Members Psilocybin Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Once again I, the caveman, have a computer related question. Which video card should be better and why? Radeon 9800 256mb vs evga geforce 6800 128mb I was recently given the radeon card to use on my girlfriend's computer. When we briefly tested it on a game it did have a SLIGHTLY better framerate. Our untrained eyes might not know what to look for. I did not notice any graphical difference between the cards while she thought the 9800 made things look "funny" to her. Any words of wisdom? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dDigitalPimp Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 lots of people dont like radeon cards, but that card has twice the memory. the "funny looking" thing is either a driver issue or more likely the refresh rate is off. right click on desktop and go to properties. under settings click advanced. under the monitor tab you can adjust the refresh rate there. default is 60Hertz for most monitors you can bump it up to 70 and try that. i wouldnt go much higher unless you know your vid card/monitor combo can handle it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members chunky-b Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Once again I, the caveman, have a computer related question. Which video card should be better and why?Radeon 9800 256mb vsevga geforce 6800 128mbI was recently given the radeon card to use on my girlfriend's computer. When we briefly tested it on a game it did have a SLIGHTLY better framerate. Our untrained eyes might not know what to look for. I did not notice any graphical difference between the cards while she thought the 9800 made things look "funny" to her. Any words of wisdom? No A/B/X test? Are you using "Magma Video Cables"? I would go with the extra memory Radeon personally... Describe "funny"... You might need to change other video settings when you change cards. /.02 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's my (admittedly feeble) understanding that those two cards should be somewhat comparable. If that's true, I'd go with the one that has more ram. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 While we're on the subject of video cards, I'm just about ready to order a computer with this card: NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB Dual DVI Decent? I'll be using it with two 19" widescreen lcd panels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 While we're on the subject of video cards, I'm just about ready to order a computer with this card:NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT 512MB Dual DVIDecent? I'll be using it with two 19" widescreen lcd panels.Decent? Yes.Amazingly Crazy, blow your gamer friends' socks off? Probably not. Better than what I run? yes.That's actually my choice for next card, too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Decent? Yes.Amazingly Crazy, blow your gamer friends' socks off? Probably not. Better than what I run? yes.That's actually my choice for next card, too. It's a $106 upgrade from the standard card that Gateway offers. I've been thinking of getting one of these audio cards: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card ($79 upcharge)Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeAudio PCI Sound Card ($49 upcharge) but am thinking of just going with the integrated audio for now and upgrading to the Audigy 4 at some point. I had an original Audigy and liked it alot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Psilocybin Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 By funny I guess she meant that the outlines of characters looked choppier. Kind of like the graphics were toned down. We ran the same video settings on both cards. While I'm not saying she didn't know what she was talking about, (remember I said I couldn't tell a difference) I don't think she would know one way or another if I switched cards without telling her. Word on the street is ATI isn't as good of a card as nvida. I was told the 9800 series had driver issues. I don't know enough about them to be biased. Is the extra memory on the ati card enough to trump the "better" brand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 We need a forum just for computer troubles! I'll lookup the specs on that gforce and compare those sound cards for TB later on. I have work to do for now... I have the X-Fi Platinum though and it's an amazing card. mmm, front bezel control panel and remote... having said that though, both those video cards are comparable low-end upgrades, and both of those sound cards are very similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 We need a forum just for computer troubles! +1 Having been on this forum forever, I've come to appreciate the vast backgrounds of everyone here. I've been steered in the right direction so many times by folks here and not just when it comes to bass stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 By funny I guess she meant that the outlines of characters looked choppier. Kind of like the graphics were toned down. We ran the same video settings on both cards. While I'm not saying she didn't know what she was talking about, (remember I said I couldn't tell a difference) I don't think she would know one way or another if I switched cards without telling her.Word on the street is ATI isn't as good of a card as nvida. I was told the 9800 series had driver issues. I don't know enough about them to be biased. Is the extra memory on the ati card enough to trump the "better" brand?ATI and Nvidia are the two main companies for video chipsets. Personally, I prefer Nvidia, fora number of reasons, but that's not to say you shouldn't use an ATI card if that fits what you want to do.On the note of the outlines of characters, you may want to check your Antialiasing and/or Anisotropic filtering settings. One card may be able to do a better job than the other, or it may just not have been set to the same number of filters. Also, are you sure the games were both running in the same resolution? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members SteveyDevey Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 +1 Having been on this forum forever, I've come to appreciate the vast backgrounds of everyone here. I've been steered in the right direction so many times by folks here and not just when it comes to bass stuff. I really don't play much music any more. I only spend time on this forum for the random off-topic chat, and the occasional x000 post threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MrJoshua Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Once again I, the caveman, have a computer related question. Which video card should be better and why?Radeon 9800 256mb vsevga geforce 6800 128mbI was recently given the radeon card to use on my girlfriend's computer. When we briefly tested it on a game it did have a SLIGHTLY better framerate. Our untrained eyes might not know what to look for. I did not notice any graphical difference between the cards while she thought the 9800 made things look "funny" to her. Any words of wisdom? The Radeon 9800 was the best card of its generation. But, the GeForce 6800 was the best card of ITS generation, too, and it's one generation newer than the Radeon 9800. Depending on the model (there were several models of each - 9800, 9800 Pro, etc. 6800GS, 6800GT, 6800Ultra...) the 6800 should be faster than the 9800. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 It's a $106 upgrade from the standard card that Gateway offers. I've been thinking of getting one of these audio cards: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeGamer PCI Sound Card ($79 upcharge) Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeAudio PCI Sound Card ($49 upcharge) but am thinking of just going with the integrated audio for now and upgrading to the Audigy 4 at some point. I had an original Audigy and liked it alot. These two are the same, except the Audio as more ports for, you guessed it, recording audio and such. I personally like as many ports as possible, even though I'll never even think about using them. But I'm t3ch for a reason. Chances are, you aren't going to use any of the ports besides the mic-in and the 7.1 outputs. If you look at this picture and question what all the ports are for, save yourself $30. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Psilocybin Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 The Radeon 9800 was the best card of its generation. But, the GeForce 6800 was the best card of ITS generation, too, and it's one generation newer than the Radeon 9800. Depending on the model (there were several models of each - 9800, 9800 Pro, etc. 6800GS, 6800GT, 6800Ultra...) the 6800 should be faster than the 9800. Just reading the box the 6800 came in, it says "e-GeForce 6800" no gt/gs/ultra. Its DDR, 128mb, agp8x. Its this card. and this is the ati (not sure on what model so I posted the one that looks identical) I think the whole "one looks has better graphics than the other thing" is just a figment of my girlfriend's imagination. I'll have to check the ati again. So I guess I keep comming back to the memory vs card capabilities thing, or something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 ATi has been known for it's quality of graphics, and Nvidia for it's speed. The lines are beginning to blur between the two, but I wouldn't be surprised if by default, Nvidias drivers were optimized for speed and ATi for quality. Even if you run the game with the same settings, there are still system properties that can override what you select in game, like what stevey was saying about AA, etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Psilocybin Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Would the extra memory on the ati make a game less laggy? To fill you in on her computer its a bit older. The processor is 1.7GHz and it has 1 gig of ram (I found a cheap ram upgrade from the 512 it used to be). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 If she's running XP, 1gb will be plenty to game on with only a 128mb video card. Though yes, fps DOES increase with more onboard v-ram... But system ram is fine as well, but of course not as optimal. It's when you don't have enough of either that true problems begin. I mean really, if one ran better than the other, just roll with it. People can post specs and shout benchmarks at you till you're blue in the face, but if one card runs better on your system than the other, than that's all the fact you need. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Psilocybin Posted November 12, 2007 Author Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 If she's running XP, 1gb will be plenty to game on with only a 128mb video card. Though yes, fps DOES increase with more onboard v-ram... But system ram is fine as well, but of course not as optimal. It's when you don't have enough of either that true problems begin.I mean really, if one ran better than the other, just roll with it. People can post specs and shout benchmarks at you till you're blue in the face, but if one card runs better on your system than the other, than that's all the fact you need. Fair enough. Thank you for all your help. I'll be trying the ati again to see if it has any more or less lag issues. My hi tech test consists of logging her computer into WoW and running around/looking around in places with lots of players and npcs. I do not think there will be a graphical difference that I can see. The winning card will more or less be based on what lags less around other players. Its hard to do pvp if you keep getting lag. The ram upgrade fixed most of her lag issues anyway. Now its just seeing what card will let me turn up the graphics settings the farthest without causing lag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members mike fitzwell Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 I mean really, if one ran better than the other, just roll with it. People can post specs and shout benchmarks at you till you're blue in the face, but if one card runs better on your system than the other, than that's all the fact you need. Do you work in tech retail? If not, you should. That's just fantastic advice right there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jazz Ad Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 We need a forum just for computer troubles!Uh, there are 3 HC forums just for computer problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Thunderbroom Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 These two are the same, except the Audio as more ports for, you guessed it, recording audio and such. I personally like as many ports as possible, even though I'll never even think about using them. But I'm t3ch for a reason. Chances are, you aren't going to use any of the ports besides the mic-in and the 7.1 outputs. If you look at this picture and question what all the ports are for, save yourself $30. I'm familiar with S/PDIF but admittedly don't know how to take advantage of them. I do; however, know how to rock this breakout box: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members REMUS Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 6800 is a much better card Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members t3ch Posted November 12, 2007 Members Share Posted November 12, 2007 Do you work in tech retail? If not, you should. That's just fantastic advice right there. haha, I worked at office max for a few years, but no. I understand what you're getting at though, many a time have I argued with sales people, or listened to horrible/biased advice they've given others.... Learned that I had to just shake my head and walk away. I'm a sys admin now Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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