I have $500 to spend on a video card...

Wow... it cost a lot to upgrade to the latest and greatest still.

Now I know why I stick to the console universe.

What are the other components of your system? Knowing those sometimes helps in suggesting a card.

Damn, I think my home computers total cost was like $900 after rebates and shit. Hell, you could buy all three consoles brand new for less than $500. Computer gaming is an expensive fucking hobby.

This is about the time I expect to see someone post how awful FPSs are with a controller, and anyone who doesn't want to use a mouse and keyboard is a heretic.

Radeon X800 256 ($410)

"In terms of performances we see that, certainly in the case of DirectX, where ATI state most of their optimisations efforts have been going due to the number of titles that are released utilising the API, the X800 PRO is offering a healthy performance increases over ATI's previous high end board, the Radeon 9800 XT, to the tune of about 50% or greater in non system limited situations."


"I have been blown away by this card. The PowerColor X800 Pro performs extremely well in almost all benchmarks winning with a large margin where it counts. It may not represent a completely new architecture, but with speed and image quality like this I would be pushed hard to not recommend this card. The bundle is great, stability is good, ability to overclock is very good, image quality is close to perfect and (last but not least) the performance is good enough to max the detail in most games. What else could you want?

Keep in mind that you are going to need a very fast CPU if you want to utilize all the power of a video card like this. My reasonably fast CPU became a pretty big bottleneck in some benchmarks and games. If you’re stuck with a somewhat slow CPU then you might find you are not getting such a big performance increase over the 9800XT."



NVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra ($390+)

"What NVIDIA has achieved with the GeForce 6800 Ultra makes even experienced graphics cards editors shake their head in amazement and wonder. The performance this card offers will sweep graphics cards enthusiasts (the author included) off their feet and carry them off into a state of ecstasy in which they can only gape in awe at the sight of these simply amazing benchmark results - Freezinassin! Compared to the GeForce 6800 Ultra, the former high-end models Radeon 9800XT and FX 5950 Ultra often seem like nothing more than cheap mainstream cards... "


"1) Very high performance in current and future games.
2) The ability to play at 2048x1536 in just about any game currently available or soon to be made available, and
3) The ability to play virtually any game at 1600x1200 with 4X AA and 16X anisotropic filtering enabled at smooth frame rates."


Radeon X800 vs. GeForce 6800

"The most obvious point here is an outstanding performance. Radeon X800 crushes our old faithful Radeon 9800 XT, the best card from the previous generation. The performance is in general a slight bit just above GeForce 6800 Ultra, but to be honest, the margins were not bigger than that in the most tests it wouldn't matter. What was probably more impressive was how well X800 Pro went through the tests."


"The performance these two architectures have is somewhat similar. Things that differ are image quality, features and physical aspects. Because of better FSAA quality we consider ATi still to be on the lead. On the feature side the NV40 looks, on paper, like the most impressive with Shader Model 3.0. ATi have not been idle though, and the Pixel Shader 2.0b is at least a step forward although not as big as the one NV40 made. What ATi has got that nVidia has not is 3Dc, which could result in improved image quality and/or performance."


"As we see it, Radeon X800 XT nicks the golden crown from GeForce 6800 just by an inch. If GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme in combination with new drivers can make it even or take the lead again remains to see. But disregarding our opinions this is an even fight that hardly has anything in common with the fight we saw between Radeon 9700 Pro and GeForce 5800 Ultra."

The last two posts may as well have been written in Aramaic for all the sense they made to me.

I'm pretty sure that Aramaic would be easier to decifer than Nerdese.

Side note: How often do you guys upgrade?

FYI, if you buy that new nvidia you need two extra power connectors. That thing sucks some juice.

Every two years or so. Usually longer.

Thief 3 runs poorly due to a shit engine, not your card. It jerks on mine, and I play Far Cry in Utra High on everything in 1280x whatever with a perfectly smooth framerate. Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 will run fine on your card too.

He's right.

Click here for some info on correcting this problem

If that's the case, then take some of that $500 and upgrade your board. $500 on a video card is crazy enough, but putting one in a "lower-end system" is even crazier.

The new card would make a difference, but you wouldn't realize its true power with the components you currently have.

I know Doom 3 was created/tested exclusively using NVIDIA cards and it's supposed to be freaking amazing but I'd wager that both have their upsides. I'm an ATI guy myself but I spend like $100 every year or so to upgrade my machine so we're not even in the parking lot of the ballpark.

Wait. Wait until the fall when Doom 3 and Half-life 2 come out, then you'll see the cards come out that you should buy. The fall is going to be the big release for software and the hardware needed to run it. So just be patient right now and save up, the games out right now don't take advantage of the high end cards and when the games finally do new cards will be out. Get those.

An ATI 9800 XT or a 9800 Pro should cover you for any game coming out in the next couple of years or so, I'm sure. It'll definately get Half Life 2 and Doom 3 looking nice, which at this point is really all I care about when picking hardware.

You don't NEED to spend all 500 on a card. Spread that shit around a bit.

- Fate

I'd recommend not buying the current most expensive video card, they cost too much and are quickly replaced by superior models.

Not to mention Nvidia made a stupid move with that whole needing a 600 watt power supply for their newest. It barely outperforms the Radeon X800 according to benchmarks.

If you have to have the baddest son of a bitch on the block get the X800, but I can assure you not too far from now the newer models will be much superior. Buying the newest models around the time of their first release isn't the wisest choice. Save yourself a few hundred bucks and get a Radeon 9800, they're really dropping in price to the point where they're a lot of bang for the buck and will still kick a lot of ass when it comes to the newer games.

If you really want the baddest videocard on the block, wait for a bit for the All-in-Wonder X800 XT - that will be a nice card (it will probably have HDTV support and all those bells and whistles, plus it will be in the speed range of the X800 XT as well). If you really want a mainstream card now, the X800 XT Platinum Edition is the king of the hill and its more versatile than the nVidia 6800, just because of the power supply issues alone. In addition, I think the 6800 takes up 2 slots, just like its little brothers the 5800 and 5900 did.

The patch does nothing to correct any issues with the engine's performance, it only corrects the problem with the AI settings being rest to normal level when loading a save in a mission or reentering a previously visited loading zone.

As to the choice of graphics cards, the X800 and the Geforce 6800 Ultra, though admittadely the best money can buy, are really only for those with more money than sense. Best appraoch would probably be to keep an eye out for a bit of a price drop once they've really hit on the 5950 Ultras or 9800 Pros/XTs and pick up one of them.

And, from what I understand, Doom 3 has been geared slightly towards the nVidia cards while Half-Life 2 is likewise aimed towards the ATI ones.

That's right. Thanks for the clarification.

And like others have said, I would upgrade the motherboard and then spend what you have left on the card once HL2 and Doom 3 are released. That way you can get a feel for what's best with the two games. Actually, it might be best to wait on the motherboard as well.

Yes. I think PCI Express is just around the corner and AMD is coming out with a new socket too.

That sounds like a good plan.