Nvidia GE Force 4 Ti4200 - $50 - used

Radeon 9600 XT - $120 (w/Half-Life2 cupon) Might be used, not sure yet

Which should I get??!

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I’m not going to die, I’m going to see if I was ever alive. - Spike
It's not your right to decide whether they live or die. They deserve a chance! - Vash
BABIES EVERYWHERE!!!

My Ti 4200 64mb works great... it all depends on how much cash you have. (I have no idea about the Radeon)

I can run any modern game at high res, but I have a really good processor.

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I check my e-mail.

That radeon is near-uberness. In other words, if you can afford it, DEFINATELY get it. It's one of the fastest cards out there right now, don't be fooled by its price. It's one of the best buys you can get for good gaming video. Performance-wise, there is no comparison between the two. Also keep in mind that the Geforce4 doesn't support DirectX 9 features, while the Radeon does.

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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
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Nvidia graphic cards are pretty reliable and are worth the money. I have a GE Force 4 and it is excellent, I highly recommend it.

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Fear, It Controls The Fearful. The Strong. The Weak. The Innocent. Fear Is My Ally!

The Arcane Sith

The Nvidia is a great card for it's time, but the 9600 will give you a big step up. If new games don't mean -that- much to you, go with the GF4, if they kinda do, go with the 9600.....and if gaming runs in your veins, work the street to get enough money for a 9800XT.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1 & 2 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

I have the GF4 Ti4200 in me box right now for...almost 2 years I believe. That card has done me justice. I (finally) made a wise investement. But, it's beginning to show its age by not supporting DX9. If feasable for you, I would follow Jaiph's idea of saving up. You really will get your bang for the buck.

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<scribbly handwriting barely resembling name>

Fifty for a used 4200ti seems a little steep to me.

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

my ti4400 128 runs DX9 no sweat and maxes out gx on any game and keep frames a sleek level. People crap when they see my UT2k4running.

Spend the money on more RAM or HD space....better yet, a new processor.

OR FINANCE YOUR MOVIE!!!

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"If electricity comes from electrons, does morality come from morons?"

Er, just to clarify, that card doesn't support DX9 features. It'll run new games that require DX9 to be installed, but you're still seeing DX8 effects not DX9. There are no ingame settings for it, games will sense what DX generation card you have and display accordingly.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1 & 2 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

9600XT, no contest. L33T in a can, and it's MUCH greater than the Ti4200, although it IS a steal at 50 bucks. Usually they're 75-100 because a lot of them come with lifetime warranties. After GF4, nVidia is teh suxxorz.

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There is no signature

I've spent plenty of days' worth of time examining video cards... Fortunately, that allows me to pop myself into all these questions regarding 3D cards...


Actually, If I remember correctly, if you don't have a card that supports D3D9, you can't run any games that use D3D9. However, most games that require both hardware and DX9 usually only use something like D3D7... an example of this is TES III: Morrowind. It requires DX8, but it only requires a D3D7 card.

And the moral of the story is: get the Radeon. next step up from the 9600XT is a 9800Pro (~$275US), then on to the 9800XT (~$500US). Of course, since HL2 is gonna cost a whopping $50US, you can knock that off the Radeon's price, as you can either sell the voucher (I don't think they bar you from doing so), or use it.

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Nes digs around in the trash can.
Nes finds a hamburger!
Nes puts the hamburger in his backpack.

Where do you shop at?

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There is no signature

Yeah. You can find 9800 Pros for around $200 these days

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

That IS a Radeon 9800SE, but just shows how low the prices have dipped.

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There is no signature

Games use whatever version of DirectX they were made for. Like JK uses DirectX 5. BUT, new games often use DirectX 9, but fall back to DirectX8 when the cards don't support the features. This usually means a bit of a performance hit, and a decrease of quality. Also, game companies won't be doing this forever. They'll stop supporting DX8 cards soon enough.

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"The future is not determined by a throw of the dice, but is determined by the conscious decisions of you and me."
I am addicted to ellipses!!! AHHH!!! ...
Make Sorrowind Worthwhile... join it! http://sorrowind.net

The TI works great, more than you'll need for a while butthe radeon has a higher floating point and does more with AA and will probably look smoother... if it were me i'd say the Radeon just cuz i like them but the TI ain't bad.

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Blue, no yellow, AHHHHHHHHHH

i've had a ti4200 for nearly two years now, which from the start was overclocked to 4400 speeds and is still running fine, however i'm thinking of upgrading now, if you want to be future proof go for the ati card, it and the 9800 version is what i'm looking at and they should be good for about 2 more years...

heard rumours as well saying that the 9600 is a nice card to overclock too...if you want to take the risk....

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I heard someone say once that the world is a fine place and that it was worth fighting for....I agree with the last part.

People of our generation should not be subjected to mornings.

Rbots website

Go for the ATi, it'll keep you happy for a long time.

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"Bantha's are filthy animals.......I don't eat filthy animals."

"Laugh it up Fuzzball!"
-Han Solo

The TI is going to be showing it's age pretty soon with all the new engins coming out these days, plus it doesn't support any of the DX9 features

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

Yeah that's true, but for most things it's still faster then the GeForce FX 5200 that I just purchased.

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http://www.sporkaudio.com

eheheheh... I once had a 9800 Pro. Sold it. Then I overclocked my TNT2 and almost killed my computer. But that's another story...

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I check my e-mail.

That's because it was an FX 5200, quite possibly the worst of the new cards on the market

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

So I'm guessing the Radeon 9200 would have been better? I only spent $45 on the FX 5200, and I figured this would be a BIG improvement from my GeForce 2 MX 32MB that I have now...

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http://www.sporkaudio.com

[This message has been edited by NoESC (edited April 07, 2004).]

If I had to choose between a 5200 and an older GF4, I'd go with the older card. 5200 may techincally support DX9, but it's too freakin' slow to actually take advantage of the DX9 features in new games.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1 & 2 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

Obviously the radeon because it comes with a HL2 coupon

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Sweet irony...

Actually, it doesn't support DX9, I don't think.

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There is no signature

I'm pretty sure all FX cards are DX9 compatible. Yup, just checked Nvidia.com.

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Cantina Cloud | BCF | The Massassian 1 & 2 | Gonkmeg
Corrupting the kiddies since '97

Ah, must be thinking of the 9200 then.

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There is no signature

That you are

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

If you look closely, that's not the card I mentioned. That's a 9800SE 128MB, which is about half the power of the 9800Pro 128MB that I was referring to, and less than the Radeon 9600XT.


I can use Froogle to find a new, retail ATI (or good third-party company) Radeon 9800Pro 128MB for as low as $255US. 256MB version start at $290US. Make sure you check to see that you have the right product in mind before criticizing people again.

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Nes digs around in the trash can.
Nes finds a hamburger!
Nes puts the hamburger in his backpack.

[This message has been edited by nottheking (edited April 08, 2004).]

Not if it's a new, retail card from a reliable maker (Many cheap cards you see are OEM, and typically come with only the card in a plain shipping box). After examining many, many cards, I say one should only look at cards from a handful of makers of Radeon cards. ATI, Saphire, Asus, and Hercules are just about the only decent makers of Radeon cards, and they all have comparable performance. Ignore all the others, as they aren't anywhere near as powerful, despite using the same chipsets.

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Nes digs around in the trash can.
Nes finds a hamburger!
Nes puts the hamburger in his backpack.

[This message has been edited by nottheking (edited April 08, 2004).]

9800 Pros start at $200 at newegg, king

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I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

You reffering to this ($211US)? It's bulk. As a result, none of them have HL2, so you have to add $50 to their price when comparing them to my suggested price, putting them at a comparative $261.

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Nes digs around in the trash can.
Nes finds a hamburger!
Nes puts the hamburger in his backpack.