New nVidia Card

steve_d555 · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 10:40 pm Post subject: New nVidia Card

Hi,
I'm building a new computer and was wondering which nVidia card would be best suited for it. In my other comp I have a 5200TV which fares reasonably well while playing games such as Americas Army and UT2004, but it still lags when there are vehicles and such. I was wondering, what would be a good card for a reasonable budget i.e. no 6800GT's and such. I hear that the FX Series is not that good, except for a certain few.

Thank you
--Steve

R!tman · Posted: Tue Feb 08, 2005 11:04 pm Post subject:

As you are building a new computer, I presume you get an AMD64 with PCI-E.

If you don't want a 6800, then for me the only reasonable graphics card is the 6600, preferably the 6600GT, if you intend to play games.

electrofreak · l33t Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 713 Location: Ohio, USA

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 1:36 am Post subject:

Ya, I its not AMD64 but is not that bad, and yes it is AGP8x. I'm getting a Barton 2500+. Ya, I have a 5200 and it is not that bad but it was barely better than my previous Radeon 9200. But i will look into the 5900, thank you.

--Steve

wolf31o2 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject:

The 5200 was probably one of the worst performing cards ever. Generally with Nvidia cards, the lowest of the series is much slower than the highets of the previous series. With the 5xxx series Nvidia cards, a 5600 should be the minimum to buy. I have a 5700 in one of my machines and it performs beautifully.
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steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 2:52 pm Post subject:

Ok, I've been looking on Newegg and such, and have seen the Chaintech 5700 Ultra 256mb for pretty cheap. It is out of stock now, but what do you guys think?

--Steve

stobbsm · Guru Joined: 23 May 2004 Posts: 452

I'm using the FX5700XT 256MB

getting awesome in game performance, but GLXgears sucks
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steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 3:08 pm Post subject:

Ok, good, and ya GLXgears is a shitty benchmark anyway. You should try the UT2004 benchmark, its pretty good.

Thanks
--Steve

EDIT: What about the Chaintech 5700LE 256mb? Is that a good card? I know LE stands for Low End but I hear good things and it is under $100 on Newegg.

s4kk3 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 4:29 pm Post subject:

pjj · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 6:14 pm Post subject:

I have a Nvidia 6800 LE (the cheapest one) it works great. I will also soon get a new monitor so I can use twinview (nvidia's implementation of xinerama) which is also great. I can play doom3 on 1024x768 on the best video quality

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steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 7:06 pm Post subject:

Is yours PCIe or AGP?

--Steve

Aynjell · Veteran Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 1117

Spend more money and get something more than a 2500+. If you can go 64 bit, compile time for gnome went from 8 hours for the 2500+ to somewhere less than 2 with the AMD64 3200+. It's worth your money in gentoo, believe you me.

If you want to get a usable video card, I reccomend a nice 6800. Though, if it's out of your price range there are other alternatives. If you are going to be gaming, insist in something along the lines of a 5950.

Do not buy a system that is this cheap, you will regret it. I promise you!

Also, if it helps, I have an EVGA stock 6800 (not GT or ULTRA) and I can run Doom 3 at 1280 x 1024 at high, and if I feel froggy, I can put it at 1024 x 768 and run it at ULTRA settings providing i play with the AGP aperture size. It may be a bit laggy (maybe 24 FPS) but it runs. But 1280 x 1024 at high, and ULTRA doesn't crash it.

Great card. Also, the 6600 GT is a damn fast card. Me and a freind have very different systems. He has a 939 based system with a 6600 and it beats my 754 based system with a 6800 in most benchmarks (ala 3Dmark, aquamark, N-Bench)...
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MOBO: DFI SLI-DR (Surprisingly good!)
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HDD: Western Digital Raptor

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:11 pm Post subject:

Well, Ive already bought the 2500 and plan to overclock. I here it overclock up to a 3200 which will be very good. On my XP 2400+ the compile time was definitly not 8 hours, must have been about 6 which is not bad considering I can just leave it running over night. This isnt going to primarily for gaming, but it would be nice to play UT2004 and Quake once in a while. Ya, 6800 is a little high and I will probably shoot for a 5700LE or Ultra which are pretty cheap and can probably play most things. I'm not going to play Doom3, considering I'm too freaked out :lol:

(I played on Windows with my 9800 and couldnt get past the 2nd level)

Also this is going to be a very cheap system, and ive already bought the essentials i.e. MoBo/Processor and Memory. Maybe someday in the future I will buy a 64bit processor, but for now I'm just trying to find a good Video card for my system.

Thanks
--Steve

EDIT: Anyone got a 5900SE?

Aynjell · Veteran Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 1117

Well, just because it's worth your while, go for a 5950. It can make all the difference.
_________________
CPU: 3800+ X2 (2.5Ghz)
GPU: eVGA 7600GT (640/1700)
MOBO: DFI SLI-DR (Surprisingly good!)
RAM: 2 x OCZ Gold 1024 DDR500 3-4-3-7 (2048)
HDD: Western Digital Raptor

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 9:51 pm Post subject:

I would, just that there aren't many floating around, and the only one i can find (Newegg

) is like more than a 6800GT which is of course expensive.

--Steve

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:35 pm Post subject:

Does anyone have a 6200? How does it run?

Thanks
--Steve

Need4Speed · Guru Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Posts: 497

Why would you even consider a 5900 or 5950? A 6600gt is both cheaper and faster in everything! Take a look and some benchmarks at www.anandtech.com if you don't believe me. And yes, the entire FX line SUCKED!

Companies had to create special lower quality paths for the FX line just so the cards could perform anyway near the ati equivalents.

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 10:40 pm Post subject:

6600GT PCIe is cheaper, but I need an AGP card which are becoming harder and harder to come by now that PCI Express is becoming popular among high end cards.

electrofreak · l33t Joined: 30 Jun 2004 Posts: 713 Location: Ohio, USA

steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:20 pm Post subject:

I hear that the 6200 is the same as the 6600 with 4 pipelines closed. Is there a way to open them and get the same performance as the 6600 or is that a nonissue?

Steve

PZoned · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:35 pm Post subject:

I bought a 6800GT a while back, couldn't be happier (picked it up for $400 CDN, the Asus V9999Gt 256MB)
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steve_d555 · Posted: Wed Feb 09, 2005 11:45 pm Post subject:

Ok, I think I'm gonna cough up the extra dough and go out and buy myself a 6600GT. Thank you guys for all you help.

--Steve

steve_d555 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:00 am Post subject:

Last question, sorry, what is the Difference between DDR3 and GDDR3, I'm assuming both are good.

--Steve

Aynjell · Veteran Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 1117

Just pretend the G means good, and then pronounce it as way too good. GDDR is one of the reasons his card beats mine.
_________________
CPU: 3800+ X2 (2.5Ghz)
GPU: eVGA 7600GT (640/1700)
MOBO: DFI SLI-DR (Surprisingly good!)
RAM: 2 x OCZ Gold 1024 DDR500 3-4-3-7 (2048)
HDD: Western Digital Raptor

steve_d555 · Posted: Thu Feb 10, 2005 12:28 am Post subject:

OK, Thanks for that excellent technical explanation :lol:

--Steve