my geforce4 ti 4600 is dying and I need a cheap replacement. AGP connection, something better, but by no means top of the line. I'm looking for less than $150 here.

I am considering:

ATI RADEON 9550 256MB DDR AGP

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6832751&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat34000050006&id=1093468058401

mostly for the price

12/4/2005 4:32:37 PM

nVidia 6600gt

12/4/2005 6:19:57 PM

slickdeals.net

12/4/2005 6:33:40 PM

^

12/4/2005 6:50:12 PM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145107

something like that. 6600GT. definatly best bang for the $$ right now

12/4/2005 8:57:57 PM

thanks y'all.

12/4/2005 9:31:17 PM

Best bang for your buck: USED ATI Radeon 9600 PRO -> $40. PM me

12/5/2005 9:45:33 AM

DONOT BUY IT!! ATI IS GARBAGE!!

[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 10:30 AM. Reason : .]

12/5/2005 10:30:32 AM

YES EVERYONE TAKE ADVICE ON HARDWARE FOM THE ACOUNTING MAJOR FRESHMAN

Or go buy an ATI card, they haev always served me well.

12/5/2005 11:27:35 AM

Quote :

"YES EVERYONE TAKE ADVICE ON HARDWARE FOM THE ACOUNTING MAJOR FRESHMAN "

ahahaha

12/5/2005 1:55:59 PM

how much difference is there between brands?
Like the 6600gt made by asus/chaintech/evga, etc... Is one significantly better than others?

12/5/2005 4:36:44 PM

95% of the time there's zero difference beyond software, drivers, cooling solutions, colors, etc...

The speed difference between brands are so negligible that no one even bothers to benchmark it.

12/5/2005 4:47:16 PM

Yeah, in most cases the boards just use the chipset manufacturer's stock format...

Might want to read up on some specific cards, though, since sometimes there are significant changes.

12/5/2005 4:48:58 PM

I used to be an NVIDIA homer, but after owning two ATi cards in a row, I can say that there is really no difference other than the fact that ATi's software is overall pretty shitty. Thats why there's 3rd party drivers/apps for them.

ATi's drivers single-handedly crapped out twice on me during a version update. Installing the latest Control Center on an 9600AIW disabled the 2ndary display, all kinds of problems

12/5/2005 5:25:42 PM

I have an ATI 9800pro right now, and im never gonna buy another ATI card. The hardware is fine, but the drivers suck so hard. They're a pain in the ass to remove and install and they're unstable.

stick with nvidia.

12/5/2005 5:27:57 PM

Exactly. And if you are thinking about switching to Linux it's even worse. You can't expect to much from ATI though. It is located in Canada.

[Edited on December 5, 2005 at 7:51 PM. Reason : .]

12/5/2005 7:50:56 PM

Quote :

"I can say that there is really no difference"

Depends. I don't think either one is really superior for most purposes, but there are certain trends (i.e., OpenGL games perform better on nVidia chipsets).

Price/performance ratio for a given user's needs will probably take preference over any difference in the actual chipsets, though.

12/5/2005 7:52:51 PM