Video cards recommends??????

[jghost5]

Hi all, I'm seriously debating changing my video card out.
I have a 64 meg Nvidia card right now and am happy, but (as we all do at some point) was wondering about the visual differances with some better cards.
 What cards do you recommend and why. I've been checking ebay and the Ti's with 128 meg ddr look good and are fairly in-expensive and the quatros look like a high end card at around 300.
 I'm a Nvidia user from way back because of the great driver support but would like to hear from folks using other chip sets to see if I'm missing out on anything.
 Hope to hear some recommendations!

[ozzy72]

I upgraded to a Ti4600 recently, and all I can say is WOW! The difference is phenomenal.

Ozzy

[jghost5]

Sorry Everyone, I should have listed my specs:

64 MEG Nvidia MX400
Athlon 1800 XP Procc
256 meg ddr ram
CD-RW
Samsung DVD
Gigabyte mobo
Hitachi SuperScan 21" Monitor
Microsoft Sidewinder joystick
Gravis gamepad
Microsoft XP Pro

[jghost5]

It's a GF2, and didn't say earlier that I appreciate the comments and help.

[Up_The_Sky]

For just

[Up_The_Sky]

I just saw in your info that you are in the US so the currency i quoted probably means nothing to you but you should still be able to get the card i mentioned for less than $100.

I hope this helps.

[jghost5]

Tipster, so the mx card is what is slowing me down with frame rate and visual performance. So if I go with a 64 meg Ti for instance with ddr memory on it - it will perform better than my mx card will? Should I still go with one of the 128 meg cards? thanks again, J

[ATI_7500]

c'mon guys,he just wanted a recommendation for a new graphics card ,not the theoretical difference between cpu power and graphics cards.

i'll split my recommendations into those four groups:

-low end: cheap,but not modern
-average: a bit more expensive, up-to-date
-high end: expensive ,but very fast and future technology
-ultra: asskicker deluxe!

here are my recommendations:

-low end: ATI 9000, GeForce 3 TI 300/500
-average: ATI 9500/pro ; Geforce 4 TI 4200/4400
-high end: ATI 9700 ; Geforce 4 TI 4600
-ultra: ATI 9700pro/9800pro ; Geforce FX

many possibilities,just choose

[jghost5]

Okay, now I have some comparisions to check out.
I'm definitely gonna go high end but not ultra.
My family members ( who actually never get on a computer) would lynch me if I spent 400 or so on something that they couldn't sit on or in. It's off to go online shopping now and see what prices are.
 I'll post what I get and my wow percentage when I install. AND REMEMBER I'm gonna hold all of you responsable!
Oh, by the way-if someone wanted to donate a ultra level card to me I wouldn't look a gift-card in the mouth!

[ozzy72]

You have marginally less chance of an ultra card than I have of getting a lifetime of free beer
However the Ti range should be coming down in price at the moment, shop around and good luck.

Ozzy

[imchief]

Hey jghost.  Sorry for the late input.  I would go for the 9700 pro.  It is really not too expensive anymore.  You can probably pick one up for around $279.  It will probably drop more once the 9800 comes out in April.  

The reason for this reccommendation is that the GFFX are very loud and take up two PCI slots and are too expensive just because its a new card.  I think you would be happy with a ti 4600 128 too although the last I checked it was still $250 or so.  Not really worth it when compared to the 9700 pro.  

Good luck on your pursuits of speed.  I wish I were you.  I am dying to Upgrade my whole system.AMD 400, V3 2k, 256 SDRAM, 4GB 5400 HDD

[Up_The_Sky]

Imchief... you could probably get hold of a K7S5A motherboard and a 1800XP for not too much more than $100... that motherboard supports both sdram and DDR so you wouldnt need to buy replacement ram just yet but you would have the ability to use DDR at any time in the future...

Just an idea

Edit: At Newegg.com the motherboard is $59 and a XP1700+ is $51 thats $110 for a superb upgrade... imagine a 1700mhz instead of your 400mhz :O

I know its easy to say 'only $110' but still an idea.

[jghost5]

Thats a good idea on an upgrade and I'm really happy about my 1800 XP athlon. It runs around 1500 but my mobo came with software overclocker that gets me close to 1800 with no instability.
But don't you need a new case and power supply for that board?

[Up_The_Sky]

Assuming you have a standard ATX case and a fairly decent power supply (300 watts upwards) then there should be no problems whatsoever.

The Pentium 4's are the ones that require a 'different' type of power supply...

[ATI_7500]

whow! gotta check that site out,which you mentioned ,up the sky.
i just hope that shipping to europe isn't that expensive..:rolleyes: