In terms of AA and AF what will these buy me?

[otomo]

I have to make a choice between a r9600xt, a r9800pro in both 128mb(256bit memory) and 256mb(128bit memory) versions.

I know the 9800 is better than the 9600 but since I barely play pc games anymore, it`s just for n64 and psx emulation.


to round my question: with which radeon 9800 card will I be able to use the highest antialiasing/aniso settings or is the 9600xt enough for emulation for these consoles?

 

[smcd]

The 9600xt and 9800 pro should be around the same price? I'd go for the 9800 Pro. Currently I have a 9600 Pro (128MB) and it handles emulation stuff fine.

 

[fivefeet8]

HOw much is both of them?

Emulation requires more CPU power than anything else.

 

[Doomulation]

The fella wants more AA & AF, not speed. That's the gfx card's cue.

 

[Clements]

9800 Pro 256-bit > 9800 Pro/SE 128-bit > 9600 XT

If you are considering a 9800 Pro then I'd take a 6600 GT over any day of the week and they are about the same price.

My FX 5600 is enough for N64 emulation @ 1280x1024 with 4xAA+8xAF @60/60 with most plugins, and the 9600XT is faster by around 30-50%.

 

[ScottJC]

with a high end card, turning AA on has much less effect on performance, in fact on my current card i get the exact same framerate near enough, was playing ut2004 with it and it was beautiful etc.

However with n64 emulation as you know the n64 uses simple 3d (what you seen on screen, i know it isn't simple to produce it, thats where the CPU comes in, but the end result is that) so the antialias can be done with even the budget radeon/nvideo card(s).

 

[otomo]

9800 Pro 256-bit > 9800 Pro/SE 128-bit > 9600 XT

If you are considering a 9800 Pro then I'd take a 6600 GT over any day of the week and they are about the same price.

My FX 5600 is enough for N64 emulation @ 1280x1024 with 4xAA+8xAF @60/60 with most plugins, and the 9600XT is faster by around 30-50%.

yeah, I know, but they tend to be a little more expensive and I`ve heard they`re power hungry, I don`t want to end up having to upgrade the psu too.

I`m on a real tight budget for this so, I can *feel* a difference on $155 for the 9600xt and $190 for the 9800 pro.

may I ask, how`s your fx5600 for psx emulation?

 

[Clements]

The requirements for PSX emulation are lower than N64, so I have no problems with frame rate. My card at stock is about as fast as a 9500 non-pro and I have overclocked to about stock 9600 non-pro speeds. An 9600 XT therefore in theory would handle these effects easily at 12x10. 16x12 it may start to choke if filtering is enabled, that's where the 9800 Pro comes in with it's large memory bandwidth.

AGP 6600GTs do require one molex, but I don't know the power requirements of Radeons.

What is your current card btw? When upgrading I tend to look for a card with around double the pixel pipelines as what I had before so that I'm getting a good increase without paying too much. A Ti4200 to a FX5600 is like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade for example.

 

[otomo]

The requirements for PSX emulation are lower than N64, so I have no problems with frame rate. My card at stock is about as fast as a 9500 non-pro and I have overclocked to about stock 9600 non-pro speeds. An 9600 XT therefore in theory would handle these effects easily at 12x10. 16x12 it may start to choke if filtering is enabled, that's where the 9800 Pro comes in with it's large memory bandwidth.

AGP 6600GTs do require one molex, but I don't know the power requirements of Radeons.

What is your current card btw? When upgrading I tend to look for a card with around double the pixel pipelines as what I had before so that I'm getting a good increase without paying too much. A Ti4200 to a FX5600 is like a sidegrade rather than an upgrade for example.

!!!
have you tried pete`s ogl2 plugin? with all settings at full (more accurate emulation) my old ti4200 choked, right now this computer has a 440mx igp which surprisingly is barely slower at raw settings, obviously fsaa and af are out of the question.

r9800 series also requiere a molex, but I think the power requirements are lower, I`ve read around that 6600gts will demand a 450+ psu, hopefully I won`t have to do that by getting a r9800pro, but on the plus side I`ll be able to fit a fanless cooler later on, which I wouldn`t on the 6600gt because of the hsi heatsink.