Grahpics Card?

[Nachtschleicher]

I currently have a NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro graphics card. I'm looking to update the card for less than $ 100, and I found a good deal (I think) in the Circuit City sales paper.

They're offering a GeForce FX 5200 128 MB DDR AGP video card for $ 70 after mail in rebates. Is this card any better than the one I've got, even by a little bit?

I was planning (if the card is worth it) to go buy it, put it in the computer myself, and give the old card to a friend who has no graphics whatsoever.

If you want more information about my graphics card, you're going to have to tell me how to get it, because that's as much as I know. Sorry.

Thanks for your time, and have a good 'un!

[aarchaon]

Yes, that card IS better than the one you already have, by quite a bit. It is the best budget card around. I was going to get one, but I decided to wait until I have finished upgrading my current system, then I will see how much money I have left. Do you have any more info on the GeForceFX? Some manufacturers of the card are different to others. Something I heard is that some manufacturers include a flipchip, whatever that is, but its bad for performance, so you will need to find a manufacturer that doesnt include them. Something else that you will need to find out is whether your current motherboard will support the card, and this doesn't necessarily mean AGP speed. I had troubles with my current card even though on the box it said that it supported 2x AGP. The FSB on my motherboard wasn't fast enough, so I had to use Coolbits to slow the card down.

[Lasereth]

The FX 5200 would not be that big of an increase from your current card. The FX 5200 is known as the worthless card of the new budget cards that NVIDIA released. You can get them online for $30 without rebates. Trust me, they're pieces of shit. Not to mention the one you found isn't even an Ultra, even though they aren't worth getting either!

If you truly want a good graphics card for $100, buy a GeForce 4 TI4200. You can find them on the Internet, but you won't find them in-store anywhere. Please, please don't buy the FX 5200. Check out www.newegg.com and see if they have any TI4200s in your price range. Go for the 64 MB version. Good luck!

-Lasereth

[Finchie]

AnandTech has a pretty good review of some budget cards here:
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1933&p=30

You should consider a Ti4200. According to pricegrabber.com, there are a few under $100. If you want the card to last awhile though, I'd suggest waiting awhile and saving $50 to get the ATI Radeon 9600 pro. That's supposed to be a pretty good card.

[Lasereth]

Originally posted by Finchie
If you want the card to last awhile though, I'd suggest waiting awhile and saving $50 to get the ATI Radeon 9600 pro. That's supposed to be a pretty good card.

The TI4200 is better for today's games, but the 9600 may come in handy a year or so from now. Most of the games out right now are only using DirectX 9 as a visual enhancement, not as a core mechanic. A 9600 wouldn't perform nearly as good as a TI4200 in most games, but DirectX 9-heavy games would play a bit better with it. I'd still go with a TI4200 for now.

-Lasereth

[ChrisJericho]

Definetely do NOT buy a Geforce 5200. Even though it's a new card which supports Direct X 9, it performs HORRIBLY.

The ti4200 is a good card, I sold mine to a friend this summer in order to attain funds to buya radeon 9800. The ti4200 64 meg was still performing well, but I wanted something with a more powerful chipset and memory speed. In your case I would definetly recommend saving another $50 like Finchie said and getting a 9600 Pro.

Another thing you should know is that just because a video card has 128 megs of RAM doesn't make it fast. There are numerous other things to consider as well. The main factor is the video processor on the chip and how many calculations it can perform, how well it handles pixel shading etc etc. Also you want to look at the speed of the RAM and how big the interface between the RAM and the graphics processor is. You really should do your homework before buying a video card because there are so many things to take into account.

You should visit www.tomshardware.com for some excellent video card reviews that will help you with the purchase.

[ChrisJericho]

This video card review on tomshardware is especially good.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

[Lasereth]

Originally posted by ChrisJericho
This video card review on tomshardware is especially good.

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

I just realized that Tom's put out a new guide! I read the entire article, and I can honestly say that I'm 100% confused now.

The article goes against the other tests that have been ran up to 6 months ago. Now the 9600 Pro/XT is doing better than the GeForce 4 TI series? When did this start? I simply don't understand. The 9600 series has always did decent, but never as good as the GF4 TI series. Now Tom's is proving that the 9600 Pro/XT is above the TI? Like I said before, I'm confused. The benchmarks ran weren't new or anything. I'll have to read the article again to see what's different.

-Lasereth

[ChrisJericho]

Perhaps because there are more Direct X9 tests now.

[Lasereth]

Originally posted by ChrisJericho
Perhaps because there are more Direct X9 tests now.

That would be the obvious solution, but the 9600 is even doing better in UT2K3, Battlefield 1942, etc. Those games are purely DirectX 8! I read the article again and it still doesn't explain any differences. I wish I had the extra money to shell out for a 9600 XT. I'd buy it and see how it does, then return it if it sucks on current games.

-Lasereth