Graphics Card

Both sounds sweet but if it was me i would go for this one:

Asus nVidia GeForce 8600GT - 512MM - PCI-E


NVidia - The way it was meant to be played.. :D:D:D
 
Was looking at the Nvidia one ealier but what about when it comes to gaming? Tried to check on www.tomshardware but it ain't there where you can compare cards against each other
 
Not a bad price at all for that 8600gt. That ATi is also very good but it is only a DX9 card so wouldn't recommend it.
 
If you are getting it to run the latest DX10 games like Crysis I think you will be dissapointed.
 
I'd go with the 8600GT, but not that model, 512MB is really not needed at all on a 128 bit bus. Go for the XFX model, you can get the XXX (overclocked) edition for less than that card.
 
I remember PcZone had the 8600GT a few weeks back for R999 but i cant remember if it was a 512mb or not. But now they got those crap overclocked versions which are way more expensive, when you can overclock it yourself.

Its quite a difficult decision to make since i'm in a similar crisis. . . . My choices are either the 8600GT, 2600XT or the X1950PRO.

The X1950 will give you the most frames in the current games but the drawback is that it doesn't support DX10. Then there's the decision between the 8600GT and the 2600XT. In my opinion both are crappy. They cant even play current games on full decently, how do you expect them to play DX10 games. At this stage the 8600GT has the slight edge over the 2600XT but we have to wait and see when newer drivers are released.

I've decided to wait until the prices drop or a for a newer range to be released!
 
Yar I was also considering the budget 8600GT XXX for my new budget PC :D

Good clock/memory speed for that price and it supports DX10 as a bonus too.

Oh yes I've been playing BF2 on a Radeon 9550 for over and year and a half now, so ANY card today will be good in my eyes :D
 
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Having the OC covered by the warranty isn't too bad, the thing is those XFX's for R1600 were a very good price when they came out, the cheapest was around R1400 for a non-OC'ed version, and its not a bad overclock at all.

You can most likely do it yourself without problems, my XXX is running at 670/1680, stock is 540/1400.
 
I remember PcZone had the 8600GT a few weeks back for R999 but i cant remember if it was a 512mb or not. But now they got those crap overclocked versions which are way more expensive, when you can overclock it yourself.

Its quite a difficult decision to make since i'm in a similar crisis. . . . My choices are either the 8600GT, 2600XT or the X1950PRO.

The X1950 will give you the most frames in the current games but the drawback is that it doesn't support DX10. Then there's the decision between the 8600GT and the 2600XT. In my opinion both are crappy. They cant even play current games on full decently, how do you expect them to play DX10 games. At this stage the 8600GT has the slight edge over the 2600XT but we have to wait and see when newer drivers are released.

I've decided to wait until the prices drop or a for a newer range to be released!

You dont want a 512mb version, those are more expensive for no reason. You won't be able to run any games at a high enough resolution for 512mb to come into effect.

You'll have to wait and see the SA prices for the 2600XT too, but it does perform a lot better in DX10 that the 8600 series atm, that might be driver realted too though..
 
go for the X1950 pro, best card for it's price, But since i'm gonna go to china I'[m getting my a Nvidia 8800gts 320mb for +- R2000 :):):)

But remember That the x1950pro can play just about every game @ 1280x1024 @full detail, and sense the Newer games (dx10) would have a down scaling mode to dx9, I'm sure it's a safe bet for +- a year. and if it does start to lag, pop in another one if a sli style, and party!
 
Uh, no don't do that ;)

The X1950 is a dx9 only card. rather get an 8*00 nvidia, or HD2*00 from AMD/ATI as they're dx10 cards.

It may not seem like a big deal now, but you'll regret it in about 3 months. I'll just say: Crysis . . .
 
But, for the price bracket that he's aiming for, i REALLY don't think the 8600gt is in any competition against a 7900gs or a X1950pro, the cards are in two different classes, the 8600gt doesn't perform well in the dx9 games ALL because of that evil 128bit bus, it's like a kiss of death! But on the other hand it might turn out that the dx9 cards aint able to play dx10 games, or are just very weak at them, while the 8600gt might just rape the new games, and leave some time for the dx9 cards to catch up. It's your choice though, I've given the good that the bad, now you faced with the ugly decision for choosing what to get:)
 
On that sort of card, I don't really see DX10 support being such a great thing, It's like enabling pixel shader 3 on a Geforce 6600 or so, it works, it looks great - but it is slow!
 
Well I got myself an XFX 8600GT a week ago, the problem is im overseas and only get to install it when i get back home (in 4 days). But fro What i have read about them sound perfect for a tight budget and hopefully by the time all the DX10 games like crysis and such is out, then I (you) will have enough cash for an 8800, which rapes all the current cards imho.

But once I get home and install it, Ill let you know how it is. ;)
 
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