Final Choice, ATI, or Nvidia

[FSAR_GriffonJET]

Howdy,
Regarding my post on the 16th titled "What's wrong with this PC", I've done some more study, and still am not sure about which video card to get.

The rest of the system will be:
Pentium 4 2.8Ghz 800FSB
ASUS P4P8X (8XAGB, FSB800, DualDDR)
512 Ultra-Fast PC3200 DDR Memory
80GB 7200RPM 8mb Cache ATA 100
Cheap CD-Rom, Sound, Floppy, Modem.

I'm looking to purchase a video card for under $200, however the $150 range would be best.

After much research, the Nvidia FX5600 ultra doesn't seem to be that great of a card. I've always been interested in the GeForce 4 ti series of cards, particularly the ti4800, however, without dx9 support, I'm not sure if it would be the best choice for a FS2004 built machine.

Some people really support the new rise of ATI cards which seem to be on top of most benchmarks. However, perhaps the problems/performance of these cards doesn't match the benchmarks?

Therefore, here are my options:
ATI Radeon 9600 Pro $129
ATI Radeon 9600 XT $209 (worth $80 more than Pro?)
Geforce 4 ti4800SE $159 (somewhat tough to find these cards)
Nvidia 5600 ultra $149

If there is anything else out there in this price range, that you consider to compare with the above cards, please bring it forward!

I'll be upfront and say that I've never had a video card, I've only had onboard SIS graphics, so I'll probably be impressed with just about any of the newer cards. As long as I'm not bottlenecking the rest of my system, and running FS2004 at a decent rate, I'll be all right.

Another note of lesser importance, a monitor. I'm looking at 19 inch flat-screen monitors, Do Samsung/View Sonic have a good rep?

Thank-you to all who respond with advice!
Also, I don't mind doing some tuning once It's all up and running!!

Griff
"Flight Simulator Air Racing"

[dlaque123]

The 9600 xt and the geforce fx5700ultra are two good choices in your pricerange. Ive had a Geforce Ti 4600 for over a year now and it is a grat card but i want more eye candy so im upgrading, DX9 looks like a real step up. I cant help you with ATI but ive read here they are really good. I have a similar question posted, maybe we can both get a good answer.

Happy Flying

David

[jcmissionary]

Uh Oh..... I think I'll run for cover while I can.... ;-)

Any of those cards would be a good choice. Of course, being a happy ATI user, I'd go for the 9600 Pro (the 9600 XT isn't worth the markup compared to the Pro you mention).

You won't see much difference between that Ti4800 and the 5600 Ultra, at least when it comes to FS2004. I'd lean towards the 5600 Ultra, especially since it supports DX9. Be warned, though, that the GeForce FX series has shown mediocre DX9 performance, even with the new drivers. In theory, this would be a major selling point for ATI. However, since Nvidia still commands a significant market share, developers have been reluctant to make full DX9 games. And it looks to be that way for some time to come.

In the end, though, I imagine that you will get the same results no matter which card you go with. Good luck! :-)

http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/Forum_Banners/DF_BANNER_FORUM_HOWELL.jpg
PPL-ASEL
Instrument Rated
Grounded for Hypertension

P4 3.2 800 Mhz FSB, Asus P4C800-E Deluxe MoBo, 512 MB PC3200 DDR RAM, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/128 MB DDR RAM, SoundBlaster Audigy

[BGen_SirJohn]

Forget all of those! Get a Matrox! :D

[memphian]

Griff -

When I upgraded my video card, I tried 2 nVidia based cards, and neither would work with my system (Asus A7V600 with AMD 2400 and XP Pro). After fighting with both cards (and reinstalling everything), I tried an ATI card, which worked perfectly "out of the box".

Make sure that whatever way you go, you have an option to return the card you choose so that you don't have to pay "restocking fees" if it doesn't work with your system. And if you get a new card, and it doesn't seem to work, try some of the obvious troubleshooting steps. If they don't work, try another "brand" of video card (ATI vs. nVidia). I wasted a week going from one nVidia card to another, when if I had tried an ATI card, my problem would have been solved earlier.

NOTE: My comments are not a "slam" at nVidia products. I'm sure there are people who have problems with ATI cards, and have gone to nVidia. I am just suggesting that there are conflicts with mobos, CPU's, etc. that only occur with one brand of video card (or their drivers), and the problems are resolved by switching brands of cards.

Don

[christianholmes]

I just upgraded from a GeForce Ti 4600 to a 9800 Pro 128 and I've had awesome results. Everything runs great out of the box- with the Nvidia card I usually had to do tweaking. I haven't seen any of the problems people have reported with FS2004- just smokin' frame rates! I've had only one case where a game crashed (Call of duty demo) and it only happened once. My computer has had a few flaky circumstances, but none of them video related (I opted for only 512 megs of RAM and a faster processor) and I've had a few problems during paging- I need more RAM! That's my Christmas wish (When you have a kid, Christmas is focused on them, but I refuse to get socks and ties!).

Realistically, If I were you, I would save up for another month and see if you can get a 9800 pro. Here are some pricewatch prices-

Sapphire 9800 pro 128 - $302 (this is my card- excellent reviews too)

Leadtek GeForce 5900 FX 128 - $198

These are both good choices.

[FSAR_GriffonJET]

Howdy,
Thank-you all for your responses. I will consider what you have said. If anyone one else would like to add something in as well, that would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Griff

[cwr737]

If you work hard enough, you can probably find a Radeon 9700 Pro at ebay or similar in the $200 range. Just don't go to Comp USA - monster mark-ups.

You won't go wrong with the radeon series of cards.

[RyanbATC]

I'd go with the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro, it is way more speedier than the FX 5600, however the Ti4200 is a great card, but honestly, the newer radeons are fairly decent, just check out tomshardware.com, they usually seem nvidia biased, but still, the 9600 comes out on top. Find it at newegg.com for around that same price. EDIT, there's no need to bust out the moooola for a FX 5900 or radeon 9800, save some money and get an older, but still stable card.

[falcon16]

nVidia!!!! the best chipset!(at least for me), the Ti4200 $128 is a great and cheap GPU but if you want to spend $300 and the newest ATI GPU go ahead i dont blame i will want to have one of those too but i dont got the green;).

go to http://www.pricewatch.com/ and search for the ATI card you want there;)

Hope this helps...

[Tabs]

That price on the 9600XT is really high - the local computer parts store I work at has em for $185 and I've seen em for like $169 on newegg...

[TheFlightMan]

How much of a performance difference between a 9600 Pro and a 9600 XT or would a 9700 Pro resolve the issue. The 9700 Pro goes for about $250+.

TheFlightMan

[BGen_SirJohn]

Tech TV did a benchmark test on both the NVidia and ATI boards discussed in this thread.

You can find it at http://www.techtv.com/freshgear/products/story/0,23008,3576040,00.html

Their conclusion was that the ATI Raedon 9800XT has the best performance, and the 9600XT is the best overall value.

Despite what I said above about the Matrox cards, I'm going to get a 9200 (can't quite afford the 9600 right now, though I probably will get the Matrox card down the road, unless I can find a HDTV-capable video addon card for the Raedon...)

I'll let you know how it goes.