OT: People With Radeon 8500 Cards

[old.VooVoo]

Hi

right i just need some opinions from people who got this card or even had this card. I've been contemplating buying one for about 2 months now and since i have a new job i can probably pick on up next week, i just want some views on how the card performs (non of this shitty Benchmarking which i find doesn't really rate a card, best way to rate a card is to play it in many games and see how it handles plus get other people opinions)

The model i'm currently looking at is the 8500 64 DRR version, but i'm wondering is it worth waiting an extra month and getting there 8500 128 DDR version? (it works out to i think about £80 to £100 extra)

Also what it like in games? when i look for a card i go for one that can have everything on max, all sliders to full (if there is any) playing in 1024x768x32 and it stays nice and smooth. (which i think is around 40-50fps) i figure if it can do that then its a card well worth having in my machine. I also go for quality rather than speed when choosing as well.

This is the current games playing list on my PC

IWAR2 : Edge of Chaos (started playing again since i got FF2 Sidewinder Joy )
IL2 Sturmovik
GTA3 (Just brought it )
Commanche 4 (great with FF2 Joy)
DAoC

I have plenty more in my collection i play every now and again, but thats my playing list for the last couple of weeks.

Has anyone got those games and uses a 8500? does it handle well sticking everything on full?

Reason i ask all this is, £200 (£300ish if i go for 128mg Version i think) is alot of money to spend on 1 piece of hardware and i just want to know i'm making a worthwhile purchase and not wasting my money.

I know i'm going to get a few people saying i should go out and buy a Geforce card, but i don't know i just taken a liking to the 8500.



Current card in machine : Radeon 7000/VE 64mg SDRAM (not a bad card manages to handle itself ok in most games, this is my temporary solution till i get decent high spec card)

Best card i've ever had : Matrox G400 MAX (i spent £180 on this card and it lasted me 2 years and i still have it in my spares box, this card to me was really good, i wasn't dissappointed at it plus i felt i'd not wasted £180, the Quality graphics it produced were very impressive (thanks to its pretty impressive Bump Mapping) to behonest i think it still gives better quality looking output to the card i'm using now, but it just doesn't have the RAM or the extra gizmos (couldn't be bothered to list them all) to keep it running at 1024x768 with alot of detail, its 2 years old and i think i needed a change)


Again thanks for reading and i hope you don't mind responding.

Adam

 

[Trem]

I've got a Radeon 8500 64ddr and I am really pleased with it, I think Itchy has got the cheaper version and he is pleased with his as well. Tomorrow never comes matey buy it now I tell's ya.

 

[old.Laico]

I have a Geforce4MX 440 (Damn, the 8500 is only 30€ more now, when I purchased the GF4 it was 100€), and Im a computer and network technician. I like to test all the new 3d cards, and the 8500 is a very good one. You will not regret its purchase. Wait that month and get the 128MB, this card will move very well Doom3 when its available .

 

[old.VooVoo]

Thanks for the replys guys, at least thats 2 posittve repsonces heh, but i figured it was a good card just needed 2nd opinions to behonest, and i prolly will end up waiting for 128mg version unless it drops in price next week =)

 

[cleeve]

My advice is wait

has anyone seen the screenies of doom3 and UT2003?

I simply cannot see any of the current crop of cards dealing with this as it stands. Then add in the factor that the latest matrox offering is looking as tho it is going to spank both the radeon and the GF4 into submission and that Nvidia are already looking at releasing Another chipset -


Me I was going to buy a new card this month. Now I am determined to wait until I see the release of Doom3. I have a Radeon 64 DDR and its fine in all the games I play atm so I can afford to wait tbh.,

Revor

 

[old.ViU]

Radeon 8500 and GF4 (not MX) will probatly do Doom III very well.. one of the reasons why they look so nice is that ID is using all these nice special effects (like bumpmapping and such).

 

[old.Sami]

Everything I've tried has worked just perfectly with my Radeon 8500, except DAoC. I got the annoying FPS bug.. my fps slows down over time.

ATM, I think the 8500 is the most technically advanced mainstream gfx card you can get and it seems that the game developers are starting to take more and more advantage of the features the Radeon has (most important, pixel shader and truform). Image quality is excellent, comparable to the Matrox you mentioned and works like a dream with 2 monitors.

 

[old.VooVoo]

Well UT 2003 is due out in a couple months with Doom3 few months after, and i'll think you'll find the cards out at hte moment well handle them pretty well, considering as far as i know half the features on the 8500, GF3 and GF4 arn't even fully used to there potential at the moment, with Microsoft set to release DX9 soon thats when these cards will show there true colours since it has all the added feature support over the DX8.1

I'd wait but when it comes to game releases i could be here till xmas waiting, granted by then newer cards will be out but they'll have price tags of like £350+ which i won't spend on a G/card.

I think the chances are i'll pick up a 8500 then come Xmas see whats out and trade it in for a newer model. Plus i'd like to see what Matrox do for a dedicated gaming card (which they havn't actually done yet, the G400 seires was the closest they got)
and like youd said LegoPirate Nvidia are releasing a new chip towards end of year, that also goes for ATi, theres a new card from them comming out as well, Radeon 10000 (its a little news breif in a PC mag, i think its PCzone if i remeber rightly)

But again my thanks for all your input, i need to change this cardi have now and 8500 looks like best bet and then trade it in (if its needed) around xmas.

 

[old.Andromalius]

Go ahead. And Trueform feature is a nice bonus. I'm harassing the SWG boards to know if it will be supported héhé.

Beware:

The ATI brand is clocked at both 250 & 275 MHZ, and OEMs get the 250 only. So get a boxed one if you don't have to save money. I don't know about the Hercules and other brands specs, though.

 

[Damon_D]

I think the 8500 look's fine, but im getting me a new GF4 Ti 4600 in 2 week's, thinks its a better card, but also more expensive, well what ever you do dont I say dont buy an mx card , they suck vad, if you want a new GF4 card wait for the 4200 that should be out anyday now, and is not that expensive

 

[old.VooVoo]

htanks again i just have the pain of waiting till next friday to get paid =(

 

[old.Impressive Hulk]

I brought a G400 MAX when it was New and my brother still uses it and although now its not the best performer the quality is great and its the most compatible trouble free card ive ever come accross....

On a side not the new matrox card Matrox Parhelia-512

looks like a bit of a beast, but havnt read or even heard anyone else mention it....