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Thread ID: 40304 2003-12-04 06:01:00 Will this Hardware combination work Brad H (738) Press F1
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197275 2003-12-07 04:39:00 > since i own a GE Force FX5200 but am not into gaming
> maybe I havent' noticed but will someone please tell
> me ..................just what makes these cards
> 'crap' ???

Because they are slower then the cards they replace(g4mx)

And they are sold as dx9 cards,when all they do is emulate dx9 and aren't powerful enough to run dx9 effects anyway.

But like you say,If your not gaming then it matters not.But if you do chuck a game in the results won't be pretty.
metla (154)
197276 2003-12-07 07:46:00 Brad that system you have listed looks awsome you wont be disapointed, good quality parts. You've picked parts that offer good value for money.

A tip when buying the Radeon make it will pay to check the speed of the GPU and RAM, should 400mhz for the GPU and 600mhz for the RAM. Also make sure the card your buying has a 128bit memory interface. Some manufactuers cut corners and run the GPU and RAM slower aswell as using a 64bit memory interface. The barracuda's are pretty quiet, but it might pay to pick up a decent PSU while your at the shop, perhaps save some money and buy a case without a PSU. A good quality 350w should be fine like Antec, Enermex and the Thermaltake PSU's seem to offer good quality/price. If your wanting to save some money buy from an online retailer many now have free delivery so it works out nice and cheap.
A few personal favs are:
PCTronix - http://www.pctronix.co.nz/
Ascent Tech - http://www.ascent.co.nz/ (their website is a dog really slow to load)
and some people reconmend Styles PC and Starlyte, remember to check pricespy for the cheapest prices.
Pete O'Neil (250)
197277 2003-12-08 04:40:00 Thanks for the information on the shops I have been online for 5+ years but have always been sceptical of online stores unless they are backed up by retails stores like gpstore.co.nz Brad H (738)
197278 2003-12-08 04:54:00 Would a Powercolor Radeon 9600 Pro video card, 128MB DDR, 8XAGP, TV Out, DVI be any good? it is $324.24 from Ascent and has 400mhx core clock and 600mhz memory clock Brad H (738)
197279 2003-12-08 05:16:00 that card should be fine, the majority of the ATI cards are made by Saphire so as long as the clock speeds are fine then quality and preformance wise it should be as good as any other brand. Pete O'Neil (250)
197280 2003-12-08 05:25:00 Hi Brad,

Just looking at the November issue of Atomic it shows the Powercolor 9600 Pro as being one of the best 9600's performance wise. To get better performance you would have to go to a NVidia FX5800 or ATI 9700 Pro or higher. There tests are only based on Unreal Tournament 2003 frame rates and 3DMark2001SE.

A good spot to check out performance is Toms Hardware (http://www6.tomshardware.com) although some PF1ers have said thatsome of the reviews are biased, but I have found it useful :)

HTH
Gorela (901)
197281 2003-12-08 06:32:00 well,im probally the person who has stated in the past that toms is biased,many examples are to be found on it are in this discussion

discuss.futuremark.com
metla (154)
197282 2003-12-08 06:40:00 hmm....the old spaces added into the url saga,best i try that one more time.

Here (discuss.futuremark.com)
metla (154)
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