Hi all,

Can I have some advice on the best video card (for gaming) that £150 ($240) can buy. :)

I am playing PlanetSide at the moment and aside from needing about 1GB of RAM, it seems like I need a better video card... I don't mind running it at 1024x768... but I don't want it to keep stuttering! It's a nightmare trying to shoot down a plane that is flipping in and out of existence.

;)

The Radeon 9700 Pro is a good one, especially if you use antialiasing and/or anisotropic filtering.

True, all Radeons after the R9500 Pro are better than their Nvidia counterparts when AA and AF is turn on.
:D

What about the Radeon 9200 128 mb is it satifactory for just doing graphics????

True, all Radeons after the R9500 Pro are better than their Nvidia counterparts when AA and AF is turn on.


Interesting observation as i run several systems with Geforce 5200U to 98OO Pro; and without fail ALL look just fine running AA/Af maxed out-of course the 5950U i just installed in my system actually runs games smoother than the 9800 Pro i have been using as my main gamer.

For around $300< i would recommend either the 9600Pro or the 5900 nonUltra-both provide 256 mbit memory interface and will run any game out there at 1024*768 4AA/8AF without a hiccup.

personally i prefer Nvidia simply because ATI's software support is horrendous-Nvidia is constantly refreshing/improving their driver support. And after all-doesn't matter how good the hardware is if the OS can't be told how to correctly use it ;)

I agree with iisbob, go with a 9600 pro or if you want to go for the new stuff a sapphire 9800 is $260 on newegg.com.

Hmm iibos, I don't doubt your own benchmarking there but I've seen a lot of benchmarks done by well-known sites and it seems that the Radeon is always better when AA and AF is enable.
Just curious, what game did you used for that little experiment? ;)

There's a whole host of issues regarding NVidia vs ATI when it comes to the latest DX9-enabled games, but I've taken a more "wait and see" approach to it all. After all, there aren't many DX9 games out there! :p Besides, the next round of vid cards is due out soon and is likely to clear the dust, so to speak.

In that price range, I'd say try for a Radeon 9700 non-Pro. Failing that, get a GeForceFX 5600 or a Radeon 9600. Any of those cards will do you just fine for gaming. At least until the DX9 debacle is settled. ;)