Need a new GFX card

I\'m presently running a GF4 MX420, which came with my PC.  I\'m thinking about a ATI RADEON 9600.  Good choice?  And whats the difference between all of the manufacturers of the cards(I.E. Sapphire and Info-Tek GeXCube)?  I\'ve been looking at newegg.com and noticed their prices are very low compared to retail stores.  Why is that?

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

Either go ATI radeon 9600 or above, or get a Geforce 4 TI series card... Either way you can\'t go wrong.

Newegg\'s prices are lower because they don\'t have to pay for the same amount electricity, property, and sales staff it takes to keep a big retail brick and mortar store running.

Echoing Soully, I\'d go 9600+ or GF4 4600.

http://www.pricegrabber.com
http://www.pricewatch.com

I might wait for a GeForce FX 5700 Ultra if I were you. It\'s a bit more expensive than a 9600 Pro though.

Originally posted by Samwise
I might wait for a GeForce FX 5700 Ultra if I were you. It\'s a bit more expensive than a 9600 Pro though.

You really don\'t want to buy an Nvidia FX card unless you get it for around 10 bucks hehe. The FX-series is a tragedy.

I\'d listen to Soulgrind here.

I\'m looking at these 9600XT cards and wondering which one of the 9600XT\'s to get.  Whats the difference between these cards?  

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=ati%2Cradeon%2C9600xt

I would go with a ATI Radeon 9600 and up.  I have the 9700 Pro and LOVE it (Payed top-dollar for it tho when it came out (400 bucks))

:hat:ScottyJ:hat:

Killa don\'t kick yourseld too hard, your money was well spent.  My buddy has the 9700pro too and it has served him well through the months.  Still a top quality card.

As for the XT models I think they are more powerful versions of the originals.  I know the 9800 XT is the best card you can buy as of now.

Originally posted by JP
You really don\'t want to buy an Nvidia FX card unless you get it for around 10 bucks hehe. The FX-series is a tragedy.

Well, I\'d say the same before I saw the 5700 Ultra. Seems to be a pretty nice card.

[§ôµÏG®ïñD]

i donno, my ti4400 card gets better benchmarks then the 5600 Ultra 256 meg card. That\'s proven and tested on my machine. (brother bought one) donno how well the 5700 would do

The 5700 is much better than the old 5600.

Originally posted by Samwise
The 5700 is much better than the old 5600.

That\'s not saying much though.

From Tom\'s Hardware:

"In most of the standard tests, the FX 5700 is on par with the Radeon 9600 XT. It too tends to take a performance nosedive when 4xFSAA and 8x anisotropic filtering come into play. "

Not bad but it\'s got lower IQ than the ATI cards.

I still wouldn\'t buy it over a 9600 XT or Pro, which should be cheaper at this point and offer the same or better performance.

"Looking at the benchmark results in available games, buyers now have the choice between the FX 5700 Ultra and the Radeon 9600 XT in the mainstream segment. In the standard tests, both cards offer virtually identical performance. With FSAA and anisotropic enabled, however, the ATi card shines.

IF prices do drop, the Radeon 9600 Pro could well become the insider\'s choice, taking the Radeon 9500 Pro\'s place, which remains a great value, if you can still find it. Thanks to its eight-pipe design, it offers solid performance in DirectX 9 games. "

There ya have it.

this one one of the many reasons i dislike pc gaming. A few months later your card isnt top notch and a little less than a year or so, its obsolete. All that money down the crapper. At least the games dont always progress with the vid cards or you would have to buy a new card every 8mo\'s. Sad

Originally posted by JP
There ya have it.

I don\'t think it\'s that black and white though. In most of the tests I\'ve seen, the 5700 pulls ahead of 9600 Pro. I guess it depends on your taste, but neither card would be a bad choice.

Originally posted by Lord Nicon
this one one of the many reasons i dislike pc gaming. A few months later your card isnt top notch and a little less than a year or so, its obsolete. All that money down the crapper. At least the games dont always progress with the vid cards or you would have to buy a new card every 8mo\'s. Sad

Well, I bought a console and after 1 year, the graphics looks so obsolete and crap compared to my PC...REALLY sad.

The beauty of PC is there is always option. You don\'t have to buy the top card there is. You can always buy the mainstream card and it should last about 2 years at least. But with consoles....you\'re stuck with low-res, jaggies and blurry texture for the next 5 years.