I'm doing my usual 2 yearly upgrade to my system. Have got new motherboard, CPU and a couple of other bits on order.

Now, the problem is that I'm hopelessly out of the loop on graphics cards. I'm running a shockingly old GF2MX400(AGP) and am looking to upgrade to a Radeon 9000 series card.

My original plan was to get a 128Mb 9700 Pro, but this was a few months back, before I had the cash to hand. Now I have the cash (max is £180) and I see I have 2 choices.

Radeon 9700 Pro 128Mb, or Radeon 9600XT 256Mb. To be honest I haven't a clue which is superior, as I'd like to get the best possible card for my money (a 9800 is out of the question for cash reasons) that's going to last for hopefully the next couple of years until I upgrade again. I'm just basically confused by the numbers. Although the 9700pro is getting on a bit in terms of age now I realise. Also, Tomshardware review of 9600XT is pretty favourable.

Basically, if I plump for the 9600XT 256Mb (with the TV tuner and all that crap) am I going to be futureproofed enough for the next couple of years, or am I going to be cursing how slow and shitty everything is running 12 months down the line (again).

Any advice would be helpful, thanks.

Also, I'd welcome an estimate on what wattage power supply I'd need given the current specs (no I don't plan on going for the "Disco in my Case" look so I'm not going to be needing extra power for this).

Specs:

ASUS A7N8X Gold NForce2 Rev. 2 motherboard
Barton 2800+
PC2100 512Mb 233MHz Dual Channel RAM (will be upgraded to faster RAM a bit later)
40Gb Primary HD
160Gb Secondary HD
Toshiba 24x10x40x CDR/W
Toshiba 16x DVD
Graphics card to be decided

Approximately how much is that in USD? I don't feel like checking

$280

Although to be honest, it doesn't matter as both cards are under that. No I am not interested in nVidia, the FX series are huge and clunky and suck in comparison to ATi.

Hrm...I haven't been watching videocards lately, I'm running on a GeForce FX5200 that I picked up for $55 (thanks Chippy )

So...I dunno if I can be much help

I would say get at least a good 400 watt PS.


EDIT:- More Info.

Go with the Radeon 9600XT 256MB.

I found this while searching the VidCards. ...
"
RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB - System POST related issues on AGP 8x motherboards

After installing the RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB in an AGP 8x capable motherboard, a small number of customers may experience system boot related issues.
Most AGP 8x motherboards are unaffected. Some customers have reported that pressing the system RESET button or "CTRL-ALT-DEL" combination, or lowering the AGP transfer speed will allow the system to boot.

Please ensure that none of the articles listed below apply in your particular instance.

Corrupted display on cold boot

No display on POST until Windows loads

In addition, it is important to ensure that appropriate system preparation is done prior to installing the RADEON 9700 PRO. We recommend installing the latest motherboard BIOS for your system. Many of the 8X issues have been resolved with an updated BIOS from the motherboard manufacturer.

As well, the latest available AGP drivers should be installed as they enable AGP functionality for the motherboard chipset. These drivers are provided by your motherboard manufacturer, on their website and/or on CD. ...."

Did a lot of reading on new Radeons as well. Unless you intend of doing TV or mixing video, you are wasting money with the 9700 or 9800 and would be better off with the 9600. The All In Wonder series of these cards doesn't improve you game play a lick so the 9600 ends up being a good value for game systems.

I have a 9700 pro and am very happy with it.

Where price is concerned just remember that all they ever seem to do is replace the Dollar sign with a Pound sign when they retail them over here. Tho i have a good lead on some 256Mb 9800's at about £150. I'm considering that, Sapphire i'm told but in OEM boxes. To be honest i don't realy care about a flashy box, it gets put straight up in the attic once the card is installed anyway.

Hey Beak, you get a hold of more than one of them, you let me know, ok? =). Heh.

I'll be plain and simple

get the 9700. It still beats the pants off the 9600XT in most apps, and for the most part is the better "value" today.

Two quick points.

Pick a video card made from a reputable manufacturer. Although a lot of manufacturers use "reference" (designs recommended by the chip manufacturer), they may not all use the same quality components. Avoid "most" cards made in China,like Pine, although that may not apply to cards made in Taiwan.

Power supplies can be rated in a number of nefarious ways. If in doubt, go to the AMD site and look up recommended power supplies. There are supplies made by other companies that are good, but not listed on the site, but at least this is a start. I use Enermax power supplies almost exclusively as I know they work. Don't cheap out on a power supply or you can see flakey results. I would say 350 watts for this build. More won't hurt.

Put me down for one of those

Ok. After some deliberation and price checking I went with the 9700 Pro 128 (my original plan) after turning one up for £150 on eBay. It's an ATi manufactured OEM one so should hopefully avoid manufacturer issues. For something that benchmarked at substantially higher for a ~£15 price difference I think it might be better in the long run.

Thanks for all the advice.