Advise on Graphics Card

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Hi,

I've not got a high spec PC, it manages fairly well and I recently upgraded the hard drive.

It's a PackardBell Imedia 4606 (2002)
Celeron 1.1Ghz
512MB RAM

It doesn't have a AGP port, so I'm limited to PCI for my graphics card.

I currently have an nvidia Geforce2 MX 400, and was wondering if you had any recommendations for an upgrade?

I am aware that this isn't ever going to be an amazing games machine, and there's no point spending a great deal of money. However, there do seem to be a few good deals to be had, just not sure what's best.

Thanks
Elian

 

Consider the FX5200. It should be a good upgrade from what you have now. I think that's pretty much it for PCI...unless it is the express type.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130188

 

Thanks I'll check it out.

Elian

 

I'm happy to try the older games..

I've played IWD2, NWN, quite happily and even
X2: The threat works well.

Thinking of getting Morrowind GOTYE .... but stay away from the really new stuff. I've checked the current card is supported, but probably be awefull to play on. It's one of the drivers for the upgrade.

I'm crap at completing games anyway, trying not to get another one until I've finished one.

thanks for the tips.
Elian

 

For older games, I know that at least GeForce 4 Ti-4600 does the job very well, being the old flagship of nVidia 5 years back. Pretty cheap too, costing used 50 bucks at maximum.

 

GeForce 4 was launched in 2002. But indeed, the GF4 Ti 4600 still is a decent card. I have a GF4 Ti 4200 (with faster memory) myself, which is enough for every game that I play. However, we are looking for cards that use the PCI bus, GF 4 Ti -series use AGP.

 

Hi,

Thanks for the info on Geforce 4.

I've checked up on the FX 5200, apparently a 250 Watts PSU is required. The one in my box is a max of 215 Watts (what a strange limit to select). So either I upgrade the PSU as well or find a card that's happy under 250 Watts.
Finding the power requirements is a hard thing to track down even from the tech specifications.


Perhaps the Geforce 4 series is more apt for my machine.

Once again thanks for the useful info.

Elian

 

Just to spite you all, I'll disagree with everyone and recommend an ATI instead. I run an X800 Platinum. It runs Doom 3 at maximum graphs without any problems. ATI kicks ass. Nuff said.

 

Yes, but the card we are looking for here must be standard PCI. I tried to locate one in PCI and had no luck.

 

The only ATI card I've found from a retailer are:

128MB ATI Sapphire 9250 *PCI* DVI

How would that rate?


The other non Nvidia chipset I've found is a:

64M Sapphire Radeon 7000 DDR PCI VGA D-Sub/DVI/TVO

Think I'll stay with the Fx or Geforce 4 range.

cheers
Elian.

 

Considering the CPU you have, anything that's less than 3 years old is overkill. You'll have a graphic card that can do wonders but a system that simply cannot keep up. Keep in mind that speed is bottlenecked at the slowest component.

You may want to keep in mind that performance and image quality with specific games will significantly vary depending on which DirectX version is fully hardware-supported by each card. Radeon 7000 is DX7. Radeon 9250 and Geforce 4 series are DX8. GeForce FX 5200 is DX9, and while it will not run any DX9 game with full details on, it will probably manage most of them quite well at low detail setting (and besides, at higher settings your FSB and CPU won't handle the data stream anyway).

The FX5200 is the best of the bunch, really. Failing that, I think the Geforce 4 MX400 and the Radeon 9250 are mostly the same. I would advise against the Radeon 7000, since price difference will be very small anyway. So, if you don't want the FX5200 due to power consumption, the choice between the 9250 and the MX400 is really down to whether your prefer Nvidia or ATI products, because I think both will perform equally well.

 

Well, seems I'm the only ATI fan here...

Go for the ATI. I've had only one GeForce and I quickly swapped it for a Radeon. Not being able to play Doom 3 with max quality graph seriously pissed me off. Not to mention the graphic glitches (for the record, it was a FX5200). So, I unceremoniously ripped (figuratively) the GeForce and dropped it back in it's box, went to the shop where I worked, and purchased an X800 Platinum for my hard-earned, cold, hard cash. Never regretted it a single second.

 

I've had one ATI card, the 9600XT, which I returned after 30 days for a GeForce FX5900 (same price). Games such as Icewind Dale, BGII and Planscape support 32 bit color in 2D scene rendering. Unfortunately, the Radeon card did not (24 bit only). To my eyes, there was a noticeable difference in the appearance of these games. The nVidia card just looks nicer in these games. Now I have a GeForce 6800, which is awesome, IMO.

 

Just as there was a considerable difference in my running Doom 3 on a FX 5200 and on a X800 platinum. With the FX5200, I had horrible glitches and lags, and I have nothing of the sort to complain with my X800. The game runs fluid, and the graphs are beautiful. As for the Radeon not supporting 32-bit colors, I cannot say, mine supports it.

 

The battle of the ATI and Nvidia fans

Seriously people, we're talking about a Celeron 1.1 Ghz here. You want to plug an X800 or a 6800 with that CPU?

And remember, no AGP slot in the motherboard! PCI only.

 

Yes, in 3D. When I had the 9600XT it did not support 32bit in the games I mentioned. In fact, I did not even get that option in the game options panel. Perhaps there has been a driver update since then that will support it. As there are many members on this board who have an interest in playing these games, I'm sure that 32 bit color may make a difference to them....

 

Thanks guys for all your input. I do value it. especially Ziad for showing exactly where the benefits may be gained and where the bottlenecks will occur.

I think will go for a FX 5200 and see what comes of it. Possibly risking a PSU issue - but I feel that that can corrected later if it becomes an issue.

If the thread is still around when I get the card in the box, I let you know whether it was worth the trouble.

Here's hoping
Elian

 

Hi, searching on Ebuyer.com found that they offered FX5500 as well as the FX5200 for the PCI interface.

Is there any difference between these cards?

cheers
Elian