Best Vid card $$$ can buy

l3eeron · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 11:36 am Post subject: Best Vid card $$$ can buy

So, the world of video cards advances way faster than my following. I've been workin' my ARSE off, now I wanna spend my money on a video card. I wanna get something that will run HL2 with the HDR on - smoothly. I saw one I liked for $600. It looked like two cards stuck together and had 1 gig of ram (opposed to my current 256mb ATI which STRUGGLES w/hdr). BUT, it needs some kind of PCI-Express slot which my MOBO doesn't have =(. What exactly are my options here?
Maybe my current rig can run the HDR, but I'm too lame to figure it out?
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StrontiumDog · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:00 pm Post subject:

I turn off HDR! I don't like it!
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Stevo · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:16 pm Post subject:

mUj0 · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:19 pm Post subject:

What DOES your mobo support? AGP?

Just so you know, the Original Half Life 2 does not support HDR.
Only Certain Source games do (CS:S, DOD:S, Episode 1)
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powdermilkman · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:42 pm Post subject:

i myself would strongly advise not buying an AGP card....save more money buy an entire new mobo that supports pci-express then buy the best card possible would be my humble suggestion

StrontiumDog · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 12:59 pm Post subject:

squidly · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:02 pm Post subject:

What is your current video card???

BTW, it is not the faq that your card have 256mg of ram your problem!! 256mg is enough to play ANY of todays game!!! The problem is probably that you have a low end card! (something like a 9600 with 256mg). So a better card with 256mg will do the job!!!

Post your spec and how much money you want to spend on your new vid/card...

I'll try to find something good for you!!!
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squidly · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 1:53 pm Post subject:

I just take a look on the net and wow!!!

Price has dropped a lot since last time I looked!!!!

For about 300$, you can have a 7800gs, which is the best AGP card!!

You can look too at a x850xt platinum edition (if youre a ATI guys). Good card too but harder to find and I think, more expensive!!!
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StrontiumDog · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 2:05 pm Post subject:

WiseOldJames{ATL} · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:37 pm Post subject:

if i had 600 to spend, i'd shell out for a good motherboad (asus) with a pci express and then buy the ATI 1900 pci express.

I have the AGP ATI 1600 and it's great. A 512mb vid card for $250.
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l3eeron · Posted: Thu Jul 13, 2006 4:10 pm Post subject:

all-star · Registered User Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 177

i just recently purchased a new pc, i bought the top ATI card

Radeon X1900 XTX

for ati its the top card, and the top card for nvidea right now is the GeForce 7950, which has to cores on one card

if i were you, i would throw in an extra $100 to get a decent mobo, i got my Asus A8N-E for 113 CND. its a basic reliable mobo, its supports PCI-E and SATA2

and i got my PowerColor Radeon X1900 XTX 512 mb for $550

and everything ive tried to play (call of duty 2, and source games) run as smooth as a baby's bottom

the Radeon x1900 XTX can also run in "crossfire" mode, but then you would have to purchase a special crossfire mobo, which there aren't many released yet. and the newest crossfire card is Radeon X1900 XT only, so if you were to put those to together, the XTX would downclock itself to match XT speeds

(all prices are Canadian dollars)

but i guess if you were to get a new mobo you would have to get a new cpu, cause the mobo i mentioned supposrt Socet 939 AMD cpu's.

so yeah, thats my 2 cents

if you were to stick with the current mobo you have now, the best agp card is probably a GeForce 7800 GS or something close to that

squidly · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 8:43 am Post subject:

I'm very very very very confused here!!!!

Hummmm, you said that your mobo is an ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series... (Radeon Xpress 200 is a mobo, not a video card!!!) In fact, im a little wrong saying that, because it has an integrated graphic card (to be more precise a X300 card)). (OMG, that explain why you cannot play with HDR... In fact, im even surprised that you can play HL2). Very old card, not very performant!!! Look at the review here... (look at the bottom of the chart to find yours!!!

)

http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/05/24/vga_charts_vi/page6.html

Annnnnnnd, you said also that your motherboard doesn't have PCI-Express slot, so i concluded that it was AGP!!! Again from ATI website, it is a PCI express based mobo, not an AGP. But, I'm not sure if the mobo have a slot to add another pci express graphic card since it already has an integrated one!!! (That would explain why you said that your mobo doesn't have PCI-Express slot)

So basically, that is your problem my friend!!!!

I think that youll have to change your MOBO AND your video card if you want to upgrade...

Let me give you a small advice for when youll buy your next computer. Never buy an "all-in-one" computer (like those that dell are selling) and/or with integrated part. There is NO super deal.... If the price of those all-in-one computer are lower, it is because they put crappy component in it (like the X300 vid-card). Next time, read a lot, watch the spec and buy the component independantly (processor, video card, motherboard, etc...)... And if you don't feel confortable to assemble it by yourself, bring all the parts to a computer store and ask them to assemble it for you!!! That way youll have the right computer for your need!!!

Sorry and good shopping!!
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Stevo · Posted: Fri Jul 14, 2006 10:07 am Post subject:

all-star · Registered User Joined: 20 Jun 2006 Posts: 177

if he gets a new mobo, it might be a different socet then his current cpu, so he may be forced to get a new cpu as well