New Video card: Advice required
New Video card: Advice required
I'm planning to upgrade (well, almost building a whole machine, really) my pc. I have a fair idea for motherboard with Athlon CPU, but need a bit of help for the graphic card.
My main use is browsing internet and Word, and I don't play much games (don't touch shooting games or such). Therefore, I don't need the state-of-arts, newest, and fastest card, but I want just enough to play BG series and its cousins, and Civ series. Of course, I don't have much money to spare either, as I need to replace motherboard+CPU at the same time.
Any advice on either products or chipsets will be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
My main use is browsing internet and Word, and I don't play much games (don't touch shooting games or such). Therefore, I don't need the state-of-arts, newest, and fastest card, but I want just enough to play BG series and its cousins, and Civ series. Of course, I don't have much money to spare either, as I need to replace motherboard+CPU at the same time.
Any advice on either products or chipsets will be very much appreciated.
Thank you in advance.
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- HighLordDave
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What do you want the card to do? How much can you afford to spend?
Once you answer those two questions, you will have a pretty good idea of what kind of video card to get. Since you say that you don't need a top of the line card, there are lots of good cards out there in the $100 (retail) range.
A guy who works downstairs in my building swears by Voodoo cards, but I don't care for them; they run hot and I think you're paying a lot of money for the name, not necessarily the product (like a Mercedes or Jaguar).
I have had good luck with ATI cards and I recommend them to everyone I talk to (note: I am not compensated in any way for my endorsement of ATI video cards); my current machine has an Rage Fury Pro card in it that runs most games satifactorily (I like games like Civ3, Baldur's Gate II, X-Wing Alliance, Stronghold; in other words, non-graphics-intensive games). You can get an ATI Radeon card (which is a step up from the Rage Fury chipsset) at [url="http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?c=55&sd=Video+Cards+%2DAGP&pn=ATIRADEON7200"]thenerds.net[/url] for $85 plus shipping.
No matter what you pick, retail stores don't like to sell video cards for less than $100. So you can go out on the internet and look for a lower price or just pick up whatever you find at the store.
PS--I have other friends who love nVidia and geForce cards; [url="http://www.thenerds.net"]thenerds.net[/url] carries a number of products at fairly reasonable and competitive prices, so check them out (note: I am not compensated by thenerds.net either, although I should be for the amount of business I send their way).
Once you answer those two questions, you will have a pretty good idea of what kind of video card to get. Since you say that you don't need a top of the line card, there are lots of good cards out there in the $100 (retail) range.
A guy who works downstairs in my building swears by Voodoo cards, but I don't care for them; they run hot and I think you're paying a lot of money for the name, not necessarily the product (like a Mercedes or Jaguar).
I have had good luck with ATI cards and I recommend them to everyone I talk to (note: I am not compensated in any way for my endorsement of ATI video cards); my current machine has an Rage Fury Pro card in it that runs most games satifactorily (I like games like Civ3, Baldur's Gate II, X-Wing Alliance, Stronghold; in other words, non-graphics-intensive games). You can get an ATI Radeon card (which is a step up from the Rage Fury chipsset) at [url="http://www.thenerds.net/productpage.asp?c=55&sd=Video+Cards+%2DAGP&pn=ATIRADEON7200"]thenerds.net[/url] for $85 plus shipping.
No matter what you pick, retail stores don't like to sell video cards for less than $100. So you can go out on the internet and look for a lower price or just pick up whatever you find at the store.
PS--I have other friends who love nVidia and geForce cards; [url="http://www.thenerds.net"]thenerds.net[/url] carries a number of products at fairly reasonable and competitive prices, so check them out (note: I am not compensated by thenerds.net either, although I should be for the amount of business I send their way).
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Yeah you pretty much have your $100, $200 and $300 dollar cards. The $300 ones are great but that's just too much - it's a ripoff. I built a computer last month and got a $200 one - 'Leadtek Gforce 3 ti 200' - it performs beautifully on the newest shooter games like Wolfenstein and Ghost Recon, and I believe it will continue to perform adequately for awhile.
I think that to play BG2 and CivIII (and soon Neverwinter Nights!) you would be fine with the level of card Aegis specced - Gforce 2 64 mb memory.
I sort of agree with the anti-ATI sentiment. the Nvidia type cards seem to be a little less troubleprone, and there is just one set of drivers for all of the Geforce cards so you run into a little less confusion downloading those. Leadtek and Gainward are good manufacturers of Geforce cards, there are other good manufacturers too but I can't remember which ones.
I think that investing the $100 or so in one of these will provide plenty of long-term enjoyment, until the prices on the GF3ti500s come down a little
[ 01-02-2002: Message edited by: THE JAKER ]
I think that to play BG2 and CivIII (and soon Neverwinter Nights!) you would be fine with the level of card Aegis specced - Gforce 2 64 mb memory.
I sort of agree with the anti-ATI sentiment. the Nvidia type cards seem to be a little less troubleprone, and there is just one set of drivers for all of the Geforce cards so you run into a little less confusion downloading those. Leadtek and Gainward are good manufacturers of Geforce cards, there are other good manufacturers too but I can't remember which ones.
I think that investing the $100 or so in one of these will provide plenty of long-term enjoyment, until the prices on the GF3ti500s come down a little
[ 01-02-2002: Message edited by: THE JAKER ]
May you walk on warrrrm sannd....
If you dont play shooters and such you can probably manage with less then a GF2. Im currently using only a TNT2 Ultra and games like BG2 and IWD run smothly without any problems. Dont think they still sell old cards like that though.
My advice is to go to a friend that plays shooters and have alot of money and convince him that he needs a new video card, then you can steal his old without any bad conscience.
Atleast thats what i usally do
My advice is to go to a friend that plays shooters and have alot of money and convince him that he needs a new video card, then you can steal his old without any bad conscience.
Atleast thats what i usally do
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I don't know what my video card is, other than that it is a 3-year-old, 2-4 meg card, and I'm not even certain about the megs; but I'm also planning on upgrading later this month. So far, I've no idea what I'm going to get, though I'll probably end up going with the lowest priced 64 meg card so my dad doesn't get mad at me for "wasting money." 
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I would also like you to meet my alternate personality, Mistress 9.
Mistress 9: You will be spammed. Your psychotic and spamming distinctiveness will be added to the board. Resistance is futile. *evil laugh*
Ain't she wonderful? ¬_¬
I knew I had moree in common with BS than was first apparent~Yshania
[color=sky blue]The male mind is nothing but a plaything of the woman's body.~My Variation on Nietzsche's Theme[/color]
Real men love Jesus. They live bold and holy lives, they're faithful to their wives, real men love Jesus.~Real Men Love Jesus; Herbie Shreve
Volo comparare nonnulla tegumembra.
My vote goes to nvidia/geforce.
You can pick up a second hand geforce quite cheaply Minerva - do you have a Computer Exchange shop nearby?
You can pick up a second hand geforce quite cheaply Minerva - do you have a Computer Exchange shop nearby?
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Thanks, everyone.
I'll probably spend upto $150 on Video card. My main concern are: 1) Getting a new card and it becomes obsolute within a year; 2) Cannot play my old games, like BG1. For the former, I wonder if 32mb card is a good choice, as I know it's a lot cheaper than 64 mb.
@Gruntboy: I can't think of the computer exchange around here.
I'm going to Japan in two weeks time, and planning to buy the cards (and probably CPU) there... To avoid paying VAT.

I'll probably spend upto $150 on Video card. My main concern are: 1) Getting a new card and it becomes obsolute within a year; 2) Cannot play my old games, like BG1. For the former, I wonder if 32mb card is a good choice, as I know it's a lot cheaper than 64 mb.
ROFLMAOOriginally posted by Dottie:
<STRONG>My advice is to go to a friend that plays shooters and have alot of money and convince him that he needs a new video card, then you can steal his old without any bad conscience.
Atleast thats what i usally do</STRONG>
@Gruntboy: I can't think of the computer exchange around here.
I'm going to Japan in two weeks time, and planning to buy the cards (and probably CPU) there... To avoid paying VAT.
"Strength without wisdom falls by its own weight."
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)
@ MinervaOriginally posted by Minerva:
<STRONG>Thanks, everyone.![]()
I'll probably spend upto $150 on Video card. My main concern are: 1) Getting a new card and it becomes obsolute within a year; 2) Cannot play my old games, like BG1. For the former, I wonder if 32mb card is a good choice, as I know it's a lot cheaper than 64 mb.
ROFLMAO![]()
@Gruntboy: I can't think of the computer exchange around here.![]()
I'm going to Japan in two weeks time, and planning to buy the cards (and probably CPU) there... To avoid paying VAT.![]()
</STRONG>
I'm running a Pentium 2 350 with 128 MB of RAM and a TnT2 32MB graphics card from ELSA. BG2 runs brilliantly and I find no problems with similar games.
You could go easily for a 32MB card but beware that gives you little option to use it for only a year at the max. A 64MB card is fine and would serve you well.
Perverteer Paladin
The AMD Duron's are supposed to be decent processers if you are thinking about budget and also outstrip the P4's on everything but mp3 encoding
Graphics cards, well the TNT2 is a good card for cheap, I personally rate the Geforce chipset above all others.
Check [url="http://www.tomshardware.com"]Toms Hardware[/url] for the best advice around (IMO
)
Graphics cards, well the TNT2 is a good card for cheap, I personally rate the Geforce chipset above all others.
Check [url="http://www.tomshardware.com"]Toms Hardware[/url] for the best advice around (IMO
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Any card you get will be obsolete, not in a year, but in about 90 days.Originally posted by Minerva:
<STRONG>. My main concern are: 1) Getting a new card and it becomes obsolute within a year; </STRONG>
In my "old" computer (before I rebuilt it and gave the old pieces to my mother), I had an ATI Xpert2000, Celeron 500, 128 MB of RAM, and I never had any problem running any of the Infinity Engine games or most other games. My "new" computer has an ATI Rage Fury Pro video card, P3 866, 384 MB of RAM and I have never had any issues related to the video card.<STRONG>2) Cannot play my old games, like BG1. For the former, I wonder if 32mb card is a good choice, as I know it's a lot cheaper than 64 mb.</STRONG>
I cannot speak about the Radeon cards, as I don't have one, but my experiences with ATI have been very good. Both the Xpert 2000 and Rage Fury Pro are 32 MB cards which use ATI's Rage 128 chipset and I have been satisfied with both. I would like a 64 MB video card, but I don't have a need for one (just as I don't have a need for a 60" big-screen TV, but it would sure be nice!).
The best advice I can give anyone buying computer parts is to decide how much you want to spend, then buy the best product that fits your budget.
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Oh you cynicOriginally posted by HighLordDave:
<STRONG>Any card you get will be obsolete, not in a year, but in about 90 days. </STRONG>
Well i purchased a Creative GeForce DDR for £190 ages back, still a very good card, one of my better investments
[ 01-03-2002: Message edited by: Mr Sleep ]
I'd have to get drunk every night and talk about virility...And those Pink elephants I'd see.
Thanks, guys.
I'm currently checking a Japanese price check site, and sorely confused...
Another question: Which should I pay more attention, the chipset or the size of memory? I mean, if there are two cards sold in the same price, one with 32mb mem with newer chipset and the other with 64mb and older chipset, which should I choose?
I'm currently checking a Japanese price check site, and sorely confused...
Another question: Which should I pay more attention, the chipset or the size of memory? I mean, if there are two cards sold in the same price, one with 32mb mem with newer chipset and the other with 64mb and older chipset, which should I choose?
"Strength without wisdom falls by its own weight."
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)
A word to the wise is sufficient
Minerva (Semi-retired SYMer)
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mem, when playing non-3d games more memory has a greater impact than more calculating power.Originally posted by Minerva:
<STRONG>Thanks, guys.![]()
I'm currently checking a Japanese price check site, and sorely confused...![]()
Another question: Which should I pay more attention, the chipset or the size of memory? I mean, if there are two cards sold in the same price, one with 32mb mem with newer chipset and the other with 64mb and older chipset, which should I choose?</STRONG>
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I see I've been promoted.Originally posted by Alexander Denethorn:
<STRONG>As Gandalfgal The Talking Gibberling said memory is more important.</STRONG>
nVidia is never a bad choice, great driver support. The latest double the performance of the older cards.
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