Need some help with a video card...

[FordFan86]

Time for an upgrade... my Radeon 9200 just don't cut it no more (gaming)..
My main question is for you techies out there, I'll leave brand names out of this to get a better answer.
I basically want to know the difference between all the bits and pieces of information thrown at me, the prices of the cards are within $20 of each other.. I'm unsure which is "better", though i'm slowly building a picture out of the masses of reviews, tech boards and wikipedia articles I read.
Here's the specs I am trying to compare...
#1
256MB 128-bit DDR3, 560MHz Core Clock, 1400MHz Memory Clock.

and I'm trying to compare this to
#2
512MB 128-bit DDR2, 625MHz Core Clock, 800MHz Memory Clock.

I read somewhere that DDR2 will clock twice as fast as DDR, as well as running on less power and managing heat better... so by my thinking the DDR3 @ 1400MHz is effectively the same as DDR 2 @ 700Mhz (in which case card #2 wins at DDR 2 800Mhz, aswell as being 512MB).. Or am I way off?
Both cards seem to have the same/very similar pixel pipelines, shading capablities and filtering rates etc. however #2 looks like it has a better cooling system. From what I can see both cards have been taken from their original manufacturer and tweaked slightly. They are both built around the same time and are in the same section of marketing.

After a few replies i'll post up the link to each card.. unless some die hard fanatic out there knows which ones i'm talking about already and can tell me which is the better of the two.. or that the difference is so small you can't tell...

[Riksta]

I'd go for the second one personally.

Sounds similar to my 7950GT except I'm pretty sure I've got 512mb DDR3 on it - however its a very solid card and has served me well.

[Falcon_Phill]

If your going to get a card for games like crysis and other DX10 games, ditch the whole set up and buy a new one. There is no other way around it regardless of what anyone here or anywhere else tries to convince you of.

Though, if your just going for older games or some of the new games today that run ok on the 7 series nVidia cards, go for anything 7900 +.

[Mongoose]

wow this is incredible, i just picked up my new video card today, its an 8800GTX 575MHz, 384bit, 768MB of GDDR3 RAM. But at $799.95 it is a little bit more than alot of people would spend on a video card, particuarly on these forums.

[Falcon_Phill]

Thats exactly what I bought, its a very nice card. Still, when that 9800GTX comes out ill snap one up straight away. Its supposed to be like having 3 8800GTX's in one, rumored anyway.

[Riksta]

Originally Posted by Mongoose

wow this is incredible, i just picked up my new video card today, its an 8800GTX 575MHz, 384bit, 768MB of GDDR3 RAM. But at $799.95 it is a little bit more than alot of people would spend on a video card, particuarly on these forums.

I'd kill for one of those cards!!! Thinking of going an 8800GT myself at some stage.

[old_mate]

8800GT FTW....for the next 5 mins.

Massive things are happening shortly. ATI/AMD with their new releases this month, nvidia with next gen cards early next year, not to mention Intel and AMD's new CPU range...i want a new PC right now dammit but i might have to wait. Even if I went 'old' technology in jan it'll save me money (who would have though Q6600 would be 'old' so soon?)

[FordFan86]

Back to topic? Haha.
I'm sticking with AGP because if I go vista/directX10/PCI-E, i'm going to wantsome psycho SLI linked cards with quad core processor etc.. and that gets costly ;)
I am leaning towards card #2... here they are anyway, see what people think:
#1
Gainward: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-nVidia-Ge...QQcmdZViewItem
Leadtek: http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-nVidia-Ge...QQcmdZViewItem

#2 I've found this one $10 cheaper form another buyer.. but I've gone for 3 from the same so the adds are easier to compare.
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NEW-ATI-Radeo...QQcmdZViewItem

Thanks again.

[Falcon_Phill]

You still havn't really mentioned what you need to use it for. By the way all of those cards are pretty crappy, the 7600GT might be the best though..

[Bent8]

I'd go with the second one because the core (GPU) clock is faster and you have twice the memory...

What are you PC specs?...that will also affect how well your games play, also make sure you have at least a 500W power supply for these power hungry cards...

[FordFan86]

Originally Posted by Falcon_Phill

You still havn't really mentioned what you need to use it for. By the way all of those cards are pretty crappy, the 7600GT might be the best though..

It's right there in my first line:
"Time for an upgrade... my Radeon 9200 just don't cut it no more (gaming).." Both cards are miles ahead of the current card.
Nothing too flash, Battlefield 1942, SWAT4, C&C Tiberium wars (when I get it).
C&C recommends radeon 8500 or better, SWAT 4 can be quite slow during game play, ie firing guns.
PC is your average pentium 4, only 2.8 ghz(northwood), currently only 512 ram, will be 1gb+ shortly. Motherboard is some asus with 800Mhz FSB.

[Falcon_Phill]

Do you have a pci-e slot at all?

[Jayse]

8800GTX is a waste of money atm i think, 8800GT is less than half the price with very comparable benchmarks.

Also, the new ATi range isnt too far off, 3850 and 3870 series.

[zebu]

*before people bash me this is simplified for instructive purposes*

ddr ddr2 and ddr3 are fairly similar in terms of performance

they are all 2 operations per clock (double data rate)

sometimes ddr stuff is quoted as 100mhz because thats what the clock is running at and sometimes that exact same part running at the exact same speed is quoted as 200mhz because its doing things twice for every cycle of the clock chip.

i have a 8800gtx but if i had the choice with whats available now i would go 8800gt, its got massive price vs performance.

7600gt will do ok in a lot of stuff but really new things it will be not so great.

you will be turning the detail and resolution down in ut3 and the like but the games you quoted it should do ok.

i would go the 512meg one out of those two because of the higher core speed as much as anything. unless you plan to overclock it but im guessing your not

[jason71]

Gee I'm still in the dark ages with my 6800 ultra!

[XA5800]

My son plays world of Warcraft & my current FX 5200 card keeps skipping & flashing,

What card would you recommend to be able to play this game & not spend a fortune.

[FordFan86]

Originally Posted by zebu

*before people bash me this is simplified for instructive purposes*

ddr ddr2 and ddr3 are fairly similar in terms of performance

they are all 2 operations per clock (double data rate)

sometimes ddr stuff is quoted as 100mhz because thats what the clock is running at and sometimes that exact same part running at the exact same speed is quoted as 200mhz because its doing things twice for every cycle of the clock chip.

i have a 8800gtx but if i had the choice with whats available now i would go 8800gt, its got massive price vs performance.

7600gt will do ok in a lot of stuff but really new things it will be not so great.

you will be turning the detail and resolution down in ut3 and the like but the games you quoted it should do ok.

i would go the 512meg one out of those two because of the higher core speed as much as anything. unless you plan to overclock it but im guessing your not

Thanks zebu, best answer yet... No I don't plan on overclocking but I might try iit, see how the huge fan holds up.
Mmm UT3, I remember when 2 came out, man that game was sweet.
Looks like the X1650 pro is it..
And no I don't have PCI-E, hence going for an AGP card... not looking at spending a fortune upgrading.... just yet anyhow.

[Jeeepers]

I too am waiting for the new year, and it's new offerings. But for now, I am ditching my 6600gt 128 for a 7600gt 512 meg AGP. That should do ok for my needs.

As for your options, I would go for option 2.

[zebu]

erm i think i might have misread and horribly misinformed you on my reccomendation. i opened all 3 links and then mixed up which was option 1 and 2 sorry

i would go with a 7600gt with the highest core clock you can find in your price range (there are variations in core and memory clocks between manufacturers and revisions)

you will get better drivers with the 7600 and it will be faster than the ati part

heres a comparison http://www.techspot.com/review/24-ra...0gs/page4.html

any of the options will be a MASSIVE step up from the 9200 though

[One Drone]

If it's to play Crysis which I want to do, I'd wait for the next gen of video cards. The best value card to get at the moment is the 8800GT. But they don't really run Crysis the way you'd want to play it.. I.e. Very High Details with decent FPS.

[Perana]

Out of those 2 you posted definitely the 7600GT.. miles in front of the x1650..

The best AGP card that ive seen is an X1950pro closely followed by a 7900GS.

The only DX10 card i've seen is the HD2600 Pro.. which is all that much better than the 7600 or the x1650...

BTW those ebay prices aren't that good either...

[kremmen]

Originally Posted by Perana XR8

Out of those 2 you posted definitely the 7600GT.. miles in front of the x1650..

The best AGP card that ive seen is an X1950pro closely followed by a 7900GS.

The only DX10 card i've seen is the HD2600 Pro.. which is all that much better than the 7600 or the x1650...

BTW those ebay prices aren't that good either...

I am looking to replace my ati radeon 9600xt, but also have only got agp. Will a 2.8 + 2g Ram handle one of the above AGP cards ok. Just using it for gaming and bits of video editing.

cheers

[Falcon_Phill]

Your processor and ram don't have much to do with handling your video card, but the better they are the better games will run. As long as you have the right AGP slot and motherboard there shouldn't be a problem.