Graphic Card Purchase
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My Birthday was 3 days ago on the 18th...got a 500gig Western Digital hard drive :) ...took 2 hours and 15 minutes to format! I stick with ATI myself...I've always had good luck with them. Dunno about them since AMD bought them now though...I stick with genu-whine Intel processors...the last AMD I owned was a 286 :) Sapphire makes good graphics cards based on the ATI chipsets...you can check them out here: http://www.sapphiretech.com/[^] Good luck with your new box and happy B-day Michael!
/q ;)
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8800GTS is better and good chioce.
No it is not. The 8800GTS-320 is roughly the same cost and significantly slower. THe 8800GTS-640 is maginally slower but costs $100 more. The GTX/Ultra are only more than marginally faster at 2560x1600. The 8800GT is nvidia's first 65nm part and is aggressively canibalizing the rest of the product line. It doesn't have enough memory to keep up at 2560x1600, but at all lesser resolutions it outperforms the old 90nm parts for significantly less/ http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQxMCwxLCxoZW50aHVzaWFzdA==[^]
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From someone who is neither an MS fanboy nor an anti-MS bigot but just another dev, don't go for Vista. I've been using it for ~6 months on a dual core Turion 1.6 Ghz with 2 GB RAM and it's as slow as molasses. Now to sit back and wait for the flames and 1 votes.... ;)
Cheers, विक्रम
And sleep will come, it comes to us all And some will fade and some will fall
Vikram A Punathambekar wrote:
I've been using it for ~6 months on a dual core Turion 1.6 Ghz with 2 GB RAM and it's as slow as molasses.
That's why I always go for Intel. Turions are always slower in comparison.
Regards, Nish
Nish’s thoughts on MFC, C++/CLI and .NET (my blog)
My latest book : C++/CLI in Action / Amazon.com link -
neither, both suck badly. The 8800GT is roughly 2x as fast as either of those, although there's currently a supply crunch of them, prices have risen from thier launch target of $200-250US to almost $300US. The cheaper, but almost as fast alternatives from ATI are the 3870 and 3850. US Prices are around $220/180 respectively. The 8600GTS is better than the 2600, but both suck for gaming and are overkill for almost anything else.
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dan neely wrote:
The 8800GT is roughly 2x as fast as either of those, although there's currently a supply crunch of them, prices have risen from thier launch target of $200-250US to almost $300US.
Well unfortunately that is about my budget to purchase the graphics card and 2 x 500GB SATA II HDD's.
dan neely wrote:
The 8600GTS is better than the 2600, but both suck for gaming and are overkill for almost anything else.
I think I have decided on the MSI RX2600XT 256MB GDDR3[^], I can get it for about AUD$115.00. I'm not a big gamer, matter of fact can't think of any game I have played in the last 10+ years. But you never know when I might start and at least I'm not going to waste system RAM for graphics. <EDIT> If I go nVIDIA I can get the Galaxy 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3[^] for AUD$176.00 but that is AUD$60.00 odd that I can spend on something else. </EDIT>
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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My Birthday was 3 days ago on the 18th...got a 500gig Western Digital hard drive :) ...took 2 hours and 15 minutes to format! I stick with ATI myself...I've always had good luck with them. Dunno about them since AMD bought them now though...I stick with genu-whine Intel processors...the last AMD I owned was a 286 :) Sapphire makes good graphics cards based on the ATI chipsets...you can check them out here: http://www.sapphiretech.com/[^] Good luck with your new box and happy B-day Michael!
David Lockwood wrote:
My Birthday was 3 days ago on the 18th...
16th for me.
David Lockwood wrote:
...got a 500gig Western Digital hard drive...
Looking to get 2 500GB SATA II Samsungs in the next couple of weeks, the price is too good to pass up.
David Lockwood wrote:
I stick with genu-whine Intel processors...the last AMD I owned was a 286 :)
AMD's are good, currently running an Athlon64 3000+ and it has never missed a beat, my Intel at work is constantly hanging for no good reason. Happens in Windows and during boot up before Windows loads.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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David Lockwood wrote:
My Birthday was 3 days ago on the 18th...
16th for me.
David Lockwood wrote:
...got a 500gig Western Digital hard drive...
Looking to get 2 500GB SATA II Samsungs in the next couple of weeks, the price is too good to pass up.
David Lockwood wrote:
I stick with genu-whine Intel processors...the last AMD I owned was a 286 :)
AMD's are good, currently running an Athlon64 3000+ and it has never missed a beat, my Intel at work is constantly hanging for no good reason. Happens in Windows and during boot up before Windows loads.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
Michael Martin wrote:
my Intel at work is constantly hanging for no good reason. Happens in Windows and during boot up before Windows loads.
I had some problems like that about 6 months ago...it turned out to be the power supply...the more power saving features they put in them, the tetchier they get. If you're hearing any electrical switching sounds like a relay or something before it hangs, it could be that. I'm holding out for a 45nm Quad Core...still getting good use out of my P4 2.4Ghz Prescott :omg:
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dan neely wrote:
The 8800GT is roughly 2x as fast as either of those, although there's currently a supply crunch of them, prices have risen from thier launch target of $200-250US to almost $300US.
Well unfortunately that is about my budget to purchase the graphics card and 2 x 500GB SATA II HDD's.
dan neely wrote:
The 8600GTS is better than the 2600, but both suck for gaming and are overkill for almost anything else.
I think I have decided on the MSI RX2600XT 256MB GDDR3[^], I can get it for about AUD$115.00. I'm not a big gamer, matter of fact can't think of any game I have played in the last 10+ years. But you never know when I might start and at least I'm not going to waste system RAM for graphics. <EDIT> If I go nVIDIA I can get the Galaxy 8600GTS 256MB GDDR3[^] for AUD$176.00 but that is AUD$60.00 odd that I can spend on something else. </EDIT>
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
I'd suggest looking for a comparison review if you haven't already. IIRC the 8600GT is faster than the 2600 series while being comparable in price.
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Got me some money for my birthday and have just puchased some hardware to make me a new computer. The platform choice was made for me by price alone. Purchase 2GB of PC800 RAM at AUD$155.00 and for AUD$10.00 get an AMD X2 4800+ CPU. Throw in another AUD$79.00 and I got an Abit NF-M2SV[^] all in one motherboard. So now I am in the market for a graphics card, budget has narrowed it down to 2 choices. 1 nVIDIA and 1 ATI. I really have no idea what great benefits if any one has over the other. So I will throw it out here and see if anyone has an answer to which is better and why. Hightech ATI HD2600Pro PCI-E 512MB[^] Leadtek Winfast PX8600GT TDH PCI-E 256MB[^] So what choice would you make?
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
Wow that's a good price for the HD2600. I'm currently running 2 ATI X1600pro 512MB in crossfire mode. Being an avid gamer, I have been very happy with ATI's performance. So, with that said, looking at the prices for the 2600s, I know what I'm spending my christmas money on :)
S.Nowlin ----------------------- The journey is straight, it's the path that is twisted. Oh and did you hear? There is no spoon, only sporks.
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Wow that's a good price for the HD2600. I'm currently running 2 ATI X1600pro 512MB in crossfire mode. Being an avid gamer, I have been very happy with ATI's performance. So, with that said, looking at the prices for the 2600s, I know what I'm spending my christmas money on :)
S.Nowlin ----------------------- The journey is straight, it's the path that is twisted. Oh and did you hear? There is no spoon, only sporks.
Performancewise the 2600 series was a major disappointment, you'd do far better stepping up to the 3800 series if you're staying ATI. The 2600 might be OK on a budget if you're only upping to a single card, but a single 3800 would be a better upgrade than xfired 2600's.
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Performancewise the 2600 series was a major disappointment, you'd do far better stepping up to the 3800 series if you're staying ATI. The 2600 might be OK on a budget if you're only upping to a single card, but a single 3800 would be a better upgrade than xfired 2600's.
-- Help Stamp Out and Abolish Redundancy The preceding is courtesy of the Department of Unnecessarily Redundant Repetition Department.
Good to know. I generally buy locally and haven't seen any 3800s on the shelves. I'm not in a rush to step up since my 1600s are still doing what they need to do. As of yet, I haven't upgraded to any of the newer games that are requiring horsepower.
S.Nowlin ----------------------- The journey is straight, it's the path that is twisted. Oh and did you hear? There is no spoon, only sporks.
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Got me some money for my birthday and have just puchased some hardware to make me a new computer. The platform choice was made for me by price alone. Purchase 2GB of PC800 RAM at AUD$155.00 and for AUD$10.00 get an AMD X2 4800+ CPU. Throw in another AUD$79.00 and I got an Abit NF-M2SV[^] all in one motherboard. So now I am in the market for a graphics card, budget has narrowed it down to 2 choices. 1 nVIDIA and 1 ATI. I really have no idea what great benefits if any one has over the other. So I will throw it out here and see if anyone has an answer to which is better and why. Hightech ATI HD2600Pro PCI-E 512MB[^] Leadtek Winfast PX8600GT TDH PCI-E 256MB[^] So what choice would you make?
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004
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Michael Martin wrote:
my Intel at work is constantly hanging for no good reason. Happens in Windows and during boot up before Windows loads.
I had some problems like that about 6 months ago...it turned out to be the power supply...the more power saving features they put in them, the tetchier they get. If you're hearing any electrical switching sounds like a relay or something before it hangs, it could be that. I'm holding out for a 45nm Quad Core...still getting good use out of my P4 2.4Ghz Prescott :omg:
David Lockwood wrote:
I'm holding out for a 45nm Quad Core
Yeah, I just read about those the other day and decided I don't need a new PC that bad. Otherwise, when those come out the current price of dual-core will perhaps drop, so either way I think I could win by waiting a few more months.
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David Lockwood wrote:
I'm holding out for a 45nm Quad Core
Yeah, I just read about those the other day and decided I don't need a new PC that bad. Otherwise, when those come out the current price of dual-core will perhaps drop, so either way I think I could win by waiting a few more months.
mainstream 45nm chips are Q108, and are planned to come out beginning at the same $300 pricepoint as the current entry level 65nm quadcore. Dualcore 45nm chips will be coming out across the same price range as current models at that time as well. I don't think there'll be major drops in 65nm part prices simply because of higher manufacturing costs. AMD will be releasing its quadcore offering very soon at a $200 pricepoint. This might force intel to cut its intended prices to compete.
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David Lockwood wrote:
I'm holding out for a 45nm Quad Core
Yeah, I just read about those the other day and decided I don't need a new PC that bad. Otherwise, when those come out the current price of dual-core will perhaps drop, so either way I think I could win by waiting a few more months.
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I'd suggest looking for a comparison review if you haven't already. IIRC the 8600GT is faster than the 2600 series while being comparable in price.
-- Help Stamp Out and Abolish Redundancy The preceding is courtesy of the Department of Unnecessarily Redundant Repetition Department.
dan neely wrote:
I'd suggest looking for a comparison review if you haven't already. IIRC the 8600GT is faster than the 2600 series while being comparable in price.
I purchsed the Australian Personal Computer Annual Buyers Guide which is chocka block full of all the reviews and comparisons they ran in their last 12 monthly magazines. They had a review of PCI-E graphic cards, the 8800, 8600 and 8400 from nVIDIA and 2900, 2600 and 2400 from ATI. The nVIDIA's all rated a reasonable amount above the ATI's but comparative cards were more like AUD$50-100.00 dearer. I have access to wholesale prices through work and looking at our dealers my best choices available are those listed. I don't see the 8600GT being woth the > 50% price premium, so I'm pretty sure I will go with the 2600XT and then if I find it isn't up to scratch I will buy something else when the dollars are available. Thanks for your input.
Michael Martin Australia "I controlled my laughter and simple said "No,I am very busy,so I can't write any code for you". The moment they heard this all the smiling face turned into a sad looking face and one of them farted. So I had to leave the place as soon as possible." - Mr.Prakash One Fine Saturday. 24/04/2004