Which ATI card to get?

[knirfie]

Hey people, I finally got some money again, and since the parhelia is too expensive for me (and so is the 9700 Pro), which card should I get?
I was thinking of a 9500 Pro, but for €60 more i can get a 9700.

these are my candidates at the moment:

nVidia 4200
ATI Radeon 9100 (if there's gonna be a 128mb version, then i can spend some money on a new harddisk)
ATI 9500
ATI 9500 Pro
ATI 9700

which delivers the best performance per buck of these cards? i think the 4200 and the 9500(non-pro) fall off immediatly.
What do you guys think?

My maximum budget is €300 *that'll get me a 9700*

(reactions from anyone who has tried one or more of these cards please)

[Kurt]

The 9500Pro is probably the best bang for the buck as it compares favorably (bit better) than the GF4 Ti4600.

Then again the 9700 is way (50%) cheaper than the 9700Pro for about 10% less speed...that's the one I choose actually...

[Kooldino]

I agree w/ Kurt. I'd go with the 9500Pro or the 9700. The issue at that point is the almight buck $.

[The PIT]

Go with the 9700 and then flash the bios to turn it into a pro. It can be done.

[Indiana]

Agreed. Take the R9500Pro if you're looking for a great price/performance ratio. If you happen to like it even a bit faster and have a bit more bucks to spend, take the 9700.
The 9500 is not worth the price (as is the GF4 Ti4200) if compared to the 9500Pro.
The 9700Pro is not worth the higher price compared to the 9700 - especially when considering the even with a 9700 you will be majorly CPU-limited with any "normal" CPU. I have the 9700Pro myself and am heavily CPU-limited in any non-FSAA/aniso situation in spite of my AthlonXP2600+@2225MHz.
The R9100 - well is just a rebadged R8500LE. Not that this was a bad card, but nowadays it has to be cheap to make sense. Lower performance than R9500 and GF4 Ti4200.

Oh and one additional advice: If possible go for a Built-by-ATI card, if that's not possible then Sapphire seems to be the next best bet.

[knirfie]

i like that last option, especially since the 9700 isn't that much more expensive then the 9500 Pro. It's priced exactly 300, which is my budget i'll probably get that, unless, there is a matroxcard coming for that price soon that delivers outstanding performance.

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by knirfie
i like that last option, especially since the 9700 isn't that much more expensive then the 9500 Pro. It's priced exactly 300, which is my budget i'll probably get that, unless, there is a matroxcard coming for that price soon that delivers outstanding performance.

Hehe, not that I've heard of.

Personally, I should soon retire my G3ti200, but I'll wait until the Geforce FX is out. And you should too. Price drops are inevitable. Not too long after that, the revised Radeons will be out.

[Novdid]

Never worth waiting for anything in this industry, there's always something better and cheaper just around the corner.

You can end up waiting forever!

[Kurt]

Originally posted by Kooldino
Hehe, not that I've heard of.

Personally, I should soon retire my G3ti200, but I'll wait until the Geforce FX is out. And you should too. Price drops are inevitable. Not too long after that, the revised Radeons will be out.

don't expect the GeForce FX before 2~3 months (about march '03)...

[Kooldino]

Originally posted by Novdid
Never worth waiting for anything in this industry, there's always something better and cheaper just around the corner.

You can end up waiting forever!

Yes and no. There will always be something better coming up, but when there's something SIGNIFICANTLY better within a short period of time, it's worth waiting. This is an example of that.

Another will be in 6 months to a year...if I'm looking for a new mobo and CPU, I'll wait until the Athlon 64 comes out rather than sticking with a standard Athlon.

[Evildead666]

Yes, but Novdid has a valid point.
I have spent ages waiting, and then waiting, and waiting.....
You just have to stop and say: "I want something NOW!"
and do it.
If you wait, things will get cheaper, and better stuff will also come out.

One good thing to look out for, is if you want to get a new card for future games aka Doom3, or current games. If current, go cheapish(9500pro and up, mebbe 9100 but not the 9000 or 9500-straight).
If you are waiting to play Doom3, then wait for that vid card, and get one when the game comes out....

I still haev my Ge2 GTS. its not bad, oem shite running at 190Mhz (i seem to have got an underclocked version, which won't even reach 200Mhz core, and which has asyncronous clocks for mem/gpu).
I am stcuk between a new cpu, or a new graphics card ATM...

[Kurt]

get the new VGA. the GF2 GTS won't help the best P4/Athlon...

[knirfie]

well, i'll have to wait till the end of january for my money anyways, though might as well just wait two more months then.