What Video Card?

[Fairlane]

I know this is a bit off on AFF, but im short of time and ive got no idea what to get as a replacement Videocard for my PC.

I only built the thing 12 months ago, but the graphics cards has already bit the big one (Asus Radeon X850 Pro) and committed hurri kurri whilst i was playing NFS Carbon, leaving me using the old box.

Anyhow i was wondering what kind of graphics card $350-500 can get you these days- its doesnt get that much of a work out really, but it will have to keep up with a Dual Core AMD 3800, 1GB of DDR and PCI-E Gigabyte K8N Pro board.

*Im short of time, as well ill have to get the thing when im down in Sydney tomorrow

[Falcon_Phill]

A 7800 GT you will get for under $500, i use one, runs every game to date smoothly. If you want to go a few more hundred, get a Geforce 8 series that are very new.

[Professor Farnsworth]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

I know this is a bit off on AFF, but im short of time and ive got no idea what to get as a replacement Videocard for my PC.

I only built the thing 12 months ago, but the graphics cards has already bit the big one (Asus Radeon X850 Pro) and committed hurri kurri whilst i was playing NFS Carbon, leaving me using the old box.

Anyhow i was wondering what kind of graphics card $350-500 can get you these days- its doesnt get that much of a work out really, but it will have to keep up with a Dual Core AMD 3800, 1GB of DDR and PCI-E Gigabyte K8N Pro board.

*Im short of time, as well ill have to get the thing when im down in Sydney tomorrow

i've got an Asus 7900GT which i picked up for about $416 from MSY in melbourne. they should be cheaper now. It's a pretty solid card, and runs NFS MW full graphics, AA, AF etc at 1440x900 without breaking a sweat. It also runs Flight Sim X at more than 15fps which (if you've read reviews of this game) is saying something!!

if you want some more help pm me.

[Bill_R]

Whatever you get - make sure you get the full benefit from Windows Vista with it. Most cards are compatible - even my old Nvidia 6200 works ok with it.

[S3SR]

XFX 7950GT for $450ish its one of them
they come standard overclocked -
+ warranty for the fastest performing card thats overclocked
+ its proven to be stable at that speed
+ its cheap
+ the best (single) card on the market
- may need additional cooling
- may take a bit of space
- will make your friends very jealous

2nd best card or go the 7950GTX? the dual card setup (dual card but only needs one pic-e slot) = few hundred on top...cant go wrong

[pauljh74]

I've got a 6600GT with an Athlon 64 3000+ and am playing NFS Carbon at medium to high detail at 1024x768. The 7950GT is very good bang for the buck right now and the 7600GT would be the best budget gaming card out there now.

For less than $500 you can get a 512MB 7950GT from somewhere like MSY computers if you just want the part and will install it yourself.

[jones_aus]

gotta make sure you get the right type of card, does the motherboard have AGP or PCI express? might be hard to find a decent vid card for AGP these days.

ps i have a geforce 6800 wich i got a little while ago. pretty good card plays most with graphics turned up high, 2 of my friends have just got a 7600GT, only about $200 and is pretty good.

[Full Spectrum]

Originally Posted by Fairlane

I know this is a bit off on AFF, but im short of time and ive got no idea what to get as a replacement Videocard for my PC.

I only built the thing 12 months ago, but the graphics cards has already bit the big one (Asus Radeon X850 Pro) and committed hurri kurri whilst i was playing NFS Carbon, leaving me using the old box.

Anyhow i was wondering what kind of graphics card $350-500 can get you these days- its doesnt get that much of a work out really, but it will have to keep up with a Dual Core AMD 3800, 1GB of DDR and PCI-E Gigabyte K8N Pro board.

*Im short of time, as well ill have to get the thing when im down in Sydney tomorrow

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ATI-Radeon-X1...QQcmdZViewItem

[Falcon_Phill]

Wouldnt reccomend an ATI card. When I had one it was more trouble than it was worth.

[uranium_death]

We had a GeForce 2 when we got this PC back in 2001.

This machine is highly adequate for surfing and business crap.

But since I am an addicted gamer and play EverQuest II (which is VERY demanding), I had to get rid of the GeForce 2 (well, we kept it and is a backup) and i got a Radeon 9600XT Vivo. It's not a great card, but I got it at the end of 2004 when this motherboard was already out of date. Since this motherboard only supports SD RAM or Rambus, it was pointless getting any expensive card or the pc wouldn't make full use of it.

It cost about 220 dollars. Good enough. EQ2 runs bad, but that's more of a RAM problem. 512 SD RAM is not enough!

[Fairlane]

Looks like ill head for a Geforce 7800/7900 then.

Im sick of ATI, this is the third ATI based card that died on me (Ive had a 8500 and a 9500 die on me previously), so Nvidia it is now. Hopefully it should be able to handle NFS Carbon, Flight Sim X and X3 quite well.

gotta make sure you get the right type of card, does the motherboard have AGP or PCI express? might be hard to find a decent vid card for AGP these days.

and yeah its a PCI-Express card im looking for

[S3SR]

Nvidia cards are actually what most game makers aim for, ATI is now just 'the other' brand and ive never been or recommend them.

good luck, and remember with those bigger cards they NEED a molex 'straight through' from the PSU not a shared one...i learnt the hard way, and give them space to breath and if necessary you may want to heat sink the BGA ramdacs that arent cooled by the fan...$15 will save you another $500 to replace the card

[pauljh74]

Originally Posted by jones_aus

gotta make sure you get the right type of card, does the motherboard have AGP or PCI express? might be hard to find a decent vid card for AGP these days.

Pretty sure the X series cards from Ati are all PCI express. The 9600,9700 and 9800 series were AGP, as well as the older 9550 and 9200.

[Full Spectrum]

I got a agp X-series 1300 ATI. 256mb ddr2. Replaced my dead Leadtek A170 mx440 nvidia G4 that died. My original G-force 2 still works in my mums pc.
The ATI X1300 is the best car i have had and i was nerves as my mate just bought one before me 6 months earlier and it died on him not long after.

[BeStRaFe]

i can get you second hand 7800gtx's for around 300$ each

[BeStRaFe]

i am a computer guy

pm me or msn if you need advice

[XR06T]

so whats the best agp vid card to get??

radion or nvidia??
how can i tell if my puter has pci slots?

[BeStRaFe]

BLACK = AGP - OLD Graphics Interface
WHITE = PCI - This is the old pci for network cards and such



BLACK (BIG ONE) = PCI EXPRESS 16x :Videocards and High Bandwith Cards (this is what you want if you are upgrading videocards and your motherboard supports it)
White = PCI
BLACK (SMALL ONE) = PCI EXPRESS :network cards, firewire cards and such

[BeStRaFe]

the "best" agp card that is still easily avalible is the nvidia 6600GT (AGP)
there are others out there like the AMD/ATI Radeon x1300/X1600
they are better in image qualiuty but lacking in peformance.

[Dave_au]

Originally Posted by BeStRaFe

the "best" agp card that is still easily avalible is the nvidia 6600GT (AGP)

I disagree with you there - Inno3d has an AGP range available of the 7XXX series - I know the 7600GS is usually on par with the 6600GT in the far majority of cases.

They also have a 7800GS available, so as logic would dictate that would offer even more bacon

reviews:
http://www.ngohq.com/home.php?page=a...ead&arc_id=116
http://www.overclockers.com.au/article.php?id=511088

[McobraR]

Who cares about PCI-Express and AGP when I've got SHARED MEMORY!!!!!!!!! LOL