my new kick ass system (still waiting for some parts)

- intel pentium 4, 3ghz, 775 socket
- 2 gig ddr2 sdram (corsair or twin mos)
- asus p5ad2 premium, 775 socket
- seagate barracuda sata hdd, 160gb, 7200rm (no need for 10.000rm)
- saphire radeon x800xt, 256 mb (pci express)
- creative soundblaster audigz 2zs
- logitech z-680 (5.1 surround system, plugged to notebook, system & ipod)
- plextor px-716a dvdrw drive
- midi tower case (alienware style, have been looking for shuttle models :cry: )
- power supply, 480 watt, 3 fans
- logitech dinovo bluetooth desktop set (so amazed by it that i want to have it in my private appartment too :mrgreen: )
- logitech quickcam sphere

- adaptec usb-hub

- 19” TFT Sony HS94PB (x-black)

- new wlan hardware to supply whole appartment (~170 sqm)
- hewlett packard officejet 9130 will plugged to the wlan network for wireless printing and scanning :ph34r:
- hewlett packard 450wbt (bluetooth printer for being on the road)
- portable usb - document scanner

- replacement of my existing tr2mp: sony vaio x505 (nickel version)

ok, i think thats it for the first :drool:

Can anyone list the ATI and nVidia video cards in the order you think they are? Best to last… Im just curious as I’m planning to get my new Dell 20.1” wide I might as well try to get a nice card to drive it. I really can’t pay over $150 for it so I know the x8x0’s are out for sure and nVidias 6800 but if you could include them anyways that would be cool. I am just looking for people’s opinions on the cards. (o and also… if there any significant difference between buying ATI vs powercolor, sapphire, etc.?)

Look at the 3dmark 03 scores of various cards on the following page:

http://www.digital-daily.com/video/ati-radeon-x800xt/

It might help you decide which card you need. I scored 11775 with my setup. If you take the 2 best cards i.e. X800 XT PE and 6800 Ultra, you’ll notice that their performance varies from game to game i.e. in 1 game X800 might do better while in another the 6800 does better. The same would be true for the lesser cards too. You should decide from the abov page which card you’ll like to go in for, check it’s prices, and then read up some reviews and see if it suits your needs.

As far as the difference between powercolor, ATI, gigabyte, etc is concerned, I doubt there is much difference.

For the most part…you can’t go wrong with any cards based on the X800 or 6800 chipsets. Because most companies end up using the same reference design (to save on costs and engineering) most of these cards perform within 1-5% of each other. Essentially, they’re all the same.

Some of these cards will come with newer/older games that may make some better values than others especially if you don’t already have the game.

Most will use different styles/types of cooling units and some maybe louder than others and some may allow for some overclocking (which I think is overrated and more trouble than it’s worth).

I would only be suspicious of some of the value line cards. There’s some good deals to be found here but you have to be careful about some mislabeling of cards in this market segment. Some cards may have 128 or 256MB or memory but you have to make sure they’re using the 256-bit memory bus. Some vendors may use the 128-bit bus versions and pump up the memory to make them look more attractive. So beware.

I would buy what you need for now and not go with those crazy Platinum versions. Even if you’re buying for the future…by the time a game comes out that really punishes your video card, the next revision/generation of graphics chipset will be out and you’ll want to get that. Of course, if you can afford it then by all means, go all out.  :wink: