I need a video card, what should i get

[Tagrineth]

And people here accuse me of trying to beat to death old topics.

Please tell me where else they've been caught RED HANDED~!111! as bad as nVidia? Hell, nVidia just got caught doing it AGAIN.

Two things wrong with those screenshots, and thats that they are too dark and textured to be able to see the seems, and also it isn't feasable to run every game at 16x AF.

OK... um... wha? The only games that don't run well at 16x AF are UT2003-based games, and even those run fine still.

What I am refering to specifically is the mipmap. An example is attached. Note how it has that corner - it forms a box like that around you. My nvidia cards form a perfect circle, less noticeable IMO, just looks more natural.

Turn the AF on? kthx, that MIP boundary is way too close, there can't possibly be any aniso in that screenshot.

And btw, you're also looking at bilinear filtering which the Radeon R2x0 cards have to use with aniso, which I agree is irritating. I don't have that problem on my 9500P.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Please tell me where else they've been caught RED HANDED~!111! as bad as nVidia? Hell, nVidia just got caught doing it AGAIN.

What are you talking about? They were cought red handed. How many more red hands do you need?

OK... um... wha? The only games that don't run well at 16x AF are UT2003-based games, and even those run fine still.

Depends on what card you have.

Turn the AF on? kthx, that MIP boundary is way too close, there can't possibly be any aniso in that screenshot.

AF is on, I am not sure if you can tell by the screenshot, but that is a cropped image.

And btw, you're also looking at bilinear filtering which the Radeon R2x0 cards have to use with aniso, which I agree is irritating. I don't have that problem on my 9500P.

Your honor, the defense rests.

 

[Tagrineth]

What are you talking about? They were cought red handed. How many more red hands do you need?

I'm asking for an example. And I think by now nVidia has racked up several pairs of red hands...

Depends on what card you have.

My 9500 Pro does its job well, and it's mid-range.

AF is on, I am not sure if you can tell by the screenshot, but that is a cropped image.

Cropped, heh, that's probably why it's hard to tell, anyway yeah it's bilinear so it's harder to tell.

Your honor, the defense rests.

Hey, I never said otherwise wrt R2x0, and that's obsolete anyway, that's like saying "well nVidia's AF is perfect because GeForce3 did full trilinear and biased to a very high degree of aniso at all times", even though the FX line clearly cuts corners.

 

[AlphaWolf]

I'm asking for an example. And I think by now nVidia has racked up several pairs of red hands...

Already gave an example, and we've beaten that horse to death several fold, its time to let him rest in peace.

Hey, I never said otherwise wrt R2x0, and that's obsolete anyway, that's like saying "well nVidia's AF is perfect because GeForce3 did full trilinear and biased to a very high degree of aniso at all times", even though the FX line clearly cuts corners.

Well, it works fine on my old geforce 2, and ATI still markets the r200 series.

 

[Tagrineth]

Oh, and AlphaWolf, if you don't believe me about the whole 'programmed around the bugs of the market leader' thing, read this thread.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Oh, and AlphaWolf, if you don't believe me about the whole 'programmed around the bugs of the market leader' thing, read this thread.

Hmm...problem is that thread is entirely speculation.

 

[Tagrineth]

Hmm...problem is that thread is entirely speculation.

No, it isn't. OpenGL Guy is an ATi driver engineer.

 

[AlphaWolf]

No, it isn't. OpenGL Guy is an ATi driver engineer.

Well...

The game is using stencil shadows, which are quite expensive, especially with a lot a lights around. Also, the game does some things that are not optimal for our HW/driver. We're still working with the developer to improve things.

Read, the drivers and hardware just don't work well with the game.

And from what I have read, matrox cards work fine with NWN. *ahem*

 

[CyrylTheWolf]

Here is my response to this thread. Since I just posted in another thread on virtually the same topic I will simply quote what I said in the other thread.

Thread:
Poll: which video card are the cheap and fast and good gfx

POST:

*nods*

I concur. The GeForceFX 5200 looks like the card to get right now. It's what I'm getting as soon as I can pull up the funds. (My onboard GF4 MX SUCKS. HORRIBLE memory bandwidth since it's using the system memory...)

But yeah... If it's a damn good card you want for the buck...then the GFFX 5200 is the ticket. Find yourself the MSI version if you can. MSI makes some of the best cards on the market right now. The benchmarks prove it.

Locally for me it's priced at a mere $130. I've seen it running in a lesser system than mine and it 0WNZ my system for graphics. (My system runs damn nice otherwise...)

I'm thinking of selling my server just to get it...it looked so damn good. Heh.. Just a little AMD K6-2 w/256MB PC100. Using it as my dialup server and domain controller. But I know that it'll pull me enough $$$ to get that card... (For which I will feel guilty for not using it to pay some bills later. *shrugs* Oh well.)

*waves two fingers in front of your face and speaks in a calm tone*

You WILL buy the GeForce FX 5200... *grins*

For original post:
http://www.emutalk.net/showthread.php?t=17148

 

[Tagrineth]

The FX 5200 is one of the worst cards you could buy today.

 

[AlphaWolf]

Heres something you all should try. Pick a price range that you are willing to spend on a card, then go to pricewatch.com, and index all cards available within that price range (yes, I know the issues with prices listed there, thats why I use the key word "index," think of pricewatch as more of a bluebook.)

Then, start googling around for reviews of all of those cards, and buy the one with the best overall rating in your preferred category (be it extra multimedia features, extra quality, or extra performance, because these are very distinctly different areas.)

If you are somebody who likes to live on the edge a bit, look around for reviews that may show which one of these you can overclock or modify a bit with a good (90% and up) success rate to do more than the card advertizes - trust me you can save a lot of money this way, and it works.

And yes, based on what I have read, the 5200 does suck. In fact, it's price index even suggests that it isn't worth as much as a card of its generation should be - bargain card or not.

 

[CyrylTheWolf]

Hmm... Based on the opinions of two competent individuals here - I digress. I suppose that it's more than likely that what I saw was just a really well-configured demo... After all it's not like the demo system I saw is subject to constant use and what I call "OS Fatigue". (Which is basically when your OS wears down with constant use.)

Well then since I'm now more than curious enough to ask myself... Tag, Alphawolf... The one thing I haven't kept up in as far as the parts market goes is the video cards. (Everyone right now knows that the FX 5900 is the awesome card right now...unless you're an ATI loyalist.) Why don't you educate me on this particular subject? It's time I caught up.

I'm looking for a card that's just a step above the bargain cards in performance. I suppose you could say that I'm after the mid-range card. I won't touch ATI cards due to their constant plague of driver issues. (They even had a recent release that killed several monitors belong to people in other forums that I frequent. Was a big issue I'm sure you know about.) I'm an NVIDIA guy. (Although I admit that their business practices of late have been...somewhat questionable...)

Yeah. I frequent pricewatch myself. And you're right, Alphawolf. They have some issues with the prices. But the numbers don't drift TOO far off so I don't worry so much about it. It's just enough to be annoying, though. *shrugs*

Summary:
NVIDIA + Mid-range price and performance + NO ATI.

Let's see what you two can concur on. It seems that Tag is an ATI person...so I wonder what she'll say about NVIDIA.

 

[AlphaWolf]

If you are wanting to spend in the $100-$150 range, I would suggest either the gfx5600 or the r9600. The r9600 would actually perform slightly better (but I am not sure about the 5600 ultra, it might do better, and it isn't much more), and it will cost you about $20 or so more, but like you mentioned with the drivers, I have issues with them myself. Both of these cards thrash the gfx5200 badly, however the 5200 is available in the $50-$100 range, if you want to go that much cheaper. All cards above the ones I mentioned in this post start going above the $200 range.

There really is no wrong card, its just all about what you want to spend and what you expect the card to be able to do, and IMO the r9600 and gfx5600 are overall well performing cards that aren't expensive.

 

[CyrylTheWolf]

That seems to be what I've found, actually. Your post is most definitely concurrent with my findings. That sounds like a really good deal, actually... There's only one problem, though. I've been finding that there may be a few general performance issues with the 5600 line. (STILL won't touch an ATI...) I guess you always have to take the good with the bad, though. But the specs are showing to be pretty good. Not to mention that the prices for a 5200 are ridiculous compared to what I've been finding online. I'm lookin' at one of the stores here selling the 5200 for $130. Screw that.

I might have to go ahead and have them get me an MSI 5600 though... Depends on what kind of deal they can give me. (I bargain hard...)

 

[Tagrineth]

I haven't had any problems with MY ATi card. :|

And people at Beyond3D are convinced that the monitor deaths had to be a fluke, because HOW THE FUCK CAN A VIDEO DRIVER KILL A CATHODE RAY TUBE? Prevailing theory is those monitors were probably wearing out anyway.

 

[AlphaWolf]

I haven't had any problems with MY ATi card. :|

And people at Beyond3D are convinced that the monitor deaths had to be a fluke, because HOW THE FUCK CAN A VIDEO DRIVER KILL A CATHODE RAY TUBE? Prevailing theory is those monitors were probably wearing out anyway.

It's ok tag...we all lose at least once in our life

I hope that the release of CS:CZ may inspire ATI to fix the driver issues with the HL engine though....b/c right now it's as if they simply don't care.

 

[jollyrancher]

Hey moderators! Is there any way to "sticky" one of these video card threads and merge the others into it... maybe call it "Fanboy Video Card Discussion" or something.

 

[blizz]

it's like smashing my head against a brickwall.

jolly: don't tell us how to do our jobs

 

[neoak]

ATi Problems with the HL engine? Nonsense. My 9800 Pro works flawlessly with CS.

But again, the card you buy is a personal reason. For example, after the fiasco that Nvidia pulled with the FX5800 (A jet fan inside my PC? No thanks.) i have been more inclined to ATi, as i did with nVidia in the 3dfx days. Now, nVidia has become the Intel of the GPUs, and that is something i don't like.

I bought (well, my dad bought) the 9800 Pro because of the opening of the first CompUSA here in PR. They gave the 9800 Pro at $100 each for two days...

I was thinking of buying a 9500 Pro or a 9600 XT anyway.

Again, is more of a personal taste.

 

[AlphaWolf]

ATi Problems with the HL engine? Nonsense.

The ATI fanboy forum, rage3d, doesn't agree.