Is this a good video card?

[Mr. Harley]

Nostromo - the most likely reason the Radeon didn't work on your machine is the integrated video. Even when you can "disable it" it tends to be quirky and unstable. It seems to random, and very frustrating. NEVER purchase MOBO with integrated video - I found out the hard way.

You might try reinstalling the Radeon if you still have it, and your newer card is inferior. Then start playing with all the advanced AGP settings. I did that to get my old MOBO with integrated graphics to work with a cheap Nvidea card.

[Stuie]

Originally posted by JimmyCracksCorn
I'm not sure if I can support it... this is my Mobo:

http://www.biostar-usa.com/mbdetails.asp?model=u8668

Your motherboard only supports up to 4x AGP, so don't spend extra just to get an 8x AGP card unless you plan on keeping it around for your next system.

That said, I have a 9600 Pro and I love it.

[alva]

His next system isn't very likely to have AGP.
Besides, the difference between AGP4 & AGP8 isn't that big, most cards don't use that much throughput.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by shawnmmcc
Nostromo - the most likely reason the Radeon didn't work on your machine is the integrated video. Even when you can "disable it" it tends to be quirky and unstable. It seems to random, and very frustrating. NEVER purchase MOBO with integrated video - I found out the hard way.

I never had any problems with integrated video. Then again, I haven't used any el cheapo mobo, either.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by shawnmmcc
Nostromo - the most likely reason the Radeon didn't work on your machine is the integrated video. Even when you can "disable it" it tends to be quirky and unstable. It seems to random, and very frustrating. NEVER purchase MOBO with integrated video - I found out the hard way.

You might try reinstalling the Radeon if you still have it, and your newer card is inferior. Then start playing with all the advanced AGP settings. I did that to get my old MOBO with integrated graphics to work with a cheap Nvidea card.

I tried almost everything ATI recommends, even playing with AGP settings. Nothing works. My patience has limits, and my time is limited, so I removed the Radeon. It solved all my problems.

[Nostromo]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


I never had any problems with integrated video. Then again, I haven't used any el cheapo mobo, either.

Asus mobos are supposed to be good.

[Tattila the Hun]

I'm wondering, what would be the next card on the ladder from my current R9600 non-pro... If pro and/or 256 memory would significantly enhance performance...

Or maybe try nVidia. 6600GT is good, I hear.

[Nostromo]

I would suggest the brand spanking new Nvidia 7800 GTX, if you have the dough

[Tingkai]

IIf you can find a 9550Xt its a good deal, should be cheaper than a 9600 with pretty much the same performance.

[Atahualpa]

Originally posted by nostromo
I would suggest the brand spanking new Nvidia 7800 GTX, if you have the dough

I don't know this seems like being way ahead of future... if you still play in 1024x768 or 1280x1024 you'll be fine with a 6800GT
The 7800GTX kicks in with higher resolution AA and all that stuff.. the question though is, do you really need Anti Aliasing in 1600x1200? And if yes, wouldn't 2xAA be enough? Given that the pixels are so small it can hardly be that noticeable.

The 6800GT sells for about half the price of a 7800GTX.

[Nostromo]

You never have enough power. A single 7800 GTX isn't even enough, you should have two of them, in SLI.

[Asher]

I wouldn't get the 7800 GTX just yet. ATI's next-gen is a few weeks away.

The 7800 GTX has a fatal flaw left over from the 6xxx series: you can't have a scene containing HDR anti-aliased.

[Atahualpa]

ATI announced that it will not present the R520 until later this summer...

ATi Report Loss in Q3, Issue reduction for Q4 - and Delays.
Posted on Thursday, 23 June, 2005 by David
Today ATi issued a press release and posted their latest earnings which are down from around $50 Million profit to $10 Million Loss (Year on Year (Q:Q).

As with this press release ATI had a conference call with their CEO, the outcome more than interesting, Orton acknowledged delays in the product line for future products due to the shift in to new processes and the XBOX project.

Other challenges which have hit ATI has included the transistion of lead free products for the European market, they also had problems with the ramp of the integrated parts so the higher cost of high end parts shipping and the low end products not following up.

Also there was problems with volume of the X8 series of cards in the market until April, this is a slow time of the year for most vendors.

Whilst sounding nervous, he is excited about Crossfire and R520, but we will not see R520 released until late summer (September). ATi plan to deliver a full family of cards in "Early Fall." He also stated that NVIDIA had a compelling prodcut in the form of 'dual graphics solution' but ATI were late to the market - and could not compete in this in Q2 and Q3.

We will be more than surprised if ATi manage to deliver R520 to the channel, in volume before the end of September - and with the stealth kill which NVIDIA appear to have executed in the past 24 hours with the 7800 being able to be available on launch date. ATi can not appear to execute another paper launch.

They are aiming for a July launch for Crossfire - but it may be soon after; they are waiting for the motherboard vendors. Mid-Summer will be 'good' for retail for Crossfire.

ATi have a reasonable amount of stock within the channel - and this is richer than they would expect; in Q4 they will have to potentially drop the price of this stock in order to help clear the channel for new stock.

At the time of going to pre-market prices ATi's share price is at $11.66, whilst NVIDIAs is at $27.60.

You can find an overview of ATi's Q3 earnings in this press release and comment on this news in HEXUS.tech-news.

Update: Even though ATi posted a loss - and other statements about delays. The overall outcome from this is record sales, which ATi believes shows the strength and forthcoming brand which they have. This record revenue is up 8% on last years amount.
Source: http://www.hexus.net/#newsitem1119533924,43763,

ATI is getting crappier again, CrossFire announced, but not available, the crappy X800 series, nothing to counter nVidia's new gfx core
Also, I think it will be VERY hard to get into motherboard business with crossfire. nVidia is dominating this market for the Athlon currently and they have a really stable product there, if CrossFire has performance or stability issues, it is doomed to total failure.
Personally I would not mind skipping this dual gfx core thing alltogether... that's just total overkill anyway and it never pays off as you can see with the new 7800... it's faster than 2x6800 Ultra (at least in lower resolutions)