Curse

Supremacy Of Malice · Dec 30, 2005, 04:23 AM // 04:23

I got a new comp that’s pretty nice but my graphics card is actually worse than my last one. I need somebody’s opinion on the deal posted below. If somebody could tell me what the best graphics card is that’s no more than $300 that would help a lot also.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

Should I just buy this cheap one or just spend a decent amount on one?

Juke · Dec 30, 2005, 04:55 AM // 04:55

Hmm, $300 is a pretty good budget for a video card....

Depends on what other games you would want to play... if it's just Guild Wars the 9550 would be semi-decent..

For games such as Half-Life 2, F.E.A.R, CoD 2 w/ dx9 you'll want a better card.. such as :

Radeon x800 pro
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

Radeon x800xl (better in most benchmarks than x800 pro, little bit more pricey)
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

BFG nVidia GeForce 6800
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...games&n=507846

PINE TECH. XFX Geforce 6800 GT
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...onics&v=glance

All ove the above will be excellent for Guild Wars...

And I'm assuming you're motherboard is AGP because you linked to a card that is AGP so all the cards I linked above are also AGP.

Hope this helps you out.

Edit: What was your previous video card?

LifeInfusion · Dec 30, 2005, 05:09 AM // 05:09

300 for a graphics card... Hell that's almost half the price of my whole PC

M1h4iL · Dec 30, 2005, 07:11 AM // 07:11

If your using your pc to just play GW then a 6600gt will do an exellent job, its the best card for your dollar performance wise. I got one my self and play all of todays games pretty well (HL2, CSS, Far Cry, Doom3)
Link http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...0&Go.y=0&Go=Go
Its only around $150 so you will save soem money.

If however you play other games and want to spend more and make your self future proof then go with a 7800gt http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/se...0&Go.y=0&Go=Go

Heres a brief compariosn:

Old Dood · Dec 30, 2005, 01:00 PM // 13:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeInfusion

300 for a graphics card... Hell that's almost half the price of my whole PC

Actually that is not a bad price in today's market.....I got my X800XL for that amount a few months ago. It is now going for around $250.00. This is why I like it when they come out with new hardward...it brings down the price of the older "High-End" stuff. I rarely ever have the latest greatest...If I stay a couple of Techs behind when I upgrade I am still enjoying the boost to what I owned before and I am saving major dollars.

My next game box will have SLI. It will not have the latest greatest video card(s) on it...it will have the next tech down. That way I will still enjoy great graphics and once again...save major buck-olas.

BTW...M1h4iL....nice chart there you posted. Very helpful for those that don't fully understand all the different kinds of cards and their variations. I noticed that the X800XL 256Mb & 512Mb are really not that different in 3D Marks...goes to show that it isn't always ram amounts that make it faster.

I have to agree that the Nvidia 6600GT is the best bang for the buck now on video cards. It will give you decent performance and not break the bank.

Supremacy Of Malice · Dec 30, 2005, 08:25 PM // 20:25

DAM... Thanks for all the help, it was alot more than I expected. If you have anymore sugjestions/tips I would apreciate them to.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Juke

your previous video card?

NVIDA Geforce 4... something... dont remember so ill try looking for it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by LifeInfusion

300 for a graphics card... Hell that's almost half the price of my whole PC

Thats what I was thinking when I looked into this but im going to spend a decent amount on this one and make it prety nice this time.

Loviatar · Dec 30, 2005, 08:48 PM // 20:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supremacy Of Malice

DAM... Thanks for all the help, it was alot more than I expected. If you have anymore sugjestions/tips I would apreciate them to.

if you are in the US buy from these people.

good prices and top reseller ratings for years.

http://www.newegg.com/

also can you confirm PCI EXPRESS OR AGP?

4runner · Dec 30, 2005, 10:00 PM // 22:00

Newegg.com enough said!!

Alias_X · Dec 30, 2005, 10:06 PM // 22:06

I have the ATI Radeon 9550. Mine cost $99.99, and was teh version made by ATI. It plays Guild Wars fine, and I have 256mb of RAM. I downloaded the Half Life 2 demo, and it ran that fine. The only problem was that it took 5 minutes to load, because of my RAM, but other than that once it was booted up, I maybe got one studder. Keep in mind I have a 1.7ghz P4, and 256mb of RAM. I am loving the card so far, and it is certainly a great deal for the price.

Will I upgrade?
Well, I recently upgraded to this card, even though it isn't the latest and greatest. All of the benchmark tests, I basically say SCREW UM'. My old build with 1.7ghz P4, 256mb of RAM, and Nvidia GeForce 2 MX 400 played Guild Wars, even though all of the parts benchmarked pathetically. In fact, I got no studders in GW. Sure, you are going to be able to run all games on the latest and greatest. Good for you. Not enough people actually try stuff out on old hardware to see if it will run the same games also. People assume that 256mb won't run crap, so they don't even pay attention to trying games on it. I will upgrade to an SLI setup with two video cards later, when I get the cash. For now, my ATI Radeon 9550 is wonderful.

If you go with the Radeon 9550, you won't regret it, unless of course you don't have an AGP slot.

Sure, you can get a 7800 for $300, but the Radeon 9550 is major bang for the buck.

Also note, my system has NO OVERCLOCKING. People have got to stop always putting out the top best graphics cards, and mention some others that will save you money and get the job done.

If you want to spen all of the $300, get an Nvidia 7800. It will stay up to date for a month. If I were you, I would get the 9550, I love mine!

Old Dood · Dec 30, 2005, 10:41 PM // 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alias_X

If you want to spen all of the $300, get an Nvidia 7800. It will stay up to date for a month. If I were you, I would get the 9550, I love mine!

I am sure it is a decent card. But isn't that one better suited for a PCI type motherboard? If that is what he has is a motherboard without a vid card slot then I would say the 9550 is the best card for him. EDIT: Maybe I am thinking about the 9250...*sigh* Gettin Old is a bummer at times...haha

I still think the 6600GT is the best bang at this moment in time. I just checked newegg.com and they have the 6600GT's AGP type for about $134.00 and up. That is not bad. The PCIe versions are about the same except they have a couple of 256Mb 6600GT's where as the AGP versions are only 128Mb.

Guess we will have too see what Supremacy Of Malice will end up getting...Just let us know....it is fun to spend other people's money.

Supremacy Of Malice · Dec 30, 2005, 10:51 PM // 22:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

also can you confirm PCI EXPRESS OR AGP?

I believe its AGP but can you tell me how to find out just to make sure?

NetworkGuru · Dec 30, 2005, 11:01 PM // 23:01

Here's a guide on buying video cards.

This page of the guide tells you about AGP and PCI express.

And I would also recommend newegg.com

Old Dood · Dec 30, 2005, 11:21 PM // 23:21

Or you can go to www.pcpitstop.com and let is scan your system. It will tell you all that you have on it. From what monitor you have and it's build date...CPU...Memory..Video...blah..blah..blah.. It will also recommend tweaks and fixes for things like your IE cache file size and what not. Tell you if you have spyware or a virus...etc.

Supremacy Of Malice · Dec 30, 2005, 11:26 PM // 23:26

Thx for the links but were do I go on the link you sent me Old Dood?

Old Dood · Dec 30, 2005, 11:28 PM // 23:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by Supremacy Of Malice

Thx for the links but were do I go on the link you sent me Old Dood?

Go to Test this System. You might have to register...it is no biggie. Takes about 5-10 minutes depending on your system speed. Just make sure everything is closed and don't touch the mouse until the test asks you to.

Dex · Dec 31, 2005, 12:32 AM // 00:32

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dood

I noticed that the X800XL 256Mb & 512Mb are really not that different in 3D Marks...goes to show that it isn't always ram amounts that make it faster.

Actually the amount of video RAM on the card rarely makes a huge difference unless it's a large generational difference in the cards. For example, a card with 256MB on-board will generally kill any card with 64MB on-board, but it really has more to do with the fact that the GPU on any card sporting 256 is probably at least 2-4 generations more advanced than the one on the 64MB card. The actual frame-buffer stored in video memory is fairly small:

((# horizontal pixels) * (# vertical pixels) * (color depth in bits-per-pixel)) / 8 = size of frame-buffer in bytes

and the rest is used for textures and some scene information. Don't get me wrong, more video RAM allows the graphics sub-system to process hi-res textures faster, which can really impact framerates depending on the game (the game has to use high-enough resolution textures for it to make a difference), but for the most part it's the power of the GPU itself that is going to determine how "fast" the card is.

Sure, there are other factors (memory bandwidth, interface bandwidth, amount of on-board memory, efficiency of the device driver, etc.), but none of them make as much of a difference as the amount of raw power of the GPU.

On that note, you're getting some good advice. The GeForce 6600GT is a good deal, but the 6800GT is getting close to being a great deal too. I wouldn't recommend the 6800 Ultra, though, as it's a bit over-priced and is actually an older version of the 6800 core than the GT. The Ultra version doesn't have the PureVideo enhancements that are nice for DVD decoding and general hardware-assisted video stream processing.

As was said, if you want to spend $300 I'd go for the 7800GT.

Alias_X · Dec 31, 2005, 03:31 AM // 03:31

The ATI Radeon 9250 is only PCI I think, but it is the best PCI card there is at the moment. The 9550 is sort of like the 9250, but in AGP form.

If you want to save some cash now, go with the 9550. If you want the best, you certainly have the money for it, so go for it!

Old Dood · Dec 31, 2005, 03:37 AM // 03:37

Dex,
I understand...but according to the chart the X800XL 256Mb & 512Mb are not that much different. That was my point....seems a waste of cash to get the 512Mb. The X800XL weakness(if you want to call it that) is it is NOT made to be overclocked. It is already pretty much set to it's max out of the box. Another reason I bought it...I do not overclock my gear anymore.

Also I liked the X800XL over the 6800GT because they are pretty evenly matched in speed (The 6800GT is a Pixel shader 3 tho..where as the X800XL is a 2) and it was at the time a $100.00 cheaper then the 6800GT.

Dex · Dec 31, 2005, 05:46 AM // 05:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dood

Dex,
I understand...but according to the chart the X800XL 256Mb & 512Mb are not that much different. That was my point....seems a waste of cash to get the 512Mb. The X800XL weakness(if you want to call it that) is it is NOT made to be overclocked. It is already pretty much set to it's max out of the box. Another reason I bought it...I do not overclock my gear anymore.

Also I liked the X800XL over the 6800GT because they are pretty evenly matched in speed (The 6800GT is a Pixel shader 3 tho..where as the X800XL is a 2) and it was at the time a $100.00 cheaper then the 6800GT.

Yeah, I wasn't really saying that you didn't get that -- I just saw it as a good opportunity do dispel the myth that video memory = speed. Sorry 'bout that. I think that graphics card designers like to jump the gun a bit on raising the amount of video memory. That 512MB card will be really nice in a year or two when games are using textures and other graphical features that will utilize that amount of memory, but until then it's really just a 'bragging rights' price point companies use to get a little extra out of the wallets of folks who like the feeling of having the 'best'. By the time you actually need 512MB of video memory the GPU will be outdated. Nothing wrong with that, but I prefer to hold onto my money until it's really worthwhile to me to let go of it...

I like ATI cards too. I loved my old Radeon 9800 Pro...it served me well for a looooong time (and still is in my HTPC box). The thing I like about the nVidia 6xxxGT cards is the hardware-assisted video capabilities. ATI is only just coming out with technology that can compete with PureVideo. Outside of that the products are pretty equal at this point. Both companies have had ups and downs with driver support, etc., but it's really 6 vs 1/2 dozen. nVidia is cheaper on the high-end right now. The 7800 series GeForce cards are pretty cheap compared to ATI's x1800 series cards for nearly the same kind of performance. Crossfire isn't as mature a technology as SLi, but it looks like it has potential.

BTW - I don't overclock anymore either. I used to have fun doing it, but now I just want my hardware to stay stable and cool without my having to monitor/worry about it all the time. What can I say, I guess I'm getting old too...

Lateralus · Dec 31, 2005, 06:21 PM // 18:21

Hey, this is Supremacy Of Malice, I just wanted to change my name. While im registering and checking my system for PCI EXPRES of AGP can somone post what the best graphics card would be for me?