Graphics Card

by **Bnoj13** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 4:53 pm

Hey everyone, wasn't sure where to post this, but since it kinda involves computer building, i decided to post it here.

Alright, I'm in the market for a graphics card.

Things I'm expecting:

at least 128 MB
good performance for hl2(wanting to buy it soon)
-Good Lightning Effects
-Good Shader Engine
Preferably ATI, but if nvidia has a good price, ill take it.

I'm on a budget of $150

Any suggestions? Thanks a bunch! ^*^

by **e to the x** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:01 pm

Well from a quick search of Newegg I'd say you are looking at an ATI 9600 series. I use the AIW version and I am happy with the performance. I use pretty high settings 1024/768 for HL2 and 1280/1024 for FFXI. Doom was the hardest to get running smoothly requiring 800/600 res.

If you're willing to get some more money together you might want to look into the 9800 series. My friend uses that and I've never seen jumping, or any reason to lower the screen resolution below its max. It's basically the same as the 9600 but uses 256-bit architecture and comes with a fan.

I've done some modding to my video card but removing the static HS and putting on a nice HSF along with RAM heatsinks to try to get the car running more smoothly.

Hope this helps.

by **tWeaKmoD** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 6:03 pm

I also have the AIW 9600XT. I'm not a gamer, but love the card! I got mine for lik $250 but the price has come down since last year.

by **OsirisX** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 7:51 pm

Go with the 6600GT, in my opinion that's the best price/ratio card on the market.

by **ar1stotle** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:11 pm

For $150, you could get a Geforce FX 5600 256mb like me (well, I got it for $150 like 2 years ago). I get a good 40-45 fps in HL2 at 800x600.

by **Computerwiz2489** » Fri Feb 11, 2005 11:47 pm

Took the words right outta mah mouth.
Radeon 9600 is the way to go

by **EXTREMEoverclocker** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:42 am

deffinately 9600XT...got one myself....works like a dream......exspecially for the price.....

by **Neuromancer** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 3:52 am

Radeon9600XT 170 dollars with free ground shipping

Product Name RADEON 9600 XT
Technology Features

SMARTSHADER

by **stlava** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:21 am

Stay with major brands like.
Abit
Saphire
XFX
MSI

Those are the good ones. Like all the cards use the ATI 9600x chipset but the actual card is made by those companies. And unkown brands are bad. I have a abit 9600 256meg and it works really well with HL2. I suggest getting any of the 9600 series ones they are on the border line between good and low price everything else is high price or supper low price. And before your ready to buy please post the one you will get. Just want to make sure you don't get an off brand one.

by **SCgone** » Sat Feb 12, 2005 4:23 am

If you buy the 9600 or for that matter, any card, try to get it from a place you can return it. I kept my 9600 for a week and took it back, too many problems. Nvidia cards have always been much more stable for me.

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