Buying a video card

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 23, 2006, 11:37 pm

So I had my order all set up on newegg.com when, to my surprise, I discover that they don't ship to Canada. WTF? So, now I'm searching for a comparable deal from a company that will ship to Canada.

This is the card I was going to order: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130274

$284 american seemed like a pretty good price, and from what I can ascertain EVGA is a pretty respectable manufacturer. So I'm looking for options. Help computar! I want to play Oblivion

Sargeras · Post by **Sargeras** » May 24, 2006, 12:03 am

On a similar note, how big of an upgrade would that card be from a 256 6800GT? I have an AGP board and don't want to have to update it to go PCIe.

And I wonder if the DX10 cards will be AGP?

XFX has the 440/1300 clock one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150131

Trias · Post by **Trias** » May 24, 2006, 8:40 am

if you have a 6800GT then don't bother upgrading to anything else AGP...your next step up would be a 7800GS if you wanted to anyway.

i have a 7800GS, though i did upgrade from a radeon 9800xt...the performance boost was drastic. everything i have read though has said if you already own a 6800GT then don't bother taking the step up to 7800.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » May 24, 2006, 9:36 am

you can probably find the same price with froogle. check a few of the suggestions that it comes up with:

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=780 ... tnG=Search

i also saw the BFG model of the same from tigerdirect.com, but its 20 bucks more. No idea if they ship to leaf country

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » May 24, 2006, 9:45 am

Sargeras wrote:On a similar note, how big of an upgrade would that card be from a 256 6800GT? I have an AGP board and don't want to have to update it to go PCIe.

And I wonder if the DX10 cards will be AGP?

XFX has the 440/1300 clock one.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150131

Trias is right, btw. The 7800 GS is "a fully emasculated 7800 GTX or heavily neutered 7800 GT.". You and dregor should probably read this:

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=OTYx

If you have a 6800GT now, just keep it and save up for a PCIe system. Its worth the upgrade because even if more AGP cards are released.. they will all be the same stripped-down versions of truly powerful PCIe cards

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » May 24, 2006, 10:10 am

If you want a really nice 256mb card, for a good price:

EVGA 7900GT.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814130281

1500mhz & 500mhz clocks.

I just bought two of these (SLI) and love it. The price went from 289 to 275 with a 15 dollar rebate so snatch it up.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 24, 2006, 10:50 am

Mr Bacon wrote:If you want a really nice 256mb card, for a good price:

EVGA 7900GT.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814130281

1500mhz & 500mhz clocks.

I just bought two of these (SLI) and love it. The price went from 289 to 275 with a 15 dollar rebate so snatch it up.

I think the point is that he is looking for an AGP card.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 24, 2006, 6:07 pm

I'd love to upgrade to PCIe but that's just too much cash for me to drop down right now. A video card is more than I can handle as is really, but having to throw down for a new mb and cpu, plus I dunno if I'd need to upgrade my RAM, and *then* start thinking about video card... that's just a whole lot more.

Maybe I'll go for a lower end AGP card, try to find a sweet spot between price and performance. All I know is that this gf4 ti 4400 is not cutting it by a long shot.

And yeah, "Mr Bacon", you totally missed the entire point of my post for a) AGP solutions, and b) sites that aren't newegg because they don't ship to Canada.

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » May 24, 2006, 6:12 pm

miir wrote:
Mr Bacon wrote:If you want a really nice 256mb card, for a good price:

EVGA 7900GT.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814130281

1500mhz & 500mhz clocks.

I just bought two of these (SLI) and love it. The price went from 289 to 275 with a 15 dollar rebate so snatch it up.
I think the point is that he is looking for an AGP card.

I don't have time to read threads, I just yell in them.

See? I'm yelling right now.

There's about 5000 threads in here about video cards so I seriously wonder why this one even exists.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 24, 2006, 6:24 pm

Mr Bacon wrote:
miir wrote:
Mr Bacon wrote:If you want a really nice 256mb card, for a good price:

EVGA 7900GT.

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.a ... 6814130281

1500mhz & 500mhz clocks.

I just bought two of these (SLI) and love it. The price went from 289 to 275 with a 15 dollar rebate so snatch it up.
I think the point is that he is looking for an AGP card.
I don't have time to read threads, I just yell in them.

See? I'm yelling right now.

There's about 5000 threads in here about video cards so I seriously wonder why this one even exists.

The point of this one mainly was to find retailers that will ship to Canada, but you wouldn't know because you're yelling!

Everywhere I turn I get the newegg.com schpiel, and believe me, I'd love to be able to get my card from them, LOVE to. Their price is so much better than where I've been able to find elsewhere.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 24, 2006, 6:40 pm

Ok, so checking out tigerdirect.ca... the 7800gs is pretty much out, it's marked up much higher than the price on newegg (CURSE YOU NEWEGG). Am considering this: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... 76&CatId=0

I've been an nvidia fan for awhile now, so am a bit iffy about switching to an ATI card. Also, this Crossfire shit. Under the system requirements it lists " * Connecting Device for CrossFireT--Only one display while enable Cross-Fire". What is this exactly? Is this only if you want to run two cards at once?

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » May 24, 2006, 7:53 pm

Tigerdirect is a faggot. I'm sure Pricegrabber will have better deals. No, I didn't look for you.

cadalano · Post by **cadalano** » May 25, 2006, 10:08 am

Crossfire is ATI's answer to SLI. I believe they use an external cable connection instead of a bride style interface like NVidia, so i guess the card in your link comes with that cable.

anyway, I assumed you had a decent card already. so now i think the best bang for your buck economy-style would be a 6600 GT. They've been the best selling AGP card for awhile, and still are, because even at $130-170 they perform respectably

but my advice is still to just upgrade to PCIe as soon as you possibly can- the longer you wait... the longer you pay more for less. For example, if you had a PCIe system right now, you could be spending $220 on a PCIe 6800GT and be done with it

Faerin · Post by **Faerin** » May 25, 2006, 10:21 am

What you'll want is something along the lines of this:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php? ... cture=eVGA
I wouldn't spend the 350 to 400 on a 7800 without going PCIe.

http://www.ncix.com and http://www.bytewisecomputers.com seem to have the best prices as far as Canadian online distributors go.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 25, 2006, 10:58 am

canadacomputers.com is where I usually shop (in store).
They have online shopping and deliver within a few days. They also have the best all around prices of all the shops in Toronto.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 25, 2006, 11:00 pm

Thanks for all the recommendations guys, I ended up going with NCIX. They had the best prices IMO. Had to purchase a new power supply as well, but that wasn't a problem. Hopefully I'll be playing Oblivion next week. Cheers!

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » May 26, 2006, 10:42 am

What was your power supply before?
I ask because I am considering upgrading from my 9700Pro and I have a 250 supply currently.
I'm not sure what I'd get as performance improvement isn't the primary reason for the upgrade, it's that my current card (approaching 4 years of age) seems to have been partially fried for nearly a year now.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 26, 2006, 11:39 am

For most (if not all) new video cards, I believe they recommend a 300-350 watt power supply.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » May 26, 2006, 12:19 pm

i guess I'm fucked then. maybe the x700 or the 6600 aren't that hungry as i'm not willing to play around w/ the power supply

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 26, 2006, 12:53 pm

Do not skimp on the power supply. Buy quality as well as one with enough juice (400W+ these days minimum)

I've had less issues since putting quality power supplies in my systems. Steady output to the rails is what you want, not just high Watts.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 26, 2006, 1:06 pm

Chidoro wrote:i guess I'm fucked then. maybe the x700 or the 6600 aren't that hungry as i'm not willing to play around w/ the power supply

Replacing a power supply is almost as easy as replacing a video card... There's nothing tricky about it.

Unplug the power supply.
Disconnect all the cables connected to your drives and mother board.
Unscrew the old power supply and remove it from the box.
Place the new one in the box and screw it in.
Connect the corresponding cables back into the motherboard, drives and your new video card.
Plug it back in and power it up!

Like Winnow said, don't scrimp on the power supply. Wattage isn't everything.. Look for good reviews on a quality name brand.

Neost · Post by **Neost** » May 26, 2006, 1:31 pm

just bought this card:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 0987912328

I'll be going to pick it up later today and put it in my gaming rig to see how it works.

Apparently this iteration of this card is rated at 1500-2200 future marks.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 26, 2006, 1:39 pm

ATI's naming conventions are currently way too confusing.
I have no idea how that card compares to other ATI or nVidia cards.

That card is $130 less than an x800 pro and the x800 has half the memory... and isn't the x800 a much older card?
How do they stack up performance wise?
It's around the same price as a 6600/6800, so can we assume that they are similar in performance and features?

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » May 26, 2006, 3:17 pm

miir wrote:
Chidoro wrote:i guess I'm fucked then. maybe the x700 or the 6600 aren't that hungry as i'm not willing to play around w/ the power supply
Replacing a power supply is almost as easy as replacing a video card... There's nothing tricky about it.

The problem is, I like to do computer upgrades when the other half is sleeping(now two-thirds which definitely ups the technical difficulty number). She still thinks I am going to ruin things each time i crack open the case, even though I've successfully upgraded every pc I've owned more than one time each. I am also a little nervous about power supplys because I am awful at grounding myself.

bleh, the computer was my wedding present I picked out for myself nearly 4 years ago. I used to go no more than 18 months at a time before tossing new hardware in. Maybe I'll just get a used 9800pro that isn't burnt out and toss it in knowing it'll work in the existing environment.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 26, 2006, 3:27 pm

Installing a power supply is similar to installing a new CD Rom drive (4 screws)... there's just a few more cables to reconnect.

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » May 26, 2006, 5:05 pm

Go PCI-E.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 26, 2006, 6:40 pm

Mr Bacon wrote:Go PCI-E.

Who are you?

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 26, 2006, 6:51 pm

Buy me a new PCI-E motherboard and processor and I'll think about spending more to upgrade than I need to.

Taraos · Post by **Taraos** » May 26, 2006, 9:31 pm

The ATI X800 Series has a hidden secret. You can flash the video card BIOS and unlock 16 pixel pipelines. The higher end X850 cards will have this automatically. So those cards run with 4 extra pipelines, making them vastly superior in some games.

However, the new X1300 - X 1900 have S3 (Some form of shading /shrug). This gives them a huge edge on newer games, but due to their 12 pixel pipeline they won't improve performance in older games.

Also be warned.. X1300-X1600 (All types, all manufacturers) are shipped with a corrupted BIOS that causes display corruption on your boot up screen and in Windows (Much easier to see on an LCD). The new Catalyst 6.5 is suppose to fix this issue in Windows, but I didn't have time to test it today and won't know til Tuesday. This is also another reason the prices have dropped on those cards.

You can sometimes find a BIOS fix.. but I purchased 4 of those pieces of shit for my store and have yet to find the proper fix. Fixing them isn't too hard, just the manufacturers are taking their sweet time releasing fixes for all of the different SSID numbers.

So when looking at the ATI camp, thats the basic lowdown. X800-X850 for performance in older games and X1800-X1900 if you want to crossfire / play the new stuff coming out, avoid X1300-X1600 if at all possible.

As far as NVidia stuff goes, I coulden't tell you a thing as I never use them.

Leonaerd · Post by **Leonaerd** » May 27, 2006, 10:38 am

miir wrote:
Mr Bacon wrote:Go PCI-E.
Who are you?

Relx!

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 27, 2006, 12:54 pm

nVidia > ATi

It's been that way since the 6800 series. ATi's last good round was the 9700/9800's.

If you're going for stability as well as power, the nVidia 79xx series (specifically the 7900GT for price/performance) is the way to go at the present time.

I wouldn't touch the ATi stuff yet unless your name is Leonaerd.

I've owned the 6800GT (AGP) and 7800GT PCI-e and both have performed as they should (I never think about them because they work flawlessly at 1920x1200 and I'm not constantly looking for new drivers)

We'll see again next round! Can't live in the future though.

Dregor Thule · Post by **Dregor Thule** » May 29, 2006, 11:53 am

Quick question, mostly because I'm impatient as hell

What would happen if I put the video card in with a lesser power supply? They had to ship the two things seperately, so I've got a card now, but the supply isn't here yet >< So impatient!

Aslanna · Post by **Aslanna** » May 29, 2006, 1:38 pm

Could just not power up. I don't think you'd break anything by plugging it in and seeing if it works.

sarlen · Post by **sarlen** » May 29, 2006, 1:38 pm

Dregor Thule wrote:Quick question, mostly because I'm impatient as hell

What would happen if I put the video card in with a lesser power supply? They had to ship the two things seperately, so I've got a card now, but the supply isn't here yet >< So impatient!

Low power to the video card can cause hard locks, blue screens and random slow downs on the PC. Went through this with one of my Video card upgrades and it was a pain in the ass.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 29, 2006, 1:52 pm

Winnow wrote:nVidia > ATi

NVidia = ATI.

Both companies make excellent cards and ATI driver issues are a thing of the past. They ping pong between #1 depending on who has released the most recent chipset. Just be sure to buy a card from a good manufacturer. Asus and (of course) ATI are good, Sapphire is bad. BFG, Asus and EVGA are good.. I've hear people having problems ( and personally had issues) with cards from MSI and Leadtek.

Competition is good for the consumer.

Saying one is better than the other is about as stupid as Pie vs Cake and Coke vs Pepsi.

I've owned the 6800GT (AGP) and 7800GT PCI-e and both have performed as they should (I never think about them because they work flawlessly at 1920x1200 and I'm not constantly looking for new drivers)

So in other words, you haven't even owned an ATI card in years.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 29, 2006, 2:24 pm

miir wrote:
Winnow wrote:nVidia > ATi

NVidia = ATI.

nVidia > ATi at the moment

ATi is has some horrendous firmware issues on some of their models right now, pixel aspect issues with widescreen displays, overheating issues.

Stability and drivers favor nVidia cards. You can have your little extra AA/AF when playing at eleventybillion X eleventybillion resolution. I'll take the card that works like a champ right out of the box.

That could change next round but then again, nVidia will have a new offering to take a look at as well by then. I'll switch back to ATi when they've earned it with a clear-cut-above-the-rest, solid drivers and stable performing card ala 9700pro, 6800GT.

Currently for solid perfomance and stability, bang for the buck = 7900GT.

miir · Post by **miir** » May 29, 2006, 2:27 pm

Winnow wrote: nVidia > ATi at the moment

ATi is has some horrendous firmware issues on some of their models right now, pixel aspect issues with widescreen displays, overheating issues.

Stability and drivers favor nVidia cards. You can have your little extra AA/AF when playing at eleventybillion X eleventybillion resolution. I'll take the card that works like a champ right out of the box.

That could change next round but then again, nVidia will have a new offering to take a look at as well by then. I'll switch back to ATi when they've earned it with a clear-cut-above-the-rest, solid drivers and stable performing card ala 9700pro, 6800GT.

Currently for solid perfomance and stability, bang for the buck = 7900GT.

So in other words, you haven't even owned an ATI card in years.

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 29, 2006, 2:33 pm

How was your walk to work today?

miir · Post by **miir** » May 29, 2006, 3:35 pm

I'll take that as a yes.

So really.... who the fuck cares about the opinion of someone who has no experience with a product.

How was your walk to work today?

http://www.veeshanvault.org/forums/view ... hp?t=17821

Winnow · Post by **Winnow** » May 29, 2006, 3:38 pm

ever been in a union?

Mr Bacon · Post by **Mr Bacon** » May 29, 2006, 5:26 pm

Go PCI-E.

Chidoro · Post by **Chidoro** » May 30, 2006, 11:43 am

Mr Bacon wrote:Go PCI-E.

pay him no mind, pork is the devil's meat