So, I'm on the market for a graphics card...

[Vicsun]

My trusty geForce4 Ti4200 just died - again - and while after nearly a month of haggling I got Foeniks Computer to replace it the first time, this time they just decided to hold the card for 1.5 months and then tell me they won't replace it despite the fact it is still within its warranty period, for which I payed extra. Additionally they want 300 Kroner (Just above $50) for the 'testing' they've done to determine... I'm not exactly sure what. Those money, they'll never see, but I will never see my card.

So now I'm out on the market. Seeing as how I'm not the avid gamer I used to be, I'd be satisfied to have a new graphic card of the same caliber as my Ti4200. Since I've been out of the loop for quite some time, however, I'm not quite sure what is right for me, so I, again, put my faith in the hands of Gamebanshee. Should I just buy another Ti4200? Do they really have a burning tendency like I've so far experienced, or have I just been unlucky? If the former, would it still be worth it buying one, as within 1-2 years (the lifespan I've experienced) I'll probably want to upgrade anyway? And what other less-prone-to-death cards are there? Or is 1-2 years a normal lifetime for a graphic-card? What other cards are equivalent to the Ti4200? As far as I understand the geForceFX series, while newer, are inferior. What is ATI equivalent of the Ti4200? Would you recommend ATI over NVidia? Would buying a better card be worth it (I will probably get back into gaming this summer) I could play both doom3 and half-life2, the two most intensive games, with my Ti4200, albeit not in fully pumped up.

For comparison purposes (getting a top of the line card wouldn't make much sense when the bottleneck is the RAM or Processor), the rest of my computer is an AMD Athlon 2100+ with 512MB RAM.



P.S. Avoid Foeniks Computer like the plague. Unless you're okay with not having any support and having your hardware provided on an as-is-and-if-there's-something-wrong -with-it-we'll-hold-it-for-an-indefinite-amount-of-time-before-making-you-pay-for-the-time-we've-held-it basis, I'd like to suggest a different reseller. Dell has always provided excellent tech support (one of the previous times an nVidia card burnt, they sent a technician on the same day, he ran some tests on the spot and replaced the dead card with a superior model) even if their products are on the pricey side.

[Luis Antonio]

Vicsun, I dont know about top top models, but I can tell you something that you may find usefull: You'd have to upgrade your computer to some ghz more for complete use of a top top graphics board. And, if you think about changing your hardware soon to something hotter (oh glorious pentium with hypertrend) I'd recomend you buying a super videocard. Otherwise, buy an average one.

I'm still using a 64 mb ge force 4 and it runs doom 3 and half life - not well, but enough to enjoy gameplay.

[Rookierookie]

Budget? The Radeon 9550, at around $80, will match the Ti4200 in terms of speed. But if you can afford a more expensive card, I'll recommend something else.