Need Help, About Gfx Cards
[Deleted User]
Join Date: 2003-11-28 Member: 23688
currently i am using a geforce 2 mx 32mb, i havent really updated my comp that i got in 1999.
in ns, i manage to get 50 - 75 fps, but when theres lots of things being built, like turrets and gun fire it droops.
i was wondering if i should get a geforce fx 5200 128mb? thats all i could afford at this time <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
in ns, i manage to get 50 - 75 fps, but when theres lots of things being built, like turrets and gun fire it droops.
i was wondering if i should get a geforce fx 5200 128mb? thats all i could afford at this time <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Comments
I would recommend that if you are going to bother upgrading, save your money and get something higher in the fx range or get something top of the range from the geforce 4 series.
But that is just my humble opinion. Hope it helps.
DON'T. EVER.
But first off we need to know your price range. If you want the best of the best, I suggest looking at one of the ATi Radeon x800 XT's. The Nvidia 6800's are pretty good too. But those cards cost $350+.
Next you come down into the ATi Radeon 9600-9800 cards. These are cheaper then the above mentioned cards, and obviously aren't as good. One really nice card in this range is the ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, which costs around $200-$250. The 9600 XT I'd say is the lowest card performance card that you're gonna want to get if you intend on playing DooM3 or HL2. It costs about $200. My 9800 Pro can easily play DooM3 and the cs:source beta.
If you go any lower then these cards your getting into an area that can't play HL2 or DooM3 very well, which are the target games for most people.
Just remember, don't touch the FX cards. EVER.
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2436182' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon 9600 XT</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2336416' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon 9800 Pro</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2530700' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon x800 Pro</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2537962' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon x800 XT Platinum</a>
I also suggest looking around <a href='http://www.newegg.com' target='_blank'>newegg.com</a>, they have cheap prices and a very large selection of everything.
I have a overclocked albatron geforce fx 5700 ddr 3 ram, I get almost a constant 99-100 fps in ns, I suggest you check out this video card, for the price its worth it.
My comp specs are :
Albatron Geforce FX 5700 128 ddr3
Pentium 4 Processor HP 2.8ghz
512 ddr ram
Sound Blaster LIVE!
and so on and so forth, you can probably get a P4 for about 200-300$ for a decent one, video card 150-200$ and some ram about 80-100$
Athlon 2800+ w/ motherboard = $105-$120, depending on the mobo.
256 MB PC-3200 = $40 or so.
So, if you save your money a little bit longer, you can do an upgrade that will power your system twice as fast as it goes now, for around $160.
Save your money some more and get a radeon 9500 pro on ebay for around $90. I just got mine in, and I'm able to run NS 1024x768 on OpenGL with 4xAA and 6XFSAA around 60 FPS at all times.
That will give you a system able to give you good framerates in most games, and allow you to play HL2 pretty well.
Remember though, with the motherboard, you're getting a cheap board. I've got a cheap board in my older system, it runs great and all, but just remember, buying a cheap board gives you more risk.
Source <a href='http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/radeon-x700xt/index.x?pg=1' target='_blank'>Review and benchmark</a>
AMD athlon 1ghz
geforce 2mx 32mb
384 ram
get about 50 - 75 fps in ns, normaly the higher
Source <a href='http://www.techreport.com/reviews/2004q3/radeon-x700xt/index.x?pg=1' target='_blank'>Review and benchmark</a> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I just now looked at that and the cards were exactly even. What are you smoking?
Look again, only this time look at ALL of the benchs.
He has enough for a freakin' 5200!
Look, I'm serious, do you even know how much a 5200 costs? Around 40-60 bucks.
Jeez, just find a GeForce 2 GTS off eBay or something. Ignore all those other posts, they are completely stupid.
Edit:
You could try finding a GeForce 3 ti 200 for that much as well. It's a lot better, and it'll play NS just fine.
Edit2:
Just for clarity, the NV38s weren't that bad, really. But during the time, they were much more expensive than the 9600+ series, which performed substantially better.
So much for knee in the balls...
Anyways man, save your money and upgrade your whole system for cheap. That graphics card will run Half Life 2, but the processor won't. A 5200 would be a waste, considering the performance increase you would get would not be very large.
However, in the case that you do decide to get a video card instead of saving for a full system upgrade, I'd suggest a GF4ti.
I also suggest looking around <a href='http://www.newegg.com' target='_blank'>newegg.com</a>, they have cheap prices and a very large selection of everything. <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
No they don't - if anything they pricegouge like crazy these days. Newegg isn't what it used to be, but they're decent if you want a low end vidcard. My Gf4mx died so I got an Fx5200 from them for $20 less than any local place had it for.
His original post said NS. Not HL2, or some other DX9 based game.
He just wants to play Natural Selection, and you people are recommending 6600GTs and the such.
I'm serious, I get really **** when I see all these tech-kiddies run around pimping their fanboyish knowledge out as if they knew everything there is to know from anisotropic filtering to vertex shader.
newegg.com is good for getting a spare part (try and find it cheap) or just ONE system. And they carry a warranty, and a very excellent RMA system.
If you want to try your luck, go on eBay and hope that the card will last, try and find one with a warranty intact as well.
His original post said NS. Not HL2, or some other DX9 based game.
He just wants to play Natural Selection, and you people are recommending 6600GTs and the such.
I'm serious, I get really **** when I see all these tech-kiddies run around pimping their fanboyish knowledge out as if they knew everything there is to know from anisotropic filtering to vertex shader.
newegg.com is good for getting a spare part (try and find it cheap) or just ONE system. And they carry a warranty, and a very excellent RMA system.
If you want to try your luck, go on eBay and hope that the card will last, try and find one with a warranty intact as well.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Anyways, go with a 6800 because it has XA-Anistrophic filter dyanimc vertex shading.
i got a geforce 4 ti 4600 128mb for £55 off ebay, hopefully it'l run better than my 5 year old geforce 2 =D
But you do know that the likelyness of NS being ported to HL2 will almost definitely happen now, instantly voiding the purpose of buying that card.
I really think that you should've just saved up for a better card, like a 9600Pro at least.
Oh and x800 cards own 6800's anyday.
So much for knee in the balls...
Anyways man, save your money and upgrade your whole system for cheap. That graphics card will run Half Life 2, but the processor won't. A 5200 would be a waste, considering the performance increase you would get would not be very large.
However, in the case that you do decide to get a video card instead of saving for a full system upgrade, I'd suggest a GF4ti. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
They said that to avoid being called bias. I would recheck the benchmarks and see that the GT really does kick the X700 in the ****. There's just no way to go around those numbers. Even if you believe them to be the slimmest of numbers, it still means that the GT is the dominate card and that you would probably be better off spending your money on the GT.
LOCK-O-MATIC, admins.
But ah, now you're looking into $350+ easy, which not many people will dish out for a graphics card.
But ah, now you're looking into $350+ easy, which not many people will dish out for a graphics card. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Not to mention another $350 for a mobo that supports PCI-Express, and a new processor to use in said mobo.
Not necesarily. The x800s come in both AGP and PCI-E.
DON'T. EVER.
But first off we need to know your price range. If you want the best of the best, I suggest looking at one of the ATi Radeon x800 XT's. The Nvidia 6800's are pretty good too. But those cards cost $350+.
Next you come down into the ATi Radeon 9600-9800 cards. These are cheaper then the above mentioned cards, and obviously aren't as good. One really nice card in this range is the ATi Radeon 9800 Pro, which costs around $200-$250. The 9600 XT I'd say is the lowest card performance card that you're gonna want to get if you intend on playing DooM3 or HL2. It costs about $200. My 9800 Pro can easily play DooM3 and the cs:source beta.
If you go any lower then these cards your getting into an area that can't play HL2 or DooM3 very well, which are the target games for most people.
Just remember, don't touch the FX cards. EVER.
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2436182' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon 9600 XT</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2336416' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon 9800 Pro</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2530700' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon x800 Pro</a>
<a href='http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2537962' target='_blank'>ATi Radeon x800 XT Platinum</a>
I also suggest looking around <a href='http://www.newegg.com' target='_blank'>newegg.com</a>, they have cheap prices and a very large selection of everything. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Note he said 1999 computer, gfx cards like 9800 and 6800 need agp slots, i dont think he has one...
But then if his computer is that old he might only have an AGP 1x or 2x, which I'm pretty sure doesn't even support the x800 AGP versions.
You should be able to find one for pretty cheap. (A lot should be selling used as people upgrade too.)
$82 (don't know this place)
<a href='http://www.gogocity.com/product_details.asp?dept_id=331&pf_id=CO02VDO0228' target='_blank'>http://www.gogocity.com/product_details.as..._id=CO02VDO0228</a>
$70 buy it now from ebay.
<a href='http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=27387&item=5127485344&rd=1' target='_blank'>http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...5127485344&rd=1</a>