should I go from ti4600 to Radeon9600XT?

[Beeblequix]

I can trade up my MSI Geforce 4 ti 4600 128MB w DVI &SVGA in/out to an ATI Radeon 9600XT 128 MB for $85USD.

I'm wondering if it's worth it. Upgrade purpose is mainly to play Deus Ex: Invisible War as I've noted I'm mainly stuck @ 800x600 & believe it's a video bottleneck(not being DX9).

I've really liked my G4ti4600, but I'm needing more power. What do YOU all think?

ß

[iceblue]

Keep the Ti 4600 till February of next year where there will be price drops and new cards coming out. :t

[Cyan]

What are the rest of your specs?

Do you plan on playing DoomIII and HL-2?

etc... etc...

gonna have to ask yourself if it's really worth it or not, or if you'd be better of saving the money for a better/newer graphics card later on.

I'd say save the cash for future upgrades, games are at a stale moment at the moment, It's not like CoD is killing most machines these days - I'd say at least wait for a Deus Ex patch and see if that might contain some fixes/performance increases.

We all know what the upgrade bug feels like, and we've all got to fight it. :D

[missiveusa]

You will not see a great improvement in performance. I went from a Ti 4200 64 4X to the 9600 XT 128 8X and I have marginal raise in 3D Mark 2001 benchmark, though image quality is noticably better in Il-2 FB flight sim. Only reason I upgraded was Ti 4299 was defective, so I RMA'd it to put in another system.

I just can't stomach shelling out $300+ on a graphics card, I don't care what the specs are.:eek:

I would wait a few months for the retail landscape to change.

[bblqj78]

Just for your info.....installed Deus Ex 2 last night. Using at present 9700pro OC'd (same as 9800pro at stock settings) with pretty fast system and I am still having problems with getting the game running smooth at anything higher than 800 x 600. The next setting up is OK...but still dont look that good. I think the programming in the game is Bull----! If thats why you are upgrading....DONT BOTHER!!! You wont get it that much better.

[Beeblequix]

My specs:

Athlon XP 2200+
A7N266-C Nforce 1 415-D chipset
2 x 256MB PC2100 DDR
MSI Geforce 4 ti 4600
(2) Western Digital 40 GB 7200 rpm drives
Windows 98se fully updated patches
__detonators version 45.23
Windows XP SP1 fully updated patches
__detonators version 43.45
Using nforce Audio add-in card
Creative Somethingorother 5.1 5200 series speakers
Lite-On 12x10x32 cdrw
Toshiba 16x40 DVD/CDROM
Microsoft 5 button Trackball

I know, extraneous details. I plan of playing HL2 and Doom3. I also have a finiancial strategy this year which includes building a new PC.

DX8.1 games probably run better on my current setup. I cite my non-overclocked 3dmark score:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=6914757

and someone with a similar (faster chipset) setup:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=7298412

My score is about 900ish points higher. However, look at the bottom to the
vertex shader: mine 100.7 his 162.7
pixel shader: mine 126.3 his 201.9
advanced pixel shader: mine 100.7 his 139.2

Seems that SHADER performance will be the new "who's-better" criterion, this in contrast to the DX7-8 days of fill-rate-monsters (like my ti4600). And it is for this reason I've considered getting the 9600XT. The fact the I have the wife's permission should not be understated as she knows I've a penchant for wanting to buy new cool things.

ß

[PacNW CE]

Allow me to play the devils advocate...

You could wait and get a faster card as most are saying, but I beg to differ...

Your out of pocket cost is $85 to go from dx8.1 to dx9 functionality. Plus the guilt associated with having a perfectly usable card collecting dust is eliminated since you are trading it up.

Get the 9600xt simply because it is a more advanced piece of hardware, not to run DXIW. As bblqj said, the game is a hog and won't run no matter what.

BTW, are you going to get the free DL of HL2 with your 9600xt? If so, all the more reason to upgrade.

[bblqj78]

Just for comparison

I’m using

AMD XP2800 Barton (210x11) > XP3200 speed (200x11)
ABIT NF7-S Version 2 (N-Force2 400 Ultra)
1GB Corsair XMS DDR400 (6,3,3,2) @ 420Mhz
Radeon 9700Pro (Core 390, Mem 660) Using CAT 3.7’s
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Sound card & 5.1


Benchmanrking Scores:

18000 in 3D Mark2001 &
5750 in 3D Mark2003

I was able to play the game at 1024x768 with settings on med-max….and the game wasn’t exactly running as smooth as it should…which is very annoying considering I was looking forward to it. I usually play all games at at-least 1280x1024 with max visuals…and this is getting no where near it. Maybe a patch will come out soon!!

[Someone Stupid]

A 9700 Pro is still missing a bit that the 9800 has, which makes a clock to clock comparision not exactly fair for the 9700 as it is at a disadvantage. I still have to agree though that it should be running smoothly. Bad engine programming it seems.

[Beeblequix]

I'm curious how Morrowind will run on the 9600XT. THAT's highly important to me as it's easily one of my top 5 favorites ever. It's a perfect DX8 hog where even an increase of 1 FPS makes an impact. I guess I just don't want to lose frames from Morrowind. Anyone with similar specs but 9600XT have any insight?

Here's a list of games I still play which I'd just as well not lose performance in:
Morrowind
Deus Ex 2: Invisile War
Deus Ex 1 -- (The Nameless Mod coming soon)
NOLF1
NOLF2
Need For Speed Hot Pursuit 2
Q3 based games(Q3, MOHAA, JK2, RTCW) (these games should be perfectly fine on a 9600XT)

ß

[Beeblequix]

bblqj78

Is HL2 going to be a free DOWNLOAD? ****! When I bought my house I moved into an area devoid of DSL lines. I'm stuck with a dinosauric ~37.6 average dialup IF I'M LUCKY! Poor poor beeblequix.....

ß

[Cyan]

I'd save the money for a better graphics card later on, or a new system build, or a Sound Blaster card (since you're lacking one :) ).

The faster CPU and better RAM will make morrowind run faster, at least more of an improvement than a graphics card would.

I just started up Morrowind again yesterday... sheeeesh, I'd forgotten how agrivating it can be, random pauses, driving me nuts. Got rid of the CTD's tho, 'untweaked' my no-name brand ram.

[Beeblequix]

I'm actually not lacking a SB card.

I yanked out my SB Live Plat 5.1 in the springtime to *test* it against the onboard Nforce audio. I've seriously wondered about removing the mediocre Nforce audio and replacing it with the SB5.1. Do you think I'll reap benefits from this change?

ß

[Cyan]

well... I would... I'm a Sound Blaster Fan boy after all :D

I'd get this with the money

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-418&catalog=343&depa=1

If I were in your position, (after of course, making sure the motherboard can support it) but that would be only if I was determined to spend the money. :t

[bblqj78]

Is HL2 going to be a free DOWNLOAD?

Hehehe....it shouldnt be! ALlthough I guess when its released it will be avilable quickly over the web in some form or another.

I too just moved house about 7 weeks ago....6 miles from my previous house where I was on broadband. They dont have broadband at my new place yet...boohoo :( ...so i'm stuck back on a 56k connection for a while. It sucks!
Thats British telecom for ya!

Beeblequix.....if you make any progrees with improving the performace of Deus Ex 2....give me a shout

Cheers:t

[RamonGTP]

Originally posted by missiveusa
You will not see a great improvement in performance. I went from a Ti 4200 64 4X to the 9600 XT 128 8X and I have marginal raise in 3D Mark 2001 benchmark.

Thats because you were using the wrong benchmark... Run 3dmark03 or aquamark 3 and you'll see around 80-100% improvement.

If you're going to play DX8 games, its definatly not worth it... DX9 games you will definatly see an improvement, but if you already have a 4600, I would make the upgrade more substantial, like a 9800.

[Someone Stupid]

A 9600XT or Pro is a big improvement for 85 bucks for D9 Capability. May not be able to run it with everything set to max with heavy filtering, but it will allow him to use the D9 effects and some light filtering at reasonable resolutions without too much of a sacrifice in graphics details.

As to the sound, if you don't have Soundstorm then the Sound Blaster will beat it or at least rival the onboard Realtek which is a serious CPU hog as well.

[Beeblequix]

http://www.sysopt.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&postid=1027549#post1027549

Performance getting better after ditching the **** nforce audio solution and dropping in good Ole Yeller, er, my SB Live 5.1. It's now to the point that I'm tolerating the framerates with just what I have. Props to Cyan for reminding me of my SB 5.1 card. That affected performance noticably.

So I'll *once again* hold off on upgrading.

ß