Info on the latest Graphics Card Race

[omnislash124]

Hello all, I need some basic information between the two large graphics card companies (nVidia and ATI) So therefore, I'm asking the comparison between Radeon Lines of Cards vs the GeForce Line of Cards. Which are "Supposed" to match up with each other, and which card is the best deal? My Specs are in my Signature, please reply soon. Thanks.

 

[Clements]

The best deal lies with how much you're willing to spend. For performance comparisons, check a hardware review site like Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/

6600GT is a good deal for mid-range (it's faster than a Radeon 9800 Pro), and would suit your kind of processor. No point getting a card too fast when your CPU will bottleneck it badly.

 

[omnislash124]

Ok, a second part to that question....I'm probably gettin it off newegg.com, since it looks like a pretty good deal....also, I need to ask about the companies I see.....For Radeon, I see companies like Power Color and Sapphire and for GeForce, it's Apollo, PNY, or MSI. Is there anything I should look out for in these companies and probably many others unlisted?

EDIT: 6600GT is a bit on the expensive side, I was lookin at either Radeon 9600 or GeForce 5700. What's the comparison between 6600 and 5700 for GeForce?

 

[Clements]

For NVIDIA, BFG is a good choice since they come factory overclocked, have a lifetime warranty and do not cost an arm and a leg. Other decent ones include Leadtek, MSI, Gigabyte, Galaxy and Asus.

 

[omnislash124]

If Leadtek is good, then i think I just found a decent priced GeForce 6600....$113 for a GeForce 6600 at Newegg....Also, which matters more, Memory Clock, Core Clock, Memory Interface or Memory Size?

 

[Clements]

Sounds like a good choice to me, you'll be very happy with it.

Memory size matters the least, core/mem clocks equal importance but not the most important factor, and memory type is most important (i.e. 128-bit or 256-bit, DDR or GDDR3). Of course Pixel Pipelines is most important of all.

As an example, a 6600GT and a 6800 comparison. These cards are around a similar price.

A 6600GT has a core clock of 500MHz and memory clocked at 1GHz, both clocks are higher than a 6800 which is clocked at just 325/700. However, the 6800 is the faster card overall, since it's memory is 256-bit (as opposed to the 6600GT's 128-bit only interface) and it has four more pixel piplines and two more vertex units.

Memory size only really counts in high resolutions, especially 1600x1200 where 256MB is useful. 128MB is good enough up to 1280x1024. Having more memory will not boost your frame rate at a lower resolution at all.

EDIT: 6600GT is a bit on the expensive side, I was lookin at either Radeon 9600 or GeForce 5700. What's the comparison between 6600 and 5700 for GeForce?

6600 is about 2 to 3 times faster than a 5700.

 

[omnislash124]

Ok, when you say bottleneck, that means that the computer will slow down the card right? So if I got a 6800 right now, it would be completely worthless since a 6600 would provide the same? Also, PCI-Express and AGP. Which is faster? I think the $113 GeForce 6600 was PCI-Express. Is PCI-E the newer version that I probably don't have? and how does PCI (not PCI-E) compare with AGP?

EDIT: Also, what is roughly the Radeon equivilent of these GeForce Cards....namely the 5700, 6600, 6800?

EDIT AGAIN: Also, I see a promising card from Pine Technologies. Is that a good company or should I keep looking for a better deal.....?

 

[Clements]

Ok, when you say bottleneck, that means that the computer will slow down the card right? So if I got a 6800 right now, it would be completely worthless since a 6600 would provide the same?

Right.

Also, PCI-Express and AGP. Which is faster? I think the $113 GeForce 6600 was PCI-Express. Is PCI-E the newer version that I probably don't have?

Yep, you don't have PCI-E. PCI-E is on paper faster and better, but in practice there is no difference for video cards.

and how does PCI (not PCI-E) compare with AGP?

Ordinary PCI is greatly slower than AGP. Few PCI cards are released now (if any) and the ones that are already around are slow video cards.

EDIT: Also, what is roughly the Radeon equivilent of these GeForce Cards....namely the 5700, 6600, 6800?

Roughly:

FX 5700 - Radeon X600 Pro/9600 Pro
6600 - Between Radeon X600 XT/9600 XT and Radeon X700 Pro/9700 Pro
6800 - Radeon X800.

EDIT AGAIN: Also, I see a promising card from Pine Technologies. Is that a good company or should I keep looking for a better deal.....?

By Pine do you mean XFX? They are an OK company.

 

[omnislash124]

I think I found one from newegg.com that's a GeForce 6600, here's the specs...

Model
Brand Leadtek
Model A6600 GT TDH
Chipset
GPU Geforce 6600GT
Core clock 500MHz
PixelPipelines 8
Memory
Memory Clock 1000MHz
Memory Size 128MB
Memory Interface 128-bit
Memory Type GDDR3
3D API
DirectX DirectX 9
OpenGL OpenGL 1.5
Interface
Interface AGP 4X/8X
Ports
D-SUB 1
DVI 1
TV-Out S-Video/Composite Out
VIVO No
TV Tuner No
General
RAMDAC 400 MHz
Max Resolution 2048x1536@85Hz
SLI Supported No
Accessories HDTV Cable
DVI to VGA Adapter
Power Cable
Manual
Drivers CD
Operating Systems Supported Windows 2000/XP
System Requirements Intel Pentium III, AMD Athlon or compatible CPU
64MB System Memory or above
CD-ROM
Requires AGP 8x slot compliant motherboard
Features
Features NVIDIA CineFX 3.0 Technology
Powers the next generation of cinematic realism. Full support for Microsoft DirectX 9.0 Shader Model 3.0 enables stunning and complex special effects. Next-generation shader architecture delivers faster and smoother gameplay.
64-Bit Texture Filtering and Blending
Based on the OpenEXR technology from Industrial Light and Magic, NVIDIA's 64-bit texture implementation sets new standards for image clarity and quality through floating point capabilities in shading, filtering, texturing, and blending.
NVIDIA UltraShadow II Technology
Enhances the performance of bleeding-edge games, like id Software's Doom III, that feature complex scenes with multiple light sources and objects. Second-generation technology delivers more than 4X the shadow processing power over the previous generation.
Intellisample 3.0
The industry's fastest antialiasing delivers ultra-realistic visuals, with no jagged edges, at lightning-fast speeds. Visual quality is taken to new heights through a new rotated grid sampling pattern.
Vertex Shaders 3.0
Pixel Shaders 3.0

....For $200, it seems like a really good deal....

 

[ScottJC]

well it certainly beats an s3. I say go for it...

/me pets his x800pro which is still better (it better be.. it cost £300)

 

[omnislash124]

Well, Everybody loves a revival....so here goes....

Now that my old computer is collecting dust in the corner (the 1800+ one) and a Brand New Dell Dimension 4700 has appeared on my desk....time for some more speculation. I have attached Everest's Rundown of my system. From a glance, you can see my GeForce 6600GT has found a new home in my other computer (Same as this one, but a bit older). As opposed to this computer. The other computer has an AGP slot while this computer makes do with a PCI-Express slot. Damn...

So basically....I may be getting a new graphics card again....except, now that I see GeForce's line of cards, I'd like to see Radeon's line of Mid-Range Cards. with Roughly the same specs as my 6600GT. Suggestions? Especially on the Suffixes?

 

[dragon_rider]

Now, suppose I wanted to upgrade my videocard in the near-future; I want to know something: what videocard would best fit the games I play (Splinter Cell series, N64/PSX emulators, etc.)?

CPU: AMD Sempron 3000+ (2.03GHz)
Video: eVGA GeForce FX 5700 LE 256MB DDR400 w/AGP 8x
Driver version: 71.89
RAM: 512MB DDR SDRAM PC2100
OS: WinXP Service Pack 2

 

[omnislash124]

I think your current system would suffice for N64/PSX Emulation, but not sure about Splinter Cell. My 1800+ could run PSX and N64 perfectly without any card over the S3 ProSavage.

 

[dragon_rider]

What card would you recommend as an upgrade?

 

[omnislash124]

Well, I can only recommend a 6600GT since that's the only one I've ever used, though it's roughly equivilent to an X700 or X600 for Radeon from what I've heard and those prices vary. But regardless, all of the above seem like overkill for PSX and N64 Emulation.

 

[flow``]

i really wouldnt go for a radeon.. at least not this gen. nvidia pretty much has the advantage... but heres how things break down

lowend
-
6600/6600gt
x800
6800/6800gt/x850
-
highend

best bet.. wait a month for the 7800gtx's (though they're pci-e only atm) to become more available and let the 6600gt's drop to the floor

but if you really need something now, put out for a 6600gt

btw, if you dont want your old pc i might be interested in it

 

[omnislash124]

You mean my PC? The one that died? I might sell it... If anybody can fix a motherboard, or replace the motherboard, there's still some stuff in there that's salvagable.

Anyways, what's the closest thing to a 6600GT on Radeon's Side?

 

[dragon_rider]

Just how well would games like Splinter Cell and Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow run on a GeForce 6600GT (in FPS)? BTW, I know how to score one of these for $164! Saw it at www.newegg.com.

 

[omnislash124]

I got mine from Newegg.com and it just so happens that mine came with Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow. So here's FRAPS' benchmark utility info....

FPS
48
51
51
47
48
48
46
49
52
52
49
48
51
52
50
41
38
36
37
40
41
41
39
42
42
40
30
43
33
38
39
36
41
43
38
36
37
43
39
37
42
51
52
52
57
50
52
50
53
57
56
52
44
38
40
44
45
48
47
47
49
48
46
45
42
35
32
32
31
32
30
32
31
32
32
31
32
32
30
32
31
30
30
30
30
31
31
30
30
31
31
35
41
39
32
32
31
32
32
33
31
33
33
33
34
28
32
32
32
32
28
30
41
53
55
59
57
51
54
51

Frames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg
4837, 120000, 26, 60, 40.308

BTW, mine was the Leadtek A6600GT I believe it's at $151 USD right now. I got mine at $191. Good Deal. and these specs are: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz (NO HT) GeForce 6600GT, 256 MB DDR RAM (PC3200).

 

[dragon_rider]

Hmmm....where can I get that benchmark utility that you speak of? FRAPS sounds like a mighty fine piece of software. I want to see how Pandora Tomorrow would run (in FPS).