Which Radeon 7000 ?

[Ranulf]

Ok, Im looking to get a new card for my secondary system and have been looking at the cheaper end radeon 7000 since I can afford $40 but not $200 for the latest and greatest GF4 or 9700. I can get a 64mb SDR version or a 32mb DDR version, both with tv out. The 64mb card ends up being about $3 more than the DDR card. Which would be better? The one with more ram or the faster 32mb DDR?

Mainly it will be used for 2D stuff but I'm thinking I may use it to temporarily replace my geforce1 card for games until the GF4 prices or ati 9700 prices drop in say 6 months. How is linux support for the 7000 also? I've looked a little bit into it. Seems a bit sketchy at best. At least that was my impression from RedHat and Mandrake's sites. I suppose if I end up using it in my windows box for gaming the linux will be a moot point for awhile.

TIA

[JungleMan]

At the very least get a Radeon 7500 with 64MB DDR at Newegg.com for $59...Radeon 7000 is horrid.

[TitanMan]

I agree. Get a 7500, for the price, it's a decent card.

[nub]

I agree with the above two posts, but if you absolutely have to go with the Radeon 7000, go for the 32MB DDR for casual gaming. If the SDR ram is 128 bits wide, and the DDR ram is only 64 bits wide, it would make no difference though, and then the 64MB card would be the better purchase.

[Ranulf]

Hmm. Thanks for the replies. One reason I'm looking at the 7000 is that it is cheap. $60 isnt bad but at that point I'd just start looking at GF3/8500 cards and up. If I'm gonna spend $60, might as well look to spend 80 or 100. Also, by "horrid" what do you mean exactly?

[nub]

He means that it is not worth it to get a Radeon 7000 for $59. If you can get a radeon 7000 for no more than $40, go for it, but if it's a little bit more, I recommend a Geforce GTS 32MB DDR which go for around $50 or maybe $60, I'm not sure to be honest. Check Pricewatch if you'd like.

[Ranulf]

Well, Im not really wanting to get a gf2 with only 32mb even if its DDR. I think I'd rather have the card with newer tech with 64mb ram than a GF2. The 7500 is $59 not the 7000. At newegg, the 7000s are about 41-45 shipped. Appears the SDR 7000s are 64bit SDR. Guess its looking like the 7500 might be worth it.

Thanks again.

[nub]

Be careful not the get the SDR card, the extra few bucks are worth it for the DDR if you are going for the 7500. Slower ram may cripple the overall performance of the board.

[Ranulf]

Yeah I saw that at newegg. The 7500 LE claims to be 64mb ddr for 59 but then they have a 7500 with 64mb DDR for $65 as well.

[nub]

There was a 7500 LE that had DDr memory and was pretty much identical to the original, but it was a thir-party retail card and I don't believe either of those on there is it. just go with what seems best, you don't want to end up with something you didn't really want. You can always return it, but the hassle is avoidable.