First Time nVidia Buyer.

K

KlutZ

Limp Gawd
Joined
Feb 25, 2003
Messages
303
I need a video card for my second computer, so I thought that I would upgrade the card in my main computer a little at the same time, and put the old card in there. I have always used ATI video cards, made by ATI, for some reason. I would like to try an nVidia card this time. Since nVidia don't make thir own cards, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a brand name card for me. I'm looking for something in the samee price range as the 9600 pro. I've been looking at the 5700's.
So my questions are:

What name brands should I stay away from? As I said, I've always just got the made by ATI cards.
Will I benefit much, if any, by getting 256mb instead of 128mb RAM?

My current system:

Abit NF7-S v2
Corsair XMS 512mb
XP 2500+

If it matters.
 
KlutZ said:
I need a video card for my second computer, so I thought that I would upgrade the card in my main computer a little at the same time, and put the old card in there. I have always used ATI video cards, made by ATI, for some reason. I would like to try an nVidia card this time. Since nVidia don't make thir own cards, I was wondering if anyone can recommend a brand name card for me. I'm looking for something in the samee price range as the 9600 pro. I've been looking at the 5700's.
So my questions are:

What name brands should I stay away from? As I said, I've always just got the made by ATI cards.
Will I benefit much, if any, by getting 256mb instead of 128mb RAM?

My current system:

Abit NF7-S v2
Corsair XMS 512mb
XP 2500+

If it matters.
Click to expand...

Look at the 6600GT. It's around $210 and is faster than the 9800XT, plus you get all of the GeForce 6-series goodies like Shader Model 3 and OpenEXR.

ATI doesn't actually manufacture "built by ATI" cards -- PowerColor does. Remember, the actual GPU for both NVIDIA and ATI is manufactured by TSMC (some NVIDIA chips are manufactured by IBM, but the 6600GT is TSMC all the way)

I would recommend MSI; I've had good luck with their products before. Just be sure you get an AGP card -- there are more PCIe 6600GTs floating around than there are AGP 6600GTs.


I've had good luck with MSI cards, but YMMV.
 
If it were me, I'd stick with something around a 9600XT, it will outperform a 5700. But it you insist on nVidia, XFX, BFG Tech, and MSI look to be good brands.
 
I'd avoid a 5xxx series Nvidia card, they seem to have to many issues that later on in life, you'll be going "damn!" too often :)

For about $150 or so you could get a Nv6600 and be pretty happy with it. Good card at a decent price. And IMHO, I don't think you'll find any big benefit to going 128meg vs 256meg at that price range. By the time your video card would benefit by having more ram, the 128-bit mem interfaces will negate it (which is what most cards at that price range will have). If the price is right though, do it.

As far as manufacturers, I'll have to stand aside for the rest of the [H} to chime in. I've only had PNY's for Nvidia cards, and they've served me well. From what I can tell most manufacturers stick to a reference design so they should in theory be about the same. But fan and cooling design can play a big part, and that's where companies usually differ.
 
Nexnecis said:
IMHO, I don't think you'll find any big benefit to going 128meg vs 256meg at that price range. By the time your video card would benefit by having more ram, the 128-bit mem interfaces will negate it
Click to expand...
Agreed, how much are you willing to spent on this? The cheapest 5700U listed on Pricewatch is $193 which about enough to get a much better 6600GT instead which is what you should get anyways.

Manufactures I like are MSI, BFG, PNY, Evga is pretty good (I believe they build NV's reference cards as well).
 
KlutZ said:
Will I benefit much, if any, by getting 256mb instead of 128mb RAM?
Click to expand...

You really won't benefit at all by getting 256mb of RAM over 128mb.

There are only a couple games out today that even use the extra 128mb and if you have a card any less powerful than a 9800xt/6800nu then you can't run even those games at high enough texture detail settings to use the extra RAM anyway (and even those cards it's not really worthwhile to use it).


Also, before you settle on a card please take a look at this thread:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=813955&page=43&pp=20

It lists 3dmark 05 results from hundreds of users of this forum. If you look near the end of the list you will see the average results for 5700's is 528 while the average for 9600 pro's is 1414 (yes I know there aren't a lot of results from these cards, but the slowest 9600 is still faster than the fastest 5700). Since 3dmark05 is supposed to be kind of a "forward" looking benchmark these results indicate that your not going to do well with upcoming games using a 5700 (I could go into the details of why as well, but I think this is enough basic info for now).
 
It also depends upon which games you will be playing. HL2 is a killer app for ATI while Doom3 is the same for nVidia.
 
ohnnyj said:
It also depends upon which games you will be playing. HL2 is a killer app for ATI while Doom3 is the same for nVidia.
Click to expand...

True, but at the price range of a 9600pro, $100 to $110, Nvidia doesn't have a single offering that can beat a 9600pro in any game other than Doom 3, and even at Doom 3 the 9600pro will probably equal or maybe even exceed the performance of an FX5700 non-ultra (Results vary based on CPU, Mobo, and RAM at that point).
 
Wow, $100 - $110? I haven't priced cards in a bit , so...


Get The 9600pro.
 
To be more clear, I don't want to spend too much on this because within a year or so I'll be upgrading my entire system. I figure that any of the more recent 128mb cards will be better than my current Radeon 9000 64mb.
 
I bought a MSI 6600 for ~$130 off of newegg.com and it runs great. Its performance is about equal to the 9800Pro, ( 5100 in 3dmark03) so not to shabby for the price. Seems to be the obvious choice.
 
I'll vouche for Leadtek, damn good cards. If you could squeeze it though, get a 6600GT

If not, the 9600Pro/XT is the next step down.
 
If you like to game even a moderate amount, the 6600GT is the best card. Others have already suggested the main manufacturers for these cards.

A 6600GT will likely have a good resale value when you come to upgrade everything later. Or it will bring your second machine to a more recent spec.
 
To the earlier post, Saphire makes the Built By ATi cards. At least the bulk of them. In the sub $150 market ATi rules. The 9600Pro would probably be your best best. Up from that is the 6600 and 6600GT. Any of the FX series Nvidia cards aren't that great. ATi owned them at pretty much every price point.

I'd avoid the MSI brand of video card too. You can do better for the same money. I've had MSI quality issues over the years and I replace alot of MSI motherboards in the tech shop I work in.

Not to say thier video cards are the same way, but I've heard enough horror stories about them. I'd go with eVGA, BFG, Leadtek, Asus, or even PNY. I've had fairly good luck with them.
 
Well it really depends on how long you want this upgrade to last. If you want a card that will last you 6+ monthes get the 6600 gt. Its fast as hell and its around the $200 range. It outperforms the 9800 xt in most tests, and leaves the 9800 pro in the dust. My advice is to skip the last gen of cards, I had the good fortune :rolleyes: of owning a Fx 5200 nu for 8 monthes.

Heres some review:

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1716&page=2

http://www.bit-tech.net/review/371/

Price at Newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-080&depa=1

The xfx card is pretty generic, the same as the nvidia example board. It has a nice bundle. So in my opinion the 6600 gt agp is the way to go.


-Tryqus
 
Leadtek is a good brand. The 6600GT is nice. EVGA is the "Official" maker of Nvidia cards so you can check them out.

Even though the XFX cards have had there problems. They are the only 6600GTs i've found with dual DVI unputs, which is nice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top