Jump to content

Help Choosing a new Graphics card please


ABEO

Recommended Posts

Hi everyone, I would like your suggestions on a new graphics card.

My current system is as follows:

CPU: Intel Pentium D 3.4Ghz

Motherboard: Asus P5VDC-X

RAM: 2 x 512Mb DDR PC3200

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 250Gb Sata & Maxtor 120Gb IDE

Graphics: nVidia GeForce3 Ti200 64Mb

I don't play many games, if I do I tend to prefer older games(AOE, Civ2) lately I have been playing TR: Legend, but not usually anything too special, although I would like the new graphics card to run some of the later games(just in case :P)

Other than that all I use is Office, and internet etc.

I have Vista Ultimate installed at the moment, so I would like a card that will run Vista well with all the features(Aero, Flip3D etc).

And I want something that will last a while.

My budget is about £50/€70/$100

Obviously the cheaper the better, but I don't really like spending too much on my PC, especially when it pretty much works as it should now!

Any advice on this matter would be greatly appreciated!

Also, my current Experience index rating on vista is 1 for "Gaming Graphics" and 1.9 for "Graphics" I have the latest drivers for the card installed, would this be due to the low memory or something else?

Link to comment
Share on other sites


8600gt/8500gt

Oh yeah. Why not hook up a Jet Turbine to his PC while he's at it? Obviously it needs the cooling power too.

On a more serious note: If you want a good videocard for Vista and some light 3D work here and there. A 7300GT will be nice. Its AGP. It passes all the Vista Tests as its DirectX9 Compatible, and its REALLY cheap.

If you want to do some gaming and heavior stuff, get osmethung higher up.

But for Vista and Just things like HD movie playback, a 7300GT is perfect.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8600gt/8500gt

Oh yeah. Why not hook up a Jet Turbine to his PC while he's at it? Obviously it needs the cooling power too.

On a more serious note: If you want a good videocard for Vista and some light 3D work here and there. A 7300GT will be nice. Its AGP. It passes all the Vista Tests as its DirectX9 Compatible, and its REALLY cheap.

If you want to do some gaming and heavior stuff, get osmethung higher up.

But for Vista and Just things like HD movie playback, a 7300GT is perfect.

and where do you get off claiming that? have you even looked at any reviews? and why wouldnt he want a dx10 card? he wants all of the vista features anyways. also why would he want agp? the 8600gt is almost as good as the 7900gs.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/427/3/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

and where do you get off claiming that? have you even looked at any reviews? and why wouldnt he want a dx10 card? he wants all of the vista features anyways. also why would he want agp? the 8600gt is almost as good as the 7900gs.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/427/3/

He wants an AGP because his current board is a Ti200. That's an AGP slot card. The GeForce 8600GT is as PCI-E card.

Therefore, if he wants to replace just the videocard, another AGP one will work and not a PCI-E card.

And Vista requires a DirecctX 9.0 Card for "features". Anything else is good for games. The DX10 cards are not used to make the system look better and shinnier than 9.0c, but rather to game.

I'm guessing he has a workstation, and he wants to keep it that way. Except upgraded to look pretty with AERO. The 7300GT will deliver very well. Even a 6600GT wil deliver. But I figure the 7300GT is better since its based on DirectX 9.0c. The last revision. Therefore slightly more up-to-date than the latter (and the same price roughly).

Vista needs 9.0c for all the features of Aero: http://www.web-articles.info/e/a/title/Aer...ments-in-Depth/

To use Aero Glass, you need a Direct X 9 class graphics processor that supports WDDM, 32 bits per pixel, and Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware. The graphics card needs at least 64 MB of graphics memory. But 256 MB of graphics memory (or better) is preferred, especially for higher-resolution displays.

Oh yeah, and the 7300GT and the 6600GT do come in 256mb models for AGP. And well withing the budget of $100.

And a much better alternative to the 7950GT from a price standpoint (7950GT is WAY mer than $100.) and a usability standpoint.(He's not going to be able to use a 7950GT anywhere near its potential with a Pentium D and the RAM and the motherboard he has.)

Edited by brucevangeorge
Link to comment
Share on other sites

and where do you get off claiming that? have you even looked at any reviews? and why wouldnt he want a dx10 card? he wants all of the vista features anyways. also why would he want agp? the 8600gt is almost as good as the 7900gs.

http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/427/3/

He gets off claiming that because you have no clue what you're talking about. The guy's used to driving a Chevette and you want to throw him into a Ferrari. Obviously he's waited this long to upgrade hi GeForce3 because up until recently, it's been enough for him. He just needs a small boost, why make him spend more when he can get more then what he needs for less? Hell, even a GeForce FX5200 would probably be enough for him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

his motherboard support pci-e x16 and agp 8x, so he can go either way, might as well go pci-e

the 8500gt is ~100$ at newegg and he wanted to pay ~100 for a new video card.

dx10 will set him up for the future so why not go for it?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

dx10 will set him up for the future so why not go for it?

dx10 is completely useless for a workstation.

Better alternative is to buy a 6600 or 7300 and use the remainder to buy extra ram. That will make more of a difference than a shiny new (and useless) dx10 card.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow, quick replies.

Ok my motherboard can accept PCI-e. I was thinking, if I get a PCI-e card now, then if I ever upgrade my motherboard again, I won´t need a new graphics card. Obviously it has to be fairly cheap though.

As I said I don´t really want it for heavy gaming, but if it were capable of playing the odd game that would be great.

Do NewEgg ship internationally?(I´m in spain)

Like I previously mentioned I would like it to be under $100 but to last for quite a while. So I want the best I cen get within that budget. Would a 7300GT be best?

I have just looked on newegg and they have this card:

XFX PVT72GWANG GeForce 7300GS 512MB(256MB on Board) GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

for $69.99, is it one of those HM cards I´ve been advised not to get?

A bit further down there is this card:

Arcade FX GF7300GS256 GeForce 7300GS 256MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

That one is onlt $56.99

Are these cards any good? Or are they significantly worse meaning it would be worth spending another $30-$40 for the GT model?

Edited by ABEO
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Are these cards any good? Or are they significantly worse meaning it would be worth spending another $30-$40 for the GT model?

They're good. Try eBay if you're looking for a lower price. Or TigerDirect.

Also' check to make sure your mobo accepts a PCI-e at 16x. Some only accept at 1x, since 16x is for graphics and you already have a slot for that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I´ll find it somewhere else.

Is that the one to get then? Something in the 7600 series?

I have been comparing it with the 7300GT. I have seen one for sale with 512Mb Memory, is that possible? All the others I have seen are 256Mb. I think 256Mb would suit me fine. But might aswell get the 512Mb PCI-e card if it´s real!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok I´ll find it somewhere else.

Is that the one to get then? Something in the 7600 series?

I have been comparing it with the 7300GT. I have seen one for sale with 512Mb Memory, is that possible? All the others I have seen are 256Mb. I think 256Mb would suit me fine. But might aswell get the 512Mb PCI-e card if it´s real!

Yeah. But you'll have to check what PCI-e version that is and how it compares to AGP. I think PCI-e 1x is slower than AGP 8x. Don't quote me on that.

Also, you're using it for Vista. 512mb is overkill. 256mb is more than enough.

Even the 8800GTS only comes with 320mb.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...