Hi! Pimprig peeeps!

I was wondering what is right now one of the best 3d grafics card below the 450€?? & what brand? (have had great experience with winfast/leadtek)
I have seen the ATI x800xt 256mb and the NVDIA 6800 with 256/512mb.

My system is as follows:

ASUS P4C800E-DELUXE
P4 3GHZ PRESCOTT 1024L2 CACHE @ 3600Mhz (watercooled)
(WINFAST/LEADTEK A310D 5600FX 256MB) NOT ANYMORE!!!!! OVERCLOCKED TOO FAR!!!!!!! (was watercooled)
1 512 DDR-SDRAM 400Mhz (INFINEON)
UWSCSI 160 ADAPTEC CONTROLLER (water cooled)
1 UWSCSI 160 18,2GB SEAGATE HD
1 IDE 80GB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 133
1 IDE 60GB WESTERN DIGITAL
SOUNDBLASTER SOUNDCARD 1024 LIVE!

I was wondering what would be the best 3d card for my system. I've been looking for some info on the net, but I haven't still made my choice and I would like more opinions on choosing ATI or NVDIA.....I have always used NVDIA so far, but the more I look at ATI the more I want one. My budget is 450€ but I would`pay less for a more crappy one if someone tells me that now its not the time to buy a new 3d card but over a few months...the problem right now is that I can't use my computer because I can't do anything without having a 3d card installed in my system....so my new computer is waiting for the new monster to come...
I hope you don't tell me to buy a FX5600 and to overclock it..LoL
(I'm not overclocking GPU again, I think :-)

Please!! someone help me!!
The games that I would like to run smoothly at 1280*1024: Far Cry, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, STALKER, Bloodrayne 2, etc... (i know that I will need 512x2 of Corsair XMS XL 2-2-2 Ram, but first a 3d card is required)

Quote: Originally Posted by dr_paddo Please!! someone help me!! The games that I would like to run smoothly at 1280*1024: Far Cry, Doom 3, Half-Life 2, STALKER, Bloodrayne 2, etc... (i know that I will need 512x2 of Corsair XMS XL 2-2-2 Ram, but first a 3d card is required)

The 6800 Ultra (600USD) and X-800 XT PE (500USD) are about the same OVERALL...it depends on wich game you are playing, ATi runs better on Half-Life2, and NVIDIA is better on DOOM 3 for example.

The 6800 Ultra is super expensive, and requires at least a 500 watt Power Supply and 2 molex power connectors. The 6800 GT (400 USD) is more reasonably priced, and does not require the 2nd connector and big power supply.
NVIDIA also uses Pixel Shader 3 wich is not a huge deal at the moment.

I would look at (My Pick) the ATI X-800 Pro (400USD) I think it will suit your needs, the ATI version is generally a very good choice, Saphire is a good choice too.

The extra 512 of memory will help alot, the newer games on the way will love it

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro The 6800 Ultra (600USD) and X-800 XT PE (500USD) are about the same OVERALL...it depends on wich game you are playing, ATi runs better on Half-Life2, and NVIDIA is better on DOOM 3 for example. The 6800 Ultra is super expensive, and requires at least a 500 watt Power Supply and 2 molex power connectors. The 6800 GT (400 USD) is more reasonably priced, and does not require the 2nd connector and big power supply. NVIDIA also uses Pixel Shader 3 wich is not a huge deal at the moment. I would look at (My Pick) the ATI X-800 Pro (400USD) I think it will suit your needs, the ATI version is generally a very good choice, Saphire is a good choice too. The extra 512 of memory will help alot, the newer games on the way will love it

Hi There!!
Thanx a lot for your answer..
I think I will choose the ATI X-800 XT PE and in a month or so I will sell my 512 ram and buy Corsair 1gb XMS 3200 400DDR (2x512) 2-2-2-5 Low Latency RAM.
I think this is the best choice I can make.
Is the ATI X-800Pro upgradable to XT with software?

I hope that with the system I have and the new ATI card, I can play doom 3 smoothly..hope don't need a NVIDIA card to play it's meant to be..LOL

I got my 3d card working again!!!!!
But this still doesn't mean I'm not buying a new 3d card though....after so much looking around, I got in love with the ATI card X800XT PE.
Since my FX5600 is now working, I will wait a month or so to buy me the ATI X800XT PE card since I hope will then decrease in price.
Thx a lot for your help guys!

IF you want to roll the dice you can get a Sapphire or Powercolor VIVO X800Pro do the Pencil Mod and flash the bios, that is the only way to get an XT PE for cheap.

~Bob

Quote: Originally Posted by khellandros66 IF you want to roll the dice you can get a Sapphire or Powercolor VIVO X800Pro do the Pencil Mod and flash the bios, that is the only way to get an XT PE for cheap. ~Bob

Hey thx a lot! that is indeed a very good idea!
My 3d card isn't still working properly, I get sometimes black screens...so might take that option you mentioned. I think my overclocking speeds for the 3d card haven't been erased and therefore isn't still running properly.
When I start my computer I get to see the ram count from my 3d card and right after that I am normaly supposed to see the bios and normally the DDR ram count from system then detection of HDD, etc...boot sector...bla, bla and windows....but rights after the 3d card memory count my screen goes black and doesn't allow me to enter the bios....
Weird ****..i guess this is due to (very) bad overclocking my card.
Anyone knows how to reset 3d card frequencies to fabric values? I uninstalled all OC software for the video card but nothing differs...I have now the nvidia drivers installed, but as i just explained my computer doesn't go further than the memory count from the 3d card.

Ok, enough typing now....
Hope someone knows what to do...thx