I am trying to decide which card to get. I only play Sins and Oblivion on this computer. I currently have a Radeon x1600 512mb Pro video card with a 2.8ghz Intel Pentium 4 Prescott with HT and 1 gig of ram. I know I need more ram but I'm wanting the video card more since its pretty much a clean install of XP and no extras. I don't run a lot of programs in the background either. My card is showing its age and since my brother is getting me a video card for my birthday I have picked two that are in the same price range. I just don't know if I should go nVidia or ATI on this one.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127399
ati Radeon HD 4670 or nVidia 9600GT in either 512mb or 1gb flavor
Graphics card have changed a lot since I last bought one, I feel lost.
Stay the hell away from nVidia. I have the 9600M and they used (are are still using) something in their chips that go bad at realitivly low temps. Desktops have better cooling than laptops but I wouldn't take my chances. Here's a read for you:
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1137385/nvidia-bad-bumps-worse
I have the 9600GT (512 MB) with Vista and i've had no trouble with it. I don't have Oblivion, but it is able to run Fallout 3 on high settings with some AA and AF with respectable framerates. I've heard that it doesn't handle high resolutions well, but since my displays native resolution is only 1366*768, i wouldn't know
I actually just bought myself An ati Radeon HD 4670 A few days ago with an extra Gig of RAM putting me at 2.5 gigs and I run Demigod, and WoW with no problem what so ever.
I would say go with the 9600 just cause of "the way its meant to be played", the cards are tuned for good performance in a lot of games while ATI cards have to make up for that with raw power. You said you only play Oblivion and Sins, so there isnt too much of a difference for you in those games, but ATI does not have a very good reputation with driver support.
It really is a personal choice, and my opinion might be a little biased since i am an nvidia fanboy, but i'd go with a 1gb card. Also, does your motherboard support SLI or Crossfire? Two of either of those cards would give pretty decent perfofmance even at higher resolutions
nVidia hasn't exactly done themselves proud in that regard over the past couple of years either. Both are lower-mid range cards, so it probably doesn't make a tremendous difference (the Geforce has a bit higher pixel fill, the Radeon has a bit higher texture fill).
Can't remeber where I read it but......seems like a pair of 4670s (?) in crossfire mode outperforms a single 4890 for like 1/2 the price.........
when it comes to Ati vs nVidia it really just comes down to a matter of personal preference. they both have fanboys who swear the other is garbage. yrs ago nVidia had the edge, but today is really doesn't matter, both are good quality high perf cards. I personally have always used nVidia and never had a problem, I know others just the opposite with Ati.
it really doesn't matter which card of the 2 you get as your CPU is at least 3yr old technology (possibly 5yrs old) , which means you go to high end on the video and its just a waste of money, with your CPU and 1G of RAM you will never use the full power of either of those 2 cards your looking at.
your current video card is 5 Major generations old (Radeon X1K series (this is you), Radeon 9 series, Radeon HD 2000, Radeon HD 3000, Radeon HD 4000 Series (what your looking at) you'd do just fine looking at the Ati 2000 or 3000 series and possibly saving a little money and be closer to being able to harness the full power of the card.
make sure of the version of your video slot (AGP/PCIe) with a 3-5yr old CPU I have to ask how old is the system? it is possible that you have an AGP slot not a PCIe slot, my guess (without more info) is that your system was built at about the time PCIe was becoming the standard but AGP was still available and widely used, I cannot say which slot your on without knowing the board your running (or the computer manufac and model) because Intel has used the same CPU socket for 5yrs and the video card series you have is available in both AGP and PCIe.
as well the 2 cards you are looking at are PCIe 2.0, which I am positive your system is not even if you have a PCIe slot, your board is probably not new enough (based on your CPU) to be running a PCIe 2.0 bus, another reason you will never use the full potential of either card you are looking at, your video bus will only be running at half what those cards are capable of running at, they will still run just not as fast as they are designed to run.
for the rest of you responding...come on guys, don't just jump on the wagon of offering your opinion on the card someone should get, take a look at the facts of the system they are running, tell them the truth about weather or not the system can use or is even compatible with what the OP is looking for. give them the information they NEED to make an educated decision instead of leading them into something that may not even be compatible such as if he is actually AGP rather than PCIe, his CPU raises the question of how old the system and infact possibly dates it to a time when AGP was still available and used on mainboards. anyone who knows what they are talking about should key to that. I know that some of you do know what your talking about but failed to pay attention to that or chose to ignore it.
I believe the Pro is AGP....I have an old Pentium D that has the X1600 PCIE and I'm fairly certain it's version1
I would go with Nvidia. Better driver support than ATI.
Since I'm often in the can't afford new stuff boat I try not to do this. If he wants just a video card let him get one. No need to tell him to upgrade the whole system. That's almost disrespectful.
What blackurtain said.
What card you get really doesnt matter if your system cant use all of its power.
Also, what resolution do you play at? it may be possible to get a cheaper card that will perform just as good at your gaming resolution (if it is low enough).
And if your slot is an AGP slot, well that sort of sucks, it might be better to save up for a new motherboard in that case.
If you do have a PCI-E slot though, you can probably get by for awhile with a new card, and some more RAM, and possibly a new CPU sometime in the future. But its up to you, newer games will strain the system a lot more, so if you plan to get a new game anytime soon you should consider that.
One last thing to consider: Bottlenecks. Pentium processors are showing their age in recent days and it will probably hold back whatever card you get. 1gb of RAM is also a potential bottleneck and that may impact performance.
Remember to update the drivers for EVERYTHING in your rig too, especially motherboard and video card drivers.
Good luck
Okay, everyone thanks for posting, but blackcurtian hit the nail on the head with this and raised a lot of issues that I hadn't, issues that needed to be raised. I do have a PCIe card, its only 1.0 which I know takes the fun out of a PCIe 2.0 card, but I can always upgrade the mobo later. I've already upgraded the video card before and The PC itself is nearing five years old but it does what I want so the age of the PC isn't that big of a deal to me. But it is a big deal now that I am looking to upgrade it piece by piece. Now that I know which cards I won't even be able to use at its full potential, what should I look for now?
If you shop Newegg you can get into a dual core setup with 4 GB of RAM and a new hard drive and DVD burner and video card for around $250 shipped if you know what to get.
my mobo only supports PCIe not the 2.0, however with the 1gig Hd4850 even though its PCIe 2.0 my comp can still devower sins and fallout 3. So whta im saying is you might as well get the higher upgrade because it can still be used in your comp and then again when you upgrade something else. But first check your power supply to make sure you have enough cables and watts for the upgrade.
I'm not telling him to upgrade the whole system, I had a few questions and was bringing to his attention that his system will not allow him to use the full potential of those cards and that he would be better served saving a little cash and getting a card from one of the previous series, little cheaper and more balanced to his system.
if your looking to upgrade the whole thing piece by piece over the next say year, go ahead and get one of the cards your looking at, you won't harness its full power now but you will after you finish upgrading.
if your not going to be upgrading within the next yr then look at something in the Ati HD 3000 series, or the nVidia 8000 series either will do your games fine.
lastly, I can't believe I didn't mention this before I'm always harping about the PSU, as Kaltes mentioned, check your power supply. for either of those cards your going to need a minimum 400-450W power supply with the proper connectors. another thing to consider is that power supplies age and lose power output ability. if your power supply is the original (ie 5yrs old) it needs to be replaced, they like to die between the 3-5 year mark, if it dies or is under powered (300-350W) it will fry that new video card due to lack of power. DO NOT put a new video card from the HD 3000 or 4000 series or nVidia 8000-9000 series in that tower with a 5yr old power supply, even if the PSU is a 400-450W I would still replace it due to its age.
The power supply itself is 550w and is about 3 years old so I will look into checking it out. Is there a software way to do it?
If you can get yourself a 4770, its got a smaller chip (40nm i think?) so consumes a lot less power, puts out less heat and gives performance almost rivalling the 4850/250gts...and its cheaper too
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