Another graphics card question...

[Jagtonix]

As a PC "noob" I'm having a bit of trouble wrapping my mind around the various graphic cards and their differences.

How is the Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB?

This is the better of the two that come on my soon-to-be-pc. Is that a decent card? Going to the Radeon website doesn't help at all, and any comparison type sites speak tech jargon that makes little sense to me.

[-=Magpie=-]

To be honest if you van get a smiler nvida card around the same price power your probably better of as that card runs hot from what Ive read and nvida ran the world when that card came out .

What is your budget as some of the review sites have lists on them of best card for price sort of thing .

Ive just put a x1950 in my sisters pc and it will play most games without blinking (including crysis) and the 2600 by rights is a better card but you will need a good ish power supply as there hungry as are all the newer cards .

[Jagtonix]

Well I'm buying pre-made (Dell) yes, I know, let the chiding begin. But this is the only way I'll get a new PC before I graduate.

It was the 2600 or the ATI Radeon HD3650 256MB. Was that a wise choice to go with the 2600?

[Jagtonix]

Yeah, but the XT adds some "oomph" maybe?

Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT 256MB
vs
ATI Radeon HD3650 256MB

Magpie?

[-=Magpie=-]

Personally id go the 3650 as its the newer of the 2 would prefer 512 of mem on the card but thats not all ways possible i know .

I have a 3870 in mine but the top one is the 4870 to kind theres about 6 months between the 3s and the 4s .

hope it helps .

[Pug']

Since i got my new PC about a year ( or more ) ago there has been an abundance of different graphic cards coming out and i just haven't been keeping up with it, All i can say is watch out for how much juice it sucks up cus when your the one paying the bills you'll notice it.

before i even decided what i was to buy i hounded everyone i know for advice. ( Noit ) so ur doing the right thing asking lol.

dell pre-built..... ur crazy.

[Jagtonix]

Here is a side by side comparison. It looks like the 2600 is the faster, but I'm not sure what flops, pixel/texture fill rate, and memory bandwith do.

I'm assuming both are going to be PCI-E.

And thanks to everyone who has been helping me! I really appreciate it.

[spO_on]

8600gts £40.31 kikatek.com

The 8600gts 512mb is around the same price as the HD2600XT 512mb but beats it slightly in most games and benchmarks, they are both good cards though, remember CPU speed counts to man

8600gts vs HD2600XT @techspot.com..

I'm not a fanboy just had trouble with ATi drivers a while back

[Target]

I have had bad experience with ATi too they run hot.
When I looked at that comparison you posted Jagtonix its easy to see that the ATi Radeon HD 2600 XT is the fastest card.

[spO_on]

Yeh they do run very hot, 80-95+. My old X1950pro used to overheat all the time i had to send it back, fast card though

[spO_on]

[Novak]

lol put the toast in the disk drive

[Jagtonix]

I'll be sporting a Intel Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600

::stupid question::

Will it overheat through normal use, or only when trying to run graphics intense games like Crysis?

[cnm]

no as long as you've got a decent cooler on top off it I've got mine running at 3.2 with an freezer pro 7 on top under load never gets above 40 degrees Centigrade

[Pug']

I found even gaming it never overheats much. I brought this huge feck off heatsink thinking it would make it ice cool and it did nothing, i went of a small 15 quid one and it's way way better. I'd go for a larger case also, gives you more air flow.

i wouldn't worry much about things over heating. especially if ur buying pre-built. they take all that into account.

[spO_on]

Yeh Pug's right, if you are buying a pre-assembled computer then the only thing you will have to worry about overheating your PC is dust/hair/dead skin that attaches itself to the heatsinks and fans and causes (over time) your PC to run slightly hotter, if its not cleaned regularly it can cause your PC to run slower and even hang or crash. A quick remedie can be to carefully hoover the dust and hairs from the heatsinks that accumulates over time.

Another thing to take into consideration is where you will place your PC, normally this is underneath a desk on carpet which again over time will attract dust and hairs picked up from the carpet, a simple fix for this would be to do what i have done and place a wooden board on the carpet first, separating it from the carpet. Not perfect as your PC will still hoover up the dust and hairs but placing a board underneath will stop the feet of the PC case sinking into the carpet helping with airflow underneath the case as well.

[Target]

That's the reason why I have my PC up on the desk. It's supposed to go inside my desk in a compartment but then it doesnt get any air unless I have the door open. I put it up on the desk so it wont suck in any dust from the floor.

[Jagtonix]

It will be under the desk, but on a stool type thing. Will keep it about a foot off the carpet.

Should be shipping tomorrow. ;D

[Target]

Nice dude. I hope you get COD4 so we can kick your ass.

[spO_on]

Yeh, i'd recommend getting COD4 even though it can be the most annoying game in the world (2 mice in 9 months says so ;D) its still an excellent multiplayer game.

Don't forget Jag when you get it all setup and looking sweet, post a pic Here