I'm going to buy a new Video card to replace my old Radeon 850. It's long past due.
The other specs of the PC are a pentium(R) D CPU 3.40 GHz and 2.00 GB of RAM. I'm wondering if I should just get a newer Radeon card. Any ideas? Preferably something easy to install.
I have a Geforce MX260, it is quite decent altough sliding to be only mid-range soon.
Quote from: Tamas on July 14, 2009, 03:33:55 AM
I have a Geforce MX260, it is quite decent altough sliding to be only mid-range soon.
My PC isn't top of the line anymore so I'll be going fairly low I think.
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 03:38:00 AM
Quote from: Tamas on July 14, 2009, 03:33:55 AM
I have a Geforce MX260, it is quite decent altough sliding to be only mid-range soon.
My PC isn't top of the line anymore so I'll be going fairly low I think.
Still, don't go below a 8600. It should be really cheap nowadays.
AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY TO YOU, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY AN ATI CARD.
Quote from: Tamas on July 14, 2009, 03:42:15 AM
AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY TO YOU, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY AN ATI CARD.
Hmmmm. What are the consequences? :unsure:
Quote from: Monoriu on July 14, 2009, 06:06:13 AM
Quote from: Tamas on July 14, 2009, 03:42:15 AM
AND FOR THE LOVE OF EVERYTHING THAT IS HOLY TO YOU, DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT BUY AN ATI CARD.
Hmmmm. What are the consequences? :unsure:
A non functionning computer. Glitchy drivers & glitchy games that are built by dev using Nvidia cards.
This...seems to explain a lot :weep:
Here Raz...Tom's Hardware regularly does a "best graphics card for the money" article. This one is from June, and is oddly lacking in the "will brick your compter," and "OH GOD DON'T BUY THIS BRAND" department:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-price,2323.html
If you're still using AGP, ATi doesn't support that for their newer cards. I think Sapphire and Colorsomething are the ones who put HD3000's together to use an AGP slot, but the drivers will have to come from those companies, etc. In other words, if you're still using AGP, find whichever GeForce card is the best and still out there in that form (get a new computer).
Don't buy an ATI card. If you are not a gamer you MIGHT avoid problems with them, but if you do play games, you can't have an ATI card.
Quote from: Tamas on July 14, 2009, 09:26:20 AM
Don't buy an ATI card. If you are not a gamer you MIGHT avoid problems with them, but if you do play games, you can't have an ATI card.
:lol: Do you work for nVidia or something?
Don't buy an ATI card. If you are not a gamer you MIGHT avoid problems with them, but if you do play games, you can't have an ATI card.
Quote from: Monoriu on July 14, 2009, 06:06:13 AM
Hmmmm. What are the consequences? :unsure:
You will have all the noise drawbacks associated with living under an airport approach path, but not the convenience of being able to get to the airport quickly.
Quote from: MadBurgerMaker on July 14, 2009, 09:29:07 AM
:lol: Do you work for nVidia or something?
It must either be that, or else he actually bought an ATI card at some point. :P
I didn't find the ATI performance to be inferior at the price point, but the nnoise and heat issues for both my ATI cards were ginormous (yes, i actually bought a second ATI card even after buying one previously! :Embarrass:)
Quote from: grumbler on July 14, 2009, 09:35:02 AM
I didn't find the ATI performance to be inferior at the price point, but the nnoise and heat issues for both my ATI cards were ginormous (yes, i actually bought a second ATI card even after buying one previously! :Embarrass:)
I can't hear anything over the sounds of my case fans that are all starting to crap out. :P
Generally from what I've heard ATI are on paper the better but as said most developers seem to prefer nvidia.
I don't think the difference is too large though. I've got an ATI (2 year old now...) and its working fine. What you get should just depend on what bargains you can find.
My 8600 worked well with a computer of a similar spec until its capacitors blew out 18 months after I got it.
ATI cards equal driver issues, a lot of them, and actually the one time I had one, I had very few of those problems, but still more than with my nvidia cards combined (zero). Plus all my IT-head colleauges had awful experiences with ATI cards.
I've had both ATI and Nvidea. Besides cards dying from eventual old age i never had any troubles with either. Recently (saturday) my Nvidea card died so i went and bought a new one. That one was dead in the box so i went for an exchange and they gave me an option for a better ATI card at the same price so i took it.
So far this thread has been less useful then I hoped. :Embarrass:
Quote from: HVC on July 14, 2009, 11:00:37 AM
I've had both ATI and Nvidea. Besides cards dying from eventual old age
Woah, I've never had that.
My old Voodoo something card from nearly 10 years back is still running in a non-gaming computer even.
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 01:16:46 PM
So far this thread has been less useful then I hoped. :Embarrass:
What kind of slot/interface do you have (I'm blanking on the exact name): AGP? PCI? PCI-E?
That's the first thing we need to know.
Quote from: grumbler on July 14, 2009, 09:35:02 AM
I didn't find the ATI performance to be inferior at the price point, but the nnoise and heat issues for both my ATI cards were ginormous (yes, i actually bought a second ATI card even after buying one previously! :Embarrass:)
You know the definition of insanity right? :P
Quote from: Barrister on July 14, 2009, 02:39:51 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 01:16:46 PM
So far this thread has been less useful then I hoped. :Embarrass:
What kind of slot/interface do you have (I'm blanking on the exact name): AGP? PCI? PCI-E?
That's the first thing we need to know.
PCI
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 06:19:42 PM
Quote from: Barrister on July 14, 2009, 02:39:51 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 01:16:46 PM
So far this thread has been less useful then I hoped. :Embarrass:
What kind of slot/interface do you have (I'm blanking on the exact name): AGP? PCI? PCI-E?
That's the first thing we need to know.
PCI
PCI, not PCI Express?
Quote from: Barrister on July 14, 2009, 06:22:04 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 06:19:42 PM
Quote from: Barrister on July 14, 2009, 02:39:51 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 01:16:46 PM
So far this thread has been less useful then I hoped. :Embarrass:
What kind of slot/interface do you have (I'm blanking on the exact name): AGP? PCI? PCI-E?
That's the first thing we need to know.
PCI
PCI, not PCI Express?
Oops. Yeah it's PCI Express.
Okay, so you should be able to buy any card on the market. That's good.
How much do you want to spend?
Figure out how much you want to spend, then buy the nVidia card recommended in that price range. I echo the ATI mistrust.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-geforce-price,2323.html
Probably around 100 bucks. I could spend more but I doubt it would do me much good.
I bought a Dell computer, which came with a special discount. The ATI card was part of the package :blush:
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 07:47:11 PM
Probably around 100 bucks. I could spend more but I doubt it would do me much good.
So the link I gave you said the GeForce 9600 was a good bet at $70.
Quote from: Barrister on July 14, 2009, 09:28:54 PM
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 07:47:11 PM
Probably around 100 bucks. I could spend more but I doubt it would do me much good.
So the link I gave you said the GeForce 9600 was a good bet at $70.
It looks pretty good. Oddly money isn't a problem at this point but it seems silly to buy a very expensive card to put in an ageing machine.
Quote from: Razgovory on July 14, 2009, 10:05:19 PM
It looks pretty good. Oddly money isn't a problem at this point but it seems silly to buy a very expensive card to put in an ageing machine.
Raz, be sure to do at least a little of your own research to make sure you're getting something
you want. Newegg comment sections can be good for that (although you have to kinda filter things a bit), as well as the reviews on various sites, including the Toms Hardware link that BB clearly ripped off from me ( :D ).
If the price you want to pay is around $100, see which cards are competing at that price (in this case, the HD 4760 and the 9600 GSO) and look at what a bunch of different people have to say about those cards. Hopefully most of them won't be retarded fanboys, but for some reason, graphics cards seem to be one of the categories that spawns those. Doesn't seem to be as bad as consoles though. Just scroll on by the comments that are way over the top.
9600 GSO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150340
HD 4760: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161252
The two most reviewed versions of the cards on Newegg. One thing I noticed is that particular 9600 has a minimum power supply requirement. It's not bad at all at 400w, and you most likely are alright, but just make sure you have that or better before you buy it if that's the one you decide on (or if you look at other ones, be sure to check that). Because that would suck if you got it and didn't meet the power requirements.
On the other hand, that particular 4760 looks like it takes up two pci slots for exhaust purposes. It only actually uses one slot on the motherboard, but covers one immediately next to it with the fan. If you don't have room for that, you'd need to look at one with a more normal size fan.
Keep in mind there are more than one version of both of those, so if you don't like either one, eyeball the others.
hth :)
Ouch.
My sister was trying to get a new graphics card lately too. My dad finally bought one the other day, seemed a excellent deal. £40 for some 1024mb nvidia.
...but it was pci-e and the motherboard only has agp and pci. As does mine (so I can't steal the upgrade). Back to the shop it goes :(
The amount of memory on a video card isn't crucial as long as it's not extremely low. I have a video card with 1 Gb memory and I'm pretty sure no game makes use of all of it.
I have a 1 GB video card, and GTA IV for PC runs as smooth as, emm, something that runs really smooth. :yeah:
Quote from: Caliga on July 15, 2009, 06:40:10 AM
The amount of memory on a video card isn't crucial as long as it's not extremely low. I have a video card with 1 Gb memory and I'm pretty sure no game makes use of all of it.
Aye. But games do have minimum requirements- 256 for most modern ones IIRC.
With a higher number you at least future proof yourself a bit there (though of course the other aspects of the video card will still become outdated and make future games look crappy)
People do tend to put too much stock in the MBage though for sure. Not quite so bad as those who think with digital cameras more mega pixels=better camera though.
Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between my old 850 Radeon ATI and my new 9600 Nvidia Geforce! I can finially play Bioshock! Even newer games look fantastic. Though admittedly some new features in games like motion blur kinda make my eyes hurt. I am happy with the new card.
If you buy an ATI card I will beat you to death. I promise the pain will be less than going through the eventual driver issues. I just wish nvidia could hurry up already with their new lineup utilizing DDR5 memories so I can upgrade.
I already bought the Nvidia card. 79 bucks. Not bad.
Quote from: Razgovory on August 08, 2009, 08:57:48 AM
I already bought the Nvidia card. 79 bucks. Not bad.
Thats a good man although I never had much liking for the 9000 series.
You "ZOMGGETNVIDIA" guys are full of shit. I put a Powercolor Radeon X1650 Pro (512MB, not 256) in my desktop machine and haven't had a problem with it yet.
I never had much in the way of problems with my 850. It was just old. And games using the Doom engine sometimes had problems with top half and bottom half of the screen not working right (fortuantly I don't think any good games ever used that engine). There was a problem with Half-life two episode 2 but I don't know if it was a card problem since it was fixed by turning off Windows firewall.
Quote from: Razgovory on August 08, 2009, 10:07:15 AM
I never had much in the way of problems with my 850. It was just old. And games using the Doom engine sometimes had problems with top half and bottom half of the screen not working right (fortuantly I don't think any good games ever used that engine). There was a problem with Half-life two episode 2 but I don't know if it was a card problem since it was fixed by turning off Windows firewall.
Yeah, the old 850's, while they were awesome cards, only had Shader Model 2.0 instead of 3.0, which is why Bioshock works now (without that mod that makes everything look like shit).
Quote from: Razgovory on August 08, 2009, 08:41:22 AM
Let me tell you, there is a huge difference between my old 850 Radeon ATI and my new 9600 Nvidia Geforce! I can finially play Bioshock! Even newer games look fantastic. Though admittedly some new features in games like motion blur kinda make my eyes hurt. I am happy with the new card.
:hug:
Glad I could help.