PLEASE RECOMMEND MY UPGRADE

[rmthompson]

Ok since I am getting very confused, I hope I am coming to the right place to find what I need.

Apparently, a 256MB card can run slower then the better 128MB cards! So, I need help!

Here's the situation. A company I work for is upgrading my home computer so can do some work for them. I've upgraded my sound card to a basic audigy, and went up to 1280MB's of RAM, and all I have left is my VIDEO CARD.

Below are my current stats from dxdiag...


Processor: AMD Sempron(tm) Processor 3100+, MMX, 3DNow, ~1.8GHz
Memory: 1280MB RAM
Page File: 398MB used, 1309MB available
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0c (4.09.0000.0904)
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Display Memory: 128.0 MB
Current Mode: 1024 x 768 (32 bit) (60Hz)

So, now I need to upgrade, but I have to buy from one of the following:

www.bestbuy.com - www.compusa.com - www.officedepot.com - www.staples.com - www.circuitcity.com

I know that these are probably the wirst five choices! ha ha ha. Yes I know the value of some other online stores, but again, the above are the ONLY choices I have!

So - Here's the challenge. What is the best video card I can get in the $150.00 price range. I play a lot of games, and my current FX 5200 has held me pretty steady, although I KNOW I am missing out on a lot.

So far I've sort of cornered it down to these three:

ATI RADEON X1300 PRO 256MB AGP Graphics Card

or

PNY Verto GeForce 6600 256MB DDR AGP Graphics Card

or

eVGA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP Graphics Card


Everyone thus far has pointed me in the latter. I assume the 6600GT is better than the 6600 regular, but the difference in memory has me confused. (plus the 6600 with 256 is a little bit out of the price range)

So, with only PCI and AGP slots to work with, the question is:

WHAT WOULD YOU DO!?!?!??!?!?!

 

[hergieburbur]

I say get the 6600 Gt. Its a better card, and the GDDR3 memory makes more of a difference than the 256 of DDR.

Plus, I think eVGA is a slightly better company than PNY.

 

[Heyyou27]

6600GT.

 

[rmthompson]

I say get the 6600 Gt. Its a better card, and the GDDR3 memory makes more of a difference than the 256 of DDR.

Plus, I think eVGA is a slightly better company than PNY.

Just found another problem...

My computer only has a 250-watt power supply!

All the newer cards recommend a 350 watt power supply or higher...

So I guess I am sort of screwed for now!

Thanks anyway!

Any other suggestions!!?!?!

 

[hergieburbur]

A new PSU??? You can find them for about 50-60 if you go off brand. or you could look at this one...

Tha;s your best bet, unfortunately.

 

[rmthompson]

A new PSU??? You can find them for about 50-60 if you go off brand. or you could look at this one...

Tha;s your best bet, unfortunately.

Yeah actually, I see one at bestbuy for only 51.99...

so not that big of a setback

So Im looking at 150 bucks for the 6600GT and 52 for the PS...

I can live wit that!

 

[hergieburbur]

if you want to go really cheap, startech.com makes them dirt cheap for compusa. I wouldn't recommend it though.

 

[scoobertscoobydoo]

actually i wouldent toutch a thing. looks like a good system for playing some decent games. to go higher you would need to dump about $1000 into a whole new system. be happy with what you have now, as a beter card will not help enought to make a differance. save the cash or whatnot.

 

[hergieburbur]

You didn't read the whole post, he isn't paying for it, his company is, therefore, its a FREE UPGRADE, and nobody turns down a free upgrade.

 

[scoobertscoobydoo]

in that case, 7800GS would be my choise.

 

[hergieburbur]

$150 dollar dollar limit or yeah, mine to.

 

[scoobertscoobydoo]

thoes cards are all but worthless.... it will not play anymore then the games he has now really.

tell your company to save the brownie points for a later time.

 

[hergieburbur]

You wouldn't take a 6600GT over an FX5200? Granted, it not a great improvement, but the price is right. Since they've already spent money on him (RAM and Sound) the brownie points are probably gone.

 

[pauldh]

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=332729&pfp=BROWSE

$180 is a great price for a X850 pro AGP. Pitch in some of your own money and grab that card and a PSU if you see it back in stock.

 

[rmthompson]

You wouldn't take a 6600GT over an FX5200? Granted, it not a great improvement, but the price is right. Since they've already spent money on him (RAM and Sound) the brownie points are probably gone.

I have to agree here.

Besides the computer is Socket 754. I could upgrade the processor if I wanted to.

I never expect to get the best gaming performance, just play a few decent ones. I mostly stick to World of Warcraft and CounterStrike Source, so the upgrade might not do much in your mind, but to me it would probably make a huge difference.

The ram, a jump from 512 to 1280 surely did... and even the sound card on my average speakers sounds better than the onboard. (Even through headphones I can notice a difference!)

Regardless, the company is willing to upgrade my computer, so unless you see a better spent $200.00, then I will probably get the 6600GT...

 

[scoobertscoobydoo]

7300GS, its under 200 i think.

 

[hergieburbur]

7300GS, its under 200 i think.

I didn't think they had a AGP version yet. you can get a PCI-e version for $72 from newegg, and its got a crippled 64-bit memory interface that makes it inferior to the 6600 GT he was looking at.

 

[scoobertscoobydoo]

6800 will be under 200 then, thats faster.

 

[hergieburbur]

I looked at the egg earlier, regular 6800 is about 160, and 6800 GT is 219, He has to buy from one of the palces above though, and their prices suck.

 

[rmthompson]

I looked at the egg earlier, regular 6800 is about 160, and 6800 GT is 219, He has to buy from one of the palces above though, and their prices suck.

hergie,

damn thanks for actually paying attention to the request and sticking to it! Every other forum turns into "well your company is dumb" and blah blah blah...

thanks!

 

[doublehelix]

Go with the 6600GT. I've got an MSI NX6600GT with the 128MB GDDR3 RAM and it runs pretty good. My card has overclocked very nicely up to 580Mhz w/ 1160Mhz... no artifacts yet...

 

[hergieburbur]

I looked at the egg earlier, regular 6800 is about 160, and 6800 GT is 219, He has to buy from one of the palces above though, and their prices suck.

hergie,

damn thanks for actually paying attention to the request and sticking to it! Every other forum turns into "well your company is dumb" and blah blah blah...

thanks!

Your Welcome. Well, for what you are describing, that is all you need anyway.

 

[rmthompson]

OK I got an update.

Still using the same computer, obviously, but now I've gotten permission for a maximum dollar amount of $250.00 and I MAY be able to buy online... so now, please go at it! lol Remember the computer is still only a AMD 3100+....

Now - I can get a really cheap powersupply, assuming it fits the computer, for like $40 dollars, so that leaves around 200 bucks for a card... Is there anything better in that price range than a 6600 GT 128MB ?

How about this SAPPHIRE 512MB x1600 card? Is that good at all?

Also where do you guys buy?

Thanks for the HeLp?!

 

[cleeve]

thoes cards are all but worthless.... it will not play anymore then the games he has now really.

Even an X1300 PRO will give double the framerates of a 5200.

If you can't upgrade your power supply, get the X1300 at least...

 

[cleeve]

under $200 in AGP?

You can get the 6600 GT, X1600 PRO, X800 GTO, or 6800 GS.

The X800 GTO and 6800 GS are quite a bit better than the 6600 GT and X1600 PRO when it comes to gaming.

The X1600 is a decent gamer, certainly not as good as the X800 GTO or 6800 GS, but it's the best of the listed options for video encoding and playback.