Looking for advice on graphics cards for TDU

Razzman · November 8, 2008

I just bought this game and it looks like I'm gonna have to upgrade my graphics card to play it. I'm currently running a Geforce 6200 256mb which doesnt want to run it too well. Unfortunately I have an older machine and don't want to upgrade motherboards etc so I need an AGP card. I've got a P4 running 3Ghz and 1gb of RAM so theres no problems there. I've been offered a ATI Radeon 9800XT 256mb for £40 would that be a good card for running TDU or should I spend a little extra and get an ATI Radeon X1650PRO 512MB? These are about the only 2 cards I can afford right now. Which should I go for in everyones opinion as I know very little about this subject. Any help is much appreciated.

Sponge · November 8, 2008

Well depends, if you want to have raw performance and future proofing, spend that little extra. If you just wanna run TDU well, get the £40 one.

SymphonyX · November 9, 2008

The Radeon 9800 XT is actually kinda old due to its shader model capacity being only 2.0. Another thing is that the 9800 XT consumes more power relatively since it is, after all, a former high-end card. The Radeon X1650 Pro should run this game fine at 1024x768, 2x AA, high, no HDR. But IMO, if you can find a Geforce 7600 GT or 7300 GT, get that instead. Just make sure the 7300 GT has GDDR3 memory. If it says DDR2, don't bother. The 7300 GT GDDR3 version should be just as fast but cheaper than the X1650 Pro and the 7600 GT is definitely much faster than the X1650 Pro but for a slightly higher price.

Dang, if you only had PCI-E 16x, you could have gotten a Radeon HD 4670 for that price. It even makes short work of older high-end cards like the Geforce 7800/7900 and the Radeon X1800/X1900/X1950 series.

RX_37 · November 9, 2008

I'd say take a nVidia card before an ATI card.

Sponge · November 9, 2008

I'd say take a nVidia card before an ATI card.

I'd agree with you there. Had an ATI once, hated it! never looked back since i went to nVidia

Tool831 · November 9, 2008

I've got a 9600GT :) Works like a charm for TDU and the crysis games etc.. :)

SymphonyX · November 9, 2008

@ RX_37 and Danger Mouse

Wow. That's a lot of ATI hating there. Unfortunately, ATI's got Nvidia on their heels right now. Just when Nvidia released their 'fastest GPU ever', the GTX 280, at $650, ATI just came knocking right up with their HD 4870 and 4870 x2 which drove the GTX 280's price down to $400. Even their mid-range line up, the HD 4650 and 4670 are good. The HD 4670 is faster than the 9600 GSO and just as fast at the 9600 GT and it costs less and consumes less power than both these cards.

Even now, ATI's got them in a deadlock. The HD 4870 x2 takes care of the GTX 280 and 260 Core 216 -- the HD 4870 x2 outright, leaves them in the dust in some games like Race Drive GRID where a single HD 4870 x2 manages at 84 FPS while the GTX 280 SLI manages a paltry 68 FPS, both at WQXGA (2560x1600), 4x AA, maxed out. The single GTX 280 manages at 40 FPS. The HD 4870 consistently peforms better than the GTX 260 and the 9800 GTX+. The HD 4850 handles both the 8800 GTS and 9800 GTX while the newer HD 4830 takes care of the 8800 GT and the 9800 GT. The HD 4670 has a tight rein on the lower end of the spectrum beating both the 9600 GSO and GT in price to performance ratio and is very HTPC friendly with a low consumption and heat output which leads to lower noise rating. It also has built-in digital audio decoding and can output signal through HDMI. No more need for DVI-to-HDMI adapter. Yes, most of the HD 4670s have an HDMI port. It's a bang for the buck.

I'd have to admit though that ATI's drivers aren't as good as Nvidia, and I am an Nvidia owner myself. I currently have a Geforce 8800 GT on my desktop and a Geforce Go 6600 on my laptop. My older GPUs were the Geforce 7600 GT, Geforce 4 MX440 and a Riva TNT2. The old Riva TNT2 on our old Pentium II PC still works. LOL.

@ tool831

Do they still make AGP 9600 GTs? Sad to say but Razzman's only looking for an AGP card.

Razzman · November 9, 2008

Cheers guys

Loads of help there thanks a lot. Wish I did have PCI-E but the only way to do that is get a new motherboard, processor and memory which seems to me like a lot of time and money to play a game that cost me a tenner. Although I suppose I will need to eventually for other games (GTA4 when it comes out). Managed to get it running not too badly at the moment offline on 1024x768 with medium detail and no AA by downloading new drivers for my 6200. I'll take a look at some of these cards you've all suggested and maybe price up a motherboard et al as well. Thanks again.

SymphonyX · November 9, 2008

Seems like you're also looking forward to playing the newer games. The minimum requirements of GTA IV is a Geforce 7900 GS and a dual-core processor (Athlon X2 or Core 2 Duo) which is honestly, ridiculously high like Crysis, but expected. I suggest you hold on to your cash and perform a complete overhaul. You can actually get a decent gaming rig for $500 with the right parts and if your target resolution isn't over 1680x1050.