GeForce FX Best Buys

[dragflameson]

Hi everyone, right now I have the GeForce 4 Ti 4200 and Im looking for an upgrade to one of the GeForce FX models.

I don’t really know much about any of them, like which ones aren’t that great money wise, if any, and which are the best bang for the buck!

Can anyone please tell me the FX models (if any) to stay away from, and which ones are good buys?

Thanks!
-Drag

[bob05]

5700's are a good bang/buck. But the 5900NU is even better. Usually the 5900NU is under $200, and it performs nice. Those two are the best, others are ok too, just depends on the price. Even though I might be slandered for this statement, a 5600 Ultra for ~$100 IMO is a good deal. Also, a 5950 for ~$220 might be good also. :t

[dragflameson]

Ok thank you for your reply!

Whats the FX 5900XT??

I was just looking at
this one. (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-051&depa=0)

All I know is I need one ASAP! I'm not on my own computer right now... mine is messed up big time :(

-Drag

[dragflameson]

Is the only difference that that XT is just 10MHz less on the clock speed? Is that the only difference?

-Drag

[bob05]

There are some differences. The XT performs slower than the regular versions. This card might is better: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-157&catalog=48&depa=1

Here's a nice 5700 for $145:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-128-179&catalog=48&depa=1

I would personally go for the 5700, but either are good cards. :t

[bob05]

P.S. That 5900 *might* be able to mod to a 5950 Ultra. :)

[dragflameson]

Wow, the 5700 has the same core speed as the 5900?? Are the 5700's overclock friendly on the memory clock speeds?

-Drag

[Rob R.]

This article at THG should answer all of your performance questions. (http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html)

[bob05]

Imperion1 says the 5700 clocks very well:


An FX 5700 Ultra overclocks very well. This will put it faster than an Ati 9600. Quite a bit in fact. But, at defaults they're pretty much tied.
I have an EVGA 5700 Ultra (DDR2 memory), overclocked at Core 550 MHz, Memory 1.02 GHz.
Picture quality will be better on an ATI card. But, when you're playing games, who is really gonna pay attention to the fast moving graphics?
Here is a good card. Its a Gigabyte 9600XT for $169.
For $214 (free shipping) there is This . Its a Sapphire 9800pro.



Here's the exact model he has: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&catalog=48&depa=1
It's a bit pricey for a 5700, thought. But not too bad.

[dragflameson]

Thanks for that link man :)

Why does this one

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-126&depa=1

have so much higher clock speeds... 425 core and 850 memory!!!

I'm about to get that one.

[bob05]

Originally posted by dragflameson
Thanks for that link man :)

Why does this one

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-126&depa=1

have so much higher clock speeds... 425 core and 850 memory!!!

I'm about to get that one.

whoa, Gainward must have slow clocks. That one looks very nice .:t

*EDIT: You ccould look at a 9800 Pro, but it runs about <$100 more than a 5700 http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-281&catalog=48&depa=1

[dragflameson]

Wow... I want to make a decision tonight lol, so I can use my computer again but now i have no idea if I want

this one the one I found:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-126&depa=1

or the one Imperion has:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&catalog=48&depa=1

hrmmmm....

[RamonGTP]

A FX5600 can ALMOST be considered a downgrade from a Ti4200... If you're gonna go with nVidia, i'd say a 5700 Ultra or a 5900NU is the way to go.

[bob05]

Originally posted by dragflameson
Wow... I want to make a decision tonight lol, so I can use my computer again but now i have no idea if I want

this one the one I found:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-126&depa=1

or the one Imperion has:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&catalog=48&depa=1

hrmmmm....

Imperion's will perform better, and will OC very high. The other one is good too, and cheaper. Either one is good, but agian, Imperion's in much better. If price is a concern, go for the cheaper one. :t

[dragflameson]

No, price is a factor :(

I think ill get the 5700 Ultra (same one Imperion has) anyways though, since I was thinking about getting that other 5900 one at 1st that was even more....

[dragflameson]

It (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-178&depa=0) will fit on the ASUS A7V 266-E right???

[bob05]

Originally posted by dragflameson
No, price is a factor :(

I think ill get the 5700 Ultra (same one Imperion has) anyways though, since I was thinking about getting that other 5900 one at 1st that was even more....

Good luck, and tell us how you like your new card. :t

[dragflameson]

Ohhhh NO.

That one is a AGP 8X... my motherboard is a 4X I think.

[RamonGTP]

It doesn't matter... 8x card will work in 4x boards

[dragflameson]

Are you serious?!?!?!

LoL, I need to do more reading I know... I dont even know what the difference is between 4x or 8x.

Whats the difference going to be if you dont mind?

-Drag

[bob05]

Originally posted by RamonGTP
It doesn't matter... 8x card will work in 4x boards

Ramon's hit the nail on the head. 8x is over hyped anyways, there is no difference between it an 4x that noticeable. The difference is the transfer rates between the motherboard and the card. Games don't need the amount of bandwidth provided by AGP 4x, let alone 8x.

[dragflameson]

OH OK, Awesome then.

Im so stupid, I jumped right when I saw "8X" in the name... it says:

BUS: AGP 1X/2X/4X/8X

right in the description! heh :)

This is good that my vid. card $h!t the bed anyways because im upgrading everything eventually any how. Now I'll have another reason to have to get myself a new mobo :) Im with the Athlon XP 2100 right now, I wanna get a 64 in a few months though.

[Imperion1]

The 5700Ultra should fit your motherboard. This card is a bit longer than your normal AGP cards. Only things the remember is the be sure the locking tabs on the motherboard ram slots are in the lock position (this is where the tight fit is), and to plug in a power connector to the video card.
I love my 5700Ultra (link previously provided), and most of the 5700 Ultras use DDR2 memory. The other cards don't. Not sure about the 5950 though.
If I were to go with a card faster than the 5700Ultra, it would be an ATI 9800pro or 9800XT.

Almost forgot, the overclock speeds I used are the best ones I found for my card. Anything higher and the performance starts to drop.

[Yoshi]

If you can spare an extra $40 you can get a 9800 Pro which is much much better then a 5700 Ultra

[iceblue]

Click here (http://www.gameve.com/gve/store/productdetails.aspx?sku=VC-CHAIN-015) for one hellavuh deal. :t

[Rob R.]

I would re-think doing business with GameVE.

http://cobrand246.pricegrabber.com/rating_getreview.php/retid=947/ut=4069153c053ef9ef

http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2651.html

[dragflameson]

Hey, thanks.

Imperion, you need to plug a power connector into the video card? Thats going to suck... I have like no extra connectors and everything ran perfectly hidden already since its a new case with a window.

And what is your O/C speeds?

And also, my new case came with a heat probe thing with a temp display on the front, so I wanted to put that probe on the video card, not the CPU, since I'm turning it into a gaming machine. Is there any good places on that card you would be able to stick it?

Thanks,
Drag

[RamonGTP]

Generally speaking, the cards that require a plug come with a Y adapter.

[dragflameson]

Yeah, but its going to be the biggest pain in my @ss because its all setup nice because this case has a window kit on it, so I got everything (all the wires and all) hidden, and in the back side of the case and everything else. I mean there are no power connectors/wires in that area of the case at all, and I would have to re-run just about everything to make it so there was! :(

Is it a 3 pin connector that I can just plug into the motherboard somewhere??? That would be a little better because I know I have one of those connectors free on my motherboard for some kind of fan! heh :)

-Drag

[dragflameson]

Nevermind, its a stupid 4 pin connector at the end of the card, this is going to suck! Now I have another project to do when I get home :(

[dragflameson]

Anyone know if I can safely get a rather large heat probe under this cards heatsink?

[Tweb]

The FX series card come with a heat sensor in it's control panel.
My 5900, stock speed, never gets over 32* C playing hours of high graphic games an overclocking it to it's max never seen it over 37* C, but I have good case cooling!

Driver version: 45.23

[dragflameson]

Oh, Alright, I just got this gaming case that has a temp. display on the front of it, and the heat probe it has was too big to get under the CPU so I just figured I would put it on the vid. card.

Now I dont know what the heck to do with it!

Where would I wanna put it to get a pretty good reading of the average temp. inside the case?

Thanks,
Drag

[Imperion1]

OC speeds I have are 550MHz core / 1.02GHz memory.
As for a good place for the heat probe for system temps, its rather hard to say. If you put the probe where a case fan is blowing air, you'd get a little cooler reading. I would think that one of the better places might be somewhere between the AGP slot and the cpu. Of course, if you set the probe up higher, like on top of the rail that the power supply sits on, you would get the heat reading of the rising hot air.

[dragflameson]

Ahhh, oh well. I'll just stick it somewhere out of the way then and just use that display on the front of the case for looks.

I need to get a probe that will fit under the CPU to hook up to it is what I need to do.

But anyways, the video card is supposed to be here within the next 4 hours :D I had it sent overnight when I ordered it the other night so I should be back up and running by tonight again sometime!!! Then I got allllll weekend to O/C it! :D

-Drag