need advice on graphic cards

Discussion in 'other software & services' started by dober, Sep 12, 2004.

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  1. dober

    dober Guest

    which graphic card worth its money dear experts. thank you
     
  2. Blackspear

    Blackspear Global Moderator

    Joined:
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    Location:
    Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia
    My techs who are gamers use GE Cube ATi Radeon 9600XT Extreme, going above this basically doubles your price...

    Hope this helps...

    Cheers :D
     
  3. Devinco

    Devinco Registered Member

    Joined:
    Jul 2, 2004
    Posts:
    2,524
    Hi dober,

    You have to decide what is more important: video games or everything else.

    If you are a video game enthusiast and like the 3d fps games, etc. then you will want one of the more current nVidia or ATI. Note that I did not say THE top of the line. The top line models will give super performance, but they will leave a big dent in your wallet (make that a cavernous gaping hole). Better to get the second or third model down. Find out what games you HAVE to play then get a card that will perform adequately for those. Don't be fooled by model numbers, higher is not always better. For other regular work, these cards are okay and very usable. Even if you are a 50% regular work / 50% games, one of these two would be good. I am not giving you specific model opinions because I haven't done the research very recently.
    It would be best to read as many reviews as possible and try these sites out:
    HardOCP
    HardForums Video Cards
    tomshardware
    anandtech

    Now, if you will be using your computer for regular work primarily (more than 50%), or graphics, video, programming, DTP, Web design, there is no substitute for the Matrox Parhelia. It has the best text display, Hardware Font antialiasing, Gigacolor (billions instead of millions of colors), the best implementation of multiple monitors in both software and hardware, and support for up to 3 monitors. The multimonitor support was not an after thought. It actually works extremely well and can boost productivity. The second monitor is capable of full refresh rates, not only 60Hz. The sharp text, graphics, and video display will not disappoint. It can even play some video games and span them across 3 monitors for surround video gaming (have not tried this). It is pretty quiet. The cooling fan does not sound like a vacuum cleaner. Okay now the bad: It pretty much sucks for video games. Frame rate wise, it is like a much older ATI or nVidia card. The surround video game 3 monitor setup may require special setup with games and may not work with many games. The driver requires .NET framework. It is pretty hard to tell the difference between millions of colors and billions of colors. There was some feature (video related) that required turning off gigacolor.
    If you decide on this, get the 512 MB retail version. The 1024 MB version is only needed for the absolute upper resolutions.

    I have no affiliation with any of these companies or resellers. These are just my opinions. I have tried many video cards, though not the current latest and greatest from ATI or nVidia.

    Good luck
     
    Last edited: Sep 12, 2004
  4. nod32_9

    nod32_9 Guest

    Depends on what PC you have right now. No sense in putting a high-end card on a DOG.
     
  5. dober

    dober Guest

    Blackspear, thanks

    Devinco, thyanks amillion for the great detailed reply

    nod32_9, I'm just wondering is buing a ready made good quality computer cheaper or bulding it my self piece by piece, thats why i asked
     
  6. Firecat

    Firecat Registered Member

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    Well....now we have excellent value with an NVIDIA GeForce 6600GT - the card's selling like hot cakes!

    NVIDIA's GeForce FX 5900XT has also been VERY popular so far.

    On the ATI camp, the Radeon 9800 still remains strong, but is outdone by the GeForce 6600GT and the FX 5900 in some cases.

    Any of these three cards will serve you VERY well for the future.

    Best Regards,
    Firecat
     
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