Please recommend a 3d FX Card...

[mjones_tour03]

Hi,

Can anyone recommend a decent quality gaming 3d graphics card for roughly GBP£100 (USD$160) or thereabouts?

I have a brand new Dell Dimension 4600/ P4-2.66GHz with 8xAGP, 512mb RAM, Intel 865P chipset with support for Dual Channel DDR - can provide more specs if needed.

( Any comment on this fault also welcome... I currently have an older MSI nVidia 128MB ti4400 card which continuously crashes and hangs my new Dell when running games such as MS Flight Sim 2004 at high resolutions and with additional effects switched on. It often crashes in windows and even fouls up at bios screen after a reboot following such a crash cold reboot temporarily fixes it).

Any advice appreciated.

Mark.

[Skeps]

For that price range IMO I think the best card going at the moment is the Radeon 9600XT. I have one in my Shuttle and am made up with it

[mjones_tour03]

Thanks, I will consider that - I am currently reading a review that says the ATI 9800Pro is where its at, but a bit pricey at £175. Same review highly rates the 9600XT though.

Few other questions - what does 128 vs 256 do for me? I am just looking through the 9-million various cards available at scan.co.uk and see these in the 9600XT range...

Asus 128Mb ATI A9600XT-TVD Tv/DVI - £137.18
Hercules 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600XT Tv/DVI - £142.18
Sapphire ATI 256Mb Radeon 9600 XT Lite Retail x8 AGP DDR/DVI/TV Out - £121.89

256 is cheaper??? but then also "lite" whatever that means!?!?!?

Talk about confusing.

[mjones_tour03]

Oops, and this one also...
128Mb ATI Radeon 9600 XT Retail x8 AGP DDR/DVI/TV Out - £113.98

Why all the different brands for seemingly the same product? Hercules, Radeon, Sapphire, Asus, etc, etc.

[Allen]

Stay clear of the 256MB graphics cards, they don't use the extra memory yet and also the memory on these cards are often slower.

You should be able to get a 9600XT for less than those prices, 9800PRO's are about £140-160 on special deals.

:edit: Found these:

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601577
http://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=122901&cks=PRL

Lite Retail is just everything without the software and in a smaller box iirc. There have been plenty of threads about them!

[Allen]

Oops, and this one also...
128Mb ATI Radeon 9600 XT Retail x8 AGP DDR/DVI/TV Out - £113.98

Why all the different brands for seemingly the same product? Hercules, Radeon, Sapphire, Asus, etc, etc.

It's called competition! It's a great thing!

Oh, and Radeon is the name of the chipset that ATI manufacture. Hercules, Sapphire, Asus etc. are the companies that produce the cards with these chipsets on. The one you mention above is possibly a generic card made by ATI.

I did read somewhere though that all cards sold by ATI are made by Sapphire anyway..... Can't remember if that was a proven fact.

[mjones_tour03]

I hear you - competition obviously. I don't mean to sound totally naive, it just seems that the cards are identical but for the manufacturers badge on them. I always thought the card manufacturer was unique (e.g. ATI made ATI cards and Matrox made Matrox, etc) Now it seems to have gone the same way as say, Dell, HP, Asus all containing Intel Motherboards and Processors, but you don't buy the PC from Intel.

Is there any advantage over buying one rather than another (support, driver updates, etc)? It seems from the above, you reckon that Sapphire is the the one to choose then?

PS. Thanks for all the help!

[Spud1]

i wouldnt reccomend getting anything less than a 9800pro atm, the new cores are just round the corner so the 9800pros will soon be in the position that the 9600xts are now - mid range

[mjones_tour03]

Thanks, I think I will spend a bit more and get the 9800pro - annoyingly I could have had one added to my Dell for 80 quid at build time!!

[Allen]

Well, I have an Asus 9600XT and would recommend it to anyone! It's a fantastic little card for it's price!

But, if I'd had the money I would've gone for a 9800PRO at the time. And Sapphire would've been my choice.

[Allen]

i wouldnt reccomend getting anything less than a 9800pro atm, the new cores are just round the corner so the 9800pros will soon be in the position that the 9600xts are now - mid range

Maybe, but that's only because of the new cards. I certainly wouldn't class the 9600XT as mid-range. It performs as well as a 9800SE! I might want a 9800PRO/XT, but I won't need to be upgrading in the near future, that's for sure.

[mjones_tour03]

Sorry, one last thing - do I need to be concerned about power supply or anything? In troubleshooting the problems I have had with my nVidia ti4400 (&*&%$$!!!), many folk have asked me about my power supply. Though the relevance of that clearly eludes me!!

According to Dell, I have apparently have
-250watt
-Input Voltage: 100 to 120V at 60 Hz; or 200 to 240 V at 50 Hz
-Output Wattage: 250W maximum continuous
-Output Voltage: 3.3V, 5V, and 12V 5VFP, -5V, -12V DC
-Heat Dissipation: 853 BTU/hour (fully loaded computer without monitor)

[Allen]

http://web6.scan.co.uk/Products/Info.asp?WPID=59491 will solve all your problems with power, if you have or get any.

Just do a search for CWT and PSU on this forum, you'll see what I mean!

[mjones_tour03]

OK, thanks again - here's hoping I won't have any problem with it - Dell do supply 9800 pro's (optionally) in this box after all!!

[mjones_tour03]

Interesting footnote at hte end of this - http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=601577

ADDITIONAL POWER CONNECTION REQUIREMENTS

The Radeon 9800 Pro must be connected to the computer? power supply to meet its performance and high-speed memory requirements.
In order to supply the ATI Graphics Accelerator card with the necessary power, we have included the Power Extension Cable.
Use the Power Extension Cable to connect the Radeon 9800Pro to the computer? hard Drive power connector.

1. Remove the power cable from the hard drive.
2. Connect the 4-pin connector of the Power Extension Cable to the Radeon 9800 Pro power connector.
3. Connect the Power Extension Cable to the power supply connector.
4. Connect the Power Extension Cable to the Hard Drive connector.