Delta Force Barracks Forums

VIDEO CARD SUGGESTIONS!!!

Holy_Soldier - 4-24-2003 at 11:59 PM

I was curious about something. I am going to build a new pc for myself, and i'm not sure what i should actually get for a video card...

But my problem is that i don't know if i should go with the Radeon 9700 Pro or with a GeForce 4. I heard that the 9700 pro has some compatibility problems with some games, and the GeForce is better for gaming because it makes the graphics more crisp, but i figured I'd ask my fellow gamers their opinions before i build this pc.

Kitfoo - 4-25-2003 at 01:30 AM

Personally, I like ATI, so I'd go with the 9700. It has more RAM than the GeForce, and beat it in almost every category of performance. But, If you're rich and like to blow your money, go with the GeForce. They're both good cards either way you go. If you get the GeForce, make sure you have plenty of room in your case for that huge fan!

Snip@ - 4-25-2003 at 02:08 AM

actually ATI is well known for excellent and the best graphics u can find. I'd defently purchase the ATI if i was you... The Geoforce 4 is good but the 9700 is way better.

LAR~DAWG*posse* - 4-25-2003 at 02:18 AM

Go with the Geforce I never had a problem with it and everyone else I know with something other than Geforce always has some kind of problem

Snip@ - 4-25-2003 at 02:26 AM

If you want the best graphics possible not second best go with ATI 9700 because that has the best graphics money can buy. The geoforce nvidia technology is downgraded to that of the ATI technology it uses two completely different technologies to create the graphics and you can tell a big difference. And the only probs i've heard is with older video cards the newer ones i've not heard a single problem with.

LOL

Holy_Soldier - 4-25-2003 at 02:27 AM

man looks like lots of people prefer the ATI...

Funny, it seems that the GeForce has cooler temps. when it comes to overclocking, but then i think...IF I HAVE AN ATI 9700 WHY WOULD I NEED TO OVERCLOCK!! LOL...

although!!!!

Holy_Soldier - 4-25-2003 at 02:43 AM

Something I DO REMEMBER...is that when BHD first came out with the Demo, a lot of people with the ATI 9700 had LOTS of problems with the game! They were getting kicked out of the game and the computer was locking up a lot. ATI, believe it or not had to make an upgraded driver because they were getting lots of complaints. After the driver was installed, there were no problems. With the GeForce 4 people, they had no problems what so ever...

Snip@ - 4-25-2003 at 07:02 AM

all my friends that have bhd demo never heard them complain about problems a lot of the time i think it might have been that the persons computer wasn't really fast enough for the demo.

Spike-701SQUAD - 4-25-2003 at 06:44 PM

I recently build my own pc AMD 2400 ASUS nforce 2 mobo 2*256 mb sdram and a 9700PRO and BHD runs like a sweet dream on highest ress with all detail high. Btw I don't have any compatibility problems, even old games like Counter Strike work on my system.

MAN!!!

Holy_Soldier - 4-26-2003 at 12:09 AM

THAT'S SHOCKING FOR YOU TO SAY YOUR OLD GAMES WORK!!!

i love Warcraft 2 a LOT...but it won't work on my PC cause of my video card (stupid crappy intel). And if it works great on counter strike, then it will definitely work for warcraft 2. MAN...ok..

I'M GETTIN THE 9700 PRO!!!!!!!!!!!!



*unless GeForce in the next 2 months comes out with a video card that will smack down the 9700 pro...

Kitfoo - 4-26-2003 at 12:20 AM

GeForce does have the 5400, but ATI trumped them and released the 9800. :D

WOW

Holy_Soldier - 5-30-2003 at 05:38 AM

NVIDIA IS GOING TO KICK BUTT!!!

THE FX 5900!!!!!! IT HAS GREATED SHADOWING DETAIL THAN THE RADEON 9800!!! IT'S DESIGNED TO PERFECTLY RUN DOOM 3..

hmm...i wonder which card i'll get now...

A.Bullet - 5-30-2003 at 06:12 AM

Well.. its hard to say..

If you want top of the line.. your gonna have two choices really soon..

You could already choose the

ATI 9800 Pro w/256MB DDR RAM

and in early June your gonna be able to get the brand new

GeForce FX 5900 w/256 MB DDR RAM

From the reviews I have read - the GeForce has more efficient memory architecture and is about equal to the ATI cards at lower resolutions - however at the higher resolutions the GeForce FX 5900 was the hands down winner with almost 20% better performance than the ATI 9800 ..

However .. the anisotropic filtering is definitly better on the ATI cards as compared to the GeForce cards.. according to Anandtech..

Also.. its worth mentioning that the GeForce card will take up TWO expansion slots in your PC because of its size..

Both cards will pretty much blow your mind though.. but neither are cheap..

If your not looking for absolute top of the line.. but you still want a smoking card..

The GeForce FX 5600 and the ATI Radeon 9500 Pro are still smoking cards and are both available for about $200 as opposed to the $400 - $500 your likely to pay for the top of the line models..

Driver issues aside.. the ATI Radeon 9500 Pro w/128 MB of DDR Ram beat out the GeForce FX 5600 w/128 MB RAM in virtually every resolution and with all different settings when tested by Anandtech on Commanche 4 (which uses virtually the identical game engine as BHD)

either way im gonna get firsthand info soon.. LOL cause I definitly have to upgrade my card.. LOL mine is a lowly GeForce 4 MX 420 and its (ARGH) PCI instead of AGP (please dont laugh LOL)

Steptoe - 5-30-2003 at 12:54 PM

HaHaHaHaHa
sry couldnt help myself
I had gf since voodo was dumped with m64, never had a prob, runing gf 2 32 and 64 meg cards gf 440 and gf t14200 in machines here...
A.Bullet sums up well, if u have a money tree as a good alrounder get top line gf,
If its autumn ,the money tree bit bare, go gf 440, but if it is possible to get a couple more bucks at a streach get the 4200.
Choose brands carefully, there is a big diff between them, theres even a bit of diff between 2 cards purchased together, so dont let bench marks rule your chioce

MC™ - 5-31-2003 at 06:19 AM

I have a GeForce 4 , it works well. And the other is supposed to be better, correct?

Lets put it this way...

Holy_Soldier - 6-3-2003 at 09:45 AM

The PC I am building is...

AMD 3000 w/ motherboard
1 Gig DDR 3200 Ram
2 - 80 Gig 7200 RPM Hard drives (160 total)
1 - 20 Gig 7200 RPM Hard drive dedicated to my OS
*Final choice was ATI Radeon 9000 w/ 128 MB DDR Ram
Creative Labs Audigy Gamer
3 Case fans, 2 Hard Drive Fans, Dual Exhaust pipes.

This will be complete and running at the end of july....

So you think that DFBHD will be running smooth? ;)

LAUGH ALL YOU WANT

*HEAVY*METAL* - 6-3-2003 at 10:29 PM

IVE BEEN PLAYIN WITH A NIVEDIA 32 BIT GRAPHICS CARD .HOPE 2 UPGRADE SOON I THINK MY 1.GIG PROSSER ATHALON AND 512RAM IS KEEPIN ME GOING .UNBALEAVEABLE.MAYBE THATS WHY WHEN I HOST PEOPLE GET AUTO PUNTED CEPT 4 ABOUT 4 PEOPLE:mad:I SURE HOPE 2 UPGARDE SOON?GFORCE OR ATI WICH EVER FITS MY BUDGET?:o

hmmm...

Holy_Soldier - 6-3-2003 at 10:50 PM

With the type of system I listed above...how many people do you think i can host effectively especially if i use Opti Run.. (I have BroadBand Cable...)

Don't mean to be ignorant, but...

IceQueen~RGR - 6-6-2003 at 03:29 AM

How do you dedicate a hard drive for a video card? What does that do for the performance of the server and for play?

Which commercial system is best compared to cost?

Alienware, Gateway, Dell, Voodoo?

I am no expert and can't build a puter, but am looking to get out of my 1Ghz, P3 Gf2, 40 Gig HD 512 Ram 3 year old computer....

Snip@ - 6-7-2003 at 01:13 PM

yourbuilding same pc as me basically.... lol i'm getting the 128 fx i'm not redy to shell out 1200 for a video card lol....

Snip@ - 6-7-2003 at 01:18 PM

dang lol i only got a 600mhz celeron right now
lol with 20 gig hard drive a new geforce 4 mx 440 se lol
64mb video card cuz the voodoo 5 wasn't cutting it thats a temp video card though lol
and 256 mb ram and your compaining because u have a gighz lmfao dud ei'd be jumping for joy if i had that pc right now lol instead i gotta save al il money each week and get a new processor along with epox motherboar di'm getting lol
i'm getting the 2500 duron amd chip overclocked to 3000 lol runs faster than the regular 3000 lol....
much nicer lol
i think its duron not sure its osmething thst starts with d lol don't remembner now i'm too tired so oh well u probably know what i'm tlaking about.....but i'm getting a gig or 512 and then 256 mb of ram not sure which way i'm going yet i need lots of ram though lol
but the geforce fx 256 mb video card is freakign 1200 dollars lol not wanting to pay that much lol i've already put 200 into a brand new case with better airflow along with new cdrom/cdrw/dvd/dvdrw lol
and new powersupply my new case has neons and [Censored] on it freaking awesome but yea the 128 mb version of the fx is only 200 lol:)

Dunno

Holy_Soldier - 6-26-2003 at 11:00 AM

Man i've heard so many good things about the Radeon 9800 Pro, but the new Nvidia GeForce that just game out blows the 9800 Pro away when it comes to shadowing...

i'm still so confused...

Eagle_Eye - 6-26-2003 at 08:37 PM

Lets not forget, any company can put a video chip on a card, it's how they put it there that matters. So whatever chipset you choose, check up on the maker, like Sapphire for ATI chipped cards and Leadtek for Nvidea chipped cards.

Death[ltgen] - 7-1-2003 at 10:59 AM

get the 9800 pro. i just bought it, and its works great. i really recommend it and ive read some reviews on both and it seems that people really enjoy the 9800 over some of the geforce cards. i recommend the one that was made to blow away the competition, 9800 of course. :)

Agreed...

Holy_Soldier - 7-1-2003 at 11:53 PM

Unless they drastically lower the price of the GeForce 5900...i'm gonna get the Radeon...why? Cause Radeon came out with a better card than the 9800 pro, but it's $500. I'm glad they came out with it, cause it cut the price of the 9800 pro in half.

Eagle_Eye - 7-2-2003 at 12:27 AM

Thats like $900 here in Aus, bit pricey

Well...not really...

Holy_Soldier - 7-3-2003 at 09:01 AM

For the Radeon 9800 Pro w/ 256 mb Ram....$701.47 Austrailian Dollars, $477 American Dollars at

http://www.futurepowerpc.com/scripts/details.asp?PRDCODE=VB_GBT_GA_R98P256D...that's the lowest you'll find it for...

Eagle_Eye - 7-3-2003 at 12:28 PM

Thats still pricy, thanks Holy, I was just quessing the conversion rate. Would be nice though Hey!

well here is one cheaper...

Holy_Soldier - 7-6-2003 at 01:37 AM

Here is the 9800 Pro 128 mb ram..

http://1toppc.com/miva/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=...

Oh my this is sad...

Holy_Soldier - 7-8-2003 at 11:02 PM

Well...seems that my "Super Computer" that i was going to build is going to have one flaw...money. Man i just thought i had the money for the ATI Radeon 9800 Pro w/256mb ddr ram...

So for now i got the ATI Radeon 9000 w/128mb ddr ram...

When i get the money i'm going to get the latest video card...and take the 9000 and put it in my old PC...but man...i guess the eyes are bigger than my wallet...

BuzzSawOne - 7-12-2003 at 12:16 PM

Well, all I can say after all of this talk of this and that is I am getting an Athlon 2600+, Asus n78x deluxe, 512 mb Micron DDR, 80 WD HD, and the GeForce Ti4200 w/128mb ram........ After 2 years of gaming on a PIII 933, 256mb ram, and a Riva TNT64 32mb card....... I think I will be happy with the new system for a while!!! ;-)

Buzz :D:D

...

Holy_Soldier - 7-13-2003 at 12:04 AM

yea...for a while...but if your like me...that type of system will be obselete in 3 years...and will need to upgrade the ram...then the processor...then more ram...then a new motherboard w/ max processor and ram...

lol...

I go about 3 year between each computer...i GO ALL OUT...then wait...GO ALL OUT....then wait... :)

Mojo2004 - 7-13-2003 at 06:02 AM

I've got through a large variety of graphics cards... ATi cards normally throw out great graphics, BUT I've always to find them to have drivers that are unstable, un-usedable, or drivers that work, but have little tweaking facilities.


Nvidia GeForce 4 Cards have equally goot graphics, more tweaking controls, BUT are generally more expensive.

Caloy - 7-14-2003 at 07:14 AM

I have an athlon 1800+xp (1.533 GHz) and a GeForce 4 Mx 440 64MB Video Card. I still have fun playing BHD, DF2 with it.

Just get the system you can afford and don't go out on a limb to buy a "fast" computer. My advice is don't over spend. Yes you get what you pay for, but enjoying the game isn't really seeing how detailed or how it is rendered. It's how you play. Esthetics aside you will still have fun. Don't get me wrong here, I too would like a kickass system and the fastest video card available and all the bells and whistles. But remebmer if you learn to be happy with what you got, it doesnt matter what system you got. Even if you have the fastest system there is, and your guage for happiness is that you have the fastest system, then in a few months im afraid that you'll be sad again. Remember if you had fun playing df2 it's because it's how you played not how good the graphics are. I still play and have fun with DF2 but the cheats are overwhelming so now I'm happy with BHD :D

WELLLL!!!

Holy_Soldier - 7-18-2003 at 11:08 PM

Well, here's the thing...

I don't believe in keeping up with the jones' cause i don't believe that's very Christ-Like...but what i DO-DO...is that every 4 years or so i build the LATEST and GREATEST...

why?

Cause if i upgrade the PC over those same 4 years, and it's the same size computer as if i out right built it...then i would have spent MORE upgradeing than to do it all in one shot.

In Conclusion: SAVES MORE MONEY!!!! :) Just over a long period of time. Plus the system i'm building is a $3000 + system if you BOUGHT IT...i'm BUILDING IT..so it's $1200. So it saves me money NOW and in the FUTURE!!!

Got a tech Question.....

Holy_Soldier - 7-23-2003 at 11:53 PM

Ya'll ever heard of slicing a hard-drive?

My friend that's helping me build it said that he would slice the hard drive into 4 specific drives and would extend the life and speed of the hard drive...

i can kind of understand cause it creates the communication between the harddrive and the memory easier, because it's only focusing on one aspect of the drive, but is their any real difference or benefit?

geforce 4

GhOsT-oF-dArKneSs - 7-25-2003 at 11:02 AM

my neighbor is helping me build a new pc which will be done tomorrow :), supposed to b today but argh one more day cant hurt...well to the point, my new pc is using a Ge-force 4 4200 Nvidia, didnt have the extra 40 bux for the 4800 but my neighbor also mentioned that the new fx card was only ment for the new doom game and one other, im sure it will be compatable with other games but it is way over priced, about 1300, i no to some thats not alot of money but to me its a bit to much right now...for a pc.

EAGLE[]r9[] - 7-26-2003 at 12:28 AM

how much ram you gettin? or the cpu speed, etc... i would just like to know since im thinkin about building a computer for myself.

honestly...

Holy_Soldier - 7-26-2003 at 04:57 AM

Hey go to pricewatch.com...you can find cheap prices on motherboard/processor combos... i got mb/pro...amd 3000 for about $400. And 1 Gig DDR 2700 Ram for about $90

EAGLE[]r9[] - 7-26-2003 at 06:04 AM

jeez you got that ram pretty cheap. I may have to stop by that site and pick me up some ram

Sharptooth~RGR - 7-28-2003 at 05:26 AM

IQ~RGR just got the Alienware area 51 pc and it came with the new Nvidia 5900 graphics card and you can set BHD on the highest settings and resolution and it looks like your in the dang game. :D

I'm jealous and I want one too!! :P

lol

Holy_Soldier - 7-31-2003 at 06:04 AM

ya'll got no idea. i'm waiting for the AMD Optrion to get better in the next year and build a PC that ROCKS THE WORLD!!!

BuzzSawOne - 7-31-2003 at 06:13 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by Sharptooth~RGR
IQ~RGR just got the Alienware area 51 pc and it came with the new Nvidia 5900 graphics card


Have any idea what that baby set him back?
I had a bid on an area51 (genuine) on eBay that was for $875.00 and I was the only bidder for the whole auction until the last 12 minutes when 7 other people got in the bidding war and eventually it sold for $1650.00....... Ohhhhh, if I would have only got THAT for $875.00.... Mama!

Christof

BladeUSI - 7-31-2003 at 07:45 AM

Geforce 4 MX440 is what I use and love it.. I have no problems in any games I play.Also nice on the $$$

Sharptooth~RGR - 7-31-2003 at 04:26 PM

Yeah it set her back about $3,000.00! :o

pssshhh

Holy_Soldier - 8-1-2003 at 01:34 AM

I can build that PC for $1985 not including monitor. I can include 18" LCD Flat Panel Monitor for an extra $400