Which card for car racing games? 8500, 9100, 9600 etc. etc.

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

Hi,

I am currently building a second PC, which will be a dual-boot machine used
for a) games, mainly car racing sims (Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 4), and
b) to experiment with and learn about Linux.
It will run an AMD Athlon XP2500, or maybe an XP2800. I am trying to decide
what video card to use. I think I've narrowed it down to Radeon 8500, 9100,
9600, but I can't make my mind up between these.

Some of the other Radeons seem less attractive because they are crippled
versions, or 'budget' in various ways.
The top-end Radeons like 9700/9800 are probably outside my budget and I
think I don't need super-vertex-mega-shading or whatever, for the stuff I
want to run.

I think the 9100 is basically a re-labelled 8500. They seem to be available
pretty cheaply.
The 9600 (non-Pro) is attractive as it doesn't use a fan so it'll be
quieter.

Now, this build project is not ultra-cheapo, but I am trying to keep the
budget under control, and not just going for the best of everything. E.g.
Athlon XP2500 seems like a good price/performance point.
The racing sims I mentioned are quite old, but I like them. They won't be
using DX9 features, obviously.
Not sure what new racing sims are around, but it would be nice to be able to
run them.

So, considering games I like and budget considerations, what do you
recommend? 8500/9100 or 9600?

I'm kind of tending toward 8500/9100 to have for, say, a year, then upgrade
later maybe.

Any other thoughts? Something I've missed perhaps?

All advice gratefully received.

Cheers, John

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

John Fryatt wrote:
>
> Hi,
>
> I am currently building a second PC, which will be a dual-boot machine used
> for a) games, mainly car racing sims (Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 4), and
> b) to experiment with and learn about Linux.
> It will run an AMD Athlon XP2500, or maybe an XP2800. I am trying to decide
> what video card to use. I think I've narrowed it down to Radeon 8500, 9100,
> 9600, but I can't make my mind up between these.
>
> Some of the other Radeons seem less attractive because they are crippled
> versions, or 'budget' in various ways.
> The top-end Radeons like 9700/9800 are probably outside my budget and I
> think I don't need super-vertex-mega-shading or whatever, for the stuff I
> want to run.
>
> I think the 9100 is basically a re-labelled 8500. They seem to be available
> pretty cheaply.
> The 9600 (non-Pro) is attractive as it doesn't use a fan so it'll be
> quieter.
>
> Now, this build project is not ultra-cheapo, but I am trying to keep the
> budget under control, and not just going for the best of everything. E.g.
> Athlon XP2500 seems like a good price/performance point.
> The racing sims I mentioned are quite old, but I like them. They won't be
> using DX9 features, obviously.
> Not sure what new racing sims are around, but it would be nice to be able to
> run them.
>
> So, considering games I like and budget considerations, what do you
> recommend? 8500/9100 or 9600?
>
> I'm kind of tending toward 8500/9100 to have for, say, a year, then upgrade
> later maybe.
>
> Any other thoughts? Something I've missed perhaps?
>
> All advice gratefully received.
>
> Cheers, John

I'd go for a 128 meg radeon 8500

 

[augustus]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

"John Fryatt" <jrf1@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:MQNZc.687$vL3.233@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> Hi,
>
> I am currently building a second PC, which will be a dual-boot machine
> used
> for a) games, mainly car racing sims (Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 4),
> and
> b) to experiment with and learn about Linux.
> It will run an AMD Athlon XP2500, or maybe an XP2800. I am trying to
> decide
> what video card to use. I think I've narrowed it down to Radeon 8500,
> 9100,
> 9600, but I can't make my mind up between these.

The 9100 is just an 8500LE. The 8500 is decent, I used one for quite a while
until Thief3 forced an upgrade. The straight 9600 is OK, but suffers from
slow memory (200Mhz). A 9600 Pro is the best budget compromise...just a few
bucks more than the 8500 and faster with DX9

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

I had a Sapphire 9100 128MB, before upgrading to a 9600 PRO AIW

The 9100 is a renamed 8500LE.
The 9100/8500LE (200mhz memory) is a slightly slower version of the 8500
(250mhz memory).
I've also heard that the 8500 is more overclockable then the 9100/8500LE.

"John Fryatt" <jrf1@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
news:MQNZc.687$vL3.233@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> Hi,
>
> I am currently building a second PC, which will be a dual-boot machine
> used
> for a) games, mainly car racing sims (Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 4),
> and
> b) to experiment with and learn about Linux.
> It will run an AMD Athlon XP2500, or maybe an XP2800. I am trying to
> decide
> what video card to use. I think I've narrowed it down to Radeon 8500,
> 9100,
> 9600, but I can't make my mind up between these.
>
> Some of the other Radeons seem less attractive because they are crippled
> versions, or 'budget' in various ways.
> The top-end Radeons like 9700/9800 are probably outside my budget and I
> think I don't need super-vertex-mega-shading or whatever, for the stuff I
> want to run.
>
> I think the 9100 is basically a re-labelled 8500. They seem to be
> available
> pretty cheaply.
> The 9600 (non-Pro) is attractive as it doesn't use a fan so it'll be
> quieter.
>
> Now, this build project is not ultra-cheapo, but I am trying to keep the
> budget under control, and not just going for the best of everything. E.g.
> Athlon XP2500 seems like a good price/performance point.
> The racing sims I mentioned are quite old, but I like them. They won't be
> using DX9 features, obviously.
> Not sure what new racing sims are around, but it would be nice to be able
> to
> run them.
>
> So, considering games I like and budget considerations, what do you
> recommend? 8500/9100 or 9600?
>
> I'm kind of tending toward 8500/9100 to have for, say, a year, then
> upgrade
> later maybe.
>
> Any other thoughts? Something I've missed perhaps?
>
> All advice gratefully received.
>
> Cheers, John
>
>
>
>
>

 

[Smithy]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.periphs.videocards.ati (More info?)

What about the 9600xt encore etc?

smithy

"Tod" <no_spam_me@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:UfQZc.16955$3l3.6514@attbi_s03...
> I had a Sapphire 9100 128MB, before upgrading to a 9600 PRO AIW
>
> The 9100 is a renamed 8500LE.
> The 9100/8500LE (200mhz memory) is a slightly slower version of the 8500
> (250mhz memory).
> I've also heard that the 8500 is more overclockable then the 9100/8500LE.
>
> "John Fryatt" <jrf1@ntlworld.com> wrote in message
> news:MQNZc.687$vL3.233@newsfe3-gui.ntli.net...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I am currently building a second PC, which will be a dual-boot machine
> > used
> > for a) games, mainly car racing sims (Grand Prix Legends, Grand Prix 4),
> > and
> > b) to experiment with and learn about Linux.
> > It will run an AMD Athlon XP2500, or maybe an XP2800. I am trying to
> > decide
> > what video card to use. I think I've narrowed it down to Radeon 8500,
> > 9100,
> > 9600, but I can't make my mind up between these.
> >
> > Some of the other Radeons seem less attractive because they are crippled
> > versions, or 'budget' in various ways.
> > The top-end Radeons like 9700/9800 are probably outside my budget and I
> > think I don't need super-vertex-mega-shading or whatever, for the stuff
I
> > want to run.
> >
> > I think the 9100 is basically a re-labelled 8500. They seem to be
> > available
> > pretty cheaply.
> > The 9600 (non-Pro) is attractive as it doesn't use a fan so it'll be
> > quieter.
> >
> > Now, this build project is not ultra-cheapo, but I am trying to keep the
> > budget under control, and not just going for the best of everything.
E.g.
> > Athlon XP2500 seems like a good price/performance point.
> > The racing sims I mentioned are quite old, but I like them. They won't
be
> > using DX9 features, obviously.
> > Not sure what new racing sims are around, but it would be nice to be
able
> > to
> > run them.
> >
> > So, considering games I like and budget considerations, what do you
> > recommend? 8500/9100 or 9600?
> >
> > I'm kind of tending toward 8500/9100 to have for, say, a year, then
> > upgrade
> > later maybe.
> >
> > Any other thoughts? Something I've missed perhaps?
> >
> > All advice gratefully received.
> >
> > Cheers, John
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
>
>