9600XT vs. 4600Ti

hoodrich · Dec 12, 2003

Hi guys i wonder if you can help me out before i squander my hard earned pennies on a new card. I've recently updated my system and am looking for a reasonably priced card to finish things off. Heres the spec im gonna be running ( when it all turns up! )

Intel D865 PERLL motherboard ( Dual Channel DDR )
P4 2.8Ghz 800fsb cpu
512mb DDR 400
400W PSU

My current graphics card is the Creative Labs Geforce 4 4600 Titanium. This has served me well over the last year having upgraded from the Geforce 2 GTS. Now having spent all this cash on good foundations and fast memory i cant afford the new 9800XT ( as much as i would love it ). Can you guys tell me what you think about the difference between the 9600XT and the 4600ti? The 4600ti is only x4 AGP i think, will i benefit from the x8 AGP of the 9600XT? Also the geforce4 has 128mb memory but the radeon has 256mb. Having read the toms guides it states this wont make much difference. I will be using the machine as games performance intensive ( for the likes of Dues Ex 2 ) so i dont want the old card slowing things down if it isnt up to it.

Let me know what you all think - id appreciate it!

Cheers lads

Crashman · Dec 12, 2003

8x AGP won't offer you a performance improvement yet, they release these standards before they need them so that they're well established when the rest of the hardware catches up.

The 9600XT will probably give you a slight increase in framerates over your Ti4600. The real advantage will be when you run DX9 games (far more eye candy with DX9 hardware support), as well as less performance loss enabling AA and AF.

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TheGreatGrapeApe · Dec 13, 2003

R9600XT IS better than the GF4ti 4600, but is it worth spend money for that small diff? Not in my opinion.

I would recommend at least something with the power of an R9800non-pro as an upgrade. Even for game like Deus Ex:IW, I would think you may get some more features with the R9600P, but I think you'd be able to enjoy those better with a more powerful card. The R9600XT isn't far off in price from the R9800non-pro (you don't need an R9800XT).

But that's just my opinion.

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hoodrich · Dec 13, 2003

Thanks for the info guys i cant believe how quick you got back to me! Having taken your views into consideration i think i will go for the 9800pro 128mb as it seems to be killing the competion on the graphics benchmarks. I found one on ebay for about 200 gold so i think i will make a purchase. Real appreciate you helping me out lads you just saved me wasting loads of cash!

Top Men

TheGreatGrapeApe · Dec 13, 2003

By gold, I hope that's an expression (instead of dollars), as Powercolor have this line called the R9XXXGOLD, which is actually a non-pro. Just letting you know incase that's the one you're getting. But still it would be better than an R9600XT in most cases.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-

Coyote · Dec 13, 2003

ATM I have the use of an ATI 9600Pro and Ti4200. I see little to no difference between the two. I was going to upgrade to a 9800Pro. After seeing no diff. in the first two I've decided to wait til next year. I suggest you do the same. By next year there will more (or real) DX9 games and it might be worth it.

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512MB PC2700
ABIT G4 Ti4200 OTES 64MB
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TheGreatGrapeApe · Dec 13, 2003

There are many DX9 games out there, and many more coming out every week. Not everyone needs to wait for HL2 and D]|[. He even specifically mentions the NEW Deus Ex: Invisible War. The R9800 series will substantially surpace the GF4ti. And if he's getting it at $200 that's a better price than anything he will get in the next generation to replace it, and he gets to use it now. Even waiting for the next gen cards to push down the price of an R9800 would only net a few dollars difference.
Even in just the (unreal) DX9 games out now the difference between the two is substantial. Even the DX8.1 titles will have more effects than the GF4ti.

Look at <A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTUy" target="_new">THIS review by [H]</A> it clearly shows the gulf in performance difference (the XT and PRO are very close in performance so this review is quite comparable)and the visual feature bonuses between DX8/DX8.1/DX9. The change from a Gf4ti to an R9600 would be minor (but with all the visual goodies) but the R9800 is a totally different story.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-

hoodrich · Dec 13, 2003

superb guys, great info. Just to clarify that i will be getting the ATi Radeon 9800pro 128mb for about £200. Im over in the UK so it looks like it will be shipped inclusive of this price from america. Im now a happy chappy.

Cheers Boys

Dave

addiarmadar · Dec 13, 2003

Unless you have a fancy for eye candy, AA or AS filtering, just keep your buck and stick with the ti4600. The 2 will do about the same under normal settings till you use the filterings. Could go for the 9800 pro 128mb. Look on pricewatch.com or ebay...

Barton 2500+ @ 2200mhz (10x220 vcore @ 1.775)
Asus A7N8X Dlx 440 FSB
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Segata 80gb SATA 8.5ms seek
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro(420/700)

TheGreatGrapeApe · Dec 13, 2003

Not even close. Look at the link above.

In Halo twice the FPS without the eye candy. With everything running PS2.0 it's faster once again. So WITH the eye candy it's still faster than the GF4ti without the eye candy. On average in all the games they looked at you get twice the FPS in games at the same settings, and none of the nasty dips to very low FPS, plus you can turn on the eye candy without going below the GF4's performance.

An upgrade to an R9600P would generally be a waste, but to an R9800P you will see significant difference in most current games.

£200 is a bit expensive to those of us used to pricegrabber and newegg, but Europe isn't privy to those deals, and from what I've seen it's not a bad price.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp (or internet account) ! - RED GREEN GA to SK :evil:

-NEW PIC IN THGC ALBUM-

addiarmadar · Dec 13, 2003

There is a 4500 point difference between those 2

Barton 2500+ @ 2200mhz (10x220 vcore @ 1.775)
Asus A7N8X Dlx 440 FSB
1gb Geil GD pc3500 Dual Channel (2-3-3-6)
Segata 80gb SATA 8.5ms seek
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro(420/700)

igor · Dec 13, 2003

i think, you compare wrong cards. thats no equal cards
9600xt much more developed and high tech card.
(beacuse of aa and af per.)
but i think 256mb 128bit card is not show a really per.
i advise you try to find a second hand 9700 pro...

hoodrich · Dec 13, 2003

thats the problem ya see im a massive fan of eye candy. I believe that if developers go to the great lengths to produce games that are visually stunning why should we play them at an average level. I appreciate that graphics dont really affect gameplay, but i think the possibility to run a smooth, fast, slick looking game lifts pc's above the "stuck in a rut" consoles like ps2 and xbox. I am gonna go with the 9800pro 128mb its only about £50 more than the 9600xt so what the hell - "heres to stunning visuals!"

Cheers

GeneticWeapon · Dec 14, 2003

"heres to stunning visuals!"

[terrance]Cheers Budday![/phillip]

Play MotoGP 2
<A HREF="http://server4.uploadit.org/files2/091203-Moto1.jpg" target="_new">http://server4.uploadit.org/files2/091203-Moto1.jpg</A>

HardWareBoss · Dec 14, 2003

Keep your TI4600. New vid cards due this spring.

hoodrich · Dec 14, 2003

I was really impressed with the reflection techniques they used on the wet tarmac. If that runs in real time with constant reflections then thats what im talking about. Also impressive is the textures shown in the Halflife 2 rooftop demonstration. Not forgeting the stunning visuals in the Deus Ex: Invisible War demo ( we have to wait for the full release over here) Damn these are exiting times!

"I know Kung Fu......... Show Me"

Ion · Dec 14, 2003

Too bad invisible war is gonna play like a console port due to its multi-platform development emphasis, it is still a good game just that it will miss some of finest points from original.

hoodrich · Dec 14, 2003

yeah i noticed the other day after playing the demo, that the whole skills system has been removed in favour of biomods ( which were more extensive in the first anyway! ) still cant diss it too much as the original is one of my favourite games in computing history and this one looks and plays damn good too.

"I know Kung Fu......... Show Me"

9600XT vs. 4600Ti

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