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Shopping for a new video card


random guy

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Now that christmas is rolling around I can finally start shopping for video cards. This is the one that captured my fancy: http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/produc...1c7b63b22c86271

Here's the features

    *

      Powered by the AGP 8X, 128-bit RADEON® 9800 (R360) Visual Processing Unit (VPU).

    *

      Supports multiple display configurations for CRT/DVI/ TV-out display output.

    *

      Supports 256MB DDR with 128-bit memory interface to delivers the bandwidth for real time 3D gaming, graphics and barrier free performance. 

    *

      Supports the latest Microsoft DirectX® 9.0 and OpenGL® feature sets.

    *

      Integrated 8 parallel rendering pipelines and 4 parallel geometry engines for incredibly fast 3D graphics.

    *

      Integrated 400MHz RAMDAC to support display mode up to 2048 x 1536 16.7M color @ 85Hz refresh rate. Maximum 3D resolution up to 2048 x 1536 16.7M color (with 128MB Frame Buffer). 

    *

      SMARTSHADER™ 2.1 technology supports the latest Microsoft® DirectX® 9.0 feature sets, enabling more complex and cinematic-quality lighting effects.

    *

      SMOOTHVISION 2.1 technology delivers the sharpest, clearest textures, removes jaggies and brings out fine texture details without sacrificing frame rates.

    *

      128-bit full floating point precision enables billions of color variations to render the same lighting and effects as Hollywood studios.

    *

      FULLSTREAM™ and VIDEOSHADER™ produce smoother looking, higher quality video and streaming Internet content without putting extra strain on the CPU.

 

Specifications

 

 

 

Model Name  GECUBE RADEON®  9800 (R360 VPU) 128-bit 256MB

ASIC  RADEON® 9800 (R360)

Core Frequency  385MHz

Memory Size  256MB

Memory Type  16*16  DDR

Memory Bus  128 bit

Interface      AGP

D-Sub              Yes

TV-Out              S/AV-out

DVI              Yes

Video-In    N/A

Cooling    Fansink

 

Does it look like it's worth buying? It's a 9800xt I think so it should be pretty good right? It's alot of money though so I don't want to buy an obsolete card.

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It is a nice card. It does quite well in games. But for curiosity's sake, how much are NVIDIA's GeForce 6600 or 6800 and/or ATI X800 cards?

The x800s are about twice as expensive, and the geforce 6800 would be about $50 more, but I can't seem to find any locally. I could order one but it would add extra hassle.

Besides, I prefer radeon to geforce (only because the geforce 4 440 mx is such a bullsh*t card :D ).

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Check these two links out: http://forums.devshed.com/t173056/s.html

http://www.hardavenue.com/reviews/gf68001.shtml

 

Actually, the GeForce 6800s are nice cards... the GeForce4MX were a sham.

Fair enough, it does seem to be better, but it is more expensive and the 9800xt seems to be plenty good enough for me. Now the only thing I'm worried about is if that really is an XT. See, it's called a 9800 XTREME (I've also seen it written EXTREME though), and while XTREME has XT in it, that may be a deliberate case of false advertising.

Can anyone who knows the difference make sure that this card really is an XT?

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It says the core frequency of it is 385 mhz. The core frequency of an XT is 412 mhz. The core of a Pro is 380 mhz.

 

This seems to be an overclocked pro...but don't hold my word on that.

Damn.

 

But then, look at this price list: http://www.ausprices.com.au/Computer/Compo...Card/54021.html

 

It seems that the 256mb XTREMES are substantially cheaper (ie actually in my price range) than the 256mb XTs, so I may have to compromise and get one of those.

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