Please recommend a budget videocard

Lukas

Real Name No Gimmicks
Joined
30 Jan 2002
Messages
421
Hi guys,

Could anyone of you recommend me a good, low-priced video card? I'm not looking for top-notch performance, but I'd like to be able to run Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow smoothly on minimum 800x600 and get framerate above the current 30 fps in Ravenshield @ 1024x768.

My config is:

AMD XP 2000+ @ 1720 Mhz
512 Mb DDR Ram @ 333 Mhz
MSI KT4 Ultra 2
MSI nVidia GeForce 4 MX
Windows XP SP1 Pro


Do you guys think I should upgrade the cpu? Or would a new GeForce FX do the trick?
 
I would recommend a Radeon 9600 pro. Fast and the most bang for your buck (IMHO)

I would stay away from nvidia for a while.
 
I can get an MV Radeon 9200se 128 Mb. 8x AGP TV-out for 54 €

and

Point Of View Geforce FX-5200 128 Mb. DDR TV-Out for 58.60 €

Does the brandname does make a difference? I mean MSI vs. Point of View? Im not talking about bundled software, only performance...


thnx again.



Greetz


Lukas
 
i would go with an ATI 9600.
an ati 9200 would be okay, it gets reasonable frame rate on ut2004 (above 30fps) on highest settings, but my friend says it struggles to keep far cry above 25FPS, im not sure how it would cope with splinter cell
i would avoid nvidia cards for the time being
 
I would stay away from the bottom of the line cards from both companies. they just don't do any real good for a system if you plan on playing games or using graphic intensive software...save your pennies and go 9600 pro or wait til later this month or next when the next gen cards come out and you might see something worth while at a good price or something that is out now might drop a little...there also is the 9700 pro and non pro might still be around
 
All the cards with the same numbering will perform the same. The difference will be in quality of manufacturing (how long the board may last).

Avoid anything with an SE on the end. It stands for substandard edition. They intentionally choke the speed out of the basic chipset by making an bottleneck.

At the under 60 price range (that's about $100 USD right?). There is limited performance. Anything you buy should be a 2x speed increase over the MX card. Again avoid any SE cards they are badly crippled.

Use this link to get a relative speed indicaiton for cards you are considering:

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

And remember that in your price range don't expect the cards to run the next generation "full DX9" games well.
 
DarkMaster said:
i would go with an ATI 9600.
an ati 9200 would be okay, it gets reasonable frame rate on ut2004 (above 30fps) on highest settings, but my friend says it struggles to keep far cry above 25FPS, im not sure how it would cope with splinter cell
i would avoid nvidia cards for the time being

on unreal tournament 2004, i run this ati radeon 9200, as far as framerate is concerned, putting more ram in my machine is what fixed it for me. i now have a gig of ram, same with my friend, who as a 9800 xt, same problem, up the ram and it works great on all the highest settings
 
Lukas said:
IPoint Of View Geforce FX-5200 128 Mb. DDR TV-Out for 58.60 €

no no no - don't do it :eek: I had that card in my machine from new and it is really not going to give you the step up you need. I'd second all the remarks about the Radeon and myself moved up to a 9700 pro - no regrets at all. I'd only consider Nvidia if going high end. For your budget consider trying to look out a second hand 9700 pro (I managed to, thanks Teddy!) and although you'll still have to beg borrow or save a bit more I think it will be worth it.

Even if you cannot go so far as the Radeon 9700 or something like that do AVOID the FX5200, it is cheaper for a reason and not good value - may not even give you the boost you seek.
 
thnx for your recommendetions all. I save my bucks and buy something better from ATI.

Thnx again!


Greetz


Lukas
 

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