Help! Nvidia or Radeon

[Trax]

I am a somewhere noob from PC hardware. But i like games alots.

I am intends to buy a new PC for for enjoying my life times.
Somewhere how, now the product is making me so confussion to choose. Although I have ask alots of promoters in the comp stores. But they are telling different.

I know i can find the best answer from most of the professional end users here. :)

My question is.

Should i go for Radeon 9600xt or Nvidia? (if someone is recommended me Nvidia, which model has the same standard with 9600xt?)
I heard lots of ppl say, Readeon is imcompatible with some games. But I am more prefer Radeon than Nvidia. If there is happened lockup or crash in games. What suppose I need to do?.

What brand of radeon 9600xt should i target for?

This is my budget PC setup.

P4 2.8e
intel motherboard with dual channel
512 DDR ram
9600xt or Nvidia??
Dvd rom
Seagate with Sata/8mb and 80gb
Appreciate with all commends, thanx

[ric449]

Take a look here:

http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

Compare the cards, and you will see which is equivalent to the 9600XT. But in most situations I find that with the radeon you pay less than an equivalent NVIDIA Geforce FX card.

[Staren]

Ok, first lesson for being on a tech forum. There are two questions you never ask unless you want to read a weel long debate or get yelled at. Intel vs. AMD, or nVidia vs. ATI.

Now that we have that out of the way, you can't really tell the deffrence between a true equivilent GeForce vs. Radion card. Radion is usualy a bit cheaper. The whole "Radion has compatability problems" thing is old. It doesn't happen anymore. The brand I would go with is Saphire. They make solid cards, and are well priced. Though if you have the moeny I would go with the 2.8c instend of the e, and get a 9800 Pro over the 9600xt.

[ric449]

NVIDIA vs ATI isn't really a big debate anymore, since most people know that ATI is firmly in the lead right now, so people just accept it. Processor is a whole different story, have to be careful when you meantion the 2 companies in the same sentence :D

*edit* There is quite a difference actually, the 6800 wants a 480W power supply according to NVIDIA, and usually loses out to the X800. On the other hand, the NVIDIA card has pixel shader 3 support, but there is no games that use it yet. Apart from farcry that is. But since he is comparing the 9600XT, I'm guessing he can't afford a card like the X800 or 6800 anyway.

*double edit* Damn you and that edit button Staren :D

[Trax]

I cant afford for a expenssive 3d card. is that always happened imcompatible with games when using 9600 xt?

[ric449]

Not incompatable with games, there used to be incompatabilities with motherboards though. This was all cleared up though, don't worry.

[VideoQuasar]

Staren says---Ok, first lesson for being on a tech forum. There are two questions you never ask unless you want to read a weel long debate or get yelled at. Intel vs. AMD, or nVidia vs. ATI.

ric449 says---NVIDIA vs ATI isn't really a big debate anymore, since most people know that ATI is firmly in the lead right now, so people just accept it. Processor is a whole different story, have to be careful when you meantion the 2 companies in the same sentence

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


not, not and not

I think you had better get use to it because it will always be a debate.....loyalty vs loyalty.....speed vs speed......newest vs new..... what with PCI-X coming out around the corner here, it's going to be a whole new war....processors included. Besides not everyone has hashed it out and wants there own input when purchasing.

Now for his computer build, you might like to get a little versatility with the budget and get VIVO. Speed vs Vesatility vs Price is narrow at this 9600XT level, here's an nVIDIA example.

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-150-050&depa=0

[ric449]

ATI 9600XT with VIVO:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-123-132&depa=1

$2 cheaper with 128MB extra memory too. See what I mean? Right now you just get more for your cash with ATI, and that's coming from an NVIDIA user.

[VideoQuasar]

Agreed!! That's a nice card all right!!! and as he would prefer ATI, he should consider that one big time! I to am a nVIDIA fan, and that is just how interesting this can get. Nice example ric.

[skeeter]

As I use either card, I believe I can be impartial on this issue,
For anyone considering a 9600XT I think that Nvidia has a better answer. Not for the top cards-just at this price/performance level. I think that for him the 5900XT is the card, The 9600XT just can't compete with the Nvidia's 256 bit bus. I just replaced my 9700PRO with this card and it will outperform a 9700PRO in games. In Aquamark3 it simply eats the 9700 for lunch. And the 9700 PRO definately outperforms the 9600XT. On my system the XT would give 30000-31000 points in Aquamark3 which i feel gives a good indication of game performance, the 5900XT is in the 40's. Here in the states you can get a 5900XT (Chaintech) for around $170 @ Newegg. Not much more than the lowest priced 9600XT and the same as many. And the Radeon's Do have some compatibility issues (probably driver related). My 9700PRO simply would not run on an 865 chipset board. The 9600 series seems better in this area however. Say what you will I still feel that ATI has some going to beat Nvidia on drivers. And I have used a lot of ATI cards.

[Tin]

5900XT gets my vote too. some of them can be flashed to 5950 Ultras.

[fedz]

Radeon 9800 Pro is the best bang for the buck at the moment. The X600XT is about to be released and is CHEAPER than the 9600XT on preorder. The 9800 Pro would be my choice at the moment though.

:) fedz

[kram 2.0]

It looks like X600 XT is for PCI Express, though the Specs kinda seem like a "Radeon 9600 Super XT" . Notice, however, that the X600 XT is a 128-bit card - I would rather go with a 256bit card and get it now, though none of the above are. The Radeon 9600 XT is a fine card - the <a href="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-121-509&depa=1">Asus Radeon 9600 XT</a> was named <a href="http://www.tomshardware.com">Tom's Hardware Guide's</a> choice card last year and also has VIVO.


Hope that helps,
kram