Pretty good video card

[wackjob]

Hello all, 1st time here. I've recently finished building a new PC w/ all the goodies 'cept I'm still using my old video card. It's descent but I'd like better. My current one is a MADDOG Predator using an NVIDIA GeForce4 MMX 440 accelerator. I'd like something in the 128MB family. I benchmarked my sysyem against someone elses who was using an ASUS card & he beat the **** outta me. Any advice on a good card under $200?

[Midknyte]

Top picks would be the ATI 9800Pro, then nvidia 5900XT.

I've seen ATI 9800 Pros around $200.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&DEPA=1

If you want to stick with nvidia, then get a 5900xt card.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=property&DEPA=1

The Gainward 1100XT cards for $186 and $197 are pretty good, especially in the "optimized" option.

The Leadtek WinFast A350XT TDH is said to be a good overclocker also.

[wackjob]

I checked out eBay- a guys got this:
Brand New ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP8X for $132.50. Is this the one you're talking about? Looks like a good price. Never bought anything at eBay. Here's the link to this item;
ATI9800 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40158&item=4127759345&rd=1) You may have to register to get in . Don't know.

[AdamST]

I don't trust ebay.

[Midknyte]

I don't mess with Ebay. I guess I'm not a trusting person. :rolleyes:

$132.50 seems awfully cheap. Buyer Beware. :eek:

[wackjob]

Guess you're all right. If I'm gonna experiment with eBay, I should do it with a little less than $132. Most of what I needed for my new system I bought from Newegg. They've been great & their prices are the best. You can get a better deal on certain things elsewhere some times but I just got the whole load from them. Nobody commented on Asus or whether Maddog was any good anymore?

[Direct1]

Originally posted by wackjob
I checked out eBay- a guys got this:
Brand New ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB AGP8X for $132.50. Is this the one you're talking about? Looks like a good price. Never bought anything at eBay. Here's the link to this item;
ATI9800 (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=40158&item=4127759345&rd=1) You may have to register to get in . Don't know.
The $132.50 price must have been before the auction ended. The winning bid was $192.50 USD (from your link).

This is what I would get...

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-281&depa=0) = $218 USD shipped.

A little more than you wanted but still a great buy.

Good luck! :D

[Bigjakkstaffa]

As stated, the 9800 Pro's has fallen massively in price of late and is a top notch, top end gaming video card which shoud last for some time yet

--Jakk:t

[Midknyte]

yep. If you can swing it, the 9800Pro is a better card than the 5900xt cards. Just eat home lunch for a week. That should cover the $$ difference.
:r

[wackjob]

OK, I'm sold on the 9800 series but I'm a little confused about something. When I bought my old card it was (as stated) a Maddog Predator 440 MX. The accelerator (Graphics software) was NVIDIA GeForce4 440 MX. What is the accelerator (& software provider) for this series? At newegg, they list the following for the ATI 9800 Pro:

AGP 8X support
SMARTSHADER™ 2.1

SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1

HYPER Z™ III+

TRUFORM™ 2.0

VIDEOSHADER™

FULLSTREAM™

Which of these would be recognized by my system as the Display adapter?

Oh, and one last question. I bought (but haven't opened or installed yet) the game "Unreal Tournament 2004". I wanted to get something else when I get tired of "Postal2" (that game is friggin' crazy!). Have any of you seen or played "Unreal ---etc."?

[Chouji]

you should get an FX5900 and flash to 5950:D

[bob05]

Originally posted by wackjob
OK, I'm sold on the 9800 series but I'm a little confused about something. When I bought my old card it was (as stated) a Maddog Predator 440 MX. The accelerator (Graphics software) was NVIDIA GeForce4 440 MX. What is the accelerator (& software provider) for this series? At newegg, they list the following for the ATI 9800 Pro:

Which of these would be recognized by my system as the Display adapter?

Oh, and one last question. I bought (but haven't opened or installed yet) the game "Unreal Tournament 2004". I wanted to get something else when I get tired of "Postal2" (that game is friggin' crazy!). Have any of you seen or played "Unreal ---etc."?

Mad Dog only makes the boards for graphics cards, but Nvidia supplies Mad Dog the actual chips (GPU's) and writes all the drivers. You computer should recognize your graphics card as ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. All this talk about drivers makes remember that your gonna have a tough time getting Nvidia drivers out of your registry. If you have Windows 2000/XP, you might have to do a repair installation. And I do have Unreal 2004, and I can tell you that is a truly great game. Onslaught mode in multiplayer is fun as heck. :t