evaluating vid cards, looking for advice

Archived from groups: comp.sys.ibm.pc.hardware.video (More info?)

Rimsey Mimblerod wrote:
> I'm in the market for a new video card and was wondering about a few
> things.
> i'm an Nvidia whore, so it's going to be a GF card, firstly, but i'm
> currently looking at the 5900XT since it's at a reasonable price point
> (for an expensive card), but i'm wondering if there's a huge
> difference between this and the 5950 ultra?
> and what the heck is the difference between it and the 5900SE?

The 5900XT is a great card. The MSI and Albatron versions of it can be
overclocked comfortably to a speed that can stack up to the 5950 and
9800Pro. Not only that, but they have Video In too.

> i understand that Nvidia will be coming out with some new cards soon,
> and i wasn't sure if i should wait and see what they release (although
> i understand the argument that you can wait forever for every new
> thing and never end up buying anything).
> are they coming out with something great and inexpensive, or is the
> same old thing, faster/better but more expensive......?
>
> 128 Vs. 256. any real difference in mem sizes? i've got a P4 2.8 w 1
> gig pc2700 mem and winxp pro, so the machine should be fast enough for
> non GPU processing.

With the lower end cards like the 5700 and 5700LE, 256MB of memory is
not a big deal. The cards are just slower. The only times I've heard
256MB coming in handy are with the meaner cards, like the 5950 or the 9800.

> and lastly are there any particular brands that are more reliable than
> others? i don't need any goodies with the card, so bundles are out,
> and i usually do my buying from newegg.

I just bought the Albatron 5900XT and it runs awesome (Far Cry, UTK4,
etc.) Asus makes good reliable cards as well. MSI also has a 5900XT out
there but is becoming more rare and just rocketed in price (because
they're cutting off the 5900XT lines).

> any help would be great, thanks ahead!


--
Cory "Shinnokxz" Hansen
http://corysplace.silius.net