Graphics Questions...

[Delta_]

Some bios's will disable the onboard graphics card automatically.  

There are 3 types of drivers for ATi cards:
Official Catalyst
DNA
Omega

Also there are different versions, the latest being 4.4.  

The Nvidia 6800 did improve Directx 9 performance, but in some directx 9 tests it was not rendering pictures very well, but i would put that down to beta drivers it is using right now.  The X800 actually broke the 3DMark03 world record recently, by getting just over 15k, and the 6800 touched 12k (both cards at stock speed).  You may need to upgrade your PSU for a 6800, also you will lose a PCI slot for it aswell.  Either one you choose you will be very happy with your choice.  Assuming you want to shell out lots of money for those top end cards.  If you look around at the FX and Radeon range now you will find the prices are lower than what they used to be because of the new cards that were released.

Also currently ATi cards are 4-5% cheaper right now, so the difference in price is minimal.

[bm_727]

Ok, so basically my price range is just over $110-120

My system specs in case u are wondering...
-Pentium 4 @2.6GHz
-512 DDR-RAM
-Winxp

I want a card that will have nice video and relatively nice screenshots too.

Is there a chart or something that compares ATI cards for price, VRAM, and other graphic card-related stats??

Thanks for being so patient!

[Delta_]

The best cards for that price range are the ATi Radeon 9600 (not se as this is slower), and the Nvidia FX5700 (not xt as this is slower)

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/200 ... ts-16.html
Prices change all the time so i would expect that the chart is out of date by a quite a significant amount.  

[congo]

bm,

Ummmm, we already answered those questions!

[Delta_]

The 9600XT is simply better when the load comes on. The older nVidia cards can't match it. Niether can the lower grade FX cards from nVidia. The 5600 pro and up should be close or better.

They stopped making the 5600series quite a while ago, it is the 5700series that rivals the 9600series.  
9600=5700xt
9600pro=5700
9600xt=5700U

Obviously they are not exactly the same in all areas, like i mentioned previously Nvidia do better in OpenGL and ATi in Direct3D.  The discrepencies between the 2 are not massive, but it is more a choice of which games you play, Direct3D games or OpenGl games?  Then you will know your answer.

[bm_727]

Umm, I just realized that I don't have an AGP port
what do I do??

[bm]

I don't think you can do anything - my sympathy goes out to you  :'(

Was it a Dell :-/?

[bm_727]

Was it a Dell :-/?

Dimension 2400 :'(

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! >:(

Are there any PCI cards to accomodate AGP?  I'm guessing not, but...

Also, are there any okay PCI graphics cards?

[Delta_]

The PCI Radeon 9200 and the PCI FX5200.  The 9200 being the best performance of the two, but lacks DX9 acceleration.  Whereas the FX5200 has DX9 acceleration.

[congo]

Sell the Dell.  :'(

PCI graphics cards are an option, but probably won't perform much, if any better than what you have now.

Go for the settings tweak above, also, go into your BIOS and allocate as much shared RAM to your onboard video as you can. (this will most likely be 64mb, but it may allow 128mb).

My freind has a GF4 MX440 PCI card he will sell you cheap if you really are going to buy one. It's new.

But, I would suggest spending the money on a new mainboard instead, so a graphics upgrade is possible in the future. (or get a new mainboard and a AGP card as well, keeping in mind that you may need a new case/PSU.).

Sadly, another Dell Dilemma.............

[Gixer]

The ATI card that broke 15000 was highly overclocked though

Hi-D, you said

[quote]The X800 actually broke the 3DMark03 world record recently, by getting just over 15k, and the 6800 touched 12k (both cards at stock speed).

[Delta_]

Quite a nice oc aswell.

[Gixer]

U would think that someone would catch on here and make a card that is good at both openGL and direct3D!

Out of interest what does FS2004 utilise out of these? or does it use both.  

Yeah that o-clocking was quite impressive and so was the score!! I would be to scared to clock a card that just cost me that much money  ;)

[Delta_]

FS2004 is Direct3D. In fact

[bm_727]

PCI graphics cards are an option, but probably won't perform much, if any better than what you have now.

Is this true for every card out there?

Also, what are the best cards for PCI which support DX9?