[flexx]

I'm looking for a nice budget video card. I have before me two 9600gso cards.

Newegg.com - ASUS EN9600GSO/DI/512MD3/V2 GeForce 9600 GSO 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
GDDR3, 96 stream procs

Newegg.com - EVGA 01G-P3-N964-LR GeForce 9600 GSO 1GB 128-bit DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
600 mhz core clock, 1500 mhz memory clock, 1 gb

They're both basically the same price. So which one should I go for?

[patonb]

Well, ones ddr2 and the others ddr3 which is a faster ram speed.

On that card 1Gig rams is just silly, AND with a tiny 50mhz oc, not at all worth the extra money and slower ram.

Grab the asus card, and evga precision to oc it to 600.

[flexx]

So the higher core clock and memory clock of the evga isn't anything meaningful?

Also I looked up that evga precision and it says it only works with evga cards...

EDIT: Holy crap it's just been deactivated! WTF? Anyways, anyone got any good recommendations?

[TaskTool]

I have been using the 768mb GDDR2 XFX version of the GSO for like 3 months, and yes it's a good card, but you won't see enough performance in games. It can barely cut it with any modern games like Call of Duty, or the new batman game.

I'm sure the ddr3 version might be a bit faster, but I doubt the difference would be that extreme

If the only reason you are getting the card is because of your financial status, I recommend waiting until you can afford, at least a 9800, because honestly I don't think the gso is going to give you what you are looking for unless you aren't really that much of a gamer.

[95BlackGA]

PNY GeForce 9600GSO 768MB PCI Express 2.0 Video Card with Dual DVI, SLI DirectX 10 - Refurbished

This will out do both of the cards you had asked about. Yeah it doesn't have as much VRAM as the 1GB card, but it's 192-bit vs. 128-bit, and it's DDR3.

[flexx]

I'm just looking for something to play dragon age, probably starcraft 2 whenever it comes out, and have it look okay. I'm not a big gamer and don't even touch FPS games. Right now I have an 8400 gs and the only thing it's used for is to watch movies and play titan quest occasionally.

I just saw this one: Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-N95TD3-512I GeForce 9500 GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
It says it's oc'd and the clocks are higher, and aside from the stream processors looks exactly like the 9600.

If it helps any I'm currently running windows xp with a c2d @ 3.3 ghz with 3.25 gb of ram (ddr2 800).

[patonb]

the older 96 shader cards are snapped up as low powered folding cards.

Honestly grab a 9800gt..

And evga precision works on any nvidia card...

[flexx]

9800 gt starts around $90...

and I have no idea what "the older 96 shader cards are snapped up as low powered folding cards" means.

I also found this which looks alright. The only problem is that I've had trouble with ATI cards in the past (stuttering, black screen, drivers slowing down my computer, video card dying altogether). And when I replace them with a lower end nvidia card it performs pretty much the same exact way.

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100255HDMI Radeon HD 4670 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

[harnar123]

I have a 8800gs sitting around, which is the orignal 384mb 192mbit, so its better then those other 9600gso's. I would do 45 shipped.

[philbar71]

the 512mb asus 9600GSO will perform as good as the 768MB/348MB 9600GSO's. the 4670 is slower than the 960GSO, but uses a little less power.