PC Graphics Cards for Gaming
23 June 2005, 03:27 PM
#1
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PC Graphics Cards for Gaming
At the moment I have a Radeon 9600 256 DDR Graphics Card and on some games like Half Life 2 while the grpahics are pretty good they do glitch some times.
Was wondering what else is better out there and what some people would recommend
Andy
Was wondering what else is better out there and what some people would recommend
Andy
23 June 2005, 03:30 PM
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I'm running a Radeon 256Mb X800XT PE in my desktop, and and NVidia 256Mb 6800 Ultra in my laptop. On both machines HL2 runs silky smooth at very high resolution / detail settings.
I think both companies are about to release a new range of cards, so it might be worth holding off for a little while and pick up one of the current range a little cheaper...
I think both companies are about to release a new range of cards, so it might be worth holding off for a little while and pick up one of the current range a little cheaper...
23 June 2005, 04:41 PM
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Originally Posted by Iain Young
500W I think, (it's been a while since I built the thing)
23 June 2005, 04:48 PM
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Possibly, but I've got it running 2 hard disks, 2 dvd drives (a reader and a writer), and sb live audigy platinum ex 2 card, plus a matrox RT.100 video editing card as well. It all suck a fair amount of juice, so if you've not got as much stuff installed you may be ok with 300w...
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23 June 2005, 05:04 PM
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Probably borderline, but you may get away with it. What cpu have you got? The higher power, the more juice they use.
Might be worth upgrading anyway. They're not that expensive and running a higher wattage psu at half power is better than running a lower wattage unit at max power (and will probably be cooler)...
Might be worth upgrading anyway. They're not that expensive and running a higher wattage psu at half power is better than running a lower wattage unit at max power (and will probably be cooler)...
23 June 2005, 05:38 PM
#13
Originally Posted by Iain Young
I think both companies are about to release a new range of cards, so it might be worth holding off for a little while and pick up one of the current range a little cheaper...
M
23 June 2005, 05:51 PM
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If you're considering the X800 (circa £150), for similar money, i would also consider the GF 6600GT PP Ultra 256MB
I would definately be investing in a bigger/better PSU as well.
The memory and VGA card run away with a fair chunk of your juice.
The Akasa Paxpower range starts around the £30 for a good 400W PSU. Excellent vfm
Paul
I would definately be investing in a bigger/better PSU as well.
The memory and VGA card run away with a fair chunk of your juice.
The Akasa Paxpower range starts around the £30 for a good 400W PSU. Excellent vfm
Paul
23 June 2005, 06:11 PM
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Hey guys, similar Q, but if you only had a choice of the following 2 which would you go for? My guess is the Radeon is the better?
256MB ATI RadeonX600
256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
256MB ATI RadeonX600
256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
23 June 2005, 09:14 PM
#17
If your buying a PSU, DO NOT confuse the rated W as being the only factor. I know of many, many cheap PSU's that are rated at say 500w and DO NOT sustain that on load (in fact no where near it). You get's what you pay for and any top end graphics card and decent processor will require a PROPER PSU..... these are not cheap, but if you want to run the higher rez and everything switched on, then you have to invest...... else it's artifactcity and lockupsville! 
Been there, done that and paid the price (many times )
Regards,
Shaun.
Been there, done that and paid the price (many times
)Regards,
Shaun.
23 June 2005, 09:24 PM
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Totally agree with Shaun.
We build with the Akasa PSU's on mid-range systems.
Anything with 2GB+ of RAM and PCI-e graphics and Antec Truepower PSU's are the weapon of choice.
Top end systems and I can 100% recommend the Antec 480W Neopower.
Easily copes with:
AMD FX-55
4GB Dual Channel RAM
2x 6800GT cards in SLi
Audigy ZS 7.1
4x Raptor SATA HDDs
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW
10x USB2.0
Various chassis fans & LED/neons
We build with the Akasa PSU's on mid-range systems.
Anything with 2GB+ of RAM and PCI-e graphics and Antec Truepower PSU's are the weapon of choice.
Top end systems and I can 100% recommend the Antec 480W Neopower.
Easily copes with:
AMD FX-55
4GB Dual Channel RAM
2x 6800GT cards in SLi
Audigy ZS 7.1
4x Raptor SATA HDDs
DVD-ROM
DVD-RW
10x USB2.0
Various chassis fans & LED/neons
24 June 2005, 09:24 AM
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Originally Posted by webmaster
If your buying a PSU, DO NOT confuse the rated W as being the only factor. I know of many, many cheap PSU's that are rated at say 500w and DO NOT sustain that on load (in fact no where near it). You get's what you pay for and any top end graphics card and decent processor will require a PROPER PSU..... these are not cheap, but if you want to run the higher rez and everything switched on, then you have to invest...... else it's artifactcity and lockupsville!
Been there, done that and paid the price (many times )
Regards,
Shaun.
Been there, done that and paid the price (many times
)Regards,
Shaun.
What would you recommend and where to get it from?
24 June 2005, 11:42 AM
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Originally Posted by ScoobyJawa
Hey guys, similar Q, but if you only had a choice of the following 2 which would you go for? My guess is the Radeon is the better?
256MB ATI RadeonX600
256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
256MB ATI RadeonX600
256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
Tony
24 June 2005, 03:10 PM
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Cheers Tony
I'm looking to upgrade before Call of Duty 2 comes out and I'm looking at a choice of two machines:
First:
Intel Pentium CPU Prescott 3.4GHz Hyper Threading 800MHz 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
2 x 160GB Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive 32x16x40x12x8x4x double layer
Leadtek LR2960 256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
6 in 1 MM Card Reader
Sound on board
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition
Second:
Intel Pentium 3.6GHz Processor with HT technology and 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
250GB SATA Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive
256MB ATI RadeonX600
11 in 1 MM Card Reader
Audigy Sound System
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition
I'm leaning towards the second which is a faster proc, the X600 and Audigy sound rather than built in. Its only £50 more. Its up for £549, sound a good price?
I'm looking to upgrade before Call of Duty 2 comes out and I'm looking at a choice of two machines:
First:
Intel Pentium CPU Prescott 3.4GHz Hyper Threading 800MHz 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
2 x 160GB Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive 32x16x40x12x8x4x double layer
Leadtek LR2960 256MB DDR nVIDIA FX5500 TVout
6 in 1 MM Card Reader
Sound on board
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition
Second:
Intel Pentium 3.6GHz Processor with HT technology and 1MB Cache
1024MB 400DDR Memory
250GB SATA Hard Drive
DVD-ROM
DVD-+RW Drive
256MB ATI RadeonX600
11 in 1 MM Card Reader
Audigy Sound System
Stereo speakers
Internal v90 Modem
USB ports, Firewire Port (IEEE1394)
Keyboard and mouse
Windows XP Home Edition
I'm leaning towards the second which is a faster proc, the X600 and Audigy sound rather than built in. Its only £50 more. Its up for £549, sound a good price?
24 June 2005, 03:44 PM
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Another thing is I've been looking into the X800 PE and there seems to be sevral companies that make it!?!? Saphire seems almost the most expensive is it the best of this chip set?
24 June 2005, 03:56 PM
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Originally Posted by T4molie
Another thing is I've been looking into the X800 PE and there seems to be sevral companies that make it!?!? Saphire seems almost the most expensive is it the best of this chip set?
You will find each of the brands have different cooling systems on the card though.
We have found that Asus, Gigabyte and Gainward tend to provide the best performance balanced with price.
Powercolor are a relatively new manufacturer that are determined to become the cheapest of them all. So far from the cards we've seen, they are coming up with the goods and are definately the keenest priced out there.
24 June 2005, 04:00 PM
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Originally Posted by T4molie
How expensive is Athlon 64 ?
24 June 2005, 04:24 PM
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Originally Posted by **************
I must be lucky on my psu then, I bought a cheapo 20 quid 500w psu off ebuyer a while ago and it runs a p4 2.4 512mb ram, 1 cdr/rw, 1 dvdr/rw, a 9800 pro and several usb devices all running at the same time and its never had any issues.
24 June 2005, 04:37 PM
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Originally Posted by Daz34
Comparable to the P4 it offers considerably better gaming performance for less money. You can get dual core cpus right now as well that work on most A64 motherboards.
If you want an all round machine, then the P4, if you just want a games machine, then the AMD, or if you just prefer one make over the other, pick one
What i will say about the X600 though, ensure you get the extreme version, that goes for any of the X series ATi cards, they are normally quicker, but to run them well you need 1gb and duel channel mother boards help also
Tony