ATI video cards

[Serpent]

Due to all of the problems I have had with Nvidia cards going bad on me, when I was trying to use There (http://www.there.com), I am now, and have since been, an Nvidia hater... So, my dilemna becomes - which video card is best for me to get out of the ATI line... that will most likely NOT (repeat NOT).. need to be upgraded by the end of the year...

I have no problem getting a new card to play Battlefield 2, but I do not want to have to do the same thing once Call of Duty 2 comes out later in the year... I see different Radeon cards and different All-in-Wonder cards, and there is PCI versus AGP versus PCI-E, and different amounts of video RAM, where there is DDR versus DDR3 versus GDDR3, etc...

I would assume the more video ram the better, so I am shooting for 256MB... but as for the rest, I'm not sure... I want to stay under $400 if possible....

Ideas?

[Baron[CotC]]

Does your motherboard want PCI-Express or AGP?

[Serpent]

Does your motherboard want PCI-Express or AGP?

AGP

[Neophyte]

Serp,

Probably the best bang for the buck would be the ATI Radeon X800 Pro. They are priced around $289 for the 256 MB AGP version, which I'm sure that you'll want at least this much RAM. And they have fantastic performance. Quake based game will run creamy smooth with one. And any new game (FarCry, Doom3, Etc...) will have very acceptable frame rates with a good CPU (3.ghz or better).

You could spend the ultimate dollar and get yourself a faster card, such as the X800 XT or the X800 XT PE. But you're going beyond the needs for todays games and spending another $100 more at least.

[Serpent]

Serp,

Probably the best bang for the buck would be the ATI Radeon X800 Pro. They are priced around $289 for the 256 MB AGP version, which I'm sure that you'll want at least this much RAM. And they have fantastic performance. Quake based game will run creamy smooth with one. And any new game (FarCry, Doom3, Etc...) will have very acceptable frame rates with a good CPU (3.ghz or better).

You could spend the ultimate dollar and get yourself a faster card, such as the X800 XT or the X800 XT PE. But you're going beyond the needs for todays games and spending another $100 more at least.

Sounds good .. thanks for the recommendation, but I can't find it anywhere for under 400$... how can I get it for only $289?

[Rico]

Serp,

Probably the best bang for the buck would be the ATI Radeon X800 Pro. They are priced around $289 for the 256 MB AGP version

That's the one I got.

Super-smooth in Doom3, excellent in HL2, excellent in the BF2 demo.

I got mine for just about that price, from Newegg. It *was* on one of their specials, so maybe I timed it right.

Serpent: I'd bet that if you went to pricewatch, you'd find it for even lower.

[Serpent]

Amigo ATI Radeon ... Sapphire ATI Radeon ... PowerColor Radeon ...

Whats the difference? Is a Radeon a Radeon ... or do these different 'versions' work differently or something? (I can't see any difference in what pricewatch shows me.)

For example...

Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 Pro
http://www.nt-micro.com/index.asp?PageA ... odID=10076

Amigo NV-AGA-9102W Radeon X800 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... ideo+Cards

[Baron[CotC]]

There difference in who puts the graphics processor on the board. It gives the different companies options to use cheap RAM on the boards, or expensive RAM, etc etc

generally they should be somewhat equal.

Ive setup a few machines with Sapphire Radeon cards so I can say theyre alright, other than that I've always opted to get a genuine ATI card.

[M4v3r1ck]

Ah... save yourself the trouble and go for a couple of these.... at a mere 1,600 for the pair, quite the bargain.

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphi ... index.html