Looking for a video card...

[Krsqk]

Oh, and I looked at the 9600XT, but I couldn't consistently find whether it was 4-pixel or 8-pixel architecture. Some sites actually said it was both. It appears, then, that either many places have messed up info about their products, or that there are actually several "trim packages" between cards with the same chipsets. I've now found literally dozens of cards with the GeForce 6600 (not GT) chipset that show variations in memory and core clock speeds.

So it looks like it's coming down to either the Radeon 9800 PRO at ~$125 or the GeForce 6600 at ~$135. Not what I wanted to spend, but I also don't want to be wanting a new card in 2 years, and 20-30 bucks over isn't too bad.

[boran_blok]

now, an important item, are there any 6600 GT's there ?

the 6600 GT is on same level with the 9800 Pro, but if all the other mentioned cards are plain 6600 then by all means go for the 9800 Pro, do not get the 9800 SE or the 6600 64 bit both are very crippled. the difference in clock speeds is imho due to 6600 and 6600 GT differences.

anyways I doubt you can go better than the 9800 Pro for $ 124 since the cheapest 6600 GT AGP is about $ 166 according to pricewatch.

[Thermodyne]

IMHO, I'd go with the 9800pro over the 6600. I've had this 9800xt since the fall of 03.

Out of the box it did this:
Bench mark

And with a little tweaking it did this:
Higher Bench mark

It's a Sappire and has been a real nice card.

[boran_blok]

between the 6600 and the 9800 Pro there's no question about it that the 9800 is better, but the 6600 GT is about equal, but since the prices of that one are higher i'd go for the 9800 Pro

[David E. Gervais]

I'd just like to say, that GForce cards use/have an unifieded driver system that is absolutely painless fo setup and updating. As for ATI well, I still have nightmares about how much time and money I lost on that 'Brand'. Not to mention the driver problems I have always had with ATI cards still give me shivers.

I wouldn't buy Ice from ATI on a hot 120deg day if my life depended on it. It would probably end up being Dry Ice and of no use to me.

But this is just me, I've heard rumors that ATI makes good stuff now, but I don't believe it for a minute.

BTW: The last time I tried an ATI card was a Raedon 9200 or some such creature. After installing it, windows wouldn't even boot not even in it's default 800x600 'Safe mode'.

The customer service game went like this..

ATI: It's a problem with windows!
MS: It's a Problem with the graphics card!
ATI: It's a problem with DirectX!
MS: It's a problem with the Drivers!
ATI: Try removing the card and see if that works!
MS: Buy an nVidia gForce they work better.
ATI: Get a new motherboard, yours is not listed on our compatibiltiy list.
MS: Are you running SP2? (No?) well you should upgrade.
David: But my computer does not boot after installing SP2!
MS: It must be a problem with your motherboard.
David: So the solution is to spend $600 for a new MB and Graphics Card?
ATI: No, just get a new MB,.. here's a list of campatible ones.
MS: Yes!

David reformats his 'C:' drive and reinstalls Win XP with SP1 and all upodates. Stays with his gForce FX 5200. Things are back to normal.

Conclusion.. both MS and ATI recruit their service technicians from Radio Shack.

Oops, did I babble?

Cheers!