Price Guides February 2004: Memory and Soon-To-Be-Obsolete AGP Video Cards
by Kristopher Kubicki on February 10, 2004 4:12 AM EST- Posted in
- Guides
If you're looking for a quality, high-performance graphics card your buying decisions then take a look at a recent Q1 Video Card Roundup. Derek takes a good look at overclocking, thermal, and game performance on most of the recently introduced cards.
It appears news is all over the web concerning the newest GeForceFX 5500 cards. Supposedly, this card should fill in the immense gap between 5200 and 5600, but it is too early to speculate. NVIDIA and ATI have been completely silent concerning roadmaps, product announcements and future directions. Just in case you were wondering, there is probably good reason.
|
NVIDIA |
ATI |
|
15 |
15 |
|
5200, 5200 Ultra, 5500, 5500 Ultra, 5600, 5600XT, 5600 Ultra, 5700, 5700 Ultra, 5900, 5900XT/SE, 5900 Ultra, 5950, 5950 Ultra |
9000, 9000 Pro, 9100, 9200, 9200SE, 9500, 9600, 9600SE, 9600 Pro, 9600XT, 9700, 9700 Pro, 9800 Pro, 9800SE, 9800XT |
Update Feb 10: Of course, I get confirmation on the upcoming GeForceFX 5700LE a full three hours after publication. Anyways, mentally tally another check up for NVIDIA as this "lite" 5700 will start showing up pretty soon too.
Most likely you've figured out what the above table denotes. We haven't even touched on various VIVO/AIW and different memory sizes of each of these cards either. Don't worry; NV40 and R420 are just around the corner. And if you thought keeping track of 30+ graphics cores was difficult, wait until we throw PCI-Express into the mix as well!
Here are NVIDIA's week deltas:
The GeForceFX 5950's continue to be way too expensive for even the most rabid of gamers, but it looks like that is starting to change. Now that the cards are "only" $400, you could probably pick one up and overclock it. Or it seems you could get 90%+ of the performance with a GeForceFX 5900/5900SE for half the cost. It's almost a no brainer; if you want to go NVIDIA, eVGA's 5900SE is the choice to go with.
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Khalad - Sunday, February 15, 2004 - link
I was curious, if anyone had any info about what ATI's plans were in regard to a AIW refresh. I understand they are already the leaders in the field, however with the new roadmap, I am curious of any info on the AIW front?Rekonn - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
#7 I don't agree with you. The price bumps aren't just $20 for each speed grade. I could be reading it incorrectly, but to me it looks like9600 non pro $102
9600 pro $149 46% increase from 9600 non pro
9600 xt $151
9700 non pro $193 30% increase from 9600 pro
9700 pro $198
9800 non pro - none
9800 pro $215 9% increase from 9700 pro
9800 xt $416 93% increase from 9800 pro
A 50% increase in what you're willing to pay is huge, a 10% increase isn't.
#8 true, if the extras you get from going retail matter to you, then this isn't a fair comparison.
XPgeek - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
Hey thanx guys for the info about the memory. I am running an Athlon64 3000+. i have no problems with the ValuRAM at standard clock speeds, but when i try to OC to 220 "FSB" it get wicked unstable. i run timings of 3-7-7-11. i had read in the forums that keeping that last number high allowed for a bit more bandwidth. if i try to set the CAS to 2.5 i get reboots. 2 and i get no boots. i think i'll just stick w this since i dont have a gob of $$ to put down on new mem right now.KristopherKubicki - Thursday, February 12, 2004 - link
Considering AGP doesnt even use half the headroom it has... good point :)mkruer - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Will someone please explain what the real value of going to PCI-Ex over APG really is when it comes out? I mean is it supposed to have this phenomenal speed, but will it really matter for the cards coming out around the same time?DerekBaker - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Update:Seems K8T890 is the same:
http://www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1...
Derek
DerekBaker - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Let's hope it's the same for the K8T890. Though of course just because the chipset supports both, doesn't mean the board makers will offer both.Derek
KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Well oddly enough it looks like PT890 will support both interfaces, but i doubt you can use them at the same time.http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?image=MTA3NjUwOD...
Kristopher
Tiorapatea - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Kristopher,Reference to announcement of bridge chip:
http://www.pciexpressdevnet.org/news/archive/msg00...
0.0 Yes, PCI-E southbridge for Socket A looks unlikely. KT880 is VIA's upcoming Socket A chipset - don't you just hate their numbering system?
2.2 I definitely want to see nforce 250 (and the GbE version) on Socket 754. I think people often want to buy features for value and avoid paying the full premium for support of the fastest CPUs.
I can't find the thread any more but there was some speculation/informed comment on Aces that AMD will offer 90nm CPUs on 754.
4.0 I meant to suggest that there would be a choice of motherboards, one design with PCI-E and a separate one with AGP.
KristopherKubicki - Wednesday, February 11, 2004 - link
Trogdor is right. Its not Purple though anymore, i think the purple stuff was formerly Level 2, which is now just called Black.Kristopher