Thank the tech gods i found this forum. Need help deciding on card.

[t2gdesignz.com]

Hi all,
So glad i read about Sysopt.com today and checked it out. I find the site very informative. And alot of the forums have helped with some need to know info. You guys are great and very helpful. I like to think I'm a techie but you know more about this then i do.

But now I need to know this. I see alot of guys giving the Saphire 9600xt a good grade. I can get my hands on one for $150.

I want to list what sort of system I have and you tell me what you think is a good buy between $100-$175. I want the best card for the money.

1st things first.
I play games, yes. But am not a power gamer. I do want a nice picture quality though. I only play FPS like bf1942 and the bf mod Desert Combat. Basically all I will be playing until I get my Falcon NW machine in April.

I do some work in Adobe Photoshop 7 too. My card now does fine with that so anything better should help.

Now the bad news I am using a old PCI pny nvidia gforcemx400 64mb card.

I just got a new custom built hp pc a few months back and had intergrated graphics so i threw that card in I had laying around. But now I have some money and would like to upgrade. I have never had a agp card,lol. sad but can't wait.

my specs are:

Intel 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 processor with HT
512 KB secondary-level cache
800 MHz frontside bus
512 MB DDR RAM, (going to throw in and extra 512 too)
3200MB per second memory speed
80 GB ultra DMA hard drive 7200

MOBO Info

Motherboard Supplier
ASUS

System BIOS Supplier
ASUS/Award

Board Form Factor
uATX

Processor Brand
Intel

Processor Socket Type
mPGA478

Processor Family
Pentium 4HT

Processor VRM Specification
Northwood FMB2

Chipset Name
Springdale-G, GMCH rev A2

Chipset 'North Bridge'
865G, rev A2

Chipset 'South Bridge'
ICH5, revA2

Super I/O
SMsC LPC47M192-NC

Flash BIOS Device Type and Density
FWH 4 Mbit

Memory Type
DDR SDRAM (Supports duel channel)

Memory Sockets
Four DDR DIMM (184-pin)

Single or Dual Channel
Dual System Memory

Maximum Memory Supported
4GB (4 x 512MB) unbuffered (HP and Compaq recommend 2GB)

AGP Graphics Support
Yes

AGP Graphics Maximum Mode
AGP 8x

Graphics Connector
AGP 8x (available)

now, sorry for a big posting but i figure this will help with a answer.
it says 8x agp but when i do a systemmark test it says 4x. either way i'm happy though.


so the big question is the sapphire 9600xt a good idea for a occasional gamer who want smooth graphics in a shooter and for some image graphics programs?

also any other cards you would reccomend between $100-$175?

will i notice a huge difference in a 128 mb agp card from a 64mb pci mx400?

also i have a Planar 17 inch lcd that has no ghosting that i notice. And I have not tried DVI connection yet will that look nice with the 9600xt?

Any help or suggestions would be awesome. thanks again for all who have helped us noobs out.

Please everyone have a safe and happy new year!

thanks from Boston, Ma.

:t

UPDATED QUESTION

NOW I KNOW NOT TO GET A SE CARD. BUT IS THERE A BIG DIFFERENCE IN A PRO AND XT FOR THE 9600?

I ALSO ONLY PLAN ON BUYING A SAPPHIRE CARD.

HOW DO I FIND A 9800 NON PRO NON SE CARD ON EBAY THE ONES EVERYONES ALWAYS TALKING ABOUT HARD TO FIND?

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Radeon 9600XT, its the fastest of the bunch listed and also has the best price to performance ratio (bang for zee buck) for graphics cards at present.

--Jakk:t

[Disk11]

The XT is faster and has a Half-Life 2 voucher:)

To find the 9800 Non-pros on ebay, use this:
9800 -xt -se -pro

[missiveusa]

I agree with Bigjakkstaffa . Put my money where my graphics are, too. Just bought a 9600 XT, very happy with the performance for the price, under $200. I'm one of those end-users who thinks spending $300+ on a graphics card is insane.:eek:

[PacNW CE]

Built by ATI 9600 xt. as mentioned above, you get a voucher to DL HL2 when it is avalible.

[Angelic Demon]

wow even 9600XT has HF2 voucher? Nice .... I thought only 9800XT had it ... 9600XT is good then ( even though I plan to get 9800XT), at any rate, 9600XT is good for its price!

[iceblue]

eVGA GeForce FX 5900SE, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, With Call Of Duty Coupon $188 with free shipping @ newegg.

Note: "SE" does not mean a crippled card like ATI's 9xxx cards. The only difference vs a normal 5900 is that it uses 2.8ns DDR.

[Ammok]

Originally posted by t2gdesignz.com


will i notice a huge difference in a 128 mb agp card from a 64mb pci mx400?



you bet your boots on it.

try www.newegg.com for 9600 pro's at an economic price.

[iceblue]

Here's an even better price: eVGA E-GeFORCE FX5900SE 128MB, 8X AGP, W/CRT, TVO, DVI. WITH FULL VERSION OF CALL OF DUTY (http://www.gameve.com/gve/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=VC-EVGA-FX5900)

Or for a few extra: XFX Geforce FX 5900 128MB DDR AGP Model With TV-out & DVI (http://www.gameve.com/gve/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=VC-XFX-008) (equipped with 2.2ns DDR)

:t