Opinion needed on graphics card

[BFMF]

My brother is looking around for a graphics card to buy, but he really doesn't want to spend more then about $150.

He was looking around and found an Albatron GeForce FX5600EQ 256MB DDR Video Card and wants to know your opinions.

Any opinions, suggestions, recomendations?

The Albatron FX5600EQ 256MB DDR Video Card powered by nVIDIA GeForce FX5600 GPU. Support AGP 8X, DirectX9.0 & OpenGL1.4. Max. Resolution 2048X1536@75Hz. With D-Sub, DVI and TV-out Ports.

Features: Powered by nVIDIA GeForce FX5600 GPU. AGP 8X with AGP Texturing and Fast Writes. CineFX engine supports DirectX9.0 & OpenGL1.4. NVIDIA Digital Vibrance Control 3.0. RAMDACs 400MHz. D-Sub, DVI and TV-out Ports. Supports nView Technology.

Specifications: Grapics Engine: GeForce FX 5600. Memory Size: 256MB DDR. Memory Bus: 128bit. Engine Clock: 325MHz. RAMDAC: 400MHz. Max. Resolution: 2048X1536@75Hz. Bus Standard: AGP 8X / 4X. VGA Output, TV-out, DVI. WINDVD Creator. 3D GAMES: Duke Nukem: Manhattan Project. Game Pack.

System Requirement: Free AGP port 8X/4X. CD or DVD ROM for software installation. 32MB system RAM minimum. 30MB free hard disk space minimum. Operation system: Windows XP, Windows Me, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows NT.

[Smoke2much]

I have that card Andrew and I have found it to be very good, a massive improvement on the GeForce 2 Mx440 64 MB that I had.

I get 20-30 FPS with 8* AA and 8* Antiostopic wassit and all the sliders maxed out in 2k2.  In addition the graphics are way better looking these days.

Will

[congo]

The 256mb 5600's start at about $110 at pricewatch.com

Wouldn't a 128mb 5600 ultra be better value at the same price? The ultra card has better specs.....

Does the extra memory make any noticeable difference at all?

[bm]

Does the extra memory make any noticeable difference at all?

I would think it does, As I understand it the memory on the graphics card is like system ram. The more you have the less often the computer needs to load stuff in to it making the thing faster. I might not be right though!

I can't help Andrew as I know nothing! Sounds pretty good to me. If there is an FX5700 in the price range that might be quite good.

[mountain_stuck]

Hi,

[Smoke2much]

Welcome Andrew's brother!!!

Don't know about the card tho'

[congo]

why don't you go for a 5600 ultra 128mb card?

they are fast and start from $99

[bm]

As I said I don't know much about these things, its just the FX5700 is the sucsessor of the FX5600. I have an FX5600 128mb running at 4x at the moment and it is great but I think the FX5700 would be able to cope more with antiailiasing etc. and have a slightly longer life in goodness terms I would have thought.

You can see how the cards perform here:



I take it you haven't already got the card, what is your current one? Does your monitor or current card support that resolution?

[BFMF]

Right now he's got an old ATI Rage Fury Pro 32mb video card. It was a nice card in it's time, but that was 5 years ago

[4_Series_Scania]

If your considering an FX5600, forget it!

Take it from an FX5600 owner, the FX5700 is better in either Ultra or non ultra variations.

I've just built a system with the said FX5700 and a Celeron (His choice of CPU, not mine!) 2.0ghz, it simply trashes my FX5600 (and p4!) in just about every test weve thrown at it!

You could always strike lucky, some but not all ,Hercules Radion 9800SE's (about

[congo]

Yes. those benchmark's say it all.

I didn't realise the performance gap of the 5600 vs. 5700.  Wow!

[BFMF]

How big of a difference would there be between an FX 5700 with 256MB of memory or an FX 5900 with only 128MB of memory?


Also, I noticed a $100 difference between the FX 5900 128 MB and the FX 5900 256 MB. How much of a performance jump is there?