New card advice. Budget/Performance

[knight76]

Ive got two computers set up at home. One is used primarily for games and the other is used for the intrenet and the rest.

I want a new video card for the net computer. This computer does play some games at times for lans and when we are in the mood to kill at home. I would like it to be able to run lord of the rings battle for middle earth at around the medium settings. I have a Geforce 2Ti in it at the moment but can go to a 9200 SE that I have laying around.

Computer is a 1.41g with 256 mb ram. I would probably have to go to 512 for better performance in such games and thats fine.

What a god cheapo card.

 

[wtf8269]

Well a Godly card would be an x850 XT PE AGP. But a cheapo would be something more like a Sapphire 9800 pro for about $160.

 

[Deleted member 3]

Previous topics suggested a 6800LE, it's about 200 euros. If your budget doesn't allow that the 9800 series might be nice or even a 9600 pro.
More ram wouldn't hurt either.

 

[gR3iF]

hm why not go on a 6600gt?
but for low budget there would be a 9600 pro or 9600

 

[knight76]

ok. thanks for the advice.

 

[Jimmy 2004]

Or try a 9550. They're cheap, overclock well and can play most games on at least medium settings with a good framerate. Cost much less than the cards above and if you aren't using your PC for gaming much, one of them would be good.

 

[grazzhoppa]

9800 pro 128mb is the best budget/performance card now.

$127 shipping included for just the card. $130 shipping included for the retail box.

http://www.pricewatch.com/h/prc.aspx?i=37&a=5307

The best budget/performance sub $100 vid card is the 9550 256mb.

$70 shipping included.

http://www.pricewatch.com/h/prc.aspx?i=37&a=6074

stay away from the 9550 128mb and 9600se because their memory interface is 64bit - it kills their performance. I also dont recommend the geforceFX series, as they don't work correctly with some newer games using directx 9 features.

 

[one2]

a normal 6600 will be good enough
(... if you want more, than go with 6600gt -> x800(xl) ...)

 

[grazzhoppa]

a normal 6600 will be good enough

Yes it would. But a normal 6600 is the same price as a 9800 pro, which kills a normal 6600 in performance.

 

[one2]

Yes it would. But a normal 6600 is the same price as a 9800 pro, which kills a normal 6600 in performance.

well not here
... 6600 is like 40-50% cheaper

9800pro is still the same price as 6600gt

-it's really crazy, 'cos in here i can't get x800xl for less than 440 $

 

[gR3iF]

hm 319 here:
http://www1.alternate.de/html/shop/productDetails.html?artno=JAGU16&

 

[nixus]

How much are you looking to spend? Is your motherboard AGP or PCI-Express?

Options:
1) x800 xl ~$300 - very powerful with excellent performance
2) 6600 GT - $170 very good performance
3) 6600 non-GT - $120-130 - not too bad when overclocked

Your rig is going to limit your gaming since it's not very powerful by today's standards. Even with a powerful card you are still going to be cpu limited which will translate into lower fps.

Please state the board you are using and the processor and we'll be able to give you better advice.

 

[one2]

if you have AGP, don't buy X models from ATI!!! ... PCI-e is by ATI 10 % better!
(nVidia don't have that big difference between agp/pci-e)

 

[chrispycrunch]

Your computer is slow overall but you can play most games. Up your memory to 512 - you'll notice a difference.

Get a 9800 pro. I've read of 9800XT mods also but right now it's at a good price and performs very well.

 

[knight76]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I bought a 9800pro. Just waiting for it to arrive now.

 

[xtreme126]

dear god one2.....
hows does your card run?!?!

i need to buy a new card, im guessing, if you read my other thread, (please do if you are goodwith ati agp cards please do )

i was looking into an ati radeon 9600xt, cheap and are good by the looks of it

http://www.planetprices.co.uk/hardware/1048/2100257/1/Any-Radeon-9600-XT-256MB.html#

£73.54 (GBP) 256mb ram too

the heatsink can be improved, but there are alot of options out there to repalce it with so sall good i suppose

but pelase read my other thread if you are good with ati cards

 

[gR3iF]

a 96 is a bit old fashioned if u like to play without aa and af then its right otherwise take 98se or pro

 

[knight76]

Ive also decided to upgrade my pc to an amd64 based system. Going for the amd64 3000+ or 3200+ depending on price.

That base with the 9800 pro should work well.

 

[xtreme126]

ive got a problem with the 9800 pro, my budget it £75 GBP (prox $140) max :s

on that note im selling ram itw not great ram, 512mb ddr pc2700 333mhz, if anybody is interested pelase pm me goes towards my gfx fund
#
on that note, and i quote

"Coincidentally, both of our motherboards have the nVidia nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset. I'm not spouting conspiracy theories, but I wonder if the chipset has anything to do with it..."
those 2 peopel ahve the same board, and problem as i do....hmmmmmmmmm