Hello: First poster, in search of good advice. I'm currently playing World of Warcraft on a P4 2.5Ghz, 1GB RAM, GeForce 4200Ti 64MB, dying PC. Granted, the performance for that game isn't really bad at all, I get a constant 30 FPS and can't complain. I'm not a huge gamer and am not looking to trick out anything related to my PC in the near future. Yet, I have been looking at some cheap Radeon 9600's for the hell of it, because they are under 100$ and I can give my old card to a family member. Now I am sure of compatibility and all that, just wondering if this deal on newegg is worth it, in terms of money spent and slight increase in performance. Again, I only really play World of Warcraft, and at times Sims 2, and some other shooters, Battlefield, Call of Duty. Here's the card in question: hxxp://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...4102342R#sctNav Saphire ULTIMATE RADEON 9600XT 128MB 128-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - OEM Chipset Radeon 9600XT Core clock 500MHz Memory Clock 600MHz Memory Size 128MB Memory Int 128-bit Memory Type DDR Any help is appreciated - if 70$ or ten bucks more can get me something a little better, please let me know, otherwise, I'm all about this deal. They are offering 1$ three day shipping as well! Thanks.
Any other takers for advice? From here, Ive been advised to spend the extra 50$ and get a 9800. Is that worth it performance wise, and for the long haul?
ATI Product Comparison Product Name RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB RADEON 9800 128MB RADEON 9600 XT ASIC RADEON 9800 RADEON 9800 RADEON 9600 Technology Features SMARTSHADER™ 2.1 2.1 2 SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1 2.1 2.1 FULLSTREAM™ Real, DivX Real, DivX Real, DivX Adaptive De-Interlace VIDEOSHADER™ VIDEOSHADER™ VIDEOSHADER™ HYDRAVISION™ Yes Yes Yes Hardware MPEG Encode Assist - - - CrossFire™ Ready N/A N/A N/A Specifications Bus Type AGP 4X,8X AGP 4X, 8X AGP 4X, 8X Memory Amount (MB) 256 128 128 Memory Type DDR2 DDR1 DDR1 Memory Interface 256-bit 256-bit 128-bit Memory Clock Speed (MHz) 350 290 300 Engine Clock Speed (MHz) 380 325 500 Pipelines 8 8 4 Pixel Fillrate 3.04 Gpixels/sec 2.6 Gpixels/sec 2.0 Gpixels/sec Geometry Rate 380 MTriangles 325 MTriangles 250 MTriangles Display Support VGA Yes Yes Yes DVI Yes Yes Yes Dual-Link DVI N/A N/A N/A Dual Monitor Display Yes Yes Yes YPrPb Out for HDTV w/adapter optional w/adapter optional w/adapter optional S-Video Out Yes Yes Yes Composite Out w/adapter included w/adapter included w/adapter optional Multimedia Support S-Video In - - - Composite In - - - TV Tuner - - - FM Tuner No No No DTV Tuner N/A Remote Control Included - - - EAZYLOOK - - - Audio Out - - - S/PDIF Out - - -
To debeanerz: In a word- NO! I would definitely try and get a decent graphic card from Craigslist.org. You can get some decent to pretty good graphic cards at incredible deals. My friend in Atlanta got a ATI Radeon PCI express 16 700SE graphic card for 70 dollars because the guy just bought a 850 XT graphic card and just wanted to recroup some money.
Try ChiefValue.com I got my Radeon X800PRO refurbished for $160 and it was $220 at Newegg and $360 at Best Buy.
