Cheapest ATI card for perfect mode?

[ArmchairAce]

Hi guys please help

I got an old ATI8500 that only makes around 20fps with water=0 in perfect mode and that makes me want to upgrade

I guess ATI9600 would not help that much but X800 is maybe unnecessarily fast isnâ´t it? So what is the cheapest ATI card that would make at least 40fps with water=1 ?

Tx all in advance

[Hiriyu]

Can't beat a 9800Pro right now in terms of bang for the buck. Should be able to buy a 256-bit/128MB 9800Pro for under $200USD currently.

[LuckyBoy1]

There's a whole lot more to it than just the video card. Post your diangosis and we'll tell you where the choke point(s) are and if you can upgrade your current rig to a point where you can get the desired results. If you need instructions on how to do a doagnosis, see LuckyBoy's Guide For Complete Users.

[mucker]

Here if you can get one: http://shop1.outpost.com/product/3628345

m

[steve_v]

thats a great price on the 9800 Pro mucker linked. (and a nice card too)

[fordfan25]

yea i hate to sound like a tape recorder hear but lb is right your cpu and ram speed and amount have a LOT to do with it.

when i was useing a 1.6p4 i had my current 9500pro. in perfect in QMB wth one other plane in the air and no ground trgts i would get like 8 fps. no kidding. now same card but a 300064amd i get a very constent 37fps. with perfect water 1 and 2 times AA. so cpu has alot to do with it. od course you dont need a 300064 Lv cpu i was just useing that as an example.

[Marek_Steele]

Just a small OT (because his cpu and ram are a major influence), aren't 6600GT's (now in agp form) faster than the 9800pro (almost 1.5-2x on most apps when compared to a nv35) and only at a slightly higher price?

[mucker]

Marek is on the right track, look here:

http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=6145

Also Anandtech.com has a review of the 6600GT

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277

and has this to say in it's conclusion:

Final Words

NVIDIA's 6600GT was a strong performer when it was released as a PCI Express solution, but now as an AGP card it is even stronger for two reasons:

1) The market for a $200 - $250 AGP card is currently much larger than the market for a PCI Express version of such a card, and
2) ATI will be very late to market with their X700 XT AGP, thus giving the 6600GT AGP a unique window of opportunity for the remainder of 2004.

Compared to the $200 - $300 AGP cards available today, the GeForce 6600GT AGP can't be beat. While the Radeon 9800 Pro offers close performance in older games, switch to any of the latest titles and the 6600GT truly spreads its wings.

The performance improvement the 6600GT offers over NVIDIA's older $200 price point card, the 5900XT, is nothing short of amazing. The performance comparisons we showed here today are a testament to how much NVIDIA has improved their core architecture since the days of NV3x, with the 6600GT completely demolishing the 5900XT in performance. Even the $400 5900 Ultra is outperformed by the 6600GT in almost all of the benchmarks.

NVIDIA didn't do anything that ATI couldn't have done with the 6600GT AGP, however it was NVIDIA's PCI Express to AGP bridge that they tested and validated several months ago that gave NVIDIA the time to market advantage over ATI.

For the first time in recent history our GPU recommendation is clear: the best bang for your AGP buck is none other than the GeForce 6600GT.

m http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[MoeLarryCheese]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by mucker:
Marek is on the right track, look here:

http://www.overclock.net/showthread.php?t=6145

Also Anandtech.com has a review of the 6600GT

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277

and has this to say in it's conclusion:

Final Words

NVIDIA's 6600GT was a strong performer when it was released as a PCI Express solution, but now as an AGP card it is even stronger for two reasons:

1) The market for a $200 - $250 AGP card is currently much larger than the market for a PCI Express version of such a card, and
2) ATI will be very late to market with their X700 XT AGP, thus giving the 6600GT AGP a unique window of opportunity for the remainder of 2004.

Compared to the $200 - $300 AGP cards available today, the GeForce 6600GT AGP can't be beat. While the Radeon 9800 Pro offers close performance in older games, switch to any of the latest titles and the 6600GT truly spreads its wings.

The performance improvement the 6600GT offers over NVIDIA's older $200 price point card, the 5900XT, is nothing short of amazing. The performance comparisons we showed here today are a testament to how much NVIDIA has improved their core architecture since the days of NV3x, with the 6600GT completely demolishing the 5900XT in performance. Even the $400 5900 Ultra is outperformed by the 6600GT in almost all of the benchmarks.

NVIDIA didn't do anything that ATI couldn't have done with the 6600GT AGP, however it was NVIDIA's PCI Express to AGP bridge that they tested and validated several months ago that gave NVIDIA the time to market advantage over ATI.

For the first time in recent history our GPU recommendation is clear: the best bang for your AGP buck is none other than the GeForce 6600GT.

m http://forums.ubi.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>



Nvidia 6800 GT oc 256.

Oops, was this supposed to be an ATI question?

MLC

[mucker]

Oops, he was looking for the cheapest ATI card and we were looking at alternatives here, not a $400 one, oops.......heck, why not go for the $500 ultra huh?

m