Need help choosing a card

[frenchtoast]

Ok so i just built a computer here are the specs:

AMD Athlon 6000 3.0GHZ
4GB DDR2 RAM
XFX Geforce 8600 GT 512MB DDR2
320Gig HD(not that it matters)
800W Power supply
My motherboard is obviously compatible with PCIe video cards.
Windows XP(So my last gig of ram isnt really being used :-/)

So heres the question:
I like my 8600GT card but its not playing COD4 as well as i thought it would. it was about $60 bucks so really its not a bad card for that price.

I found two cards I like but i need some help deciding.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3871354&CatId=3585

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3775036&CatId=3585

Which would you prefer?

I'm not new with computers. But i am kind of new to all of this new video card technology.

Any help is much appreciated. Thanks

Also if you have any other suggestions for boosting performance, feel free to give me your thoughts.

 

[evongugg]

Go for the 9600GT. Faster.

 

[billin30]

Those two cards will do fine for COD4, I think I would do the 9600GT personally. Seems like everyone is on the ATI 4850 train, but someone just said newegg is sellin that for 135 + shipping, so if you are willing to pay a little extra, i think you will get a LOT of extra performance out of that card.

Heres the link to the page

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/252930-33-4850-deal

 

[frenchtoast]

Any idea why my 8600 GT isnt performing well with COD4?

 

[joewho]

If you wait until the weekend this GPU will be $119 after MIR

http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-8800-GTS-G92-512MB-ZT-88SES2P-FSP-256-bit-GDDR3-PCI-Express-2.0-x16-HDCP-Ready-SLI-ZOTAC-Video-Card-p-16280.html

 

[gamerk316]

Any idea why my 8600 GT isnt performing well with COD4?

Only 256MB RAM (GT Version, don't remember how much the GTX version had...) for one. Its still an old card, but $150 gets you such a huge upgrade, and its not even in the same class as newer cards.

 

[camaross427]

I would go with what joewho said with this vid card being $119 when it is the weekend. I have a 8800gts 512mb like this one it runs much cooler than the 9600 and 8800gs so it is better for overclocking. It is also very quiet and is much faster than the 2 cards you said and about the same speed as a ati4850.
Also i had a 8600gt for cod4 before i got my 8800gts. I could run it at 1440*900 but on mediumish settings to get 30fps. With the 8800gts i am getting 80fps average and can even run crysis on all high settings with an average 40fps with fps never below 30.

 

[frenchtoast]

Nice....also my 8600 is a 512mb. But i might look int othat 8800 for 119..not a bad deal.

Also, just because its a 9 series, does that necessarily mean its better then an 8 seriies video card? I'm assuming no, but i dont really know.

 

[blackhawk1928]

Ofcourse not, there are many 8 series cards that could stomp over and eat some of the 9 series cards. Anyway you gotta tell me how big your monitor is and what exactly resolution you are WANT to play in with cod4. It will give me a good idea about what would be the best card in your situation.

 

[frenchtoast]

Well, i have a 22" HDTV as my monitor. And i dont know..whats a good resolution to play it in?

 

[jerreece]

The 9600GT is basically equal to the 8800GT. So the 9 series doesn't necessarily equate to better. That's the general gist I've gotten from benchmarks I've seen.

Unless you want to upgrade your video card again next year, I'd buy the best you can afford to get. As mentioned above, most folks are on an ATI 4850/4870 train lately. But reality is, the 4850 beats out nVidia's cards for the same price. So it's a good choice.

As far as your 8600GT card goes. The best way to describe your problem is that CoD4 is like a boat. And your GPU is like the engine in your car/truck. You're pulling a boat/trailer with a 6 cylinder engine rather than a V8.

Now that 8600GT is a decent card, that's why call it a V6. But a V8 would pull the boat/trailer with better performance. Thankfully GPUs don't use gas......

ATI & nVidia are super competitive right now. So look for some pretty good deals and Mail In Rebates. There's some pretty good deals to be had out there.

 

[jerreece]

Well, i have a 22" HDTV as my monitor. And i dont know..whats a good resolution to play it in?

*drools*

I keep teasing my wife about putting my PC on our 42" HDTV, but she won't hear any of it. So I'm stuck with my widescreen 19" LCD Acer monitor.

 

[jerreece]

If you wait until the weekend this GPU will be $119 after MIR

http://fxvideocards.com/ZOTAC-GeForce-8800-GTS-G92-512MB-ZT-88SES2P-FSP-256-bit-GDDR3-PCI-Express-2.0-x16-HDCP-Ready-SLI-ZOTAC-Video-Card-p-16280.html

I checked out that link, shows $189 before MIR. $149 after MIR.

That's still a great deal if you can afford it. I recently got my 8800GTS (G92) for $219 before MIR. Had a $50MIR (which I've yet to receive). Even still, that card will play CoD4 on high without problems.

The NewEgg deal above is pretty good. In fact if you're willing to go ATI might be better. The 4850 is a faster card than the 8800GTS and is $179 before MIR. Check it out

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?nm_mc=AFC-SlickDeals&cm_mmc=AFC-SlickDeals-_-NA-_-NA-_-NA&Item=N82E16814102747

 

[rodney_ws]

Any idea why my 8600 GT isnt performing well with COD4?

Because it has 32 stream processors where as the 9600 GT has double that amount? Pretty much everyone was let-down by the 8600 GT/GTS cards when they came out... nothing has changed to change that opinion.

 

[blackhawk1928]

on a 22inch the native resolution is about 1680x1050 and thats the best restultion u wanna playin cod4. For that monitor I would reccomend a 8800gts 640mb if you want to max it out at the resoltuion, cause weaker cards might give you small fps and stuff. 8800gts 640mb is ideal for me and i also have a 22inch lcd monitor.

 

[gamerk316]

The cards I would send you to look at:

NVIDIA 9600 GTX (low price, but a good card)
ATI 4850 (under $175, one of the top cards right now)
NVIDIA 9800GX2 (A beast, but high cost and power requirments)

I'm listing the 9800 GX2 because I'm expecting major price cuts, and it still matches up against any "single" card well. If you have the power, and find one for under $200, it would be hard not to buy.

You can throw a 8800 GT or 8800 GTS in there as well, but I'm not sure how those match against the ATI 9600 (probably around the same, depending on the game).

 

[frenchtoast]

The thing is, my MB is SLI and not Crossfire, now i wouldn't be setting any of that up soon, but if i did get the ATI 4850, i wouldn't be able to use the crossfire feature if i wanted to grab another one. I have heard that you can use the crossfire feature on an SLI MB but im not that up to date on how to do that exactly so. I'll look into it though.

I have an 800W power supply. So I should have enough for whatever video card...

 

[frenchtoast]

Plus i plan on overclocking, so if you know of any cards that are good with OCing, let me know. I need some experienced users' opinions.

 

[frenchtoast]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3738429&CatId=3585

BFG GeForce 9800 GTX Video Card - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV

$180 after rebate....hrmm? Good buy?

 

[MxM]

Well, i have a 22" HDTV as my monitor. And i dont know..whats a good resolution to play it in?

The best resolution is the "native" resolution of the monitor for LCD. In you case I suspect it is something like 16xx-by-1050

 

[blackhawk1928]

8800gts 640mb is goes pretty far in performance if overclocked, i have it also and when I play crysis and overclock it, it is beastly. However if you get the card I have, I would definatly reccomend buying a pci slot extra cooling fan for it becuase that card runs extremley hot.

 

[frenchtoast]

Yes i already have a PCI slot fan.

I was thinking about buying this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3548332&CatId=3670

Seems like a nice card...its 512MB. Supposedly its already overclocked to the max....

 

[mathiasschnell]

The best buy for you right now is the ATI Radeon HD 4850. It gives you a little more than the performance of a 9800GTX/8800GTX/8800 Ultra for around $150 - $180. Most everything above this card starts losing the bang-for-buck aspect.

Another good choice for you might be to find a pair of 8800GTs for cheap and SLI them. I think they're going for around $120 - $150 now, so the most I'd expect you to pay for a pair is $300, and that will get you performance about the same as a 9800GX2, which is above the GTX 280.

 

[frenchtoast]

What about grabbing 2 of the card i just posted the post right before urs?

 

[mathiasschnell]

Yes, that is an 8800GT, which I mentioned, which is good. However I'd still try and find a cheaper one. I see no reason for buying factory overclocked cards unless the warranty for the extra speed you're getting is really worth it to you.