[tenbroya]

I have started building my new PC. The specs will look like this:

Procesor: Athlon 64 3000+ Socket 939
M-Board:Asus A8N SLI S939 Nvnf4sli Atx - Snd
RAM:2x512MB Dual Channel PC3200 DDR
Hard Drive:Maxtor 6Y200P0 Plus9 200Gb 7200rpm 8mb Cache ATA133
Graphics:I can't decide

Ideally I want this to perform as best as possible, and I have carefully chosen these components for the High Quality<->Low Price Ratio.

But I am stumped completely on which graphics card I should get. I have no experience with either nVidia or ATI so I have no preferences as to which I get.

My price range is in the region of £150 but I may be able to stretch to £170. Oh yeah btw. I come from the UK so could you put the Price in £GBP so as not to confuse me. Also could you try and include the Dealer at which I could find your reccomendation.

Feel free to comment on this set-up if you have no advice on the Graphics card Topic.

Cheers

Tenbroya

Edited by tenbroya, 29 July 2005 - 03:02 PM.

[Advertisements]

Nvidia makes a great graphics card- check out the 6600 or the 6800GT

If you want- look at the Radeon as well- the x300 and x800 are nice cards as well

[Hemal]

Nvidia makes a great graphics card- check out the 6600 or the 6800GT

If you want- look at the Radeon as well- the x300 and x800 are nice cards as well

[tenbroya]

So far I have seen 1 card that has really taken my fancy. I havn't really looked into the 6800Gt yet, and i will do so after a good sleep (bearing in mind that it is 02:17 AM here LOL).

The card I like is the

HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X800 ICEQII TURBO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (RX800-ICEQ) (GX-030-HT) - £156.51 – www.overclockers.co.uk



Doesn't it look soooooo cool. It performs good as well but is 12 Pixel Pipelines enough.



EDIT:I forgot to add the specs!

The HIS X800 series produces frame rates that surpass all previous graphic processors. Based on a radically new architecture, ATI has combined the latest semiconductor manufacturing process with ultra-fast and efficient GDDR3 memory to produce extreme data rates and unbelievable acceleration in a quiet and cool single-slot solution. The result is an incredibly smooth and responsive high-definition gaming experience. The IceQ cooling system draws cool air from inside the case and exhausts warm air outwards. This prevents the fan from recycling warm air to cool the VPU, which increases cooling performance and lower the air temperature inside the case significantly. HIS iTURBO easy to use interface provides a flexibility way for users to adjust the VPU clock, memory clock and fan speed, with the features of VPU temperature and fan speed monitoring.

- Powered by ATI Radeon X800 VPU - 398MHz (Turbo)
- 256MB-256bit quad-channel GDDR3 memory - 910MHz (Turbo)
- 12 parallel pixel pipelines
- 6 vertex shader process engines
- 2yrs Manufacturer Warranty


There we go.

Edited by tenbroya, 29 July 2005 - 07:30 PM.

[tenbroya]

And if you were wondering, I made sure that the M-Board was SLI compatible because I am thinking of heavily upgrading in 1 to 2 years time, and I think that there is a prosperous future for SLI (Correct me if i'm wrong). I am looking at possible updates at the mo but they will almost definately be outdated by then. Here is a good candidate for todays SLI.


XFX SLi TwinForce Kit (2 x GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB DDR3) TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT45FYDF2) (GX-049-XF)
Let XFX Supercharge your gaming performance with the power of an XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU. The NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra GPU delivers best-in-class performance and advanced visual effects for next-generation games. The only GPU in its class with support for MicrosoftR DirectXR 9.c Shader Model 3.0 and with full PCI Express support, that will deliver ultra-realistic
effects, unmatched features, and rock-solid stability so you can play your game the way it's meant to be played. Featuring groundbreaking technology innovations such as the industry's first superscalar 16-pipe architecture and support for the world's fastest DDR3 memory, the 6800 Ultra arms you with everything you need to tear through your favorite games at unbelievable frame rates. With 8x the floating-point shader power and 2x the vertex processing power over previous generation GPUs, the GeForce 6800 Ultra raise the bar for 3D graphics performance. The GeForce 6800 Ultra also feature NVIDIAR UltraShadowT II technology. Designed to enhance the performance of shadow-intensive games, like idT Software's Doom III, the second-generation UltraShadow technology delivers 4x the shadow processing power of previous-generation products. This TwinForce kit comes supplied with two cards pre-tested in SLi configuration for maximum performance potential.

- 2 x XFX GeForce 6800 Ultra 512MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Cards
- 430MHz Core Engine Clock speed
- 512MB 1050MHz high speed DDR3 memory
- Superscalar 16-Pipe GPU Architecture
- High-Speed GDDR3 256-bit Memory Interface
- Dual 400MHz RAMDACs
- SLI Multi-GPU Support
- ATX v2.0 compliant PSU Required for PCI-E Graphics/Motherboard
- BEST choice for high texture required game, e.g. Ever Quest II
- Perform 40% higher than 256mb in 3d marks 05 4xAA, 8xAF mode
- first Dual Link DVI card which support maximum to 3840x2400@24Hz super high resolution
- SLi Motherboard is required and ideally Enermax 600W PSU for SLi to function properly





EDIT: Having said that, these two cards both need the stupid PSU connectors. . Oh well any more suggestions welcome.

Edited by tenbroya, 29 July 2005 - 07:29 PM.

[humorsavesmysoul]

bloody [bleep]ing [bleep] that is a insane package. 2x512 6800 Ultras? how much does that thing cost?

anyway, unfortunately picking between ati and nvidia is not like picking between intel and amd for gaming. both companies are very comparable to each other. idk about the future of SLi versus Crossfire, only time will tell. but for now i would suggest either nvidia 6800GT or the ati X800 for ur price range.

someone correct me if i'm wrong but i've heard that the X800 really has 16pipelines but 4 of them are locked?

edit: as for picking ati vs. nvidia, there is no clear cut answer. u just have to take a deep breath and pick one. u definately won't be dissappointed with what ever you decide on.

Edited by humorsavesmysoul, 29 July 2005 - 11:51 PM.

[tenbroya]

The Twinforce nVidia 6800 Ultras Cost £711 including the SLI card/bridge thingy.

Is there anyway of unlocking the 4 locked pipelines?

Tenbroya

[warriorscot]

Yeah there are a few bits of software and special bios that you can use to unlock them. The biggest difference between nvidia and ATi is value for money ATI cards are definately better value the x800 sewries are in the same performance range as the 6800s and are alot cheaper.
SLi really has to be implemented when you deo it as otherwise you have to track down an identical type and make of card and then flash the bios on both cards(not a good or easy thing to do can render the card useless)

I was planning on the HIS card myself but i decided to fork out some more money for an XT card came in at around 190 pounds. Ebuyer is slightly cheaper than overclockers for everything on your spec list i think.

[tenbroya]

Thanks For the reply, I have used either Ebuyer or Dabs for most of the stuff on my list, I am currently looking into some cool cases for less than £50.

But Overclockers is the only place I can find the HIS card at the mo!

Oh yeah as well as this, could someone please tell me what 'Deep Sixing' the cards means?

Because I am relatively new to the higher end graphics cards because I have only just got a job which means I can afford them (in theory )

Cheers for any help, Tenbroya

[warriorscot]

Deep six means dead buried fried six feet under, ebuyer does have them at least they did a couple of weeks ago.

[RogueComGeek]

Yeah there are a few bits of software and special bios that you can use to unlock them. The biggest difference between nvidia and ATi is value for money ATI cards are definately better value the x800 sewries are in the same performance range as the 6800s and are alot cheaper.

but at the same time they dont use shader 3.0 meh i can see y they are so cheap. no shader lvl3=mid range cards.
and cant turn on high shadowing because of it(like farcry,doom 3,bf2, painkiller 1.64,the next addon to hl2 that will support "high and medium shadowing setting" shader versions. high=3.0 medium=2.0a). (otherwise it lags on a ATI card badly because they dont have hardware support so the cpu has to do the shadowing :-S)

Edited by RogueComGeek, 30 July 2005 - 07:27 AM.