Radeon Question

Damn I feel like a comp newbie after only dealing with computers for the last 15-20 or so years. Hopefully this is my last question. Case/mobo/CPU ordered. RAM is cake. Everything else is good to go (not ordered, but I know what I'm getting).

Now the 9x00 Radeons. I originally chose the 9600 128MB Pro. Anyone familiar with Pricewatch knows that usually page by page the $ increases by a few bucks. Well not with this card. From the 1st to the 7th listing it goes from $81 to $134. The 7th listing, $134, has high marks at Reseller Ratings. The first 6, crap.

So is $134 (or so) worth it?

The Radeon 9200SE 128MB DDR AGP8X DVI+CRT+TVO is $48 (baseline Pricewatch, I expect to move up while finding a reputable retailer). There's so many 9x000 cards I don't know if one is better than the other, if three are better than 5, or two are better than seven or....you know.

Any words of wisdom?

1. Post the purpose of the computer that the card will be in
2. Post budget (ball park)

Basically, here's the gist of it:

- The higher the x in 9x00, the better the card.
- "PRO" means GOOD! It means it's a much better performing card with higher clock speeds and more pipelines, etc. It'll last you longer but will also cost more
- Best is 9800XT
- Best value is either 9000 Pro or 9600 Pro or 9600XT

The 9600 Pro 128MB is a good choice, if you can afford it... then get it.

Well, since the computer he has (a P-266) he can't do much on, I have no idea what he'll want to do with this new one. I'm sure he'll eventually do some gaming, because he runs his PlayStation 2 into the ground. Mostly what he does now is surf the 'net because that's about all you can do on what he has.

There really isn't a set budget on the card. If the 9600 is worth it, and the $134 price tag is reasonable for that card then we will probably go with it. If I can get away with something a little cheaper that will still perform very well then that would work too.

Everyone on TechTV raves about the 9600 Pro. The only person I know with a Radeon (an older one) is my dad, but he doesn't "use" it so I don't know how well it performs. I've got a GeForce 2 Pro/450 and I know it works well. But ATI seems to be more favored (from what I've seen around) so I thought I'd go ahead and go with ATI.

I have a radeon9200se and I lub it! I HOPE THIS HELPS.

well the 9600pro and 9600xt are very nice cards. But stay away from the 9600se it is a waste of money even at that low price. the ati cards that i would recommend are

9500pro
9600pro
9600xt
9700
9700pro
9800
9800pro
9800xt

if you can find a 9500pro is probably cheaper than the 9600xt and actually a little better... but best bang for your buck is the 9700pro.
hope that helps a bit

Thanks for the input. I'm still debating. That will be the last thing I order.

The 9700Pro is only $219 at newegg. That's an immense price drop from it's $300+ original price tag.

It's a great card. It'll last a long time. So will the 9600Pro though.

Heh. Well even though there's really no budget that's a bit more than I prefer to spend. I'd prefer the $100-150 range.

Originally posted by MobileBadBoy
Heh. Well even though there's really no budget that's a bit more than I prefer to spend. I'd prefer the $100-150 range.

Then the 9600Pro is looking good.

Is this overkill? And it's not a Pro.

SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 Video Card, 256MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP

[ link ]

Not bad for the price, but 256MB, lol.