InnovaZero Posted August 19, 2004 Share Posted August 19, 2004 I'm building a "Budget machine" consits of a Athlon XP 2700+ w/ ThermalTake silent boost performance cooler, Shuttle Nforce 2 board, 512mb OCz Premier Value DDR400, also buying an Audigy 2 to replace the Live card I have now. The question I have is about the graphics card and I can't decide. Originally it was between the 5700U and the 9600XT, but then I noticed that the 5900XT was barely anymore and crushed the two above. However I see the 9800Pro is almost the same price as the 5900XT ($175-200 range). I can't decide between the two, and reviews arn't helping much lol. So which should I get as far as a better overall gaming card, I'm kinda leaning to the 9800pro since it features a more complete DX9 set and is said to be slightly more future proof. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinipig523 Posted August 20, 2004 Share Posted August 20, 2004 wait a few weeks... go for the 6600gt for $200. will destroy the 9800pro, 9800xt, 5950 ultra... doesnt matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovaZero Posted August 20, 2004 Author Share Posted August 20, 2004 You sure? It seems like it be more future proof, but slower. I know it has 500mhz of GDDR3 memory, but only a 128bit bus? Doesn't seem like it would hold well in higher resolutions. (16GB vs 22.4GB from 9800 Pro/XT) I dunno, I want to wait for reviews before I make my decision. Thanks though, you gave me a comparision to think about. I also decided for the well being of my new machine to ramp up the CPU and memory I tad. I don't want to spend a crap load of money. But I decided to up the memory from 512 to 768mb. The CPU from a 2700+ and instead get a 3000+. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinipig523 Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 dont waste money on a 3000+. go and buy a 2500+ mobile xp and overclock easily to 3200+ speeds. also, stick with 512. lastly, wait a bit on the videocards and check out the upcoming benchmarks. if i were u, i would buy the 6800 non-ultra, non-gt if u had to pick a card at this moment. 280$ newegg.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovaZero Posted August 21, 2004 Author Share Posted August 21, 2004 Wow your right, that +2500-M does look tempting. The good thing about that too is that its FSB is 266, and I already have 3x 128mb Samsung DDR266 sticks. I saw a Nforce 2 Gigabyte board that had 4x DDR slots as well, which means I'd only have to buy 1x 256 266DDR stick from Crucial = 768mb of DDR(PC2100) and a crap load of money saved. Friggin awesome! If that 2500+ does overclock well(at least to +3000 on that thermaltake cooler I wanted), then shoot thats $30-40 saved right there with a faster GHz speed on the same arch. (abit slower bus speeds but that doesn't matter enough to warrent spending that much more money). Question though, if the Athlon-M's use less power and overclock better (While being the same Arch as the Xp's) then how come they didn't just use those instead of the Desktop XP's, or is it because XP's have 333mhz bus speeds as apposed to the XP-M 266mhz? Yeah with the money saved, I prob. would be within budget of getting the 6800nu now. That be awesome! Sorry, I just get too excited over this stuff lol. I was the same way when I built my 1.33ghz Athlon/384mbDDR/GeForce 3 64mb setup two years ago. (Which is the machine I have now and will be giving to my sister). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinipig523 Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 just make sure to get an nforce2 board with ultra 400 support. abit nf7s or msi k7ndelta come to mind. stay away from asus. u can run the cpu fsb and ram bus can run asynchronously.. meaning not 1:1.. this way, pump the cpu to 400fsb and leave the ram at 266, adjust the multiplier and BOOM.. u get a 3200+ for 90$. if u get better ram... make sure to get ram with ample headroom - by that i mean atleast ddr450. my brother has ddr500 ram and he got his 2500+ mobile to 500mhz fsb and clocked at 2.7ghz on air cooling (imagine what would happen if i used my watercooling on that monster!!), which is approximately an athlon 4300+!! i have built over 20 systems and i can honestly say if u get the following, u would be owning: nforce 2 motherboard (abit nf7s) 2500+mobile 6800 regular u would probably score about 8000 to 9000 3dmark2003 points. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HannibalLecter Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 How much you looking to spend total? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
InnovaZero Posted August 21, 2004 Author Share Posted August 21, 2004 ---------------- On 8/21/2004 4:38:47 PM pinipig523 wrote: just make sure to get an nforce2 board with ultra 400 support. abit nf7s or msi k7ndelta come to mind. stay away from asus. u can run the cpu fsb and ram bus can run asynchronously.. meaning not 1:1.. this way, pump the cpu to 400fsb and leave the ram at 266, adjust the multiplier and BOOM.. u get a 3200+ for 90$. if u get better ram... make sure to get ram with ample headroom - by that i mean atleast ddr450. my brother has ddr500 ram and he got his 2500+ mobile to 500mhz fsb and clocked at 2.7ghz on air cooling (imagine what would happen if i used my watercooling on that monster!!), which is approximately an athlon 4300+!! i have built over 20 systems and i can honestly say if u get the following, u would be owning: nforce 2 motherboard (abit nf7s) 2500+mobile 6800 regular u would probably score about 8000 to 9000 3dmark2003 points. ---------------- ohhhhh I see, so basically I would be increase the mutliplyer, but not the fsb? (Example lets say 11x266 increase to say 13x266) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinipig523 Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 well.. do both. increase the fsb of the cpu alone (not the memory) AND adjust the multiplier accordingly. try to reach the golden 400 number! let me get back to you, im gonna ask my brother what the stats are for the 2500mobile. i will tell u preferred settings (fsb and multiplier) a little later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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