mcgrom
12-07-2007 07:59:49
I have my new build all complete besides a Video card. I want ATI Radeon 512mb priced under $250 can anyone help me out on what the best one would be?
dmorris68
12-07-2007 08:20:56
What is the purpose of this build? If for gaming (and you wanting a 512MB card leads me to believe so), why ATI? For the price range Nvidia is currently the gaming performance leader by a long shot, and the best card ATI makes falls way behind Nvidia's 2nd best card.
mcgrom
12-07-2007 08:54:50
It's for a gaming rig yes. And I will not go with Nvidia to save my soul sorry to many personal issues with them.
dmorris68
12-07-2007 10:54:45
[quote04a0f17ac8="mcgrom"]It's for a gaming rig yes. And I will not go with Nvidia to save my soul sorry to many personal issues with them.[/quote04a0f17ac8]
Ah, an ATI fanboy. ) Okay, but you're missing out. I don't believe much in brand loyalty when it comes to PC components -- I go with the best technology available at the time. I used to be all about AMD, now I'm back to Intel. I used to be all about Nvidia, until ATI smoked the crappy 5xxx series with the 9800 generation, at which time I bought ATI. But for 2 years now, ATI has been left in the dust, so I'm back with Nvidia and very happy. There is just no comparison, especially on the high end. If ATI were to crawl back on top, I'd buy them again, but I think they're so far behind at this point they may never catch up again. They really wasted their opportunity, despite having AMD's resources at their disposal now. It has been rumored that AMD will take ATI out of the add-in videocard arms race and turn it into an integrated GPU company, to be used in developing the so-called meta-processors that combine a CPU and a GPU on one chip. That's probably why you won't see ATI back on top.
I've owned about a dozen each of recent vintage Nvidia and ATI cards, and I can't say I've had an real "problems" with either one. They're both good companies who make good products, it's just that ATI has fallen way behind and still provides no competition and no compelling advantages over Nvidia, with the possible exception of HD playback. Videocard technology is judged first & foremost on gaming performance and features, and ATI just can't touch Nvidia.
ATI's most recent release was a bitter disappointment to those that were hoping for them to catch up to, let alone pass, Nvidia. The 2900 XT barely beats the midrange 8800GTS in benchmarks, and can't even approach the GTX or Ultra. If I had to buy ATI today that would be the card I'd buy, but it's a bit above your $250 target range, so I'm afraid I don't have any further suggestions for you. shrug
mcgrom
12-07-2007 11:54:49
Ok well perhaps you have made me a converter and I may be willing try NVIDiA one more time whats your suggestions for my original specs? I am honestly looking to be able to run ageofconan full settings when it comes out as I know it will be highly graphics intensive. So any Suggestions?
dmorris68
12-07-2007 13:20:21
A $250 DX10 card with at least 512MB is going to be impossible to find, at least at the moment.
The cheapest DX10 Nvidia card with 640MB of RAM (they don't make a 512MB model in the 8xxx series) is the 8800GTS and will run you $350-$400.
http//computers.pricegrabber.com/video-cards/p/5/form_keyword=8800gts+640mb/rd=1
They have an 8600 line that supports DX10, with performance somewhat on-par with the 7900 series, but it tops out at 256MB so I didn't bother pricing one for you. Plus it has only a 128-bit memory interface (the 8800GTS has a 320-bit interface, the GTX/Ultra has a 384-bit interface). If you're that concerned about gaming performance, and especially with the new DX10 games, I wouldn't scrimp quite that much. My suggestion would be to save a few more pennies and spring for the 8800GTS 640MB model at least.
BTW here's the 8xxx series lineup, with specs
http//www.nvidia.com/page/geforce8.html