Can I get the 9600FX?

[Fofo]

I have a Geforce 4 Ti 4600 right now. I just found out that my mobo AGP is a 4X, 2.0 BUS. I know that the 9600 is backwards compatible and will run on a 4X (1.5v) mobo. But will my gaming be affected dramatically, like HL2 for instance?

[HeadBand]

theres no such things as 9600fx

[The Real Bingo]

He probably means 9600XT, lol.

[slinky]

It won't be dramatic but there will be a difference. If want you're talking about is a Radeon 9600- for HL2, it will be outdated before that game is actually released.

[stroyal]

There is no noticable differance between 8x and 4x.

Isn't the performance of a TI4600 very close to a 9600XT ?

[elmers]

slinky: In that case the 4600 is outdated now lol.

edit:
stroyal: yer thinking of 5600.

[Fofo]

Sorry bout that, I mean the XT (duh). Yeah the benchmarks are close but I heard that certain features wont be enabled with an DX 8.0 card that the DX 9.0 cards will have in HL2.

[tony_j15]

True. DX9 cards should perform better than their DX8 counterparts. But this is a unique situation. The ti4600 was the top of its line, the best DX8 card made; whereas the 9600 is a middle of the line DX9 card. And like you said, the benchmarks are very close. You have 2 options. (1)Hang on to the 4600 longer and save more money(reccomended). (2)Buy a 9600 now. There are very few games out right now that take full ability of DX9, Halo and Tomb Raider are about it. The 4600 will still run everything at respectable framrates, and by the time there are a plethora of DX9 games, you will be able to make a more intelligent decision based on real game DX9 benchmarks. Plus, the prices will have gone down.

[originel]

yeah i would say you would notice a difference there in dx9. I have noticed a difference already. for example a lot of my friends had played halo pc, and being the huge halo (xbox) buffs that we are they hated it for it's terrible graphics. Then i played it (and was the first to play it on a dx9 card) and the difference was insane. Mine looks pretty much identical to the xbox version. So it will make a difference, although more for the dx9 than the actual core speed, but there would be an increase in overall speed too.

but as tony said, i think it would be better to wait for the next line of cards. radeon 10000/fx6000 series or whatever they are called. Also it has always seemed the second generation of a chipset has always been better, gf4 compared to gf3, radeon 9x00 compared to 8x00. the only way to truly get an increase right now would be to get a 9800 pro/XT or an fx5900 ultra. i replaced my ti4200 (oc'd to in between 4400 and 4600 levels) with an fx5900 ultra and it almost quadrupled my performance, and when using AA it is another world entirely.

[Fofo]

Well this is the way I see it. I'm getting a $100 giftcard from best buy, and I plan on picking up HL2 anyways. They have the 9600XT (which includes HL2) for $199.99. You figure I pay $99.99 plus the FULL version of HL2, its like I paid only $50 for an awesome video card. Plus, I'll be set for a while gamewise too.