Question about the Radeon 9800 Pro or Nvidia 6600 GT?
 

I'm looking at this card and have a few questions:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...102-362&depa=1

1. Is this the best $200ish dollar card I can pick up right now?

2. I keep seeing stuff about flashing the Bios and making it into a 9800XT, is this for real, and how is it done?

3. Will I really notice that big of a difference between this card and going out and getting a new MB and a PCI-E card. I just got a new MB about a month ago, the ASUS a7NGX.

probably not. Check Lasereth's videocard guide, to be found in this forum area.

It is for real, and it can be done. In theory, it's a question of putting a new firmware/bios onto a floppy, along with a program to put that firmware on the videocard, and rebooting. That will change a few settings, mostly core and memory speeds. The thing is: most 9800 pros you can buy today, have the core chip of a 9800 XT on them.

Do remember one thing before you do any of this: You'll be overclocking your videocard. This can do serious damage to your card; enough to kill it permanently. Do a LOT of research before trying this. And invest in a new videocard cooler, because the stock cooler won't cut it.

Depends on what you'll do with the machine, what videocard you had, and what PCI-E card you'll buy. Just as an example: I have a 9800 pro, a P4 2.6, and 512 megs of ram, and I have no problem playing Halflife 2 at 1024x768 at medium settings.

All the cards he has in that range that are rated as "the best" are PCI-E only, and I don't want to have to shell out for another new MB and a video card right now.

Albatron 6600 GT AGP

This is another option I was looking at, as I've heard it is a great card, the only question I have is it is listed as a 128 bit card compared to a 256. Any thoughts?

Well... the 9800 pro is a great card, but there are newer, better cards available, most of them still AGP; this includes the 6600, if I'm not mistaken. The 128 bit or 256 bit thing depends on the overall package. I suppose some 128 bit cards will beat the crap out of a 256 bit card... :)

Lasereth specifically mentions the 6600 as a very good choice; I gather it should be better than the 9800 pro in most cases.

But in the end, it really depends on what you have, and what you want. If you have an Athlon XP 2000+ with 256 megs of ram, you won't get the full benefit of even a 9800 pro, for example. It would be better to get a cheaper card and get more memory, or simply get a good card *and* extra memory (>200 quid total). And of course, if you only want to play solitaire, the extra speed of a GF 6600 won't mean a thing.

Currently I'm running an AthlonXP 2600 chip and 1 gb ddr ram.

Unfortunately my current video card is a bargain basement Geforce MX440.

Fast enough for any card on the market. I doubt a new processor will do much for you.

furthermore, you should know that moving to PCI-X means moving to an Intel P4 with either DDR400 memory, or DDR2 memory, as well as a change in (at least) your Power supply... *and* a new videocard, of course. All in all, way more expensive than that 9800 pro.

I bet a new videocard is cheaper, and will allow you to stretch the life of your system a bit longer. That way, you can buy a new system in 1 or 2 years, and get a much better and a bit more stable return on investment.

Get the 6600 GT 256 MB. The AGP version comes in 128-bit but that doesn't matter on this card with its DDR3 memory.

It's probably about 20-30% better than a 9800 Pro and for the same price!

-Lasereth

Thanks for the input Lasereth!

Does the brand of the card matter much?

Not much, as long as it's not a *really* bad brand. Any of the major brands will do, as the main difference is in the details (cooling, packaging, extra games, etc).