Where to go after having an nvidia Ti4200?

[elfranko]

Hi all - I want to upgrade my current AGP video card as I've had it a while, and although it is perfectly acceptable and runs fine, I have a copy of Oblivion which will definately not run it.

The card is a Ti4200 128mb - I can overclock it to 183mhz, not a vast amount, but it's all I can play with.

So I need a recommendation of a good nvidia card to move up to which won't cost the earth. I want to stay on AGP for the moment and a top end of 256mb ram, if that helps. My budget is around £100 (Wife, kids, mortgage.....).

so any suggestions would be great thanks!!

cheers

frank

 

[raven_87]

Well, I"m not sure what you can find for that amount over there.
Obvious first reaction would be to find a baseline or vanilla 6800, maybe aim for a 6600(gt) as it will easily outpreform that 4200.

Go online and start looking for cards in your price range, then post them here, its the best way we could help you.

 

[cleeve]

For oblivion, you'd want at least an X800 GTO or 6800 GS MINIMUM.

If you can afford it, an X800 XL or 6800 GT would be better. Oblivion is a very graphics intensive game.


I'm assuming you have at least a 2200 Mhz (or AMD rated) CPU, and a 512 mb of RAM, with less than that Oblivion is likely going to run like crud no matter what videocard you have...

Having a gig of RAM would probably help, too.

 

[jaguarskx]

ATI Radeons generally performs better than nVidia GeForces in Oblivion. Having said that you should get the following card over at www.dabs.com:

Sapphire Technology Radeon X1600 PRO 256Mb DDR2 AGP DVI TVO - £85.51 inc vat

If you are a hardcore nVidia fanatic then get this card from www.dabs.com:

DabsValue GF 6600 256MB DDR AGP DVI VO - £71.87 inc vat

Here is an Anandtech benchmark of GPUs in Oblivion. Note the nVidia 6600 isn't even listed, and the Radeon X1600 Pro performs better than the GeForce 6600GT, 6800, and 7600GS.

=========================

Another solution:

Have you considered getting your wife addicted to Morrowind? That way she may give you permission to buy a £200 GPU.

 

[elfranko]

Hi all - thanks for the advice - looking at the X1600 on dabs - looks ace, I mean anything is going to be better than the 4200 but I just wanted more bang for my buck. I didn't want to get a card only to find for an extra £5 I could have got something much better.

As for my machine stats, sorry, should have posted;
I have an AMD 2600 with a gig of ram. And 6 fans

thanks again

frank

 

[raven_87]

NO!!!! Not the X1600!!!! Bad, bad, very bad...

 

[HardWareBoss]

Puter stuff I have better. But not vid card.

 

[Anoobis]

Here's a X800GTO for £112.80 Inc VAT

 

[elfranko]

Ahahgahg - confusion hell. lol. Why can't damn graphics cards be upgradable like PCs ie memory slots and replaceable processors?? It's stupid having to go through all this. I have no idea if the 6600 will be as good or any better than the similar mid-range ati cards and I really don't have the time to go through every review and compare what it can and cannot do then to get a review or comment like the one above saying Nooooo! Don't buy this heap of c**p! Only to have to replace it in a few years!

At least I have one positive note - ANYTHING I buy today will be better than my Leadtek Ti4200 simply because todays cards can do things the Ti range have never heard of. Is there anywhere I can go to find out which of the letters after a card name, like GT, LE blah blah do what and mean what?

I'm trying to compare it to buying a new car. I like Citreon Picassos. I know the difference between the different versions and I assume it is the same with graphics cards:

Citreon Picasso LX 1.6 X to 02 reg - cassette player, no alloys, top speed 106mph
Citreon Picasso SX 1.8 HDi - diesel, alloys, cd player
etc etc etc

I know the LE on a graphics means Lite Edition as for as I am aware, which basically means Cut Down to Make It Cheaper. But what about everything else?

thanks for advise

frank

 

[pcwhiz]

A 6200 series should be sufficient. It would be a good balance of performance increase and price as well. You can find it at my site in my signature for $40.

 

[jaguarskx]

Here's a X800GTO for £112.80 Inc VAT

I second that recommendation. Sure it's more than what you originally wanted to spend, but it's even better than the X1600Pro I originally recommended.

Look at it this way:

1. Skip breakfast a couple of times during the month and have good, relatively smooth gameplay in Oblivion.

or

2. Full stomach every day of the week and have "Oblivion Slideshow".

Okay, the X1600Pro isn't that bad, but many people have complained that the frame rate can nose dive during outdoors combat. Thus, it is better to get the faster, more expensive card to enhance gameplay. Come on, isn't that worth skipping breakfast two maybe three times?

 

[nubetube]

Ahahgahg - confusion hell. lol. Why can't damn graphics cards be upgradable like PCs ie memory slots and replaceable processors?? It's stupid having to go through all this. I have no idea if the 6600 will be as good or any better than the similar mid-range ati cards and I really don't have the time to go through every review and compare what it can and cannot do then to get a review or comment like the one above saying Nooooo! Don't buy this heap of c**p! Only to have to replace it in a few years!

At least I have one positive note - ANYTHING I buy today will be better than my Leadtek Ti4200 simply because todays cards can do things the Ti range have never heard of. Is there anywhere I can go to find out which of the letters after a card name, like GT, LE blah blah do what and mean what?

I'm trying to compare it to buying a new car. I like Citreon Picassos. I know the difference between the different versions and I assume it is the same with graphics cards:

Citreon Picasso LX 1.6 X to 02 reg - cassette player, no alloys, top speed 106mph
Citreon Picasso SX 1.8 HDi - diesel, alloys, cd player
etc etc etc

I know the LE on a graphics means Lite Edition as for as I am aware, which basically means Cut Down to Make It Cheaper. But what about everything else?

thanks for advise

frank

LE- Lame Edition
GS- Ghetto Slow

those are the 2 you want to stay away from.

 

[raven_87]

A 6800LE or as you put "lame edition" provided its NV40 can unlocked
and overclock to produce quite a nice budget GPU.

Same is too be said for the GS. I'd take a 6800GS over an X800GTO most of the time.... So those tags that have been associated with the cards are absolutely ridiculous.