FX5600 / FX5700LE help

[Lozza332000]

Hi I hope someone can help me. My Sparkle FX5600 fan is not working so rather than risk damaging my pc by allowing it to overheat I have bought a FX5700LE which was just inside my budget. My real question is - is the FX5700LE actually that much better that the FX5600? I do not notice any difference at all and infact I have had to drop the screen resolution in Splinter Cell 2 to get decent perfomance. Should I have found the extra money for a FX5700 without the LE part???

Thanks for any advice you can give.

 

[cleeve]

Ack. A 5700LE is a slower 5700, which is what a 5600 is in the first place. So yeah, you basically upgraded to the same card...

If you can return it, get a nice 9600 PRO instead. You'll see a nice difference, especially in DX9 titles. Amazing overclockers, too.

5700's aren't that good unless you can afford an ULTRA, which is more expensive.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[entium]

whats you buget? if ya can scrap up another 25 bucks try to get a 5900se or xt (try newegg) think the cards are going for 175 bucks

 

[Lozza332000]

Thanks for your reply - my budget is about £150 which is around the $225 area. I was happy with the FX5600 but thought I noticed worse perfmance with the FX5700LE. I shall try for a refund tomorrow.

What are your thoughts on the need for a fan on the FX5600? Would it be ok to run one without a fan or maybe even an exhaust blower fitted next to it?

 

[cleeve]

Just buy a new fan for it... any self-respecting computer store will stock heatsinks & fans for videocards. Go for a cheap crystal orb or something, you'll probably even get a decent overclock out of it afterward.

On this side of the Atlantic, $225 would score you the ultimate in this class... the 9800 PRO. But I don't think you're prices are quite that low over there. Here are the cards you should be looking at, from worst to best, in order of price:

Radeon 9600 PRO
Geforce 5900XT
Radeon 9800 PRO

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[entium]

Yep the 9800 pro for 200 bucks very good deal for a great card

 

[Lozza332000]

Cleeve and Entium I really appriciate your help. Regrettably I live in rip off Britain (petrol rose to £1 a litre today!)
The best cards I can find that fit my budget are :-

ATI Radeon 9600XT £116.99 ($208 ish)
ATI Radeon 9800 PRO £161 ($289)
Geforce 5700 256mb £145 ($261)
GeForce FX 5800 £154 ($277)
GeForce FX 5900 XT £156 ($280)

I shall keep serching for a cheaper deal. Thanks for your help.

 

[entium]

Do you have to get it locally, if ya can get it online check out <A HREF="http://www.Newegg.com" target="_new">http://www.Newegg.com</A>

 

[Lozza332000]

I had checked they do not deliver to the UK. I am trying to find a good trustworthy UK site right now.

I have put my old FX 5600 back in now with a small desk fan blowing on it - it works great - my PC has never been so cool inside!!!!

 

[Slava]

my budget is about £150 which is around the $225 area

For how much do FX5700 Ultras go there? Should not be much more than $225. If it is way over this price see below:

Say no to ATI Radeon 9800 PRO £161 ($289) (way over your budget)
Say no to Geforce 5700 256mb £145 ($261) (it SUCKS and 256 MB of RAM does nothing for you, guaranteed)
Say no to GeForce FX 5800 £154 ($277) (way over your budget)
Say no to GeForce FX 5900 XT £156 ($280) (way over your budget)

You are left with ATI Radeon 9600XT £116.99 ($208 ish) OR FX5700 Ultra 128 Mb if you can get it there for a reasonable price. These two cards perform pretty much the same and FX5700 Ultra 128 Mb overclocks very well.

<font color=red>EDIT:</font color=red>Oh, and by the way, if you get either of these cards you will see close to 50% performance improvement over your 5600. I know I saw exactly 50% boost with my FX5700 Ultra 128 Mb over my previous 5700 (non-Ultra) 256 Mb.



<font color=green>"The creative powers of English morphology are pathetic compared to what we find in other languages." (Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct)</font color=green> <P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Slava on 06/02/04 05:02 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Lozza332000]

Hmmm I have just found a GeForce FX 5900 XT for £109 ($200) but is only has 128mb rather than my usual 256. Could be worth a look

 

[Lozza332000]

Thanks for the detail Slava - I have just found the GeForce 5900 XT for £109 this could be the one.

 

[cleeve]

256 megs is useless on today's videocards.

256 megs does NOT increase performance over 128 megs.

A 64MB 5900 would destroy a 500MB 5600.

________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 329/337)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>~2750+</b></font color=red> <i>(2400+ @ 2208 Mhz)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>4,876</b>

 

[Slava]

Hmmm I have just found a GeForce FX 5900 XT for £109 ($200) but is only has 128mb rather than my usual 256. Could be worth a look

GO FOR IT. Don't hesitate for a second! FX 5900 XT is 30% faster than 9600XT or 5700 Ultra. And if you do some research you will find that there is less than 0.5% difference in performance between 256Mb and 128Mb cards. I mean, of course, that if you have a 256Mb FX5700 and a 128Mb FX5700 the 256Mb version will SOMETIMES be about half a percent faster than the 128Mb model.

Grab that FX 5900 XT NOW!

<font color=green>"The creative powers of English morphology are pathetic compared to what we find in other languages." (Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct)</font color=green>

 

[Lozza332000]

Thank you for all of your help everyone - I shall try for a refund of the 5700LE 256mb and attempt to get the 5900XT 128mb in the morning.

Thanks everyone.