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...and I realise how out of it I am. I haven't bought one for almost four years now! I've been using the one that came with my computer for the last two, but now my graphics card is the bottleneck of my gaming system.<br><br>A bit of reference: When I last bought a graphics card (my GeForce2 GTS), there was no such thing as a "Ti", and ATI cards were a bad idea.<br><br>I went into a store the other day to browse, and I've lost my sense of comparison! What makes the Radeon 9600 better than the 9200? Cards have more than 128MB these days! Heck, they come with more than 32!<br><br>Help me out! I'm looking for a new card. Powerful, but also "budget". Something that'll make my current GF2-GTS (32MB DDR) look bad - which shouldn't be too difficult. <p></p><i></i>

All I can say is that I helped Hammer pick out a Radeon 9600 Pro and it is averaging over 100fps in T2 on an AMD 1800+ machine we built him. The card is an ATI and not another brand name so the RAM and throughput are supposed to be faster than the off-name brands. We paid about $170 for it.<br><br>If you are really budget concious then I recommend the Geforce 5600. They give a good bang for the buck at around $90.us.<br><br>Just my 2 cents...I have not really been watching the technology lately as much either, but I found some comparisons on performance/dollar and the 9600 was a really good bet.<br><br>David <p></p><i></i>

Ya, a 9600Pro is also what Bug put in his new spiffy system, and what I would recommend. Note that you don't have to go with the "pro" and can save some bux that way, but you won't get quite the performance. Also, it's probably not worth paying extra for 256-meg cards at this time. You've got to have (by today's standards) really honking big textures to need that much on a consistent basis. <br><br>Do NOT get a GF4 MX-series card. Ptui. Same for the 9200. They're cripples and don't really belong in the GF4 or 9000 range. ^&*^)% marketing bozos.<br><br>You can still do pretty well with a GF4 Ti-series, but they lack some of the newer shader capabilities.<br><br>Personally, I consider the Radeon 8500 to be the point at which ATI cards began to be worth serious attention from a gamer's perspective. <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.xmenclan.org/xmengambit.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>XMEN member<br>Card-carrying DTM<br>OKL Fish-napper<br><br>Though a program be but three lines long, someday it will have to be maintained.<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The Tao of Programming</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>

I'd say ATi. I'd also say you should seriously look at the 9600 All-in-Wonder. It has a good software bundle and you can do a lot with it. I have a GeForce3 from asus that has video in and out ports... I use those a lot too. Enough that the next card I get will have similar features. The AIW is about 200 dollars. You can get a good ATi card in the range of 150 to just over 200. You may also be able to find a slightly older model (like the 8500) for just under 100. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Of course with the US to Canadian exchange rate of 1 US dollar == 300000 CAN dollars, you may have to spend a bit more. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br><br>But definitely ATi. NVidia seemed to have dropped the latest generation of their cards. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START ;) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/wink.gif ALT=";)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br> <p></p><i></i>

On the vid-capture issue, I once spent big buxors for a cool vid in/out video card - but then when I upgraded my vid card, I didn't want to spend the buxors again and again and again.<br><br>So now I take the position that vid capture should be on a seperate card. A video-out port on the vidcard isn't very expensive, so that's ok, but the capture side of things is just too pricey to be replacing all the time.<br><br>IMHO. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.xmenclan.org/xmengambit.gif"/><!--EZCODE IMAGE END--><br>XMEN member<br>Card-carrying DTM<br>OKL Fish-napper<br><br>Though a program be but three lines long, someday it will have to be maintained.<br><!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em> The Tao of Programming</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--></p><i></i>

Thanks all, excellent points. Especially that vid in/out advice, Gambit. Thanks! <p></p><i></i>

Ok, saw <!--EZCODE LINK START--><a href="http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/102/01/" target="top">this article</a><!--EZCODE LINK END--> after our conversation here and had to post it. It's a review of a capture card with a load of features.<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

Well, I just picked up the 9600 last night, and it's doing *quite* nice. Thanks for all the help, guys!!! <p></p><i></i>

Sweet!<br><br>How much was it? Where did you get it?<br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :D --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/happy.gif ALT=":D"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br> <p></p><i></i>

CompuSmart, came to 200$CDN (so approx 154$US). But it came with a free copy of Half Life 2. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Not incredibly cheap, but it's doing it's job very well. I hear you can get them for aroudn 130 USD across the border. <p></p><i></i>

I thought it would be cheaper in Canada since ATi is a Canadian company.<br><br>Hmm...<br><br> <p></p><i></i>

Hmmmmmm....HL2 not out yet.....<!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.limalan.org/images/Sigs/Mega ... <!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"A group of Kick Ass Players"</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--></p><i></i>

Comes with a gift cert. for a free HL2. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

Ah...I C<br><br>I was gonna get me a Radeon 9800, but they look so cheap, so i went with a FX5900 256 meg. I know Redeons bench mark a little better than the FX cards but i still cant see going with a cheap looking card ! <p><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE IMAGE START--><img src="http://www.limalan.org/images/Sigs/Mega ... <!--EZCODE IMAGE END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--><!--EZCODE CENTER START--><div style="text-align:center"><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>"A group of Kick Ass Players"</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--></div><!--EZCODE CENTER END--></p><i></i>

So, what, does the 5900 have twin turbines, or chrome exhaust pipes on em? I'd get me a graphics card if it had dual chrome exhaust. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>