Halo 1 & 2 for PC
This topic has moved here: Subject: building computer....video card
  • Subject: building computer....video card
Subject: building computer....video card
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hey guys
i am in the process of building a computer
pretty much to play wow and half-life 2 and thta kinda stuff
but for a video card i was looking at the MSI nVidiaGeForce 6800 256mb
but the more i looked i decided i might go for the MSI nVidiaGeforce 6600 256mb for almost half the price
its there a big difference between cards?
now that should be just fine for wow and games fo that stature right?
and can anyone recommend a good company for video cards like MSI?
Thanks a lot Bryan

i am using a Pentium 4 3.2 Mhz
an intel socket 775 motherboard i believe its the 915GV chipset
a maxtor 120 gb hd
corsair 2X512 mb dual memory

  • 03.03.2005 3:56 PM PDT
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The 6600 series is good, yes, my friend has one. Get the GT (does it have AGP 8x versions?), as it is fairly better. The performance difference doesn't warrant the price difference. You will be very satisfied with the 6600.

  • 03.03.2005 4:00 PM PDT
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thank you much
i finally got a usable straight answer

pci express thats faster though isnt it?

and i've been told 128 to 256 isnt treally a factor or such

and also the GT is a better deal?

  • 03.03.2005 4:07 PM PDT
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i would suggest looking at ati's cards, they are really nice. ;)

  • 03.03.2005 4:36 PM PDT
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so for around the geforce 6600 and 6800

whats the equivelent of the ati cards?

i know a little about the nvidia but nothign about the ati's

  • 03.04.2005 9:05 AM PDT
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Heyyo,

Hmm, ati's pci-e vidcard's don't quite crank out the power for the price atm.. hopefully they get this sorted out. :(

I highly suggest 6600GT.

Here's a good benchmark of many vidcards:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20041222/vga_charts-0 7.ht ml

Now, I'll do a quick price-to-framerate ratio for ya:

ATI X700 PRO
Price: $287.28 CDN
Framerate: 45.1 F/S
PtF Ratio: 0.157

Nvidia 6600GT:
Price: $307.80 CDN
Framerate: 63.1 F/S
PtF Ratio: 0.205

Nvidia 6800GT:
Price: $567.60 CDN
Framerate: 88.8 F/S
PtF Ratio: 0.156

As you can see, Nvidia's 6600GT pwns in that Price-To-Framerate Ratio. So you get "More bang for your buck" with the 6600GT. As you can see, the PtF Ratio for the 6800GT is substantially lower than the 6600GT, and just a bit lower than ATI's Vidcard. So if I were you? 6600GT, best value card you'll see for a good year I bet. ;)

Ok, I know you were asking aboot the 6800 but tom's hardware diddn't have it, just the 6800 GT. :p

Now, I wanted to use Far Cry cause that game's an even playing field, it's not optimized for either Nvidia or ATI, so this one's all aboot the raw preformance of the card. Now I'll do another one up for Half Life 2.

ATI X700 PRO
Price: $287.28 CDN
Framerate: 111.9 F/S
PtF Ratio: 0.377

Nvidia 6600GT:
Price: $307.80 CDN
Framerate: 112.6 F/S
PtF Ratio: 0.365

Half-Life 2 is ATI Optimized, so the game really loves its ATI cards. As you can see, ATI came up top on this one.. but so far just this game. I still suggest that Nvidia 6600GT cause onna even playing field it wins each time.

Well, hope this little guide helped ya dude. Pwn on dude. :)

Oh silly me, forgot to show you how I calculated that! :p

you take Framerate, divide that by the price, and you get the ratio.

so for the nvidia 6600GT on HL2:

Price: $307.80 CDN
Framerate: 112.6 F/S

112.6 / 307.80 = 0.365

I like to just round up to 3 numbers after the decimal, it's up to you how many ya wanna do.

OH! let's go 1 step further: averages. ;)

ATI x700 Pro average PtF Ratio: 0.267

Nvidia 6600GT average PtF Ratio: 0.281

Uh huh, this further proves my point. Ok, for averages, you take the ratios, and add them all up, then divide them by how many there are. For example:

7
88
43
5
100

There is 5 different set of numbers.. so..

(7 + 88 + 43 + 5 + 100) / 5 = 48.6

And there ya go. Ain't math great!? w00t! =D

[Edited on 3/4/2005 9:36:24 AM]

  • 03.04.2005 9:24 AM PDT
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dude thanks a lot
that really helped me choose my vid card
and do you know exactly what 6600gt that was
there are a few

well at elast i know msi makes a few
liek the diamond and so on
but i should go with the 6600gt at 128mb?

also sorry
whats a good nvidia brand

and thanks a lot for the thourough reply
i appreciate it a lot

  • 03.04.2005 9:57 AM PDT
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Heyyo,

Np man, just spreading the knowledge. Ti's what Linux is aboot, and that's what computing in general should be like. ;)

Ok, for nvidia? they don't actually make the boards. They make up the schematics n' stuff n' then sell them to other companies n' get royalties for the sales. Very smart tactic. Good company's that Nvidia licences their schematics for their cards are: XFX, MSI, BFG, and I hear eVGA's pretty good. Asus is definately a good one (<best mobo maker for AMD based cpu's).

  • 03.04.2005 11:29 AM PDT
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dude you didn't even mention the x800 by ati, i know its more expensive but if you look at the sapphire version its $100-$150 cheaper.

this one's good for the price

this one is really juiced up

and remember nothing matters more than the video card

  • 03.04.2005 11:50 AM PDT
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Heyyo,

Well the main reason was I bet the PtF Ratio sucked... I'll see

ATI x800 XL
Price: $514.15 CDN
Framerate (Far Cry): 88.0 F/S
PtF Ratio(Far Cry): 0.171

FrameRate (HL2): 119.2 F/S
PtF Ratio (HL2): 0.232

PtF Ratio Average for x800 XL: 0.202

As you can see, the PtF Ratio for the x800 XL is lower than the other 2.. by quite a bit. :(

[Edited on 3/4/2005 12:12:35 PM]

  • 03.04.2005 12:12 PM PDT
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what does the PtF ratio do?

  • 03.04.2005 12:17 PM PDT
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It shows you the value of a card with framerates. Its not something you would see on the box. I'm assuming you did those tests with everthing on high?

  • 03.04.2005 12:43 PM PDT
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hello yeah

i am actually getting linux on my new computer too

so i think i decided i'm going to go with the msi GeForce 6600gt

thanks a lot for all the help

  • 03.04.2005 1:16 PM PDT