may be getting new computer

[wethepeople]

My x1600 pro has lasted me a year. Its starting to show its age, but nothing ATitool can't fix. >_>;

[Vector]

but you all froget the most important part, when these graphics cards came out, many programs used their main cirect x, and that would be 9 but this card does direct x 10 and the only game at this point that CAN not even needs it is bioshock

[crazyisraelie]

A few other games use Direct x 10 right now. I think company of heros and a few others.

Also all computer games are being made for Direct x 10 cards now. Well I think anyway.

[wethepeople]

Save some sequels and expansion packs Crazy is right.

[Vector]

they are being made that they CAN  use it, none need it yet

[schneereich]

that doesn't mean an 8600 will last the lifespan of directx 10. if that were the case, my old radeon 9600 (one of the first generation of dx9 cards) would have been perfect until this january (when dx10 was released).

[Vector]

well thats still like a couple of  years

[wethepeople]

I'm sorry but.. cry more. I have a x1600 pro. The freaking 8600 A eats it alive and B will live for a long time.

[Vector]

an 8600 is at this time the best card on this planet for pci-e (not counting dual cards)
the 8800 is more powerful but, it has worse susport for the high def formats (720,1080 and hd dvd asnd blue ray) so as far as i care its the best there is

[wethepeople]

The 8800GTX and Ultra kick its ass.

>_> Sorry, Vector. But the 8600 still eats my card alive.

[Vector]

they really arent better, i spent 2 hours deciding and chose the 8600

[wethepeople]

DA FACTS

8600GTS

Core Clock:   675 MHz
Shader Clock:   1450 MHz
Memory Clock:   1000 MHz (2000 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth:   32 GB/sec
Shader Operations:   46400 Operations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate:   5400 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate:   10800 MTexels/sec


8800GTX

Core Clock:   575 MHz
Shader Clock:   1350 MHz
Memory Clock:   900 MHz (1800 DDR)
Memory Bandwidth:   86.4 GB/sec
Shader Operations:   172800 Operations/sec
Pixel Fill Rate:   13800 MPixels/sec
Texture Fill Rate:   18400 MTexels/sec

[schneereich]

yes, the 8800 ultra is the best card on the market. then the gtx. then an ati hd 2900xt.

and did you say i was crying? im just trying to talk sense into him. a mid-range card like the 8600 will not last several years! i thought the same thing about my radeon 9600 back in 2002 (i think i replaced it when san andreas got unbearable), then i thought that about my geforce 6600 in 2004 (which was going to get replaced because of oblivion, but ended up dying when my motherboard decided to kill half my components). and i dont even expect my high-end radeon x1900xtx from 2006 to last several years either before the new games start stuttering.

[Vector]

1900 high end? wtf?

[schneereich]

yes. an x1900xtx is high end. and if you look at benchmarks, way better than an 8600. general rule for how they name these things:

first digit is the generation
second digit is its "ranking" within the generation
last 2 digits will either be 00 or 50. 50 means it has had a slight upgrade.

benchmarks: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...4&chart=318

[Vector]

sorry im stupid, did the same thing but, put in x1600xtx insted of 1900


yours is better for benchmarks

[schneereich]

yeah. i'd like the hd stuff though. it's capable of outputting hd signal but it has no hdcp. so if/when i get a fancy super-expensive lcd tv, i won't be able to use bluray/hddvd properly. and dx10 would be nice, but it's not urgent right now. i can probably sit out this generation of graphics cards then get a new one one and a half generations from now with whatever new things they have then. in fact, i'll probably get an entirely new computer by then. hopefully a laptop. and by then maybe uf will have installed campus-wide wifi!

*walks off muttering about uf's horrible wifi coverage*

[Vector]

heh, i love having the hi def out put and blue ray/ hd dvd stuff, because my comp has a hi def input (xbox )

[wethepeople]

The 1900 is the next card I'm buying. Its insanely fast, blows away the 1950's for whatever reason and is a hundred dollars cheaper than the 1950's. Go figure.

[schneereich]

they're hard to find nowadays, unfortunately. if i had $300 or so to spend on computer parts, i think i'd get a crossfire motherboard and a second x1900, if i could find them anywhere.