[Jansar]

Although a big-time Mac user, I'm selling my G4 MDD because it's so loud and am going to order a G5 real soon. However, I was able to pick up a 1.6 GHz P4 office PC that was just replaced for free and I would like to outfit it with a nice video card in order to play some of those "can't miss" games that never quite made it to the Mac. I'm using it as a loaner until I'm finally able to use the new Mac.

So, in this case, my question is, which video card would some of you recommend? I'm chossing (mostly) between the GeForce 6800 and the ATI X800 because those seem to be the best on the market as far as I can see. Any suggestions?

[Lateralus]

Frankly, I don't think picking up an X800 or a 6800 for a 1.6GHz Pentium 4 would be wise at all. Either card would have it's performance hindered by the processor.

I think you'd find a nice bang for the buck looking somewhere between the 9600 XT and the 9800 XT.

[blizzard]

And if you wait a little bit (not quite sure how long) Nvidia's 6600 should come out, which sounds like it will offer the most bang for the buck when it comes to new games. Other than that, just hit up the usual sites at http://www.anandtech.com and http://www.tomshardware.com and look at some of the comparisons to make your decision easier.

[deboerjo]

Originally posted by blizzard:
And if you wait a little bit (not quite sure how long) Nvidia's 6600 should come out, which sounds like it will offer the most bang for the buck when it comes to new games. Other than that, just hit up the usual sites at http://www.anandtech.com and http://www.tomshardware.com and look at some of the comparisons to make your decision easier.

From what they've said so far the 6600 is, unfortunatly, going to be PCI-express only, no AGP version.

As for what card you should buy, what's your budget? If you've got the money to throw $600 at the high-end x800, then you could use that money better spending it in other places. First off, upgrade the RAM to at least 512MB, and second see what you can do to upgrade the processor (if it's socket 423 you're outa luck but if it's socket 478 pick up a 2.4GHz P4).

Also, what games do you want to play? For anything other than Doom3 I recommend a Radeon 9600XT or possibly a GeForceFX 5700; they have a good balance of power, low cost, and low wattage/heat, and they play every game out there except Doom at huge resolutions when you leave FSAA and ansiotropic filtering turned off (and still very good resolutions with FSAA and AF turned on). They'll also play Doom3 just fine and it will look great, but for the best possible Doom3 experience I recommend at least a Radeon 9700 or GeForceFX 5800, preferably a Radeon 9800 Pro/XT.

-Jon

[Lateralus]

I've got a 128MB Radeon 9550 in my 2600+/512MB PC and it handles Doom III really well at 1024x768. Not bad for an $80 card.

[Drakino]

For the cost of a Radeon 9600 XT, you can often find a Radeon 9800 Pro as well. Definitly go with the 9800 Pro over the 9600 XT, as it is a noticible improvement. Average price online seems to run a tad under $200.

[Jansar]

I got a refurbished ATI X800 Pro. Although I won't be using games like Doom III (I will on the Mac), I'll need the speed for a lot of decent games that need a boost.

[Drakino]

Originally posted by Jansar:
I got a refurbished ATI X800 Pro. Although I won't be using games like Doom III (I will on the Mac), I'll need the speed for a lot of decent games that need a boost.

Nice choice. My only concern now is the PC processor. You might want to check how upgradable the system is, you could probably get it up to 2.8 easially and cheeply, if that 1.6 is sitting in a Socket 478 slot.

[Jansar]

Originally posted by Drakino:
Nice choice. My only concern now is the PC processor. You might want to check how upgradable the system is, you could probably get it up to 2.8 easially and cheeply, if that 1.6 is sitting in a Socket 478 slot.

You're absolutely right! I just installed Final Fantasy XI, and although my card kicks ass, the game runs like ass...I'm confused, because I defeinitely have more than the regular system requirements (I'm wondering if the card is doing its job or not...the catalyst driver seems not to be functioning).

I'll look into the processor thing though. I'm just afraid that this computer might not be upgradable in that department

[wuzup101]

I personally use a 9800pro in my pc (see sig). It runs all current games (like farcry) with ease. However, I've yet to get a copy of doom 3 since I didn't bring my pc to school with me... since this mac kicks so much arse

[mac freak]

lots of Radeon 9800 Pros around $150 -
http://www.pricewatch.com/h/prc.aspx?i=37&a=5307&f=1

[riotge@r]

Originally posted by Jansar:
You're absolutely right! I just installed Final Fantasy XI, and although my card kicks ass, the game runs like ass...I'm confused, because I defeinitely have more than the regular system requirements (I'm wondering if the card is doing its job or not...the catalyst driver seems not to be functioning).

I'll look into the processor thing though. I'm just afraid that this computer might not be upgradable in that department

Your system is not adequate to play newer games with a lot of detail. A 1.6ghz P4 is OLD.

To the person who said that their 9800 Pro can handle Far Cry with ease, you must be playing at low resolutions. That game chugged when I was playing it on a Radeon 9800XT at anything above 1280x1024.

[Jansar]

Originally posted by riotge@r:
Your system is not adequate to play newer games with a lot of detail. A 1.6ghz P4 is OLD.

To the person who said that their 9800 Pro can handle Far Cry with ease, you must be playing at low resolutions. That game chugged when I was playing it on a Radeon 9800XT at anything above 1280x1024.

A 1.6 GHz P4 may be a little bit old, but my system requirements surpass the system requirements given by a lot...furthermore I have a new card. There has to be some reasoning for the lack of speed. AFAIK, the video card is doing most of the work.

[Luca Rescigno]

Originally posted by Jansar:
A 1.6 GHz P4 may be a little bit old, but my system requirements surpass the system requirements given by a lot...furthermore I have a new card. There has to be some reasoning for the lack of speed. AFAIK, the video card is doing most of the work.

Reason for the lack of speed?

Your processor is slow. You say it meets the minimum requirements? Yeah, it does, but that doesn't mean it'll run well. Most of the time you need something 50% above the stated "recommended" specifications for a game to actually run well.

Get a 2.4 or 2.6 GHz one, they're not too expensive - that is, if they are compatible with your motherboard's socket. Why'd you buy the X800? You'd get better performance by balancing your money. For $500 you can buy a 2.6 GHz P4, some extra RAM, and a Radeon 9600XT or 9800 Pro.

Just as you can't rate a computer's actual speed based entirely on how many MHz its processor is, you also can't measure how good at gaming a system is based entirely on its video card.

Oh yeah, I've heard that although the GeForce 6600 will be PCIe native, there will be an AGP version with a bridge chip as well. Not sure about the upcoming Radeon X700 that should fill the same market, but I do believe both ATI and nVidia will continue to make AGP graphics cards for some time.

[riotge@r]

Originally posted by Luca Rescigno:
Reason for the lack of speed?

Your processor is slow. You say it meets the minimum requirements? Yeah, it does, but that doesn't mean it'll run well. Most of the time you need something 50% above the stated "recommended" specifications for a game to actually run well.

Get a 2.4 or 2.6 GHz one, they're not too expensive - that is, if they are compatible with your motherboard's socket. Why'd you buy the X800? You'd get better performance by balancing your money. For $500 you can buy a 2.6 GHz P4, some extra RAM, and a Radeon 9600XT or 9800 Pro.

Just as you can't rate a computer's actual speed based entirely on how many MHz its processor is, you also can't measure how good at gaming a system is based entirely on its video card.

Oh yeah, I've heard that although the GeForce 6600 will be PCIe native, there will be an AGP version with a bridge chip as well. Not sure about the upcoming Radeon X700 that should fill the same market, but I do believe both ATI and nVidia will continue to make AGP graphics cards for some time.

I agree 100%. Jancer's system is bottlenecked by his processor, which is probably 4 years old. The X800 video card works best with newer 3ghz+ processors. I wouldn't be surprised if you are getting the same exact performance as a Radeon 9600. That system is so old you'll need to replace the CPU, motherboard, and RAM if you were to upgrade. I would return the X800 and use the money to build a low end PC, which would still give performance at least 2x better than you're experiencing now.