VGA Card Buyer's Guide 07/2003

An Overview Of The Cards

This list of cards also includes the older generation of ATi's cards, since these only differ from their successors in small details and clock speeds.

Low Budget:

• < $99
• 
  ATi Radeon 9000 (DirectX 8.1, super sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9200 (DirectX 8.1, super sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
• $100 - $150
• 
  ATi Radeon 9000 Pro (DirectX 8.1, super sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9200 Pro (DirectX 8.1, super sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9500 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5200 Ultra (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)

Mainstream

• $150 - $200
• 
  ATi Radeon 9500 Pro (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9600 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9600 Pro (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5600 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5600 Ultra (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
• $200 - $300
• 
  ATi Radeon 9700 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9700 Pro (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  (?) NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 Value (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)

Enthusiast

• > $300
• 
  ATi Radeon 9800 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9800 Pro (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  ATi Radeon 9800 Pro 256 MB (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5800 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5800 Ultra (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)
  NVIDIA GeForceFX 5900 Ultra (DirectX 9, multi sampling FSAA)