which video card?

Hi,

I want to upgrade my video card, as the game I play most (EQ2) looks and plays pretty badly with my current Nvidea GeForce4 TI4200 - any help on this would be much appreciated.

My machine has a Pentium4 2.53G chip on an Asus P4B 533 motherboard, Creative 5.1 sound and a 40GB harddrive. I'm looking for a cheap graphic upgrade (perhaps £100/$200) without needing to upgrade any of my other hardware.

I'm not worried if its Radion or GeForce, just that I get the best for my buck!

Thanks in advance

 

Your best bet would probably be a 6600GT.

eVGA 6600GT for $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220

I don't know where to buy in the UK, but you could probably get a similar price.

 

Thanks for the suggestion - anyone else?

 

You could get yourself a geforce fx 5700le 128 mb ddr video card at newegg for around $80.00 it looks good and plays good for a card at that price.

 

Thats pretty much missleading, since a 4200-> 5700LE isnt a huge diffrence. LE cards are watered down versions of the original cards, plus the FX series was only marginal in improvements over the generation behind it.

150-180$ gets you a 6800 in websites from the states, alot better then a 6600gt for future games and what not, for example that prices is found at newegg.com /zipzoomfly.com / monarchcomputers.com ; not sure how good of a price can you find in euro.

 

I recommend instead: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102289

 

However, one disadvantage with Radeon's is that they don't support Shader Model 3, which on games like Far Cry makes a difference.

Anyway, that card isn't even a Pro or XT, and is starting to show it's age. You can get much better than that.

 

Price is my main concern, and I don't play games like Far Cry. I made a jump straight from a Voodoo3 mind, so really any improvement was great. It's still a newer card than his, and still more powerful. By the time he has to upgrade again, even more powerful cards will be available.

 

Your main concerns and what you play don't matter.

You are recommending a card to someone, it's his concerns that matter.

Why would anyone want to buy a dated card unless they are buying it second-hand?

 

i believe also that the 6600gt card would do nicely for you I had one in my rig till about 2 weeks ago and it did very well for a budget middle of the road card

 

Because from the sound of his posts, we play very similar games. So I feel very confident in recommending the card. And at the same time, what is the point of buying the best card in the world, if you're not going to use it's fullest potential. If he wants to buy something better, he's free to do so. I'm simply recommending this, as a lower priced alternative, to buying something he might not need.

 

No one said to him to get the "best card in the world" as you stated.

A 6600 GT is far from that.

He says that he plays EQ, his GeForce4 TI4200 can't handle it, and he has £100/$200 for a "cheap upgrade".

If you think that 9600 XT is an upgrade and suits his machine or his requirements, then you don't know your hardware.

 

Thanks again for replies - Im still listening

The 6600 and low end 6800 talk of being 8-pipe, while a little extra cash would get me 12 or 16-pipe. Would this make a difference in games like EQ2?

Also I have 1g RAm, and a friend said upgrading that to 2g would make more difference than getting a new card. Any thoughts?

 

Absolutely NOT. 2gig of RAM vs. 1 gig of RAM is not going to make your games play better, or look nicer. The video card is definitely the way to go.

Have a look at some benchmarks:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html

It has anything from an FX5700 and a 9600 Pro to a 6800 Ultra and an X850 XT PE. It looks like the 6800 beats the 6600GT in every test, and the 9600 Pro/XT is not even in the same ballpark.

 

I'm currently using an FX 5600 XT 128mb in a 2.4 Ghz Athlon with 768 ram.

Can anyone confirm if I'm likely to see a big increase in gaming graphics if I upgrade to a 6600GT (128) or am I best off going straight for a 6800?

Price is an issue and I'm not a particularly heavy gamer but if I'm shelling out £100 for a new card I want to see quite a big difference (Doom 3 on something other than lowest for everything would be nice!).

EDIT - thanks for the benchmarks site. I'll be looking at this...

 

im using a 6600GT and it plays pretty much any game I throw at it - obviously games like doom3 and hl2 are not going to play at 1280x1024 with all bells and whistles turned on, but still plays good enough for me.

also increasing your ram will make the games load faster, but not play any better.

 

After looking a the benchmarks the 6600GT looks like a clear winner to me if you are looking for the cheapest card that performs as a good all rounder...

Certainly looks like it'll beat the pants off my current one... anyone have thoughts on fanless cards? Like this...

http://www.quietpc.com/uk/components.php#graphics

(apologies if this looks like a store ad. I have nothing to do with the store and have not shopped there yet... feel free to remove the link if you feel like it)

 

I'm not a big believer in going without a fan if you can help it, but it depends on the airflow in your case. If you've got other fans, you shouldn't need one, but I'd personally spend the extra few bucks if you can get one with a fan.

 

Guys start another thread. It's not fair to the author to hijack his post and take it into another direction.

Algenon, if the extra money isn't an issue, then go for the 6800, otherwise the 6600 GT is the next best.

As far as RAM, generally there is no advantage going from 1 GB RAM to 2 GB RAM, however, a lot of people who play EQ say this is one game that seems to benefit from it.

I don't play it, so I can't offer any advice, however, the game itself recommends 512.

 

Yeah, if you've got double the recommended amount you're usually golden.

 

Ok heres the thing about EQ2... NO VIDEOCARD ON THE MARKET CURRENTLY CAN DELIVER MAX PERFORMANCE... Theres a setting in game (extreme quality) which is designed for FUTURE cards... The X800GT 256MB DDR3 AND 6800GT 256MB DDR3 card both had an extremely difficult time running this game... Due to its phenominal graphics... So if you can upgrade to pci-e, get the X800GT for only 150.... Or just stick with AGP.... A 6600GT and up would be good nVIDIA wise... where a 9600XT and up would be good....

Check out :
www.pricewatch.com
www.clubit.com
www.pricegrabber.com
www.monarchcomputer.com
www.allstarshoponline.com
www.xpcgear.com

I think those have all the BEST deals...