Need help buying a video card
 

I need some help from a computer pro on this one.

I am looking for a card to replace my GeForce 440 mx that's a POS. Looking to spend $200, and really have no preferences. I hear all this stuff about the radeon 9800, but when I go to newegg.com I see tons of other cards with 256mb ram that are pretty cheap. I don't really know much about video cards, even though I built my PC myself (intel 2.4ghz 1.12gb ram).

The only requirement is that it will be able to run Doom 3 and EQII smoothly, and I guess that means it should have 256mb video ram on board. Thanks for helping me out.

$200? You want an ATI or Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB. Make sure to get the 256-bit version. Don't bother getting a card with 256 MB of RAM unless you're willing to spend $400 on a card. For $200, the Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB 256-bit can't be beat.

-Lasereth

so this?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-268&depa=1

that's it :)

Yep, great deal right there.

-Lasereth

Well, there IS this Radeon 9800 Pro: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-361&depa=0

It's 256 bit w/ 256 megs of memory. It's $260. IMO, if you're gonna spend $200, might as well dish out the extra $60 to get double the memory.

Yes, you're actually going to NEED 256MB of ram to play Doom 3 on high. They specifically explain that High will call more than 128MB of textures. And Ultra will call more than 256MB :crazy:

The extra RAM doesn't boost performance in most cases. More RAM can be added to the card, but more RAM doesn't mean better performance, it simply means that if the card were better, it could theoretically take advantage of the RAM. Most tests show a 5-10% increase in power max with the extra 128 MB. Some tests don't show any increase at all! The RAM on videocards is seriously overshotted to the public. A 64 MB GeForce 4 TI4200 with 64 MB of RAM is nearly twice as powerful as a GeForce FX 5200 with 256 MB of RAM. For $60, I think the extra RAM is a ripoff. If you're gonna spend $260, may as well wait for a GeForce 6800 to get in stock. It's 128 MB as well but is even faster than the Radeon 9800 Pro.

-Lasereth

No you dont. Im maxed at the 60FPS on high quality at 1280x1024 with a 128MB card. Trust me, it works fine. I know they say thats what you should have, but Im running it just fine.

Do you OC? Because what you say and what I see on those HardOCP benches don't match up. They have a 9800XT and a 5950 Ultra going at sub-60fps on 1024x768 with no AA and no Aniso, and MEDIUM quality. They're definitely 128MB cards, possibly 256MB. What card are you using, and what settings are you playing at?

Edit: Ok, I just read on another thread you have a 6800. On Tomshardware.com I see it gets 58fps on high at 1280, so it BARELY gets to where you say it does...(again, unless you're OCing :p )

If you guys wanna see an embarassment of 128 MB 9800 Pro vs 256 MB 9800 Pro, check it out:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...229/index.html

The extra 128 MB means precisely dick. A big waste.

-Lasereth

All those games were tested on 1024x768. The article only shows that none of the games push more 128MB of crap through the card. I think the newest game on their is UT2K3 :rolleyes:

Yeah, but that generation of videocards only has 8 pipelines (DirectX 9). The extra 128 MB of RAM isn't even used to its extent with only 8 pipelines. That point is proved in the tests. If a card has more than 8 pipelines (GeForce 6800) then I imagine an extra 128 MB would benefit. 256 MB of RAM is simply overkill on a videocard in the 9800 Pro/FX 5900 Ultra generation due to their 8-pipe design. Here's further proof in higher resolutions (1600x1200 with FSAA and Anisotropic filtering tests):

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/gra...ournament_2003

-Lasereth

It, like you said, is a 6800. No, its not overclocked. The rest of the system is an Athlon 64 3000 with a gig of Muskin pc3200. I dont know where that max of 58 came from, because mine is over 60 almost all the time. It obviously slows down in some areas, as all cards do, but I dont think Ive *ever* seen it drop below 40FPS.

I'd imagine that's what's helping you. Slick :D

Yeah, it certainly doesnt hurt ;)