Need a new video card. Suggestions? [Archive]

Kitsune Sniper

10-08-2005, 09:14 PM

So two days ago, I got some money back from a purchase I'd done months ago, which was never completed for some reason. And here I was expecting my anime DVDs... anyway. My current card is a (now) crappy AGP Albatron GeForce4 MX 440 64MB card. I bought it years ago, and it still works pretty well, but I guess it's time for a new card. The card has to be relatively new, able to run 3D-graphic based games quite well, but it doesn't have to be one of those $250 monstrosities. Heck... anything in the $50-$75 range would be good. As I said, I don't need an overly fancy card, just something decent.

Oh, please leave death threats and otherwise at the door. If you want to flame me, go to that other thread at Diaries. :P

Thanks.

IndeX

10-08-2005, 09:24 PM

I got my last card for a pretty good deal from mFC, and they are hovering around the same price from what I've seen.

I have a GeForce FX 5600, 256mb of DDR memory on it. It runs Half Life 2, (as well as the other Source games), Halo, and lots of other games (but not Battlefield 2 unfortunately) pretty durn well. I got mine for close to what they are going for now, which is about $75.
Here's (http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?cgiurl=http%3A%2F%2Fcgi.ebay.com%2Fws%2 F&fkr=1&from=R8&satitle=FX+5600&category0=) a set of eBay auctions for the 5600. It's not the best card on the market, by far - but it is much better than your current card. I'm really happy with mine so far.

I will need to upgrade in the future, but for now it's a great card.Edited by IndeX on 10/08/05 05:25 PM.

GhettoFabulous

10-08-2005, 09:36 PM

> I have a GeForce FX 5600, 256mb of DDR memory on it. It
> runs Half Life 2, (as well as the other Source games), Halo,
> and lots of other games (but not Battlefield 2
> unfortunately) pretty durn well. I got mine for close to
> what they are going for now, which is about $75.

My Geforce 6600 AGP will blow your FX 5600 out of the water any day. You can find one on eBay for under $100 if you play your cards right. Make sure you get the AGP version and not PCI-E.

MegaManJuno

10-08-2005, 09:39 PM

Kitsune Sniper

10-08-2005, 09:47 PM

> My Geforce 6600 AGP will blow your FX 5600 out of the water
> any day. You can find one on eBay for under $100 if you
> play your cards right. Make sure you get the AGP version
> and not PCI-E.

I appreciate both your replies and will take them into consideration; however, I am leery of eBay. I mean, I'm afraid that I'll get a used card, or worse, a refurbished unit or a dead one. I know many computer hardware vendors like to stick a "No returns" clause in their auctions (I should know, I do that with games and hardware :P).

Kitsune Sniper

10-08-2005, 09:57 PM

I tried searching for Geforce 6600 cards and they're way out of my budget right now; eBay doesn't have any cheap ones at the moment... so I started poking around NewEgg.com and saw this:

* XFX PVT44AWAMG Geforce 6200 256MB DDR AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail

D-SUB: 1
DirectX: DirectX 9
DVI: 1
Max Resolution: 2048x1536@85Hz
OpenGL: OpenGL 1.5
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 2000/XP
RAMDAC: 400 MHz
SLI Supported: No
TV-Out: S-Video Out
* Model #: PVT44AWAMG
* $2.99 Three Day Shipping
* Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5Rating + 5[4 reviews]

* Price: $74.00

How about it? :)

GhettoFabulous

10-08-2005, 10:17 PM

> I tried searching for Geforce 6600 cards and they're way out
> of my budget right now; eBay doesn't have any cheap ones at
> the moment... so I started poking around NewEgg.com and saw
> this:

It's a lot better than your Geforce4 MX performance wise. It should play some of the latest games without a problem (FEAR, Doom3, Battlefield 2). My Geforce 6600 plays Doom3 without a hitch on my shitty setup.

Kitsune Sniper

10-08-2005, 10:23 PM

> It's a lot better than your Geforce4 MX performance wise.
> It should play some of the latest games without a problem
> (FEAR, Doom3, Battlefield 2). My Geforce 6600 plays Doom3
> without a hitch on my shitty setup.

I don't really need a new CPU anyways, I have an Athlon XP 2500 (2.4Ghz) - all I need to buy is a new heatsink/fan combo. :D

I'm pretty sure I'll buy this one then (maybe another brand, not sure yet!). I'm still open to suggestions, though!

IndeX

10-08-2005, 11:46 PM

> My Geforce 6600 AGP will blow your FX 5600 out of the water
> any day.

I had no idea this was a competition. <img src=smilies/upeyes.gif>

He was asking for a cheap card that is better than his, not which card would blow someone elses card out of the water.

Cornellius

10-09-2005, 04:08 AM

NViadia for Linux and ati for wundows dum dum dum

CEpeep

10-10-2005, 01:41 AM

> I'm pretty sure I'll buy this one then (maybe another brand,
> not sure yet!). I'm still open to suggestions, though!
>

The 6200s are pretty lame. I'd suggest looking at some benchmarks for what you want to do/play with it and then decide.

Kitsune Sniper

10-10-2005, 02:33 AM

> The 6200s are pretty lame. I'd suggest looking at some
> benchmarks for what you want to do/play with it and then
> decide.

I think the most demanding game I'll be playing will be The Punisher. And MAME. And that's it, really. Most of my games are old and don't require steroid infused video cards. ^^;

Blade556

10-10-2005, 03:15 AM

http://www.hardoverclock.org/pics/articles/3dfxtribute/3dfxtribute_voodoo2.jpg

This thing works wonders for ANYTHING I throw at it. Definitely a must buy.Edited by Blade556 on 10/09/05 11:15 PM.

GhettoFabulous

10-10-2005, 03:40 AM

> This thing works wonders for ANYTHING I throw at it.
> Definitely a must buy.
>

I'm not sure if this was meant to be sarcasm, but HAHAHAHAHA.

MegaManJuno

10-10-2005, 03:53 AM

> The 6200s are pretty lame. I'd suggest looking at some
> benchmarks for what you want to do/play with it and then
> decide.

While I still think that the GF6600 is probably a better buy performance+features vs. price, I think it's also fair to say the GF6200 will be a hell of a lot better solution than the GF4MX he has now. Especially in the budget he's looking at. The AGP GF6600s seem to be around double the GF6200s price from what I've seen.

Kitsune, if you go with the GF6200 just make sure you get one of the "real" ones and not one of the reduced memory "Turbocache" ones. Performance ratings I've seen on those "Turbocache" models really blow hard.Edited by MegaManJuno on 10/10/05 12:00 AM.

Kitsune Sniper

10-10-2005, 03:58 AM

> This thing works wonders for ANYTHING I throw at it.
> Definitely a must buy.

My first real video card was a 3DFX Voodoo 3 16MB AGP card.

Don't you fuck around with them. ;_;

Kitsune Sniper

10-10-2005, 04:01 AM

> While I still think that the GF6600 is probably a better buy
> performance+features vs. price, I think it's also fair to
> say the GF6200 will be a hell of a lot better solution than
> the GF4MX he has now. Especially in the budget he's looking
> at. The AGP GF6600s seem to be around double the GF6200s price from what I've seen.

Yeah, that's what I'm getting right now as well. X_x I actually got $30 extra to spend but even then, the prices are TOO HIGH!

I've settled on a GeForce 6200 card. I'm just looking around to see if I should get one with 128MB or 256 MB of RAM. :)

Kitsune Sniper

10-10-2005, 05:27 AM

I ended up buying http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130233this</A>, an AGP eVGA Geforce 6200 256-A8-N341-LX. It's got 256MB of RAM, which should suffice... I couldn't find much info on it, but it doesn't seem to have that thing MegaManJuno warned me about (Turbocache). Also bought a new Thermaltake heatsink and ten system fans (they were cheaper to buy than three - $9.90 and free shipping for 10 vs. $13 shipped for 3). I hope the order gets processed tomorrow.

By the way, the reviews for the card at that site say that it was bought to run "BF2". What the hell is that?

Anyway, thanks.

Maxwell Murder

10-10-2005, 05:30 AM

> it was bought to run "BF2". What the hell is that?

Battlefield 2.

MegaManJuno

10-10-2005, 05:40 AM

Come to think of it, the Turbocache ones might be limited to PCI-E. I'd have to look it up again to be certain. In any case, I'm pretty sure they all had 64MB or less on board, and pulled the rest from system memory, so you should be fine with that board.

GhettoFabulous

10-10-2005, 05:43 AM

> Don't you fuck around with them. ;_;

Heh, what does that mean? I also have a 3DFX Voodoo3 AGP video card, but it seems to work fine for the games it plays.

GhettoFabulous

10-10-2005, 05:45 AM

> I ended up buying this, an AGP eVGA Geforce 6200
> 256-A8-N341-LX. It's got 256MB of RAM

Good choice, and don't listen to what other people say, it's actually a really decent card for the price. Nvidia makes pretty good drivers for their cards.

Kitsune Sniper

10-10-2005, 02:07 PM

> Heh, what does that mean? I also have a 3DFX Voodoo3 AGP
> video card, but it seems to work fine for the games it
> plays.

I meant that he shouldn't make fun of them. :P

Blade556

10-10-2005, 03:39 PM

Definitely not something to be taken lightly.

Raise your fists in the glory of nVidia. Salute your masters, for they have given us gold <img src=smilies/cry.gif>Edited by Blade556 on 10/10/05 12:13 PM.