Need new card, need tips....

[rlstoner2004]

i dont know much about the various card, so i need your guys help. I'll be spending either 170-ish or 250-ish, so need a recomendation for each price range. (AGP)

Right now i have a 1.5 gb Ram, 2.8 ghz P4, Radeon 9600 Computer...
Idealy im building this for oblivion, right now on lowest settnigs its pretty jumpy

So far, ive been kind of looking at the Geforce 6800 (Comparing: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCompare.asp?CompareItemList=N82E16814121216,N82E16814140070&SubCategory=48) and 6800 GS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130264)

 

[WOWchamp]

The whole rig really needs an upgrade, but if you cannot do that and must do this then let me suggest the eVGA 6800GS for 225$ on newegg.com

It wont break the bank, but is still worthy of oblivion. Really any money spent on an AGP card is money thrown away, but it should allow you to squeek through maybe two or three more games before a whole system upgrade is necessary. At which point you can ebay that sucker off for about 150-180$ and not lose a whole lot.

 

[rlstoner2004]

yeah, pretty sad when a 2 year old system is pracitcally useless

I think this summer ill be building one with grad money and whatnot *crosses fingers*. I mean, its for educational purposes... right? Thats how i justify it to not feel guilty

 

[WOWchamp]

Getting 2 years out of a rig without it struggling to run games is very darn good. It almost makes you think that game makers are in cohauts with card makers because every time a new game comes out you have to get a new card to run it above 20FPS lol.

I myself am building a nice 1800$ setup this friday and hope that it will be just above a paper weigh before I have money to build again.

 

[rlstoner2004]

true... but beyond HL2, nothing too demanding has really come out lately (Quake/Doom comes to mind, bought both, hated both). HL2 ran.... ok, but a almost 2 year old 140$ video card is way out of date.

 

[7H4_D00D3]

x2 prozac26

If you cannot wait I say go for a 6600, you wont get as much performance as an 6800GS BUT think of it in this way, less money spent now, more money available for a later full system upgrade

 

[rlstoner2004]

This is my 2 week checks are pothetic, 120-180 bucks. Since spring break this week (and i might posibly be getting money for a content submission to a website, hence the 2 prices) this next check will be around 300-ish. IF i do buy the cheaper card the difference will probably just be milked away buy the time when/if i build a new computer. For Curiousitys sake, how much you think i could sell this computer, granted the new video card, for around summer time, May be better to part it out (New 512 x 2 Corsair ram for 70.. prob get 40 for it then... say 230 video card now, 160-ish used then.... idk)

 

[uber_g]

true , but the 6600gt's run like a nuclear reactor
heat kills we all know that
but ehh

u can always overclock the 6800gs pretty darn good -via coolbits

 

[WOWchamp]

Thier are much more demanding games out there then HL2...

Oblivion is bringing hardware to its knees left and right...

F.E.A.R, COD2, BF2, AOE3 are also up there in performance needs.


And pretty much every new game will own the crap out of that radeon 9600

 

[rlstoner2004]

i know, but i was talking about good games

 

[rlstoner2004]

sorry for double posting, but will my power supply be a problem? its just a standard dell supply

 

[7H4_D00D3]

I wast just saying.....

I had to work a WHOLE month overtime to buy another 512Mb stick (altough lotta cash was still floating over there), cuz my MONTHLY income is 20 bucks (and that has to pay gas, cellphone expenses and study guides)...not working+top of tha class = suck

I even had savings for a new vidcard (and planning to work 6 more months to see if I can upgrade next year) but they got crippled

And that situation is not as bad as mine was, how much you'd say this would sell?

Mobo: no brand, Intel Triton Chipset
Proc: Intel Pentium I-MMX 233Mhz
Mem:4*16Mb SIMM
HDD:WD 30Gb 7200rpm IDE
Vidcard:GeForce mx400 64Mb PCI

6600gt's run like a nuclear reactor

LOL maybe.....but if it blows up it won't be as bad as Chernobyl!
In the worst case, a "Three Mile Island" emergency, and that's it (unless that 5H137 truly blows up, and in that case, that would be some tasty fudge!)