Close Topic Options

[Starfox]

This is a question for the techie types amongst us.


Friend of mine wants to upgrade his pc so that his grandson will be able to play the latest games.


System specs,

P4 2.4g , 512mb ram, 80g Hard drive, DVDrom and DVD+rw,nVidiaMX440seAGP8x graphics card.



I suspect that the letdown is the graphics card and he has suggested upgrading to either a Sapphire Radeon 9600se 128mb DDR or a radeon 9800 pro.Question is are these cards suitable and if so which one would be best,will they play the latest games,are they suitable for his system or are their better alternatives.



Some of the games his grandson has which won't play include Painkiller,DeusEx Invisible War and Far Cry.Stangely enough he can play Doom 3 but at a terribly slow frame rate.



My friend has posted this question in the helproom on the PCAdvisor site but asked me if I could find any other (better)places to pose the question so here we are! :rolleyes:




Any ideas folks,all advice gratefully accepted.


Cheers Starfox ;)

[wags]

Out of the 2 cards you have mentioned, the 9800 Pro would be the one to go for.

Since the release of the 'next generation' of cards, the price of this one has fallen dramatically. Even though it is not now state of the art (it was, up until pretty recently) it would be a good value purchase for the system you have outlined and should be up to the job of playing current games quite nicely.

[Spook Tooth]

I second wags. The 9800 Pro would compliment the remaining hardware very well, and you were right that the current MX440 video card is the weak link.

Just got the self same card from Overclockers.co.uk, but the HiS IceQ version for ease of conversion to 9800 XT (via loading suitable 9800 XT bios). It was more expensive but essentially, as I overclocked my card the additional cooling was recommended.

Standard versions cost from £122 in VAT from places like Komplett.co.uk. Be sure to get a 256bit version and not the 128bit model recently introduced.

[Ordep]

I third that. I've the 9800 128mb pro.

It plays Far Cry a treat.

[PilchY]

The thing with the 9800 pro is it can be easily overclockable to wards 9800XT speeds which is always handy. I think it is a thing with all ATI card's they can be clocked, i know naoki has his 9600 clocked to 9600 pro speeds and simonp1 has a 9800 to 9800pro

[Spook Tooth]

That's right Mr Pilch. My own 9800 pro runs as a 9800 XT in every almost regard as it shares the sameR360 core. The only things lacking are the memory (a little slower) and the PCB does not support the XT 'overdrive' function. Else ATI is a good choice for this generation of cards I believe.

[Naoki Maeda]

My card is the 9700 not the 9600 lol. And I agree with everyone else here, the 9800 pro is the better option especially with the prices right now. And yes it is better to get the 256bit, 256Mb version of the card and if you are brave enough, you can turn it into the 9800XT card which is the best version of the lot. Many people months ago use to save more than £100 getting the Pro & turning it into the XT. All thanks to ATI saving their costs of using the same PCB designs for the two cards :D and to that, saves the customer money!

[Starfox]

9800 pro was installed this afternoon and the difference has to be seen to be believed therefor I have been instructed to pass on many many thanks from my friend and his very grateful grandson. :w00t:

Starfox.