The best graphics card that up to £140 will buy

[Andrzej]

...play the waiting game ad nauseum...

Agreed - but there are times when it is worthwhile

For example, can you imagine being the poor sod who bought a Ti500/Ti4600 around the time that the 9700 pro launched ?

Same goes for the early 6800 products with SLi

9700 Pro had support for DX9 and the 6800 gave (limited) SM3 capability

In either case, you were allowed to wear a 'cat wot got the cheese' smile if you chose wisely


Whenever new technology is launched - there is a price premium to be 'first to own'

Also, there are always issues with the chip itself

i.e. hotspots, weird/missing functionality etc etc etc

Second generation products mean that the engineering team have time to iron out the issues - clear up hotspots - improve the package/cooling...

...and the driver team also have a chance to 'do their dark magic'

If you are seriously considering spending 'sensible money' - they why wouldn't you get a DX10 capable card ?

OK - the games themselves may take 6-18 months before they start arriving...

...but at least you are ready !

PLUS... both ATI and nVidia have dual-card technology - so you can easily upgrade later - as long as both cards are 'similar and from the same generation'

Buy now - for that money - and you should choose the X1950 pro because it will be the best card for today's games

Waiting for March-April means that you can choose between ATI and nVidia's next-generation DX10 offers

Personally, I know what I would do !

[Acidmax]

I like Banias detailed responses!

[kalniel]

And some of the points are quite right

However, some are not so good

If you are seriously considering spending 'sensible money' - they why wouldn't you get a DX10 capable card ?

OK - the games themselves may take 6-18 months before they start arriving...

...but at least you are ready !

What do you gain from 'being ready'? Nothing except a hole in your wallet! Better to buy the card when you actually need it - then you'll get the same thing for much lower cost - or for the same money you'll get something much better.

PLUS... both ATI and nVidia have dual-card technology - so you can easily upgrade later - as long as both cards are 'similar and from the same generation'

But you gain nothing from doing this - it's not cost effective to double up, and you'll miss out on features from newer cards. Far better to get the best single card you can.

So for example we're not going to see any games use DX10 till at least the middle of next year - it might even be wiser to wait longer for DX10 because you need to buy Vista etc. as well. So it's not really a case of just waiting till march-april - it's more like August. In that situation it's better to get the x1950pro now, then by the time that you can actually use DX10 you'll be able to get a decent card with enough of a saving that it'll be worth the x1950pro outlay - *plus* you get to play games now

[Andrzej]

...I was hoping people could recommend to me...

You're paying for all this advice - right ? Cos Kalniel, Adidmax & co have invoices at the ready

...some...

Cheeky!

...what do you gain from 'being ready'...

Plenty if you want to play DX10 games and there isn't a non-DX10 version of that game around

...a hole in your wallet...

Also not so... if they follow my advice and wait for the re-spin products to arrive between CeBIT and Computex

...for the same money you'll get something much better...

Depends if 'much better' includes cards that can't run DX10 games under Vista
If that is not the situation (as I stated), then - for sure - you need to buy something like an X1950 Pro - no question as it seems to arsemaster both the 7600GT and 7900GS

...it's not cost effective to double up...

Doh! Course it is ! You need to remember that the card bought now will depreciate at a tremendous rate of knots... which means that when you want to buy the second card in 6-12 months time - eBay etc will be loaded with them. If you were talking about buying 2 cards now - then you are correct... but you cannot overestimate the attractiveness of being able to add another card for peanuts next December

...we're not going to see any games use DX10 till at least the middle of next year...

DX10 games will launch all through 2007 - and ramp up even harder next year
PLUS you will have existing games (mentioning no names cos I has access to NDA data ) with DX10 patches when they refresh as early as February

...waiting til August...

You don't need to wait that long - nVidia will move from 90nm to 80nm and prices will tumble - PLUS there will be more competition from the ATI offerings - all of which will give you tons more bang for your buck

[YOYOtech - Mark]

Hi all we now have the following ATI X1950pro graphic cards instock and ready to ship.....


they are the :

Sapphire x1950pro - 512mb version

Sapphire x1950pro - 256mb version

thanks

[Andrzej]

Two of these @ £116 inc vat each...

...or buy a single card for £232 ?


Over a spread of the LATEST game benchmarks run on a 1280x1024 screen with IQ set way up (all cool stuff switched on - 4xAA and 16xAF)...

...which one delivers the best sustained frame rates and fastest response ?

[Cozwin]

wow welldone yoyotech that 1950 is definetly the best priced ive seen beats ebuyer overclockers and scan so hats off to you.

[YOYOtech - CK]

best priced ive seen

Thanks Cozwin, but we do not aim to be the cheapest.
What we try to do is have good stock on the coolest products and have them on display in our main showroom in Tottenham Court Road.
If you are ever in London, please feel free to pop in and have a browse!

[moogle]

in Tottenham Court Road.
If you are ever in London, please feel free to pop in and have a browse!

finally a pc hardware retailer that isn't based up north

[torched_geek]

finally a pc hardware retailer that isn't based up north

Shame they aren't based up north. <3 Yorkshire.

[moogle]

Shame they aren't based up north. <3 Yorkshire.

gotta keep one for us

[raverbaby]

i think from what everybody is saying i'd go for the X1950Pro if i wanted to buy right this minute now, but also from what people have said i think i'll wait for the DX10 graphics cards to come down to respectable prices which should be by the time the Pro Evo 7 comes out on the pc

[snedger]

Thanks Cozwin, but we do not aim to be the cheapest.
What we try to do is have good stock on the coolest products and have them on display in our main showroom in Tottenham Court Road.
If you are ever in London, please feel free to pop in and have a browse!

my god, I swore I'd never go back to 'nam!

[Andrzej]

...never go back...

You should go and have a look at their 'bargain bucket' - you can get a lot for $15

[YOYOtech - CK]

We do have a bargain bucket, but there is no smut (or chicken) on offer and some of the products are less than $15

[Andrzej]

...bargain bucket... ...no chicken...

I only shopped at YOYOTech because I thought you had a KFC bargain bucket lucky dip on offer - now I find that you have eaten all the spicy wings - no more YYT for me