Curse

Jobudda · Oct 11, 2008, 07:30 AM // 07:30

I am looking to buy a new graphics card for my computer and I am not really sure what to buy.

My processor: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2000+, MMX, 3dNow, -1.7GHz

Please could I have some suggestions on a cheap graphics card that will work with this processor and run some of the latest games.

Thank You

Quaker · Oct 11, 2008, 03:08 PM // 15:08

It would make a difference to know what sort of graphics card slot you have. From the sound of it, I'd guess it's AGP. You also don't say where you live, so I'll assume it's the U.S.

Generally speaking a "cheap" graphics card will run some of the latest games, but only at lower rez and lower graphics goodies.
Here's a few possibilities:

AGP - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...1080&CatId=318
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...9532&CatId=318

PCI - http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applicatio...0202&CatId=319

You wouldn't want to much less than these if you want a good gaming experience.

P.S. how big is your power supply (wattage-wise)?

Jobudda · Oct 11, 2008, 03:50 PM // 15:50

Thanks for your reply.

I live in the UK.

The graphics card I have at the moment is: NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400 64 mb

How do you find out the graphics card slot?

moriz · Oct 11, 2008, 04:53 PM // 16:53

then you most definitely have an AGP slot.

tbh, i'd rather save up more money and build/buy a new pc. your system is simply too old to be worth upgrading, and any decent graphic card you put in it will be severely bottlenecked by the rest of the system.

Jobudda · Oct 12, 2008, 11:38 AM // 11:38

If I was to get a 256mb graphics card for my computer at the moment would I be able to play games such as Half Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Medieval Total War 2 and Spore.

Lord Sojar · Oct 12, 2008, 08:36 PM // 20:36

Your best bet would be an AGP 7900 from nVidia. Best and last AGP card made to my knowledge. Finding one won't be easy.

Quaker · Oct 13, 2008, 05:18 PM // 17:18

How about:
http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...7975&CatId=424

Raku Clayman · Oct 15, 2008, 12:06 AM // 00:06

I have a few suggestions for an AGP card:

Radeon 2600XT 512 MB. You can find one for under $90.
Radeon HD 3650 512 MB. The Sapphire is about $80.
Radeon 1650Pro 512 MB. Great reviews for around $60.

Prices are in US dollars.

Raku Clayman · Oct 15, 2008, 12:13 AM // 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rahja the Thief

Your best bet would be an AGP 7900 from nVidia. Best and last AGP card made to my knowledge. Finding one won't be easy.

This is not true. Sapphire has a whole line of cards produced this past year. And, if you shop Newegg, you have many choices, including the ones I mentioned above, at reasonable prices.

I used a 7900GS PCI Express card for a couple of years and liked how it handled the graphics in GW. Lately, I upgraded my mobo, CPU, and switched form Nvidia to a Radeon HD 4850. I'm very happy with the ATI Radeon.

Just make sure you that whatever you get, you download the latest drivers from the manufacturer. Don't even bother with the drivers from the CD.

moriz · Oct 15, 2008, 02:16 AM // 02:16

the 7900 AGP was the last card that natively supported AGP (IIRC, i can be wrong). all other AGP cards released since were essentially PCI-e cards, but featured a AGP to PCI-e bridge chip and AGP connector so it will work in an AGP slot.

and either way, the OP will get basically zero difference if he goes beyond a geforce 7900. his CPU and RAM (and possibly his AGP slot. we don't know if that's an AGPx8 or AGPx4... or maybe even AGPx2) will choke off any performance gains to be had.

snaek · Oct 15, 2008, 03:01 AM // 03:01

I'm running an Athlon XP 2200+ 1.8ghz
512mb RAM
Geforce 6200

I'd go with Moriz and get a 7series card, but if you can find a 6 series card for cheaper, it would probably be nearly as good.

Expect about ~40-50fps in GW on the lowest setting @ 1280x1024
and maybe ~10-20fps on highest setting @ 1280x1024

Don't expect to run any games like Bioshock or CoD4 though.

Source games run fine (hl2, cs:source, tf2, etc)
I get maybe ~40-50fps @ 800x600 on low settings.

Unreal engine 2 games run fine too (America's army, UT 2003, etc)
but Unreal engine 3 games won't run at all.

What kind of games do you plan on playing? I can give you an idea of what kind of performance to expect.

<font color="red">Rahja edit: Again, this post has been corrected to use semi proper English. Please use this in the future.</font>

Raku Clayman · Oct 15, 2008, 04:37 PM // 16:37

There are a few pitfalls in upgrading to a newer card that should be thought out. My last AGP card was a 6600GT 8X AGP. It ran Guild Wars at a decent FPS and Half Life 2. I'm not going to say your system won't play Spore with a card upgrade but I would be surprised if it did.

When I upgraded to a 7 series, I needed a better PSU and a Zalman cooler. I found my 7-series card needed more power and ran hot, when playing games. Others, may have had a different experience.

I don't know anything about the power requirements of the cards I suggested above. You can go to the web sites of the companies, like Sapphire, email them, and ask if their new cards are compatible with your system. They may or may not work fine. If they do, you can take advantage of the newer technology.

Your best bet may be to get a 6-series card. It will be a quantum leap from what you have and others seem to be happy with that. I was happy with mine and it would be a good short term upgrade. You can buy a GeForce 6200 card easily. Make sure you read the reviews. Stay away from a GS. The only GS that was any good was the 7900GS.

You may want to upgrade your memory, too. That would give your system a boost.

I'd save for a newer computer. If you look around, for under $400(US), you could get a system that, although modest by today's high end standards, would be a quantum leap over what you have. Lenovo, Dell, and HP have new systems for under $400.

Since you are in the UK, take advantage of the weak "dollar" before it strengthens relative to the "euro." In case you don't know what that means, US products are cheaper, in Europe, while the "dollar" is weak.

Quaker · Oct 15, 2008, 06:42 PM // 18:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raku Clayman

Since you are in the UK, take advantage of the weak "dollar" before it strengthens relative to the "euro." In case you don't know what that means, US products are cheaper, in Europe, while the "dollar" is weak.

Or, since most of the parts come from China anyway, he could just buy something made in the EU or Asia and ignore the weak dollar.

KZaske · Oct 15, 2008, 09:12 PM // 21:12

From a "Bang for the Buck" point of view I would go with the Radeon HD 3650 512 MB. The Sapphire card has a major problem from my point of view, it only supports 32bit Windows XP/Vista, when I was researching this card I found the driver has not been updated in some time and more importantly, it has been reported that the card only works with Sapphire's drivers. I would advise you avoid the 6200 cards, the performance is not really all that much better than what you have, my 5500 out performed it! An AGP 6200 256MB barely got 2FPS in towns like Kamadan, LA and KC. Installed a 6800 and the frames jumped to 45FPS without installing new drivers!
Thoms hardware recently updated it "Best Video Cards for the Money" article, it can be found here:http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...Card,2033.html.

I hope this helps you figure out what you want to do.