Introduction

Welcome back for the first video and memory guide following our new guide format. The cost of memory, coupled with the plethora of choices now available for graphics processing, has made for a rollercoaster ride for anyone looking to upgrade or build a new system. PCI Express and DDR2 have been at the forefront of the new sea of choices and have also been at the forefront of cost. We'll take a look at some choices available today and see what products make the most sense both financially and in the area of performance.

Be sure to visit our RealTime Pricing Engine to get the latest prices on items recommended in this guide and much more.

Video Cards - ATI

ATI and NVIDIA have been back and forth over the performance crown in graphics cards for quite some time and, while there can't be any definite "winner" with the number of variables involved, the competition has made for some great advances, which all translate into a better gaming experience for the masses.

Cards such as the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 256MB may seem to be getting a little long in the tooth, but they are still speedy, reliable and affordable. All of these attributes make for a great combination for a well-powered gaming rig. It's true that you could spring for an X800 and get a performance increase about twofold, but the price for that luxury scales right along, and with the supply of these newer cards still limited, they can reach prices in excess of $500. Don't take that the wrong way though. If you have the money, a card like the X800 Pro or Platinum is definitely the way to go to get the most performance that money can buy. In time, these prices will come down like is always the case with bleeding-edge technology as it matures, but it will certainly be a while until we can find X800's in the $200 range.

If you're gaming on a budget, then we do still recommend the Sapphire Radeon 9600XT. With completely acceptable performance in titles like UT2004, Battlefield: 1942, and even newer beasts like Far Cry, the 9600 still has some life left in it, albeit not for too much longer. The X700 and even X600 are both poised to take over the budget market as PCI Express continues to penetrate the desktop environment. As PCI Express becomes more readily available and affordable, expect the best options for ATI graphics to start with an "X".

When building a system for anything but gaming or anything else too graphically intensive, onboard video is often the poison of choice. However, even in non-gaming systems with the best components, you may find yourself in a situation where onboard video isn't available. In such a case, the ATI Radeon 9000 (64MB version) is a very cost-effective solution. At less than $40, you shouldn't expect amazing gaming performance, but eye candy (courtesy of Windows XP) and the likes will not be a lagging problem. Before anyone says that this kind of card is overkill for someone who isn't gaming, keep in mind that as operating systems mature, so do their graphical interfaces. It won't be long before Windows will require a DX9 capable card just for basic operations. Also, try running Windows XP on a Voodoo 3 2000 PCI and see how well the login screen lags when hovering from account to account. It quickly becomes apparent that 2D support is not as wimpy as it once was.

Video Cards - NVIDIA

NVIDIA has pretty well been at the front of the pack with getting PCI Express cards to market in any meaningful numbers. This factor has allowed them to do so at relatively competitive prices, which make PCIe video cards much more plausible for anyone building a new system. There's no real reason to choose PCIe over AGP or vice versa, but if all other factors are about equal, PCIe makes more sense for its forward compatibility.

This week's pick goes to eVGA for their GeForce 6600GT card. This card, based on the latest NV43 core, brings the latest round of cards from NVIDIA well into the realm of affordability and gaming performance. On top of being a PCIe card, it also boasts a sub-$200 price tag that puts it roughly on par with this week's ATI pick, the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 256.


For the AGP steadfast, LeadTek's GeForceFX 5900 128MB makes a great choice if gaming is important, but not so much to warrant several hundred dollars. Also priced near the $200 mark, the 5900 remains NVIDIA's last-gen workhorse capable of good frame rates and quality in today's games.


The MSI GeForceFX 5700 128MB looks like a good choice today if you require some gaming, yet don't need, or want, the latest and greatest for your choice of games. With prices slowly, but surely, coming down for some of NVIDIA's PCIe cards, some of which are priced well against even a 5700, it might be worth waiting a little until you can make the switch to PCIe. In this way, you may still not be buying the highest end possible video card, but it will at least be PCIe, which gives you some leeway when it comes to future use of the card. As far as performance goes, changing to PCIe won't make any difference with cards at this level, or any for that matter.


Last, but not least, is the budget or non-gaming category. While some motherboards, such as those with the nForce2 chipset and onboard NVIDIA graphics, come with onboard video, many others do not. This is especially true in the build-it-yourself market where the typical buyer is an enthusiast and doesn't usually want video onboard. There are still cases where it's preferable to have just that, but for the rest of the time, an add-in graphics card tends to work well and gives the user some upgrade options as well. This does not mean that most boards, which sport onboard video, don't also sport an AGP slot. In any case, if your system doesn't need to do anything graphically intensive, virtually any card can do the trick. Even so, it's best to get something that is fairly recent, since even operating systems have started to incorporate eye candy that some lower-end cards can't handle too well. For this situation, a simple GeForceFX 5200, such as the 128MB version from LeadTek, is more than sufficient and should suit the task at hand well for web surfing, document editing and other basic computing needs.

DDR Memory (PC3200)

With DDR2 still trying to burst its way onto the market, older products now have a clock ticking away, hanging over their head. With that in mind, PC3200 is about the lowest speed of DDR1 memory that should really be considered for new purchases. Anything less is often not worth the very few dollars saved, if any. PC3200 can be had for some pretty good prices these days and isn't exactly slow ether. The best example, for this week, at least, is Corsair's PC-3200 512MB Value. It's not going to be capable of the world's most impressive overclocks, but if PC3200 is on your new build checklist, overclocking isn't likely to be your greatest goal or concern.

DDR Memory (PC3700)

When you're looking to overclock your shiny new Athlon 64 machine and want to squeeze the last drop out of it, having good memory plays an important role in maintaining system stability at higher speeds. PC3700 memory is suited well for overclocking and can be a much more affordable option than such speeds at DDR 400 or even greater. Chances are that the average user wouldn't notice any difference at all between PC3200 and PC3700, but when overclocking, it can make a difference in how far the memory, and thus, the rest of the system, can be pushed.

For this week, we like the Kingston PC-3700 512MB HyperX module for its overclockability, stability, and the lifetime warranty that it carries. The price isn't too bad either at under $120 per stick.

DDR2 Memory

With half of the barrier to PCIe/DDR2 systems nearly out of the way (i.e. the cost of having to buy a new video card and RAM), it's easier to focus on DDR2 as the last stepping stone to the bragging rights associated with having something so new that it still costs more than a weekend at a 5-star resort.

Currently, the best value in DDR2 memory resides in PC4200. PC5400 is still a bit more expensive than would be preferred and also carries a lack of motherboard support. Corsair comes to mind for this category with their PC-4200 512MB Value line. Keep in mind, however, that DDR2 still has more latency than standard DDR, which has so far translated into slower overall performance, even at higher clock speeds. This is somewhat similar to the way that Intel's Prescott core was lacking performance on a clock-for-clock comparison to Northwood. Much like the Prescott, it will only get better as the clock goes up and that has so far meant better performance for the P4 and will do the same for DDR2. As is also expected, the cost of DDR2 is going down steadily as shown in the chart below.