Curse

commanderkev · Feb 28, 2007, 09:06 PM // 21:06

i need a video card, nothing too fancy, just something to play gw with high quality, please help, i know nothing about video cards

Lord Xeshm · Feb 28, 2007, 09:27 PM // 21:27

A little bit more info is needed. Like can your motherboard use AGP or PCI-E or even neither if you have an older PC.

tijo · Feb 28, 2007, 09:29 PM // 21:29

A GeForce 6600 128mb will do the job nicely so will a 6800, 7600, 7800 etc. I don't really use ATI video cards so i can't help you with those but im sure someone else will fill in the blanks on ATI. Just don't go for any 2nd number lower than 6 if you want to buy a GeForce else graphics and framerate won't be very good.

EDIT: i agree your computer's hardware stats would help.

lightblade · Feb 28, 2007, 09:50 PM // 21:50

It's not that simple. It sounds like not only you know nothing about video card, but you also know little about computer hardware all together.

Tachyon · Feb 28, 2007, 10:42 PM // 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by commanderkev

i need a video card, nothing too fancy, just something to play gw with high quality, please help, i know nothing about video cards

What are your system specs? More importantly though, what graphics interface does your motherboard have?

Dex · Feb 28, 2007, 11:01 PM // 23:01

Is your PC a brand name or a custom job? If it's a brand name the brand and model number is enough for us to go on. If it's custom...it's a bit more complicated. Telling us how old the machine is and what type of CPU it has would be a good start.

GrandCharm~ · Feb 28, 2007, 11:13 PM // 23:13

GeForce FX 5200 , Cost About 29.99 if your budgets low

Dex · Feb 28, 2007, 11:20 PM // 23:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by GrandCharm~

GeForce FX 5200 , Cost About 29.99 if your budgets low

No offense, but that GPU isn't worth 29 cents. Stay as far away from anything that says "GeForce FX" as you possibly can. The FX series GPUs are one of the worst mistakes nVidia ever made. They can run older games at an acceptable level, but they choke and die trying to run newer games. Their shader performance is absolutely abyssmal.

If you're going to spend money at all for a gaming GPU, please don't get anything lower than a GeForce 6600GT or a GeForce 7600GT (the 7600GT is an outstanding value). These can both be had for under $100. Spending money on anything less than that IMHO is a big mistake. If you want something a little nicer the ATI x1950 Pro is a good card, and the x1950xt is even better. In that price bracket (midrange) ATI has nVidia beat handily, while nVidia is much better in the budget and ultra high-end ranges. The GeForce 7900-series is decent, but in that price range ATI's x19XX series GPUs are more future-proof due to their superior pixel-shader muscle and more complete Shader Model 3.0 implementation (nVidia's 79XX series GPUs have a somewhat crippled SM 3.0 implementation).

commanderkev · Feb 28, 2007, 11:24 PM // 23:24

i have windows xp on a dell dimension 2400 seris, its a few years old

Dex · Feb 28, 2007, 11:39 PM // 23:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by commanderkev

i have windows xp on a dell dimension 2400 seris, its a few years old

Hmmm....that is not good news, my friend. Unfortunately, Dell does not include an AGP or PCI-Express slot suitable for a video card upgrade in many of their budget-line boxes (yours included). That means you're limited to PCI video cards, and none of them are very good. However, there are some that would be an upgrade to your Intel Exreme(ly useless) Graphics adapter that came integrated on your motherboard:

- Cards based on the Radeon 9250 GPU...not great, but they come in a 256MB flavor that would run Guild Wars at an acceptable level.

- Cards based on the Radeon x1300 GPU...again, not great, but at about the same level as the 9250 (slightly better) with support for newer graphics technologies. Significantly more expensive than the 9250 and IMHO not worth the money.

Avoid the ATI Radeon 7000, the nVidia FX 5200 (avoid all nVidia FX GPUs), and the nVidia MX4000 (and all MX-series GPUs for that matter).

Tachyon · Feb 28, 2007, 11:41 PM // 23:41

Sorry, but going by the stats for the Dimension 2400 it doesn't even have an AGP slot. That means that you're limited to using a PCI card and nothing else.

Personally I'd look at something along the lines of a GeForce 6200 or ATI X1300.

commanderkev · Feb 28, 2007, 11:42 PM // 23:42

thank ya dex

Dex · Feb 28, 2007, 11:48 PM // 23:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azagoth

Sorry, but going by the stats for the Dimension 2400 it doesn't even have an AGP slot. That means that you're limited to using a PCI card and nothing else.

Personally I'd look at something along the lines of a GeForce 6200 or ATI X1300.

I forgot about the 6200. It looks like the PCI version of that is pretty hard to find. I'm also having trouble finding benchmarks for it. I'd like to see how the performance measures up to the x1300 and the 9250. I would have a hard time recommending a $90 PCI video card to someone...seeing as how a GeForce 7600GT can be had for around $80.

At any rate, it's going to be better than the integrated video...

commanderkev · Mar 01, 2007, 12:03 AM // 00:03

i found this HIS Hightech H925H256R4N Radeon 9250 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 2X/4X Video Card for 47.99 and it looks good this is it

Tachyon · Mar 01, 2007, 12:09 AM // 00:09

No, that's AGP and as such won't fit into your computer. You need a PCI based card, like these.

Click here!

Dex · Mar 01, 2007, 12:10 AM // 00:10

Quote:

Originally Posted by commanderkev

i found this HIS Hightech H925H256R4N Radeon 9250 256MB 128-bit DDR AGP 2X/4X Video Card for 47.99 and it looks good this is it

That's an AGP version of the card (too bad, because HIS makes good products).

Have a look at these:

GeForce 6200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143058

Radeon 9250 128MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161010
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241031
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814131284
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103166

Radeon 9250 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814241020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103167

Dex · Mar 01, 2007, 12:12 AM // 00:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azagoth

No, that's AGP and as such won't fit into your computer. You need a PCI based card, like these.

Click here!

Beat me to it!

Personally, I would go with the GeForce 6200 (probably the better of the 2 GPUs, but only 128MB of memory) or one of the 256MB 9250 cards.

commanderkev · Mar 01, 2007, 12:30 AM // 00:30

ok so im probably going to get the GeForce 6200 but i noticed that it has
128mb and some of the others have 256mb its still good even though it has 128mb correct?

Dex · Mar 01, 2007, 12:36 AM // 00:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by commanderkev

ok so im probably going to get the GeForce 6200 but i noticed that it has
128mb and some of the others have 256mb its still good even though it has 128mb correct?

Yeah, it will still be fine with 128MB. 256MB would be better, but I wouldn't know where to tell you to find one. They seem to be scarce. Again, I think the 6200 is a better GPU than the 9250, so I would probably take the 128MB 6200 over the 256MB 9250.

commanderkev · Mar 01, 2007, 12:39 AM // 00:39

GeForce 6200 it is thanks guys i dont know where i would be without you