evaluating vid cards, looking for advice

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Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

I'm in the market for a new video card and was wondering about a few
things.
i'm an Nvidia whore, so it's going to be a GF card, firstly, but i'm
currently looking at the 5900XT since it's at a reasonable price point
(for an expensive card), but i'm wondering if there's a huge
difference between this and the 5950 ultra?
and what the heck is the difference between it and the 5900SE?

i understand that Nvidia will be coming out with some new cards soon,
and i wasn't sure if i should wait and see what they release (although
i understand the argument that you can wait forever for every new
thing and never end up buying anything).
are they coming out with something great and inexpensive, or is the
same old thing, faster/better but more expensive......?

128 Vs. 256. any real difference in mem sizes? i've got a P4 2.8 w 1
gig pc2700 mem and winxp pro, so the machine should be fast enough for
non GPU processing.

and lastly are there any particular brands that are more reliable than
others? i don't need any goodies with the card, so bundles are out,
and i usually do my buying from newegg.

any help would be great, thanks ahead!

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Rimsey Mimblerod wrote:
> I'm in the market for a new video card and was wondering about a few
> things.
> i'm an Nvidia whore, so it's going to be a GF card, firstly, but i'm
> currently looking at the 5900XT since it's at a reasonable price point
> (for an expensive card), but i'm wondering if there's a huge
> difference between this and the 5950 ultra?
> and what the heck is the difference between it and the 5900SE?

The 5900XT is a great card. The MSI and Albatron versions of it can be
overclocked comfortably to a speed that can stack up to the 5950 and
9800Pro. Not only that, but they have Video In too.

> i understand that Nvidia will be coming out with some new cards soon,
> and i wasn't sure if i should wait and see what they release (although
> i understand the argument that you can wait forever for every new
> thing and never end up buying anything).
> are they coming out with something great and inexpensive, or is the
> same old thing, faster/better but more expensive......?
>
> 128 Vs. 256. any real difference in mem sizes? i've got a P4 2.8 w 1
> gig pc2700 mem and winxp pro, so the machine should be fast enough for
> non GPU processing.

With the lower end cards like the 5700 and 5700LE, 256MB of memory is
not a big deal. The cards are just slower. The only times I've heard
256MB coming in handy are with the meaner cards, like the 5950 or the 9800.

> and lastly are there any particular brands that are more reliable than
> others? i don't need any goodies with the card, so bundles are out,
> and i usually do my buying from newegg.

I just bought the Albatron 5900XT and it runs awesome (Far Cry, UTK4,
etc.) Asus makes good reliable cards as well. MSI also has a 5900XT out
there but is becoming more rare and just rocketed in price (because
they're cutting off the 5900XT lines).

> any help would be great, thanks ahead!


--
Cory "Shinnokxz" Hansen
http://corysplace.silius.net