Need upgrade advice please...

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broncosfan

Hi,

I am considering an upgrade from my current nVidia MSI Ti4200 64MB. It
seems that I finally found a game (Battlefield Vietnam) that runs like
crap at max settings and is forcing me to upgrade.

However, I am a bit confused on which card to get. I am considering for
the first time an ATI card. The ATI 9800 Pro 128 to be exact. I run
most of my shooter games in 1600x1200 and from the reviews it appears
that the ATI kicks the hell out of nVidia at this resolution. However,
I have always had an nVidia card and am comfortable with it. How does
the image quality compare between ATI and nVidia?

Some other options I am considering from the nVidia product line:

nVidia FX 5900XT
nVidia FX5900 Ultra

My System Specs:

Asus P4S533
Intel P4 1.6GHz running at 2.35GHz
512MB SDRAM

Thanks for any suggestions or help...I need a good bang for buck
purchase, but am willing to spend up to $300 or a bit more on this
upgrade.

Thanks,

broncosfan
 
broncosfan said:
Hi,

I am considering an upgrade from my current nVidia MSI Ti4200 64MB. It
seems that I finally found a game (Battlefield Vietnam) that runs like
crap at max settings and is forcing me to upgrade.

However, I am a bit confused on which card to get. I am considering for
the first time an ATI card. The ATI 9800 Pro 128 to be exact. I run
most of my shooter games in 1600x1200 and from the reviews it appears
that the ATI kicks the hell out of nVidia at this resolution. However,
I have always had an nVidia card and am comfortable with it. How does
the image quality compare between ATI and nVidia?

Some other options I am considering from the nVidia product line:

nVidia FX 5900XT
nVidia FX5900 Ultra

My System Specs:

Asus P4S533
Intel P4 1.6GHz running at 2.35GHz
512MB SDRAM

Thanks for any suggestions or help...I need a good bang for buck
purchase, but am willing to spend up to $300 or a bit more on this
upgrade.
Click to expand...

You will be very happy with the 9800Pro. It is a great card that runs
circles around anything that Nvidia has when it comes to being able to run
AA in high res. You just can't beat the price either. Take a look at the
Sapphire 9800Pro OEM at Newegg,com I believe it is now down to $212 with
free 3 day shipping. Sapphire is the second largest maker of ATI cards and
even makes some of them for ATI, so you can't go wrong with this brand. I
have this card and it rocks.
I also had a 4200 and have always had a Nvidia card in my PC's. But I wanted
more. I wanted to be able to run my games with at lest 4x AA and 4x or
higher Anisotropic Filtering. AA is only a dream with the 4200. As for image
quality the difference is night and day. The 9800Pro just blows my mind
everytime I load up a game. And you'll also notice that your desktop and
other 2D look fantastic. I had bought into the BS that Nvidia cards matched
ATI when it came to 2D performance. Well let me tell you that I noticed the
improvement the sec. I booted up my PC. Even my boot screens look sharper!
There are some really good comparison charts out there that show what the
9800Pro can do compared to the FX5900 but I don't have them handy. Plus you
don't have to give up a PCI slot to make room for those huge HSF's on the FX
cards! Get the 9800Pro. Once you see it in action you'll never look back.
JLC
 
||
||||> Hi,
||>
||> I am considering an upgrade from my current nVidia MSI Ti4200 64MB. It
||> seems that I finally found a game (Battlefield Vietnam) that runs like
||> crap at max settings and is forcing me to upgrade.
||>
||> However, I am a bit confused on which card to get. I am considering for
||> the first time an ATI card. The ATI 9800 Pro 128 to be exact. I run
||> most of my shooter games in 1600x1200 and from the reviews it appears
||> that the ATI kicks the hell out of nVidia at this resolution. However,
||> I have always had an nVidia card and am comfortable with it. How does
||> the image quality compare between ATI and nVidia?
||>
||> Some other options I am considering from the nVidia product line:
||>
||> nVidia FX 5900XT
||> nVidia FX5900 Ultra
||>
||> My System Specs:
||>
||> Asus P4S533
||> Intel P4 1.6GHz running at 2.35GHz
||> 512MB SDRAM
||>
||> Thanks for any suggestions or help...I need a good bang for buck
||> purchase, but am willing to spend up to $300 or a bit more on this
||> upgrade.
||>
||
||You will be very happy with the 9800Pro. It is a great card that runs
||circles around anything that Nvidia has when it comes to being able to run
||AA in high res. You just can't beat the price either. Take a look at the
||Sapphire 9800Pro OEM at Newegg,com I believe it is now down to $212 with
||free 3 day shipping. Sapphire is the second largest maker of ATI cards and
||even makes some of them for ATI, so you can't go wrong with this brand. I
||have this card and it rocks.
||I also had a 4200 and have always had a Nvidia card in my PC's. But I wanted
||more. I wanted to be able to run my games with at lest 4x AA and 4x or
||higher Anisotropic Filtering. AA is only a dream with the 4200. As for image
||quality the difference is night and day. The 9800Pro just blows my mind
||everytime I load up a game. And you'll also notice that your desktop and
||other 2D look fantastic. I had bought into the BS that Nvidia cards matched
||ATI when it came to 2D performance. Well let me tell you that I noticed the
||improvement the sec. I booted up my PC. Even my boot screens look sharper!
||There are some really good comparison charts out there that show what the
||9800Pro can do compared to the FX5900 but I don't have them handy. Plus you
||don't have to give up a PCI slot to make room for those huge HSF's on the FX
||cards! Get the 9800Pro. Once you see it in action you'll never look back.
||JLC
||

I agree with what JLC says here and more. Get the ATI over the Nvidia
card.. you won't regret it.

... then I'd start saving for the other upgrade you need, that proc. :)

Pluvious
 
Pluvious said:
I agree with what JLC says here and more. Get the ATI over the Nvidia
card.. you won't regret it.

.. then I'd start saving for the other upgrade you need, that proc. :)

Pluvious
Click to expand...

LOL! I was gonna tell him that, but desided to be nice.
 
JLC said:
LOL! I was gonna tell him that, but desided to be nice.
Click to expand...

I know. Everyone is making fun of my processor, but hey...it did great
for about 18 months and I saved a lot of money by buying the 1.6GHz and
OC'ing it to 2.35GHz. It's ran like a champ. :-)

Didn't find anything needing an upgrade until I booted Battlefield
Vietnam. Oh well, time to upgrade the CPU, RAM, and mobo as well.
Suggestions? ;)

Thanks guys.
 
Pluvious said:
I agree with what JLC says here and more. Get the ATI over the Nvidia
card.. you won't regret it.

.. then I'd start saving for the other upgrade you need, that proc. :)
Click to expand...

Almost forgot...

Until I upgrade the CPU and mobo (when I will do a fresh install of
Windows) is there a documented process for cleaning out all the NVidia
stuff in my registry before proceeding with the installation of the new
ATI card?

What order of UNinstalling old NVidia drivers, installing new ATI
drivers and DirectX9 will I get the best results from or does it matter?

Thanks!
 
Before you install the ATI drivers you should remove all the Nvidia drivers
and programs, otherwise conflicts will arise. As far as the registry is
concerned, I recommend getting a registry monitor program and/or cleaner.
 
On Thu, 01 Apr 2004 20:22:21 -0700, broncosfan

||Pluvious wrote:
||
||> I agree with what JLC says here and more. Get the ATI over the Nvidia
||> card.. you won't regret it.
||>
||> .. then I'd start saving for the other upgrade you need, that proc. :)
||
||Almost forgot...
||
||Until I upgrade the CPU and mobo (when I will do a fresh install of
||Windows) is there a documented process for cleaning out all the NVidia
||stuff in my registry before proceeding with the installation of the new
||ATI card?
||
||What order of UNinstalling old NVidia drivers, installing new ATI
||drivers and DirectX9 will I get the best results from or does it matter?
||
||Thanks!

I happened to upgrade to XP the same time so I had a complete new
install when I switched. There are quite a few programs out there that
will 'clean' you're registry of all the old hidden Nvidia files. You
are wise to think to do this. .. since most of the problems stem from
old dll's left over. Check out Detonator Destroyer.

http://www.guru3d.com/detonator-destroyer/

I'm not sure it will work with XP sadly. :(

Pluvious
 
||Before you install the ATI drivers you should remove all the Nvidia drivers
||and programs, otherwise conflicts will arise. As far as the registry is
||concerned, I recommend getting a registry monitor program and/or cleaner.

Here's a good free registry cleaner that works with XP...

Pluvious


||||> Pluvious wrote:
||>
||> > I agree with what JLC says here and more. Get the ATI over the Nvidia
||> > card.. you won't regret it.
||> >
||> > .. then I'd start saving for the other upgrade you need, that proc. :)
||>
||> Almost forgot...
||>
||> Until I upgrade the CPU and mobo (when I will do a fresh install of
||> Windows) is there a documented process for cleaning out all the NVidia
||> stuff in my registry before proceeding with the installation of the new
||> ATI card?
||>
||> What order of UNinstalling old NVidia drivers, installing new ATI
||> drivers and DirectX9 will I get the best results from or does it matter?
||>
||> Thanks!
||
 
Pluvious said:
||Before you install the ATI drivers you should remove all the Nvidia drivers
||and programs, otherwise conflicts will arise. As far as the registry is
||concerned, I recommend getting a registry monitor program and/or cleaner.

Here's a good free registry cleaner that works with XP...

Pluvious
Click to expand...
I think you forgot something :)
 
broncosfan said:
Almost forgot...

Until I upgrade the CPU and mobo (when I will do a fresh install of
Windows) is there a documented process for cleaning out all the NVidia
stuff in my registry before proceeding with the installation of the new
ATI card?

What order of UNinstalling old NVidia drivers, installing new ATI
drivers and DirectX9 will I get the best results from or does it matter?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Here's what I did. First remove the Nvidia drivers with Add/Remove, Reboot
into safe mode, then just do a search for nv*.*. This will remove anything
that's left of the old drivers. As for the reg. I really wouldn't worry
about it to much, but if you want to be sure, just back up your reg, then do
a reg search for Nvidia. Remove any keys that come up. You can do it
yourself and that way your sure it's all out of there.
I like to install my video card drivers first then I always reinstall DX
just to be sure everything's in place.
FYI I only have a 2GHz P4 OC'ed to 2.2 and with the 9800Pro I'm very happy
with the way my games run. Happy Gaming!
JLC
 
||
||||>
||> ||Before you install the ATI drivers you should remove all the Nvidia
||drivers
||> ||and programs, otherwise conflicts will arise. As far as the registry is
||> ||concerned, I recommend getting a registry monitor program and/or
||cleaner.
||>
||> Here's a good free registry cleaner that works with XP...
||>
||> Pluvious
||>
||I think you forgot something :)
||

D'oh!!

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048


Pluvious
 
Pluvious said:
||
||||>
||> ||Before you install the ATI drivers you should remove all the Nvidia
||drivers
||> ||and programs, otherwise conflicts will arise. As far as the registry is
||> ||concerned, I recommend getting a registry monitor program and/or
||cleaner.
||>
||> Here's a good free registry cleaner that works with XP...
||>
||> Pluvious
||>
||I think you forgot something :)
||

D'oh!!

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download.php?det=2048


Pluvious
Click to expand...
Thanks! JLC
 
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