Please Answer (Video Card and Motherboard issue question) !

[A.I.Rulez]

For once and for all -

I'm going to buy tommorow a new computer, but i don't know if i'm going to buy a low-end card, which is cheap or a high-end card for an expensive price ?

Now, my system is going to be like that:

P4 Intel 2.6Ghz FSB 800MHZ.
Asus P4P800 Deluxe
512 DDR-RAM 400
FX5200 128MB (For now)
1.44 Floppy
CD-ROM X52
80GB 7200RPM Maxtor
ATX MIDI

I've already got great sound system and a good LCD and a regular screen at home.
My main question is this:
What is the difference in performence between the Deluxe version of the Motherboard and what is the money difference between both ?

And the 2nd question is:
Radeon 9600 for $222 or Geforce FX5200 for about $95 ?

Because if the difference between Deluxe and regular are about $90-$100, i'm going to take the regular and change my FX5200 to Radeon 9600.

[Hotshot]

And the 2nd question is:
Radeon 9600 for $222 or Geforce FX5200 for about $95 ?

dang! fx5200 for 95$ back here in India, it costs around 150 U.S.D

[A.I.Rulez]

And the 2nd question is:
Radeon 9600 for $222 or Geforce FX5200 for about $95 ?

dang! fx5200 for 95$ back here in India, it costs around 150 U.S.D

And $95-$100 is considered expensive in Israel, compared to other countries.
So think about how much our industry and economy sucks ...

[JohnnyKnoxville]

The 9600 is expensive though, unless it is the Pro. Both the FX5200 and the 9600 non-pro aren't really good cards.

Get a 9500Pro if you still can, or a 9600Pro if they only have newer cards. They both eat teh FX5200 for breakfast...

[toni kukoc]

if you get the 9600pro you can turn it to 9700pro with a patch the 9600pro in canada is $240 so if i were you i get 9600pro.

[A.I.Rulez]

The 9600 is expensive though, unless it is the Pro. Both the FX5200 and the 9600 non-pro aren't really good cards.

Get a 9500Pro if you still can, or a 9600Pro if they only have newer cards. They both eat teh FX5200 for breakfast...

Why is the Radeon 9600 non-pro a bad card ?
Because it's expensive or performence ?

Isn't it better by many levels than the FX5200 ?

[JohnnyKnoxville]

The 9600 non-pro is by far not as fast as the 9600Pro, and the 9600Pro is about 200 bucks here. So the 9600 non-pro is way too expensive in your case. It should still beat the FX5200, though.

As for patching the 9600Pro, that is not true. This only worked with older 9500 non-pros which had the same layout as the 9700s, so it could be modded to be a 9700pro.

[FanOfAll]

Even if the 9600 PRO is expensive, go for it. The FX 5200 is worse than the GF4 Ti's...

The 9600 Non-PRO isn't as good as the 9500 PRO because it has 4 pipelines instead of 8 pipelines (which the 9500 PRO has). The 9600 PRO is better than the non-pro because of faster clock, core, and memory speeds (don't have exact numbers, but yeah).

Avoid the FX cards, and go for the 9500 PRO. If there isn't a 9500 PRO, get the 9600 PRO. Hope that helps .

[A.I.Rulez]

Even if the 9600 PRO is expensive, go for it. The FX 5200 is worse than the GF4 Ti's...

The 9600 Non-PRO isn't as good as the 9500 PRO because it has 4 pipelines instead of 8 pipelines (which the 9500 PRO has). The 9600 PRO is better than the non-pro because of faster clock, core, and memory speeds (don't have exact numbers, but yeah).

Avoid the FX cards, and go for the 9500 PRO. If there isn't a 9500 PRO, get the 9600 PRO. Hope that helps .

I know it's even worse than the Ti's.
But now i've figured i don't have more money for any Radeon, and i can only afford myself a FX5200.

My final question is this:
Will this system play my games solidly (most important - smoothly and nice quality image) for the next 1 year ?

My system which i'm getting tommorow:
P4 Intel 2.66GHZ FSB800
Asus P4P800 FSB 800
80GB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
512 DDR-RAM
Geforce FX 5200
CD-ROM X52
15' LCD Monitor/17' Philips Monitor (Either one)
Altec Lancing ADA310 (Creative) Sound System (Great system)

My current system (having it for the last 4.5 years):
PIII 450MHZ
Riva TNT 16MB Video Card
12GB Hard Drive
256 RAM
CD-ROM X24
17' Philips Monitor/15' LCD Monitor (Either one)
Altec Lancing ADA310 (Creative) Sound System (Great system)


I can play GTA 3, FIFA 2004, Commandos 3 and all this kind of games on my current computer .... hard to believe, i know.
But it's sucks.
So my question is this:
Will I see a greatly improvments in graphics, speed of games, better frame rates, smooth quailty images in games like FIFA and etc. or will the performence will be only slight better and i'm wasting my money ?

Can i play on this system good DX9 games for about a year, when i could finally buy a greater video card ?

[bishibashiboy]

1st question answer:
P4P800-Deluxe has firewire ports and the SATA can be used within the RAID array. That's the only differences I think.
The difference in price is normally around $20USD, so that will definitely not cover the cost of upgrading your graphics card.

2nd question answer:
9600pro definitely. Don't skimp out on the graphics card. That's the difference btwn your system being mediocre, and fast when it comes to games.

As for the recommendation of 9500pro over 9600pro, at this point I would say don't bother looking for a 9500pro. Not worth the price difference or the trouble finding one anymore, and the 9600pro can be overclocked more than the 9500pro. In the end both are around the same in performance (+/- 5%). The extra 4 pipes the 9500pro has doesn't make THAT big a difference unless you enable higher levels of AA and AF (which you shouldn't be doing with mid-range cards anyways). Unless you can find both cards for around the same price (no more than $10 more for the 9500pro) go with the 9600pro.

[bishibashiboy]

Can i play on this system good DX9 games for about a year, when i could finally buy a greater video card ?

With the FX5200:
dx8.1.....yes.
dx9 games......good luck. (those new games choke the 9700pro in some cases)
dx9 games w/o full details...probably!

Start saving money now.

On a side note, are you sure your processor is the 800mhz FSB version? That is normally the P4 2.6C. The P4 2.66 is normally the 533mhz FSB version.

[A.I.Rulez]

FX5200 is for me now .... for the better and worse.
It's still an upgrade from my NVIDIA Riva TNT 16MB, isn't it ?!

What about MVIDIA's patches ?
Doesn't they make the FX5200 a much more better card than without them ?

Can't i play DX9 games with some solid quality, say, on medium settings ?
It doesn't have to be incredible, just solid, smooth, not the best ever.

[A.I.Rulez]

Can i play on this system good DX9 games for about a year, when i could finally buy a greater video card ?

With the FX5200:
dx8.1.....yes.
dx9 games......good luck. (those new games choke the 9700pro in some cases)
dx9 games w/o full details...probably!

Start saving money now.

On a side note, are you sure your processor is the 800mhz FSB version? That is normally the P4 2.6C. The P4 2.66 is normally the 533mhz FSB version.

Yeah, i'm sure it's 2.6GHZ 800FSB.
I asked specifically for it on my system.

Good Motherboard and CPU, aren't they ?

[bishibashiboy]

What about MVIDIA's patches ?
Doesn't they make the FX5200 a much more better card than without them ?

Not sure about the FX5200. Haven't heard much about their performance with the new ForceWare drivers. I assume it's better, but that card is still pretty weak. The FX5600Ultra didn't benefit a whole lot more from the drivers, so I assume the same for the 5200.

Can't i play DX9 games with some solid quality, say, on medium settings ?
It doesn't have to be incredible, just solid, smooth, not the best ever.

Of course it doesn't. But when you say solid and smooth, to me that means at least 60fps. With dx9 games? No way. The Radeon 9700 can't even pull that off. With the FX5200 on medium settings if I were you, I'd be happy to pull off 30fps AVG not constant, with dx9 games. Unfortunately I'm fairly certain you'll end up with around 15-20fps or less if you turn on true dx9 options. Sorry to sound blunt, but when you see a dx9 game, turn that dial back and play the game in dx8.1 graphics quality (PS 1.1-1.4).

Yeah, i'm sure it's 2.6GHZ 800FSB.
I asked specifically for it on my system.

Good Motherboard and CPU, aren't they ?

Ok above you wrote P4 2.66Ghz, so that's why I was confused.

Yes the motherboard and cpu is a good combo. Very overclockable as I have played around with this setup before. Good choice!

[JohnnyKnoxville]

What I would do in your case then:

a) Get the 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 - the best one for overclocking, so you can get the same results as you get from the 2.6 (or even better).
b) Go with an Athlon XP - you can get a Barton 2500 and a great nForce2 mobo for about 200 bucks.

Spend the rest on the gfx card. The FX5200 can't even run current games in full detail, and if you are going for quality (AA, AF), you're SOL.

Sure, everything is an improvement over your old system, but if I were you I would make sure I don't need a new gfx card again in a year in order to enjoy the newer games.

Just trying to help

P.S.: Try gfx cards on ebay, maybe. Friend of mine got a 9500Pro for 135 on ebay, and that is here in Europe.

[A.I.Rulez]

Look guys, i'm sorry to bother you so much !

But would Radeon 9600PRO out-performed that much the FX5200 ?
What is the main differences in quality ? how many Framerates for both ? Speed of games ?
What is the core MHZ for both, and what is that ?
What is piplines ? and 2, 4 or 8 is matter ?
Which will hold my system longer ?
Does Radeon 9600PRO support full DX9, and if not, will it e a problem in future' games ?
OpenGL, what is it ? and does it get supported by Radeon 9600PRO ? It's that important ?

And can someone, please, please (!), show some screens from games with both FX5200 and Radeon 9600PRO, so i could see some live action and then decide.

It's a really really improtant decision for me, it's all of my savings count in here !
Thanks for anyone who could help me. This is the last thing i'm asking, so please answer.

[A.I.Rulez]

Look guys, i'm sorry to bother you so much !

But would Radeon 9600PRO out-performed that much the FX5200 ?
What is the main differences in quality ? how many Framerates for both ? Speed of games ?
What is the core MHZ for both, and what is that ?
What is piplines ? and 2, 4 or 8 is matter ?
Which will hold my system longer ?
Does Radeon 9600PRO support full DX9, and if not, will it e a problem in future' games ?
OpenGL, what is it ? and does it get supported by Radeon 9600PRO ? It's that important ?

And can someone, please, please (!), show some screens from games with both FX5200 and Radeon 9600PRO, so i could see some live action and then decide.

It's a really really improtant decision for me, it's all of my savings count in here !
Thanks for anyone who could help me. This is the last thing i'm asking, so please answer.

Please ?
Anyone ?

[bishibashiboy]

Look guys, i'm sorry to bother you so much !

But would Radeon 9600PRO out-performed that much the FX5200 ?

A lot. Expect double the framerate in dx9.

What is the main differences in quality ? how many Framerates for both ?
Speed of games ?

Framerates and Speed question are much too general. Name the game. Overall GeforceFX 5200 will get spanked by 9600pro. If you're looking for exact numbers it varies from game to game obviously. Too general a question.
Image quality is subjective. In some games Radeon has better AF, in others GeforceFX does. For AA Radeon is hands down better.

What is the core MHZ for both, and what is that ?
What is piplines ? and 2, 4 or 8 is matter ?

400/300 (core/mem) 4 pipelines = Radeon 9600 PRO
250/400 (core/mem) 4 pipelines = GeforceFX 5200 ULTRA <-- yours is not so expect slower still.

Which will hold my system longer ?
Does Radeon 9600PRO support full DX9, and if not, will it e a problem in future' games ?

Answered 100X in this thread already:
http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/~nbalive/ph ... 2849#92849
This thread already covered all/most of your questions ad nauseum. Read.

OpenGL, what is it ? and does it get supported by Radeon 9600PRO ? It's that important ?

It's another API aside from direct3d/directX. Yes Radeon supports. Normally slower than GeforceFX of comparable speed. But since the Radeon 9600pro spanks the GeforceFX 5200 due to superior specs it will still be faster in openGL.

And can someone, please, please (!), show some screens from games with both FX5200 and Radeon 9600PRO, so i could see some live action and then decide.

http://www.hardocp.com
http://www.anandtech.com
http://www.tomshardware.com <-- very biased.
http://www.firingsquad.com
http://www.beyond3d.com
All these sites have image quality comparison.

It's a really really improtant decision for me, it's all of my savings count in here !
Thanks for anyone who could help me. This is the last thing i'm asking, so please answer.

No offence, but honestly most of your questions have already been answered above and in other threads. In addition, it's already been explained very clear which card is better. If you really needed to find out which one is better a simple google search would give you all the above websites.
This topic has been repeated 100X already. The answer is always the same. We already had a topic for GeforceFX vs Ati Radeon. There is a wealth of info in there. If you don't want to weed thru all of it, then next time I'm not going to repeat all of it. Sorry if i'm being blunt.

[JohnnyKnoxville]

Just take a look at these benchmarks:
http://www20.tomshardware.com/graphic/2 ... de-13.html

And while the newer nVidia drivers make for a bit of a performance boost, the 5200 still gets owned by the 9600Pro.

Read the whole article for more info! BTW. a 9600 Pro should be available for around 150 bucks now.

[bishibashiboy]

^ That tomshardware article is quite old now and in all the tests on other sites, the GeforceFX is not even as competitive as Tom made it seem. That's why tomshardware has poor reliability nowadays.

[JohnnyKnoxville]

It was the best I could come up with thru 3 seconds of Google'ing