I think I'm going to vomit! (vid card dead)

[mazeroth]

My trusty OLD Geforce4 Ti4400 died on me a few days ago. I just started researching video cards to replace it for a year, until I spend $800-$1000 to totally redo my computer (not monitor). I currently have an Athlon 1800+ with 768megs and just need a decent video card to play Asheron's Call and some other games like Vice City and maybe FarCry/Doom3 etc...To my surprise, many of the "newer" cards are about the same speed as my old Geforce4! I was looking into the 9600s and also found I could get a 9550 and flash it to a 9600. Then I went to Tom's Hardware to find out it performs almost identically to my 3+ year old video card. What I need to know is for under $100 what would you buy to get by for a year? I'd like a speed increase over my Ti4400 128meg, but that doesn't look like it's going to happen. It must be AGP. Right now I was going to get an MSI 9550 and BIOS flash it. What do you think?

Thanks!

 

[wazzledoozle]

Get a 9600 Pro, and oc it, maybe flash to XT. Pro's and XT's are very fast due to the 600 MHz effective memory, make sure if you get a 9600 Pro it has 300 MHz (600 effective) memory.

 

[ReconCX]

speed as in clock rates don't matter in the graphics card field...

a geforce 6800le runs at 300mhz/350x2 but outperforms an overclocked 500/333x2 radeon 9550 by over three times! It all depends on the architecture of the GPU..

I recommend a Radeon 9550 actually if you're looking at ~$100 for a new graphics card...

And.. i'm also looking for a new home for my Radeon 9550 actually, it's been modified and performs rather nicely =) I'm looking at $100 + shipping.. interested?

 

[Deleted member 3]

If budget is low you could consider a used card as well.
Otherwise the 9600's are your best shot.

 

[wazzledoozle]

ReconCX 9550 does 9600XT+ Speeds. His card would be a good deal.

 

[Nergal]

idd, it is on of the top best 5 OC'd 9550 in the world!

 

[mazeroth]

Explain to me the $100 pricetag for your video card, when I can get a retail 9600XT 128meg shipped to me for $100, and a 256meg version for a few bucks more?

Also, how hard is it to get a 9550 to XT type speeds, how much faster is an XT really, than a 9550, and I promise this is my last question, how much % faster is a 9600XT than my old Ti4400?

Thanks!

 

[wtf8269]

GF4 Ti's were boss cards, it doesn't suprise me that 9550's and 9600's are about the same speed. (Not talking clock speeds, talking overall performance.)

 

[ReconCX]

Explain to me the $100 pricetag for your video card, when I can get a retail 9600XT 128meg shipped to me for $100, and a 256meg version for a few bucks more?

Also, how hard is it to get a 9550 to XT type speeds, how much faster is an XT really, than a 9550, and I promise this is my last question, how much % faster is a 9600XT than my old Ti4400?

Thanks!

besides the Sapphire OEM version, the others are refurbished (for $100) at least on newegg. The Sapphire one has a very poor excuse for a heatsink on it so i doubt overdrive is gonna be able to do anything.. Mine on the other hand, has a ZM80 + OP1 which looks fantastic in an open case (pick up girls that way ) and is already overclocked past a 9600XT stock speeds.

And regards to 9550 -> XT speeds, I think I'm the only one on this forum to reach 300+ mem?
9600XT in regards to your Ti4400 should be about balanced.. It'll play DX9 games better but I think the Ti will play DX8 games better... you're looking at a top of the line card from yester-year compared to a mainstream card of current (or a little post current) generation.

 

[Hellraiser1981]

mazeroth, save the few bucks and get the 128M 9600
9550's can be flashed to a 9600.
9600 can be flashed to 9600XT
Remember, the memory on the video card is only frame buffer. The only time you would use 256 is if you were running a intense 3d game at 1600x1200 at 2x AA or higher. The RV350/RV360 (9550 and 9600) don't have the power to run at those settings at an acceptable framerate anyway. 256MB is just a marketing ploy. A 9800XT can barely make use of more than 128 for memory. BTW do NOT get a card with a 64bit memory bus, it will be crap. 128bit or higher is the only way to go.

Also ReconCX I agree with your statement that the Ti would play DX8 titles better. That's what the card was optimized for.
BTW I have a friend that is running a sapphire 9600 and it plays doom3, halo, farcry, UT2004 Just fine (mostly at 1024x768 res) @ stock speeds

 

[ReconCX]

9600 canot be flashed to 9600 XT.. 9600 xt has a temp probe sensor which the other cards do not feature.

 

[Hellraiser1981]

9600 canot be flashed to 9600 XT.. 9600 xt has a temp probe sensor which the other cards do not feature.

Oh, yeah, I think your right. Sorry for the memory lapse. Then 9550/9600 is RV350 and 9600XT is RV360, correct?