ATI vid card feedback please.

I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out it is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never worked for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even froze doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for now. I now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. This would be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or the 9800pro, 9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more money, are the differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice to warrant a bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 into the card, BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer some eye candy and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I haven't been able to actually hold any of these cards side by side to compare.....including price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me some ideas on the purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being longwinded, but this card will have to last me for some time now. $200 initial cost was not out of my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd like to make a wise choice. Thanks all V

I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out it is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never worked for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even froze doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for now. I now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. This would be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or the 9800pro, 9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more money, are the differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice to warrant a bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 into the card, BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer some eye candy and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I haven't been able to actually hold any of these cards side by side to compare.....including price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me some ideas on the purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being longwinded, but this card will have to last me for some time now. $200 initial cost was not out of my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd like to make a wise choice. Thanks all V

"V "fnugen"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:uWkcd.72538$[email hidden]...

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> I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out > it is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never > worked for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even > froze doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for > now. I now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. > This would be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or > the 9800pro, 9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more > money, are the differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice > to warrant a bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 > into the card, BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer > some eye candy and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I > haven't been able to actually hold any of these cards side by side to > compare.....including price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me > some ideas on the purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being > longwinded, but this card will have to last me for some time now. $200 > initial cost was not out of my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd > like to make a wise choice. Thanks all > > V

Personally, I have the 9800pro, and as soon as it's financially feasible, I'm switching back to nvidia...that said, for Canadian sites, check out ncix.com...that's where I buy all my components... Dave

On Sat, 16 Oct 2004 23:38:19 -0400, "Dave St.Onge" <1@1> wrote: >Personally, I have the 9800pro, and as soon as it's financially feasible, >I'm switching back to nvidia...that said, for Canadian sites, check out >ncix.com...that's where I buy all my components... > >Dave > www.atic.ca quite often have lower prices than NCIX, not always though. They are in Vancouver too.

V "fnugen" wrote: > I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card... The 9800Pro is quite a bit faster than the 9600, so I'd recommend getting that. The 9800XT is only a tad faster than the 9800Pro, so I'd only buy it if it were only a tad more expensive than the 9800Pro. Personally, I've found the ATI cards (I've had the 9700 and the 9800) to have better 2D and 3D image quality than the Nvidia cards (I had GF2, GF3 and GF4600). They're much faster especially with Aniso and FF enabled, and this is an advantage even at high resolutions if you want image quality. -- Achim http://users.skynet.be/AchimT

Get a 9700pro or the 9800pro. I have a 9700pro on my system and have never been more happy with a video card. I run everything at 4xFSAA and max Aniso and have FPS around 50 - 80. This is on a AMD 2200+ system with a meg of ram. Vintook "V "fnugen"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:uWkcd.72538$[email hidden]...

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>I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out it >is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never worked >for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even froze >doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for now. I >now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. This would >be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or the 9800pro, >9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more money, are the >differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice to warrant a >bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 into the card, >BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer some eye candy >and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I haven't been able to >actually hold any of these cards side by side to compare.....including >price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me some ideas on the >purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being longwinded, but this card >will have to last me for some time now. $200 initial cost was not out of my >budget, another $200 may well be and I'd like to make a wise choice. >Thanks all > > V

Vintook wrote:

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> Get a 9700pro or the 9800pro. I have a 9700pro on my system and have never > been more happy with a video card. I run everything at 4xFSAA and max Aniso > and have FPS around 50 - 80. This is on a AMD 2200+ system with a meg of > ram. > > Vintook > >

Good point thanks. I maybe should have placed my specs here...DUH !!! Athlon XP 1700+ (1.5g) 512 ram DDr MSI KT4AV mobo Other than my CPU, pretty much everything else is brand new, more budget minded, but new none the less. I generally play F1c mods, CFS2, CFS3 (recent purchase) and both IL2s. So anything that can handle a full busy screen and flow like water is what I am after. I am starting to lean toward the 9800pro now. V

> Get a 9700pro or the 9800pro. I have a 9700pro on my system and have never > been more happy with a video card. I run everything at 4xFSAA and max Aniso > and have FPS around 50 - 80. This is on a AMD 2200+ system with a meg of > ram. > Vintook Good point thanks. I maybe should have placed my specs here...DUH !!! Athlon XP 1700+ (1.5g) 512 ram DDr MSI KT4AV mobo Other than my CPU, pretty much everything else is brand new, more budget minded, but new none the less. I generally play F1c mods, CFS2, CFS3 (recent purchase) and both IL2s. So anything that can handle a full busy screen and flow like water is what I am after. I am starting to lean toward the 9800pro now. V

I gotta agree. Of all the many 3d video cards Ive bought going back to the Rendition V1000 Im most happy with the 9700 Pro. Ive had it going on 2 years and havent had any issues that would make me regret this purchase. It still runs everything I throw at it but is beginning to show its age. Mitch "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:0Avcd.4246$[email hidden]...

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> Get a 9700pro or the 9800pro. I have a 9700pro on my system and have never > been more happy with a video card. I run everything at 4xFSAA and max > Aniso and have FPS around 50 - 80. This is on a AMD 2200+ system with a > meg of ram. > > Vintook > > "V "fnugen"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:uWkcd.72538$[email hidden]... >>I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out it >>is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never worked >>for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even froze >>doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for now. I >>now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. This would >>be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or the 9800pro, >>9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more money, are the >>differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice to warrant a >>bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 into the card, >>BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer some eye candy >>and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I haven't been able >>to actually hold any of these cards side by side to compare.....including >>price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me some ideas on the >>purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being longwinded, but this card >>will have to last me for some time now. $200 initial cost was not out of >>my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd like to make a wise choice. >>Thanks all >> >> V > >

I concur with the 9700 pro. If you are budget minded and want DX9, it should at least get you to the next generation of GPU's. I purchased mine new at $400+ for the All In Wonder and it plays every game I throw at it fine. Also the 9700 pro was the card that helped ATI to gain market share on Nvidia. The 9800pro is about 200.00 and not a huge leap above the 9700 pro. If you can find the 9700 pro new, you will have a card capable of a display comparable to the latest cards. Based on your system specs I don't think the high line cards would be of much benefit to you as you may not be able to harness their potential given your CPU and RAM. -- Asus P4P800E P4 3.0E 1Gig Corsair XMS 3200 AIW 9700 Pro SB Audigy 2 ZX Platinum BRD Speed 7 BRD Rally V2 "Vintook" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:0Avcd.4246$[email hidden]... > Get a 9700pro or the 9800pro. I have a 9700pro on my system and have never > been more happy with a video card. I run everything at 4xFSAA and max > Aniso and have FPS around 50 - 80. This is on a AMD 2200+ system with a > meg of ram. > > Vintook > > "V "fnugen"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message > news:uWkcd.72538$[email hidden]... >>I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out it >>is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never worked >>for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even froze >>doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for now. I >>now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. This would >>be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or the 9800pro, >>9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more money, are the >>differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice to warrant a >>bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 into the card, >>BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer some eye candy >>and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I haven't been able >>to actually hold any of these cards side by side to compare.....including >>price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me some ideas on the >>purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being longwinded, but this card >>will have to last me for some time now. $200 initial cost was not out of >>my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd like to make a wise choice. >>Thanks all >> >> V > >

Tiny Lund wrote:

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> I concur with the 9700 pro. If you are budget minded and want DX9, it should > at least get you to the next generation of GPU's. I purchased mine new at > $400+ for the All In Wonder and it plays every game I throw at it fine. Also > the 9700 pro was the card that helped ATI to gain market share on Nvidia. > The 9800pro is about 200.00 and not a huge leap above the 9700 pro. If you > can find the 9700 pro new, you will have a card capable of a display > comparable to the latest cards. Based on your system specs I don't think the > high line cards would be of much benefit to you as you may not be able to > harness their potential given your CPU and RAM. >

My CPU is the next upgrade slotted. If I get the 9800pro, it may a little longer than thought, but when I do, the system will fall together nicely. Ram, that's kind of a whenever I do kind of upgrade. It's not such a high dollar purchase, so it's coming, just no idea when. I'll look into the 9700 as well..........but I believe I am almost sold on the 9800. Do 2g and 2.5g CPUs run that much better than the 1.5?? They're running around the $200 price point around here and I have been looking. AMD of course. V

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> I concur with the 9700 pro. If you are budget minded and want DX9, it should > at least get you to the next generation of GPU's. I purchased mine new at > $400+ for the All In Wonder and it plays every game I throw at it fine. Also > the 9700 pro was the card that helped ATI to gain market share on Nvidia. > The 9800pro is about 200.00 and not a huge leap above the 9700 pro. If you > can find the 9700 pro new, you will have a card capable of a display > comparable to the latest cards. Based on your system specs I don't think the > high line cards would be of much benefit to you as you may not be able to > harness their potential given your CPU and RAM.

My CPU is the next upgrade slotted. If I get the 9800pro, it may a little longer than thought, but when I do, the system will fall together nicely. Ram, that's kind of a whenever I do kind of upgrade. It's not such a high dollar purchase, so it's coming, just no idea when. I'll look into the 9700 as well..........but I believe I am almost sold on the 9800. Do 2g and 2.5g CPUs run that much better than the 1.5?? They're running around the $200 price point around here and I have been looking. AMD of course. V

Dave St.Onge wrote: > Personally, I have the 9800pro, and as soon as it's financially > feasible, I'm switching back to nvidia...that said, for Canadian > sites, check out ncix.com...that's where I buy all my components... > > Dave I also have a 9800pro, and it's my first ATI card since before the Voodoo 2 came out. After that I became a sworn nvidia fanboy, owning a GeForce DDR, GeForce 2 GTS, and GeForce 4 ti4200. I finally made the jump to an ATI card after having issues with many different games (I really got tired of changing drivers to play different games and have them work right) and I haven't looked back since. Every single one of my games work, they all look fantastic, and I get great framerates on RBR, GTR, and F1C (and obviously GPL), not to mention Doom 3 and Counter-Strike:Source. I don't seem going back to nvidia any time soon.

V "fnugen" wrote:

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> Good point thanks. I maybe should have placed my specs here...DUH !!! > Athlon XP 1700+ (1.5g) 512 ram DDr MSI KT4AV mobo > > Other than my CPU, pretty much everything else is brand new, more > budget minded, but new none the less. I generally play F1c mods, > CFS2, CFS3 (recent purchase) and both IL2s. So anything that can > handle a full busy screen and flow like water is what I am after. I > am starting to lean toward the 9800pro now. > > V

Heh, shoulda read this post before posting my last response. I also play IL2:FB and AEP on a Radeon 9800 Pro, and get somewhere in the 60fps range at 1280x1024 with full detail. The only drawback I have with IL2 is that I stink horrifically, but the game itself works great! ;)

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> > Heh, shoulda read this post before posting my last response. > > I also play IL2:FB and AEP on a Radeon 9800 Pro, and get somewhere in > the 60fps range at 1280x1024 with full detail. The only drawback I > have with IL2 is that I stink horrifically, but the game itself works > great! ;)

No biggie. Opinions and ideas make the world go 'round. I as well suck at IL2. It is a harder game than CFS2 for sure. I still am getting used to actually HAVING to do an entire mission from take off to return in IL2. Very enjoyable though, and the stunning realism......WOW !! I CANNOT wait for my new vid card to play this one, and F1c mods as well. Grabbing the mods that are my "must haves" as I type this. V

No biggie. Opinions and ideas make the world go 'round. I as well suck at IL2. It is a harder game than CFS2 for sure. I still am getting used to actually HAVING to do an entire mission from take off to return in IL2. Very enjoyable though, and the stunning realism......WOW !! I CANNOT wait for my new vid card to play this one, and F1c mods as well. Grabbing the mods that are my "must haves" as I type this. V

"V \"fnugen\"" <[email hidden]> wrote in news:uWkcd.72538$[email hidden]:

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> I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out > it is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never > worked for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even > froze doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for > now. I now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. > This would be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or > the 9800pro, 9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more > money, are the differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice > to warrant a bigger price tag??

Out of those cards 9800Pro is probably the best pick. Very good performance and they keep popping out for 270-280 CDN here and there, older 9700Pro is also a good pick if you can get it cheaper. The main caveat is that if you plan to play OpenGL games (or if you need OpenGL for any other purpose), you may be in trouble with those cards. For OpenGL you'd need NVidia card, but right now it's a hard pick. The optimal pick is probably 5900XT for 250-270 CDN. But soon they're supposed to release 6600GT which is much faster than any of mentioned cards and is supposed to retail for around 300 CDN (and no problems with OpenGL). They actually already released PCI-E version, but you need AGP I suppose. Probably it will also drop prices on other cards. Alex.

just make sure you get a pro card. pay the extra, it's worth it in the end. Vitnook "V "fnugen"" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:g%wcd.5337$[email hidden]...

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> Tiny Lund wrote: >> I concur with the 9700 pro. If you are budget minded and want DX9, it >> should at least get you to the next generation of GPU's. I purchased mine >> new at $400+ for the All In Wonder and it plays every game I throw at it >> fine. Also the 9700 pro was the card that helped ATI to gain market share >> on Nvidia. The 9800pro is about 200.00 and not a huge leap above the 9700 >> pro. If you can find the 9700 pro new, you will have a card capable of a >> display comparable to the latest cards. Based on your system specs I >> don't think the high line cards would be of much benefit to you as you >> may not be able to harness their potential given your CPU and RAM. >> > > My CPU is the next upgrade slotted. If I get the 9800pro, it may a little > longer than thought, but when I do, the system will fall together nicely. > Ram, that's kind of a whenever I do kind of upgrade. It's not such a high > dollar purchase, so it's coming, just no idea when. I'll look into the > 9700 as well..........but I believe I am almost sold on the 9800. Do 2g > and 2.5g CPUs run that much better than the 1.5?? They're running around > the $200 price point around here and I have been looking. AMD of course. > > V

Try the search engine at http://www.computers-canada.com/ Would also agree about the ATI cards. Went from a gf4 4200 to an ATi 9500 and then to an 9700 (the 9600 XT should be a little faster than the 9500) and have been fairly happy with the performance improvement with each upgrade. The 9800Pro should again be another noticeable increase in performance. See http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041004/index.html for comparisons. Beware anything with an "SE" in the model name. Ken V "fnugen" wrote:

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> I had purchased a card unknowing it was an ATI partner card. Turns out > it is an Alastor 9550 256m card. Well...........the damned thing never > worked for more than 5 mins. It froze on at least 3 of my games. It even > froze doing a benchmark on it. Went back to my built by ATI 9000 pro for > now. I now have an almost $200 store credit to replace the card with. > This would be CDN dollars. I am thinking either the 9600pro, 9600XT or > the 9800pro, 9800XT. Other than the fact the 9800 will run me more > money, are the differences too subtle for a more casual gamer to notice > to warrant a bigger price tag?? I'd really rather not sink another $200 > into the card, BUT..........if it can keep up to present games and offer > some eye candy and fluid movement, I'm up for it. Other than online I > haven't been able to actually hold any of these cards side by side to > compare.....including price. Can some really nice CDNs out there give me > some ideas on the purchase price of any of these?? Sorry for being > longwinded, but this card will have to last me for some time now. $200 > initial cost was not out of my budget, another $200 may well be and I'd > like to make a wise choice. Thanks all > > V