Opinions on which card is better?

I'm upgrading my vid card from geforce 2 64mb, which ran the game well on low quality. I want to be ready to run high details for the release though! I found these 3 cards all on best buy's site, they are all $130 which falls in my budget. I'm leaning towards the geforce since I was pretty happy with my last one (plus its on sale, normally 150), but I figured I'd ask for other opinions, maybe radeon runs GW better. Your thoughts please:

ATI - RADEON 9250 Graphics Card 100-436012
256MB DDR memory; PCI interface; 400MHz clock speed; ATI CATALYST software

ATI - RADEON 9550 Graphics Card 100-437105
256MB DDR memory; AGP interface; TV-out; 400MHz clock speed; 128-bit memory

PNY - Verto GeForce FX 5700 VE Graphics Card VCFX5756VA
256MB DDR memory; AGP 8X/4X interface; S-video output; 400MHz clock speed; NVIDIA ForceWare

I think the 9550 is better. That's the one I'd go with, given the choices.

-Virt

personally I am like you with a GeForce card, but in real life I am a ATI person so I would suggest either the 9250 or the 9550 because with any 256mb graphics card you can run the game fine and ATI is all about quality so why not go for that.

we need to know what motherboard and processor you have. if you are unlucky like me and a few others, you will be VERY limited, (PCI only), in your video card choices..

As I posted in unforgiven's thread:

http://www.chiefvalue.com/app/produc...tem=14-127-154

That is pretty hot for the price. Some people have successfully flashed them to 9600's as well. If you are looking to spend in the mid $100s, this is unbeatable for the price (after $30 rebate):

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch..._Code= 190327

ZennZero how is that $60 card is it really worth it because maybe I should get that let me know on my thread thanks.

Wow a $60 one for 128MB that is great! I have a Althon XP 2200, 512mb RAM. I do have an AGP 4X/8X slot so thats not a problem. For video cards the more memory it has the better right? So with this 128mb one will my computer run GW on the best quality? Or should I splurge and get the 256mb one for $130?

if you are going to spend 130 go for 30 more for the 6600GT in the link above as the 6600GT is the current bang for the buck today

it will eat that 256 nb one for breakfast

amount of memory is only half the story

Right - If even half. You will often see manufacturers slap 256mb of memory on a low end card to appeal to the "more is better" crowd. In reality, any modern card with at least 128mb will be able to easily play any game out there. On higher end cards (geforce 6600 and above or radeon x800 and above) where you will be running games with maximum texture quality you will see more benefit at the 256mb level. You are just starting to see gaming cards with 512mb, but the general consensus is that at the moment it doesn't do much for you.

As an aside to this, I was rather suprised to see I can max out everything on guildwars comfortably on my system. It would be nice to have the option to crank things up a little higher (more antialiasing, AF, draw distance, texture quality, etc.) for those of us that can handle it.

Ok let me see if I get this straight...

MSI Radeon 9550 128MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - $60
-Great price, will run GW at top settings but might need to upgrade again for newer games in the future.

ATI - RADEON 9550 Graphics Card 256MB DDR memory; AGP interface; TV-out; 400MHz clock speed; 128-bit memory - $130
-A good card that will run GW at top settings, but not so much better than the MSI Radeon 9550 with 128mb to justify paying an extra $70

XFX GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR3/8x-AGP/TV-Out/Dual-DVI - $158 (after $30 mail in rebate)
-Easily run GW at top settings. Will be useful for other graphic intensive games that come out in the future, so I won't need to upgrade again for a while.

Does my understanding here seem to be on target? If so I think I will go ahead and order the Radeon 9550 128MB card for $60. If it will play GW at top settings I don't imagine I will be picking up any newer games for quite awhile! If I splurg to get the 6600 GT it should be because I need it for other games right?

Actually the $60 one says "out of stock" Did I wait too long?

It's so true it hurts. They just do it in an attempt to sell more units. The lower-end video cards (99% of the time) don't even have the capability to utilize the 256MB of VRAM properly/to it's max potential, so it's just wasted. It's just a selling point.

If I were you, I would get the 6600GT if you can. Even save up for longer, it's more worth the wait than a 9550/5700, because those are currently more or less the "low-end" of the market. Although they'd still play games, the 6600GT is worth the extra money, and will last longer than both of those cards, despite them having more dedicated VRAM.

Well, personally i have a geforce FX 5500 256mb and it runs well with my mobo and stuff, but im thinking about changing my mobo to an nforce because i would THINK that would give added performance, and i plan on getting an amd fx64 5500 as well =D (when i get a job) and probably another gig of ram and i will be set

p.s. for you overclockers out there like me, dont forget to get a good water cooling system!

but yeah i would go with the 6600GT, it might run better with your mobo.

Ok, you conviced me. I'll get the 6600GT, This link is the best deal? Is this a trustworthy website?

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch..._Code= 190327

Yes, and yes. Monarch is very reputable.

i personally only deal with newegg.com for the last few years

at top of reseller ratings and excellent prices

http://www.newegg.com/

damn right .

Oh no! I don't think I can use the Geforce 6600GT after all. I was looking at my mboard, its the

ECS K7S5A-Pro Socket A 266FSB DDR Motherboard

and I think it only has a 4x AGP slot. I thought I remembered it being 8x when I got it , does this mean I need to look for something else?

No worries Zorque -- an 8x card will just run at 4x on your motherboard. There shouldn't be any substantial difference in performance either.

I have bought items from Monarch, they were good priced and I had no problems. One thing I'd like to add is that I hope you have a 350+ watt power supply, and a good one at that.