Need a new vid card and other bits

[Xtro]

Ello

Due to Planetside smacking me in the face and shouting "UPGRADE YOU TIGHT BAST" I'm going to upgrade my PC a bit but don't have wads of cash.

At present I have:

Athlon XP 1700
256mb DDR Ram
Asus thingy quite good cost £150 a year ago mobo (ie. cant remember model )
Asus Geforce 2 GTS

Up until very recently all my games ran fine and I don't believe in spending wadges of cash on upgrading anymore but my PC is choking a bit on Planetside.

I was thinking of buying a new HD, some RAM and a new vid card.

For the HD I've got my eye on a Matrox -
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=40968

For RAM I think I'm just going to get another 256 for now and maybe another 512 next month.

Now, the graphics card. Until recently I always always thought good vid card = Gerforce. I was going to get a GF4 ti something until a few people have told me about the Radeons. 9500 Pro looks ok, decent price and I did a search on here where people seemed to like it.

Anyway I thought about this:
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=46544

I saw Jonty said you should go PRO, Sapphire any good?

So - are ATI trouncing nvidia now? A friend said he ditched his GF4 for a Radeon and noticed a big improvement.

After upgrading vid card and ram but not mobo/cpu do you think I'll see a decent boost in performance?

Sorry but I must be getting old, Geforce 2 GTS only seems to have been out a few minutes and be the mutts nuts to me .

All opinions welcome and thanks for reading.

Cheers.

 

[Jonty]

Hi xtro

Sorry, just a flying post (that, and the fact that Embattle will hit me if I write too much ).

Basically, in terms of performance, ATi are the way to go. They're sorting out their driver issues, which at last mean their cards are genuinely ahead of the game. Considering your system, a Radeon 9500 Pro looks ideal (getting too powerful a graphics card, such as the 9800 Pro, would simply cause a bottleeck in your system). Sapphire are a very good make, although their bundles are usually minimal/non-existent. As I may have mentioned before, 9500 Pros (becareful not to order a non-Pro, the prices are alarmingly similar) have always been hard to get hold of. If you can't find Sapphire's version, and ATi's own are hard to come by, then the UK's own Connect3D are supposed to be a good alternative (or even Tyan).

Alternatively you could go for a GeForce 4, which are dropping in price, but to be honest, it's not really worth it. The GeForce FX is cool, but compared to ATi, nVidia's cards don't really cut it. That said, updated GeForce FXs (namely the Nv35) are due for release next month which should (at last) pull nVidia ahead of ATi (at least for the short term).

Sorry for rambling on (especially after I said I wouldn't ). In short, ATi are the way to go. A 9500 pro would be ideal. If not, then a 9600 Pro would offer good performance, just not quite as good as a 9500 Pro (ATi have somewhat thrown their naming conventions out of the window ).

Kind Regards

 

[Testin da Cable]

Xtro I have a Sapphire 9700pro and it totally rocks, especially in higher rezs with bells and whistles like AA and filtering full on.
I'm not too chuffed with the catalyst driver suite though. I expect that a 9500(pro) or 9000 will rock slightly less but still enough to giev wood.

before this I had a leadtec gF4600ti which, to me, had oodles of raw power and nvidia's cool(er than ati) drivers. also a cool card tbh. shouldn't they be getting lower pricing now that the competition has gotten it's arse off the ground? also the newer nvidia models are out or nearly so. have no idea what the pricing is doing though.

 

[Jonty]

Hi Xtro

• Connect3D ~ £139.83 (Free Delivery) from The Overclocking Store.
• Sapphire ~ £143.94 (+P&P) from Overclockers UK

Feel free to look around yourself, of course, but I believe these are about the cheapest prices available. You may also wish to consider a Radeon 9700, although there is somewhat of a big price jump. If you do go for the 9500, be sure to double check it is a 'Pro' version. I know I keep saying this, but the two versions are often identically packaged and have only a few pounds difference in price, even the the 'Pro' version is far more powerful.

Kind Regards

 

[Xtro]

I'm sold lads, thanks

Seems like I picked a good 'un and no mistake then. Cheers for the heads up, I am still in shock that I'll be buying ATi tho lol.

The thought of PS running with this now does indeed give me wood tdc

oh and Jonty, carry on being a star mate, you can ramble all day for me!

Thanks again

 

[Xtro]

woop cheers Jonty, I live near the OC store, totally forgot about em ffs! Thanks for the links and your time

 

[Wij]

Buy me one. I have no money. K. Thx.

 

[Testin da Cable]

I need a housecleaner wij. I'll pay good money!

 

[bodhi]

If you get a 9500 Pro remember it can be modded (in software) to the level of a 9700.

 

[Xtro]

Originally posted by bodhi
If you get a 9500 Pro remember it can be modded (in software) to the level of a 9700.

ooh very nice, cheers bods

 

[Jonty]

I've got a feeling this could provoke people, but it has to be said. Yes, the 9500 Pro can be overclocked (both by 'standard' overclocking and by enabling hardware components disabled by ATi's software). However, not all cards overclock that well, and some utilities void the warranty immediately. Add to that the fact that with each major release of the Catalyst driver suite, ATi take active steps to prevent previous overclocking utilities from working, which means overclocking procedures often have to be run again when developers find a new way to accomplish the same goals.

I'm not saying don't overclock the card, since ATi's cards can be very good for this. I'm just saying think about it long and hard before you do anything, and be sure to read articles, tutorials etc. on the topic.

Choose your path wisely, Obi Xtro

Kind Regards

 

[Xtro]

hehe you are too kind

don't worry mate I'm technically gimped so won't oc it, but its nice to know it CAN be done .

Cheers Jonts

 

[Wij]

Originally posted by Testin da Cable
I need a housecleaner wij. I'll pay good money!

And pay for my flight over every night ?

I'll wear a French Maid outfit !

 

[nath]

Go for a WD 80gb caviar with 8 whole mbs of cache.

It's a bit more pricey, but worth it I think.

 

[Testin da Cable]

you'll have to live in my cellar wijlet

Xtro, as nath says, that WD drive is very yummy. TDCorp says it's good!

 

[silverthorn]

Guys, on the same basis as Xtro I'm gonna beef my machine up to a 9500Pro as well but I'm not sure about the power supply bit

(not too hot on the old internal workings of the machine )

How can I find out what kind of power supply my machine has and if I need to upgrade it to handle the graphics card?

Sorry for being such a n00b

 

[xane]

I am considering an ATi as the next video card I buy, I currently have a GeForce 4 Ti 4200, how does the 9500 Pro compare to that and does it include DirectX 9 compatibility ?

(I've asked this before but can't be arsed to find the thread).

 

[silverthorn]

If I remember right Xane the 9000 series cards (or the 9500, 9600, etc.. anyway) are all DX9.0 ready and compatible and far outperform the GF4s...

 

[Jonty]

Hello

Silverthorn

Your best bet is to check your PC manufacturer's website, emailing them is you can't find the information necessary. All you need to say, if you do contact them, is that you have system xyz and you would like to know what kind of Power Supply Unit (PSU) it uses, and more specifically, what the output rating in Watts is.

If the PSU is rated as 300W or over, then your system should be just fine, depending on the exact kind of setup you have. Connecting the card to the PSU is a simple job, instructions about which are usually provided (if not, ATi has instructions). It should be noted that the Radeon 9500 and above cards do require a 300W (350W in some instances) PSU or above, else the card will not function correctly.

xane

The 9500 Pro should beat the GeForce 4 Ti 4200 in just about every test you care to throw at it. In most instances, the performance will be close to a 4400 Ti card. In fact, when AA and AF are turned on the 9500 Pro can even compete with a 4600 Ti. A brief summary of the specifications is available on ATi's 9500 Pro specifications page. As you rightly point out, the card, despite its price bracket, does feature full DirectX9 support.

Kind Regards

 

[silverthorn]

N1 Jonty... cheers

 

[Jonty]

Update

silverthorn ~ I forgot to mention, if all else fails you can simply open up your PC case and look at the PSU itself. By law there should be a label on it detailing the output rating, although it may be together with a lot of other seemingly complex numbers. Just look for a round number in the hundreds with a 'W' as a suffix (e.g. 250W, 300W etc).

If your PSU isn't powerful enough, then upgrading it shouldn't be too much of a problem (unless it's a Dell ).

xane ~ Although there are many reviews out there, the Firingsquad have a couple which may be of use. The first covers ATi's own version of the 9500 Pro soon after it came out. The second is much more recent and details Tyan's late entry into the market. The latter review, unlike the first, tends to analyse the card against other 9500 Pros, rather than nVidia's efforts as in the former review.

Kind Regards

 

[bodhi]

Just a word of warning, don't go looking for a Built By ATi card, as they aren't sold outside the states, which is unfortunate, as the BBA cards tend to be amongst the best.

 

[Jonty]

Originally posted by bodhi
Just a word of warning, don't go looking for a Built By ATi card, as they aren't sold outside the states, which is unfortunate, as the BBA cards tend to be amongst the best.

You're absolutely right Thankfully, I believe Sapphire produce ATi's cards, meaning the two can, at times, be almost identical (apart from the software and bundles etc). That said, Sapphire's cards tend to be in fairly short supply.

Kind Regards

 

[nath]

Here's a question.

I'm on an amd 1ghz (tbird), 512mbs ram and a gayforce 2 gts. I want to upgrade cheaply, and don't fancy spending all that cash on new mobo/cpu/ram/graphics card. What's the best card I could get in my 1ghz before the bottlenecking makes the money spent on the card a waste?

 

[Gekul]

I'm in almost exactly the same position as nath.
What are your opinions on the ATi 9000pro (64mb)? Is there anything better at around the 50-70 range?
Currently using an ATi 32mb ddr, which is getting on a bit

Planetside being my main reason for upgrading.

 

[Jonty]

Hi nath & Gekul

To be honest, it's hard to draw a line where a bottleneck will definitely occur. Some cards, like a 256Mb Radeon or GeForceFX card, undoubtedly will cause problems. Other cards, however, are not so clear cut.

As you've suggested Gekul, the Radeon 9000 may be a good choice in the short term. Add to that the GeForceFX 5200, which brings full DX9 compatibility, passively cooling (no fan, hence it's completely silent) all for under ~$100 (128Mb) / ~$69 (64Mb). Whether either of your systems could happily run a GeForce 4 Ti, or a Radeon 9500, I'm not sure. It's certainly a possibility, but I think you'd need to try and find people with such a setup and ask them how it handles in resource intensive applications (e.g. games and such).

I've had a quick look for some Planetside specifications, Gekul, and although I couldn't find any official specs, these did come back . . .

Planetside Specifications
CPU: 1.0 GHz (recommend 1.7Ghz); RAM: 512MB (possibly less...); Video card: GeForce2 with 64MB VRAM or above

Henceforth, it may be worth considering saving your money and upgrading your CPU too. If you can afford it, you could even start again and buy or build yourself a new system, putting towards the costs whatever you'd get from selling your old kit.

Sorry I cannot be of more assistance.

 

[Gekul]

Thanks for your help

This is following the normal run of events Consider upgrading outdated parts and end up with a completely new PC hehe. I'll shop around and see what I can find cheap, I won't be able to splash out like I did with my current one a few years back, but it's certainly time for an upgrade.
Thanks again.

 

[Happy Go Lucky]

Originally posted by nath
Here's a question.

I'm on an amd 1ghz (tbird), 512mbs ram and a gayforce 2 gts. I want to upgrade cheaply, and don't fancy spending all that cash on new mobo/cpu/ram/graphics card. What's the best card I could get in my 1ghz before the bottlenecking makes the money spent on the card a waste?

According to popular opinion a standard Geforce 3 I imagine they are quite cheap on ebay. If it was me I would still get a Geforce FX 5200 or the ati equivalent. I don't see it as a waste of money as you can re-use the card in another new machine. I don't see the point in buying old technology like the Geforce3.

 

[nath]

Thing is I'm not likely to upgrade my pc to less than 4 or 5 ghz. Hence the desire to spend a small amount on a card that wont be wasted on my system.

 

[xane]

Originally posted by nath
What's the best card I could get in my 1ghz before the bottlenecking makes the money spent on the card a waste?

TBH "bottleneck" is the wrong word, as there is'nt one, only the other way round, like a AMD 3000+ with a GeForce 2, would you see a "bottleneck".

Basically, an underpowered video card simply means you are not getting the full benefit, but if you intend to upgrade the CPU later (or move the card to a more powerful machine) the money is not exactly "wasted"