In article bw1Zc.42$vx6.38@trndny05,
says...
Before I get a lot of "get an ATI card instead" replies, I want you to
undertstand that I am building an "identical" system for my brother, who
lives 2,500 miles away from me and doesn't know much about computers. I
want his system to be as close to mine as possible, so that in case he has
problems after I leave him, I can "guide" him on stuff over the phone...

In any case, I have an 5900 Ultra card with 256 megs. He doesn't want to
spend more then US $200 for a video card, so I am trying to decide between
getting him a 5700 Ultra or an 5900XT card instead. He will use the
machine via an ANALOG (he has a 20 inch Sony CRT) connector and his kids do
like to play games...like Doom 3....EA Sport games.....Medal of Honor....).
He will also use the computer for VIDEO editing. The system will run
Windows XP Pro SP2 , have 1 gig of RAM and a 3.2 Prescott.

I also want to know if we should go for the 128 meg or a 256 meg model? I
know that mod manufactorers use "cheaper" memory for 256 meg cards, so I am
wondering if the 256 meg option will actually "slow down" the system.

In addition, I see that most of the 5900XT cards have a "core speed" of 390
Mhz. What about this one that claims 430Mhz?

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...143-014&depa=1

I also doubt that my brother will be doing much overclocking as he needs
stability.

Without question the FX5900XT is the card to buy. With a 3.2 GHz
Prescott and 1GB ram the system should play Doom 3 and other games very
well. If you can get the extra 128MB on the card cheaply I'd go for it,
otherwise not.

Any FX5900XT can be overclocked to standard 5900 speeds (400MHz). Some
will go much higher. If you want maximum stability run at 400/700
(GPU,memory).