Graphics cards

[blackdog~ 0]

I'm debating with myself whether or not I should get one of these cards.

GeForce 4 TI 4800:

Cheap, good graphics quality, but limited support (apparently of) of pixel shaders or something.

GeForce FX Series:

Semi-Cheap, not sure about graphics, not very stable in OFP but has good pixel shading capabilities in other games.

ATI Radeon 9600:

Semi-Cheap, not sure about graphics, but an ATI Radeon card is reccomended by Valve for Half-Life 2.

[blackdog~ 0]

Suma said this:

Quote[/b] ]Well, this is really hard to tell. Latest ATI cards seem to have better performance, but they have quite bad history in driver support. Although I think they got much better recently, the history is here.

I am currently using GeForce 4 TI in one computer and GeForce 3 in second. I tried Radeon 9700 and GeForce Fx, and I experienced compatibility problems with some shaders we are developing for OFP2 with both - therefore I am not able to give any clear advice.

If you want to this card to OFP, I would therefore recommend GeForce 4 TI, as it is stable and proven ... and as for OFP2, I think before it will be out, prices of both GeForce FX and ATI 9x00 will drop to such a level, that it is probably better to wait and see.

Regards

Ondrej

PS: Don't close this... it can serve as a balanced opinion (hopefully) of what the OFP community thinks and knows about these cards.

PPS: Sorry for doublepost. I can't upload things (which includes posting on forums) which is quite odd...

[SKULLS_Viper 0]

I guess we'll need to stick to Nvidia.

I've just heard a lot of people perfering ATI after the new video cards they came out with.

I can't really say anything on this, since I only have a Geforce 2 Ultra(considered the best card at the time   ).I plan on getting a new card soon though.So I would also like other peoples views on the best card.

[S_Z 0]

At the moment there is no question on what card to pick if you want a card for DX8 and DX9 titles. FX cards have issues with DX9 and they will not be able to fix everything with new drivers since some of the problems are hardware related (like not enough registers). Nvidia will most likely get the speed up a bit with their new Det 52.xx but not without lowering quality.

I would suggest you save your money and buy either a 9600Pro or wait for the 9600XT, which is set to be released any time now. The 9600Pro have shown to be a great card for DX9 games like HL2.

[bonko the sane 2]

I voted GeForceFX because thats what I own

Although it was a great improvment over my elderly GFTi300 (cant even remember the model correctly) I must say im a bit disappointed about my new GF5600FX Ultra 128Mb...(it costed me zilch;niente;nada)...so i really cant complain.

ATI has improved drastically lately and Nvidia has produced some dodgy drivers\cards? this past year

Im sure Nvidia is aware that they are loosing customers at an incredible pace, and Im really hoping they will get their act together and release some kickass drivers.

But: whatever u buy...a card that supports DX9 is a must I reckon

[kegetys 2]

I'll be upgrading my system soon, but not the video card. I have a Ti4200 now (Clocked to 300/670MHz), and its enough for any game currently available. Even Doom 3 will apparently run quite fine on GF4 Ti's. Half-life 2 might not, but it wont be out for quite a while anyway, same for Stalker and pretty much all other interesting "DX9" games, and OFP 2.

[edc 0]

How much better are the XT cards expected be over the regular/Pro ones? Also, what are the differences in price be?

[S_Z 0]

How much better are the XT cards expected be over the regular/Pro ones?  Also, what are the differences in price be?

The 9800XT is not a major improvement to the 9800Pro, it mostly just an increase in speed (XT: 412/730 MHz , Pro 380/680). But it has some rather nice features like a temp sensor and the card will be able to dynamically overclock (at least the GPU, not sure about the mem).

The 9600XT will also have this feature and it will run at 500/600 MHz (9600pro: 400/600 MHz).

According to HardOCP the 9800XT 256Mb will go for $499 and the 9600XT for $199.

[toadlife 3]

I own a Geforce ti4800 SE - the SE is one half step down from a true ti4800

Ti4800 == ti4600 with 8xAGP support

ti4800SE == ti4400 with 8xAGP support

I get stellar performance from this card and have had 0 problems. I got the card from Gainward, which specializes in overclockable cards, and they will easily overclock to the 300/600 range, as Kegetys said. I've been running mine at a conservative 300/600. The default clock frequencies for the ti4800SE are 275/550, and are slightly higher for the ti4800.

I can't make a judgement on the ati or FX models since I've never seen either of them in action, but I can say that the ti4800 path would be a good decision.

To give an idea of how my ti4800Se performs, I run America's Army 1.9 @ 1600x1200 with every setting maxxed out and I get a minimum of 28 FPS - probably an average of around 35FPS.

[Koolkid101 0]

Your old video cards good enough!!

[shadow 6]

Ti4800 == ti4600 with 8xAGP support

ti4800SE == ti4400 with 8xAGP support

If I'm not mistaken Ti4800 is a Ti4400 with more RAM and AGP8X support.

I don't think there are any AGP8X-versions of the Ti4600. I think you'll need a FX-5600 or something.

I have a GF4Ti4600 and I've tried a Ti4800 in my computer (borrowed from a friend). I got significantly higher frame-rates in OFP with my own Ti4600.

[RED 0]

How much better are the XT cards expected be over the regular/Pro ones?  Also, what are the differences in price be?

The 9800XT is not a major improvement to the 9800Pro, it mostly just an increase in speed (XT: 412/730 MHz , Pro 380/680). But it has some rather nice features like a temp sensor and the card will be able to dynamically overclock (at least the GPU, not sure about the mem).

The 9600XT will also have this feature and it will run at 500/600 MHz (9600pro: 400/600 MHz).

According to HardOCP the 9800XT 256Mb will go for $499 and the 9600XT for $199.

http://www.gamespy.com/hardware/october03/radeon/

This gamespy article has some benchmarks of the XP cards, I don't think I will be wanting to get one anytime soon. I will be sticking with my Ti4600 for now.

RED

[mr burns 132]

I voted for ATI 9600 because i own one

I almost bought a GF4 Ti4800 but that was more expensive than the ATI and had no DX9 support So i decided to give ATI a try and till now i´m happy with it. Graphics are fine (with up to date drivers) and speed is also enough for me.

[Mahooney 0]

My ti4200(gainward) was more stabile than my Radeon 9800pro(hercules) in OFP and other games

[kegetys 2]

I got the card from Gainward, which specializes in overclockable cards, and they will easily overclock to the 300/600 range, as Kegetys said.

Mine is an Albatron though ;)

[Mahooney 0]

my friend has a FX5200 and he regrets why he didn't kept his ti4200

[toadlife 3]

If I'm not mistaken Ti4800 is a Ti4400 with more RAM and AGP8X support.

I don't think there are any AGP8X-versions of the Ti4600. I think you'll need a FX-5600 or something.

Nope. It's what I said. There are many review sites that explain this. I went to many before finally deciding on the ti4800se.

http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware/Reviews/msiti46008x/

Quote[/b] ]I have a GF4Ti4600 and I've tried a Ti4800 in my computer (borrowed from a friend). I got significantly higher frame-rates in OFP with my own Ti4600.

You were probably trying out a ti4800SE, which is as ti4400 and comes with lower clock settings than your ti4600. If you had tried out a real ti4800, your framerates would have been virtually identical.

Until you get a motherboard with 8X AGP support and the internal memory bandwidth to properly support AGP 8X, these ti4800 cards are not going to outperform the 4x ti cards in any way. The 8X agp of the ti4800 are just bonus that will pay off (how much, I don't know) with newer motherboards who fully support them.

[eisa01 0]

I have just got a ati radeon 9600 pro. Im really satisfied I can have 2x aa and 8x anisotropic filtrering and get decent framrates. without aa I can use 16x anisotrpic filtrering. I have a p3 733mhz with 512mb ram and 4x agp bus.

[blackdog~ 0]

I currently have a ti4800se like you have toadlife, and I'm happy with it.

Now come on, whoever voted Radeon, come out and explain yourselves!

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I currently have a ti4800se like you have toadlife, and I'm happy with it.

Now come on, whoever voted Radeon, come out and explain yourselves!

'Problems' with nVidia drivers in DX9

DX9 Benchmarks with Aquamark 3

As you can see, even the 9600 Pro can wax the 5900 Ultra when nVidia's drivers are working like they're 'supposed' to.

And don't make me pull out the Half-Life 2 benchmarks  

[toadlife 3]

I value reliability over syntehtic benchmarks. Yes, the radeon smokes my 'slow' Ti4800SE in Aquamark (whatever the hell that is), but I've never had a green screen, broken textures, or one of those 'cannot map pbo' errors. Who needs DX9 anyway? halflife2 will run just fine on my geforce.

[BoonieRat 0]

I would'nt buy any of those three! Get yourself a 9700, they are coming down in price and a good make can be picked up for about Å150. Mine was Å170 three+ months ago...

The 9600 range has half the texture pipelines of the 9700/9800 range. The FX has half the amount as well, and is a rubbish card when compared to Radions. I'm not anti nVidia, my last three cards before my current 9700 were nVidia. The FX is just crap, loud, hot and comparitivly slow. Hell!, it does'nt even beat the 9700/9800 series, and that's a generation older made to 'spar with' the Ti4200/400/600 range!!...

[toadlife 3]

I was looking at benchmarks for the 9700 and they looked really good. I would do a search in the OFP troubleshooting forum for '9700' and make a decision from there.

[Tex -USMC- 0]

I value reliability over syntehtic benchmarks. Yes, the radeon smokes my 'slow' Ti4800SE in Aquamark (whatever the hell that is), but I've never had a green screen, broken textures, or one of those 'cannot map pbo' errors. Who needs DX9 anyway? halflife2 will run just fine on my geforce.

Aquamark isn't a synthetic benchmark- it's based on an actual 3D engine, the one that powers Aquanox 2: Revelation. That means your benchmark performance will correlate with real-life experience.

[r1c0cH3T 0]

I suggest the ATi Radeon.