a duplicate image to each VGA/DVI port.

Oh, think about a new hard drive! 40Gb is too small these days.
Oh, windows says my one hard drive has 111GB capacity. I never got a second one. :D

That is true, and a larger hard drive cache would be great (i am assuming you are on a 2mb cache because that was standard on nearly all drives 3 years ago). My next purchase minus my amd athlon 64 3500+ and mobo (with agp slot, for my 6600gt) is a new hard drive with a 8 or 16mb cache. just too boost the performance a little extra.
My next one is a new HSF, some fans then another 80GB HDD.