Video Cards

[Kyle.Kimber]

Hey everyone, I am thinking about getting a video card for my PC. Does anyone have a website with the benchmarks of older radeons, like 9800 and x800? Nothing PCI-E... Also, I am thinking of buying from a third party manufacturer, like saphire. Is that a bad choice?

[Glickman]

. Also, I am thinking of buying from a third party manufacturer, like saphire. Is that a bad choice?

nope, hell, id recommend it, pending that the company isnt known putting out crap

the third party manuf. is really only the name of the hardware, 99% of the time the software is just from radeon or nvidia

chaintech has been nothing but awsome; i got a mobo and videocard (gforce 6800) for only $150 and when i had a jumper problem they answered it instantly.

so i would google the company first, but personally i prefer 3rd parties since they are nearly the same thing and usually just as good.

[RapidTransit]

the third party manuf. is really only the name of the hardware, 99% of the time the software is just from radeon or nvidia

so i would google the company first, but personally i prefer 3rd parties since they are nearly the same thing and usually just as good.

With Nvidia the desired manufacturers are XFX, eVGA, and *i think* BFG, true they use the same chipsets and drivers but thats like saying all paintball guns that run on hpa and use a solenoid are all the same. There are actually alot of differences.

If you need to upgrade an aging AGP card, get the GeForce 6800GS, but from a money concerned standpoint if your sticking to AGP don't bother getting a new one. Save your money for when you can upgrade your entire system and run a PCI-E card. www.tomshardware.com for benchmarks.

[Glickman]

With Nvidia the desired manufacturers are XFX, eVGA, and *i think* BFG, true they use the same chipsets and drivers but thats like saying all paintball guns that run on hpa and use a solenoid are all the same. There are actually alot of differences.

If you need to upgrade an aging AGP card, get the GeForce 6800GS, but from a money concerned standpoint if your sticking to AGP don't bother getting a new one. Save your money for when you can upgrade your entire system and run a PCI-E card. www.tomshardware.com for benchmarks.

i would like to know these differences.

far as i know:
-features like anti-aliasing (standardized)
-memory architecture (standardized)
-pixel pipelines (standardized except for high performance cards)
-buffering (pretty much standardized)

would be the only things not directly noticeable that would vary a little.

but then again what do i know i only repair them

[Kyle.Kimber]

I looked on tomshardware, and I can't find last years stats. All I can find are the new video cards.

[personman]

I have an AGP Saphhire x800 gto and its pretty nice... but you arent going to get an extrordinary card for AGP.. there just arent many out there anymore.

[atm743]

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=384&card2=326

go there

you can compair cards so you know what to get

[RapidTransit]

i would like to know these differences.

far as i know:
-features like anti-aliasing (standardized)
-memory architecture (standardized)
-pixel pipelines (standardized except for high performance cards)
-buffering (pretty much standardized)

would be the only things not directly noticeable that would vary a little.

but then again what do i know i only repair them

-bios
-caps
-cooler
-manufacturing tolerances