Hey Guys,

Thanks for all your previous help. I ordered my system, but I left out the video card so I could shop around for the best deal, and do some more research to find out what I really want.

Can you give me any info on a "Lite Retail" version of a Sapphire Radeon 9600 128mb. I think I want to go for the 9600, I've heard good things about the Sapphire, but I don't know about this Lite deal, other than I don't get any games or software.

This is the iterm description, it's off ebay:

MODEL: Sapphire Radeon 9600 128MB

CONDITION: Brand new in retail package.

DESCRIPTION:

Features:
128MB DDR memory accelerates the latest 3D games
Double Data Rate memory removes hardware performance bottleneck and provides end users with faster 3D graphics
Industry's only 4-pipeline graphics solution in its 2nd generation, providing twice the rendering power of any currently competing product.
Supports the new AGP 8X standard, providing a high-speed link between the graphics board and the rest of the PC (2.0 GB/sec)
First to fully support DirectX® 9.0 and the latest OpenGL® functionality
VIVO (Video-in & Video-Out) Optional
New SMARTSHADER™ 2.1 technology allows users to experience complex, movie-quality effects in next-generation 3D games and applications
SMOOTHVISION™ 2.1 technology enhances image quality by removing jagged edges and bringing out fine texture detail, without compromising performance
128-bit floating-point color precision allows for a greater range of colors and brightness
Unique VIDEOSHADER™ engine uses programmable pixel shaders to accelerate video processing and provide better-looking visuals
ATI's new FULLSTREAM™ technology removes blocky artifacts from Streaming and Internet video and provides sharper image quality


It's $160 Canadian, plus about $25 more for taxes/s+h.

The seller said the Lite version doesn't come with utility software, such as "PowerDVD and games."

Thanks

This is another I was checking out:

FORSA NVIDIA GeForce FX5600XT 128MBDDR TVO+DVI Retail BOX

Item Description Top

New in Retail Box!!

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 XT 128MB

- Graphic Core : 256-bit
- Core Speed : 235MHz
- Memory Configuration : 64/128-bit 128MB / 256MB DDR
- Memory Speed : 400 MHz
- Memory Bandwidth (GB/Sec) : 8.8
- Bus Interface : AGP 8X
- Pixels per clock (peak) : 4
- Veticles/sec. : 81 million
- Fill Rate : 1.3 billion
- RAMIDACs (MHz) : 400
- Max Resolution : 2048x1536 @ 75Hz
- Monitor Support , Analog Monitor , HDB-15 connector , TV-out, S-Video , Digital Flat Pane l, DVI-I


Chipset Features
INEFX SHADING ARCHITECTURE
Support for DX 9.0 pixel shader 2.0+
Support for DX 9.0 vertex shader 2.0+
Very long pixel programs up to 1024 instructions
Very long pixel programs with up to 256 static instructions and up to
65536 instructions executed before termination
Looping and subroutines with up to 256 loops per vertex program
Subroutines in shader programs
Dynamic flow control
Conditional write masking
Conditional execution
Procedural shading
Full instruction set for vertex and pixel programs
Z-correct bump-mapping
Hardware-accelerated shadow effects with shadow buffers
Two-sided stencil
Programmable matrix palette skinning
Keyframe animation
Custom lens effect: fish eye, wide angle, fresnel effects, water refraction

HIGH-PERFORMANCE,
HIGH-PRECISION 3D RENDERING ENGINE
Up to 8 pixels per clock rendering engine
128-bit, studio-quality floating point precision through the entire graphics
pipeline Native support for 128-bit floating point, 64-bit floating and
32-bit integer rendering modes
Up to 16 textures per pass
Support for sRGB texture format for gamma textures
DirectX and S3TC texture compression

HIGH-PERFORMANCE ? 2D RENDERING ENGINE
Optimized for 32-, 24-, 16-, 15- and 8-bpp modes
True-color, 64x64 hardware cursor with alpha
Multi-buffering (double, triple or quad) for smooth animation and
video playback

INTELLISAMPLE TECHNOLOGY
Blistering-fast antialiasing performance
Adaptive texture filtering
Fast Z-clear

ADVANCED DISPLAY PIPELINE
WITH FULL NVIEW CAPABILITIES
Dual RAMDACs (up to 400MHz) for display resolutions up to
and including 2048x1536@85Hz
Integrated NTSC/PAL TV encoder support resolutions up to
1024x768 without the need for panning with built-in Macrovision
copy protection
DVD and HDTV-ready MPEG-2 decoding up to 1920x1080i resolutions
DVI support for compatibility with next-generation flat panel displays
with resolutions up to and including 1600x1200
NVIDIA NVRotate application for advanced viewing flexibility
NVIDIA NVKeystone application for advanced display correction

DIGITAL VIBRANCE CONTROL (DVC) 3.0
DVC color controls
DVC image sharpening controls

ROCKET SCIENCE
FOR A SYSTEM-LEVEL SOLUTION
AGP 8X including Fast Writes and sideband addressing

API SUPPORT
Complete DirectX support, including DirectX 9.0 and lower
Full OpenGL 1.4 and lower support

2 YEARS FULL MANUFACTURE WARRANTY


About $20 less. Not sure about the make: Forsa.

i've got a Tyan 9600 PRO and it kicks ass and that was £100 GBP and overclocking is so god damn easy! :rockman: :p

I would recommend one of the following -


Radeon 9600 Pro (Sapphire, Hercules, Powercolor are all good brands)

Radeon 9600 XT .

Geforce FX 5700 Ultra



those 3 cards are the best mid range cards you can buy. You might end up spending a little more than you want to (compared to the 9600 lite and 5600XT) but its well worth the few extra dollars.

My advise is - go for the 9600 XT. You won't regret it. Its available for around 140-150 USD on eBay.

So no-go on the "lite" despite it apparantely being the same card?

Or, no problem with the lite, just get a 9600 pro or xt?

edit:

Just found a sapphire 9600xt 256mb for $125 US. Should I go for it?

hell yeah (Y) its very good.

Originally posted by IceBlu
hell yeah (Y) its very good.
You have over 10,000 posts. What happened to the days of people striving for 3-5,000?

Honestly.




Hopefully no one else will be trying to outbid me. THanks for the continued counselling.

****.

I had the winning bid, and planned to come home from coaching a game just in time to confirm the win. Game went to extra-time and then penalties, and I missed it/got out bid.

So, more questions:

NVIDIA GEFORCE FX 5600 XT 128MB DDR
Asus V8460 Ultra Geforce 4 Ti4600 128mb

$140 and $160 (or less) Canadian, respectively.

I've done a lot of reading, but never know how good the sources are, and I trust the gamers themselves a lot more.

Thanks

try to find another 9600 XT ..... or a 5700 Ultra


5600 XT (N)

Originally posted by IceBlu
try to find another 9600 XT ..... or a 5700 Ultra


5600 XT (N)
9600 pro, made by Powercolor. . . ?

yeah that would be pretty good as well (Y) although the 9600 XT and 5700 Ultra would be better.


But the 9600 Pro is not bad at all. In fact its a very good card.


(Powercolor, Sapphire, Hercules, Asus, Connect3D are all good brands)