Old video cards are fine ^^

[rickzor]

I know, this might be the useless thread ever, but i dont care, im at work, and im at lunch break, i work a lot with old pcs here and i was wondering this:
Here everyone seems to have the greatest cards on the market and, system and etcs, but not naming anyone (and i dont really have anyone in mind now, that i can remember), sometimes seems that some people just get the latest xpto graphic card only for the pleasure of having it, because they're previous card wasn't really that bad, or actually not bad at all..(i've seen this happening a lot lately).
So, for non gamers, or gamers, but only playing old games, having even a mid range card is waste of money, for example, i regret a lot buying my actual 7800gs when my ati9500 died with multipled bugs on the screen, because now i dont really have that much time or patiente for exploring new games, and im only play UT1 and quake3, and for such games and net brownsing a geforce2 gts for example would be pretty much enough.
After all the blabla, i was about ask if any of you are still using old cards, and are pretty much satisfied with they're actual performance on what they used them for!

 

[jamesgoddard]

I have an ATI 9600 pro in my work PC - for what I do on this PC you can't buy a faster card tbh.

 

[Kolorean]

I still run my 9800XT in my 3 and 1/2 year old gaming system. It has provided many years of great gaming. It is about to go the way of the round file (not really, passing it and the system to my dad) and I am about to step up to a brand new system with an 8800 (something, not 100% sure yet of my budget).

I have nothing but good things to say about the card. It worked fantastic!

 

[rickzor]

I forgot to mention, here at work, the video card in this pc is a riva tnt64m model, and i dont think i could tell the difference between it and a gf8800gtx, , if i'm not using high resolutions or playing games lol.
Damn primitive, yet pretty much useful for windows, web brownsing and messanger.

 

[rosu9801]

Well i feel that if you say what budget your on and what you need it for, you will get a decent amount of fair suggestions and some that wants you to spend little more for even better cards.
It doesn't matter if you play DX8 games you will still get advice to get really good cards for DX9 games, since they can handle old AND newer games (little unsure of this since i cant get Close Combat 3 to work anymore ).
Im at work too and all i can say that these Compaq Deskpro P2's i wouldn't wanna play on even if i got paid for it, hehe.
Fortunately they are are all breaking down so we can atleast get some new cheap Dell's.

 

[miribus]

I use a radeon 7500 PCI at work.
But, then again I don't even need this much.
At home I have an x1950xtx.
The point is I don't think it's any surprise or secret to buy only what you need, computers for most users, beyond even the entry level stuff at a big-box store is more of a luxury and should be treated as such.
Hell if you're just sharing a few photos, printing, browsing and emailing you don't need much more than a PII and Linux if you're willing to wait a good bit longer to do even some of the simpler things. My mom has a Celeron 2g with 512mb of ram on 56k dialup, and to tell you the truth, beyond the dialup (even the cheapest, slowest dsl blows it away at a comparable price) even that setup is more than she needs.
Anyone strongly considering putting money aside for something considerably better hopefully should already know what they are going to do with it, and have a good reason for it.

To me the bigger problem is people who buy giant monitors for gaming with weak cards that can't support the resolution, or vice-versa. Or don't buy enough system ram in an otherwise high-end game machine.

I treat my pc no differently than I would a console, except that I can game with it and a good amount more, but I make no mistake about the fact it is essentially for gaming, the type that seem to still be limited to pcs. I'm fine with that, I'm fine with spending the hundreds of $ on enthusiast crap too.

Why? Because I don't need it, that's why. That's the point of a luxury. I recognize I could play stuff "ok" with an older or at least cheaper card, and yes, the new (insert hardware here) I buy will devalue almost immediately, but that's ok. It's my hobby. Some people "waste" money on different things, I choose to do it this way. One thing I will definitely say though, is that unlike many of the more popular hobbies, coins, stamps, comic books, those could at least be justified by as investments. There's are very few things for a hardcore gamer that could truly be considered an "investment" in that something that will really retain much of it's value, or increase in value.

 

[rammedstein]

in the current pc im using i have a geforce 2 32mb, its the sex, it totally destroys integrated and since i don't game on this machine, it is perfect.

 

[rdhood]

in the current pc im using i have a geforce 2 32mb, its the sex, it totally destroys integrated and since i don't game on this machine, it is perfect.

While most of the responses have tended to go to the "My/my work/my mom's computer has an old video card because that is all they need", you hit on a very valid point: a cheap older video card is usually WAY better than integrated video. Case in point: I have a 3 year old 6600GT and a 5 year old 9600pro. They go for $10-$50 now on ebay. My "DVR", a $70 ECS MB/Sempron combo with PVR-350, has integrated video that just plain sucks rocks. I can slap either of these boards in their and it is capable of playing RTCW ET, AA, Tribes, AOE, and a boatload of good older games at 1280x1024 that integrated graphics won't handle very well.

 

[rickzor]

Ah for that i use a pentium 4 1.7 with 256 ddr pc2100 and a crap ecs board togheter with a gf4 mx 440 with 128 mb, and its pretty good for what it is, is only misses net connection ^^ HD videos runs somewhat slow sometimes, i wonder if its cpu or gpu fault.
And im going offtopic on my own topic haha.

 

[cleeve]

I 've found that the majority of folks who upgrade their card do indeed push them at high resolutions and graphical settings.

Certainly, if you're playing older games at lower resolutions a new supercard isn't needed. But it's been my experience that most people on this board are using the power a high end card affords them.

My two cents.

 

[Eviltwin17]

the reason people buy cards like these is because they want to play the latest and greatest games they way they were meant to be played

i havent ever heard of a situation where a nongamer went out and bought a mid-high end gfx card when they needed one. Most non-gamers stick with the onboard graphics or a cheap solution like the x1300 or the 7300

although there are the people who do video editing and stuff and they really do need the latest and greatest... time is money

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

I miss my R9600Pro, not because it would be good at current games, but it would be the perfect thing to add a big passive heatpipe to and use for a MAME arcade rig.

I understand what you're saying, and the R9500P was a fantastic Freakin' card, even the plain R9500 was OK (especially when moded then it was great).

I play mostly 10-20mins of games at a time, and usually it's old school stuff, from my classics, and mame collection. When I do have time I love to play Oblivion though, and it crushes my gaming PC. So if I get a MAME-Classics rig together I can play SMASH-TV, COMMANDO, 1943, RAMPAGE, GALAGA, PHOENIX, GORF, etc. on that without ever upgrading it, and then dedicate my day to day rig to the new games (which each on their own likely take up more space than all my classics).

Like Cleeve mentioned most people upgrade fror their current needs and use most of the power on offer. Rarely do you see someone with SLi on a VGA monitor only to play Kings Quest, or UT1 or Quake 1, but then again some people use a quad core PC for M$ Word and websurfing.

 

[trinitron64]

Just a couple days ago I gave away my Radeon 64M DDR VIVO and traded it for a SATAII drive (headache as i like to call it) ... damn card could chew rocks and spit sand.



I would miss it more if i didn't own an x800xl that sustains a massive OC :lol:

 

[jaguarskx]

About a month after I built my new system around an E6600 and X1900XT I kinda felt nostalgic and played Fallout 2.

Talk about overkill.

 

[pmr]

I know, this might be the useless thread ever, but i dont care, im at work, and im at lunch break, i work a lot with old pcs here and i was wondering this:
Here everyone seems to have the greatest cards on the market and, system and etcs, but not naming anyone (and i dont really have anyone in mind now, that i can remember), sometimes seems that some people just get the latest xpto graphic card only for the pleasure of having it, because they're previous card wasn't really that bad, or actually not bad at all..(i've seen this happening a lot lately).
So, for non gamers, or gamers, but only playing old games, having even a mid range card is waste of money, for example, i regret a lot buying my actual 7800gs when my ati9500 died with multipled bugs on the screen, because now i dont really have that much time or patiente for exploring new games, and im only play UT1 and quake3, and for such games and net brownsing a geforce2 gts for example would be pretty much enough.
After all the blabla, i was about ask if any of you are still using old cards, and are pretty much satisfied with they're actual performance on what they used them for!

There are a few guys that buy the latest because they are just enthusiasts and have the money for it, not only with gfx cards, but also cpus, ram, etc... Some of those bastards spend money on quad cpus, sli 8800gtx and +1ghz ram to game a few titles, dl music, surf the web and...benchmark their machine till new hardware is out. But hey, they have the money for it!

Some other guys (like me) only upgrade when the hardware isn't fast anymore to handle new games (in this case) and my wallet allows...
I can't game with 15fps, but in CPU matters, I can wait one more hour to finish a render...

 

[rickzor]

I know, this might be the useless thread ever, but i dont care, im at work, and im at lunch break, i work a lot with old pcs here and i was wondering this:
Here everyone seems to have the greatest cards on the market and, system and etcs, but not naming anyone (and i dont really have anyone in mind now, that i can remember), sometimes seems that some people just get the latest xpto graphic card only for the pleasure of having it, because they're previous card wasn't really that bad, or actually not bad at all..(i've seen this happening a lot lately).
So, for non gamers, or gamers, but only playing old games, having even a mid range card is waste of money, for example, i regret a lot buying my actual 7800gs when my ati9500 died with multipled bugs on the screen, because now i dont really have that much time or patiente for exploring new games, and im only play UT1 and quake3, and for such games and net brownsing a geforce2 gts for example would be pretty much enough.
After all the blabla, i was about ask if any of you are still using old cards, and are pretty much satisfied with they're actual performance on what they used them for!

There are a few guys that buy the latest because they are just enthusiasts and have the money for it, not only with gfx cards, but also cpus, ram, etc... Some of those bastards spend money on quad cpus, sli 8800gtx and +1ghz ram to game a few titles, dl music, surf the web and...benchmark their machine till new hardware is out. But hey, they have the money for it!

Some other guys (like me) only upgrade when the hardware isn't fast anymore to handle new games (in this case) and my wallet allows...
I can't game with 15fps, but in CPU matters, I can wait one more hour to finish a render...

Concordo com isso PMR ^^

Anyways, i wasnt nearly bashing anyone who buys the latest hardware, i only wanted to show that old hardware doesnt actually means useless, but i will bash those who buy hardware only to benchmark it all the time. Now thats nerdish and useless.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Anyways, i wasnt nearly bashing anyone who buys the latest hardware, i only wanted to show that old hardware doesnt actually means useless, but i will bash those who buy hardware only to benchmark it all the time. Now thats nerdish and useless.

I wouldn't call it useless anymore that someone who always tunes their car, or always goes to the gym.

While it's not my cup of tea, to each their own.

 

[pmr]

I know, this might be the useless thread ever, but i dont care, im at work, and im at lunch break, i work a lot with old pcs here and i was wondering this:
Here everyone seems to have the greatest cards on the market and, system and etcs, but not naming anyone (and i dont really have anyone in mind now, that i can remember), sometimes seems that some people just get the latest xpto graphic card only for the pleasure of having it, because they're previous card wasn't really that bad, or actually not bad at all..(i've seen this happening a lot lately).
So, for non gamers, or gamers, but only playing old games, having even a mid range card is waste of money, for example, i regret a lot buying my actual 7800gs when my ati9500 died with multipled bugs on the screen, because now i dont really have that much time or patiente for exploring new games, and im only play UT1 and quake3, and for such games and net brownsing a geforce2 gts for example would be pretty much enough.
After all the blabla, i was about ask if any of you are still using old cards, and are pretty much satisfied with they're actual performance on what they used them for!

There are a few guys that buy the latest because they are just enthusiasts and have the money for it, not only with gfx cards, but also cpus, ram, etc... Some of those bastards spend money on quad cpus, sli 8800gtx and +1ghz ram to game a few titles, dl music, surf the web and...benchmark their machine till new hardware is out. But hey, they have the money for it!

Some other guys (like me) only upgrade when the hardware isn't fast anymore to handle new games (in this case) and my wallet allows...
I can't game with 15fps, but in CPU matters, I can wait one more hour to finish a render...

Concordo com isso PMR ^^

Anyways, i wasnt nearly bashing anyone who buys the latest hardware, i only wanted to show that old hardware doesnt actually means useless, but i will bash those who buy hardware only to benchmark it all the time. Now thats nerdish and useless.

Apercebi-me q falavas português porque escreveste: xpto graphic card

 

[miribus]

Anyways, i wasnt nearly bashing anyone who buys the latest hardware, i only wanted to show that old hardware doesnt actually means useless, but i will bash those who buy hardware only to benchmark it all the time. Now thats nerdish and useless.

Same could be said about drag racing.
That's what the benchmarking enthusiasm seems to be to me.
The equivalent of computer drag racing.

That's not a negative or a positive statement btw, just an observation.
It's good, clean, if not expensive, fun.
Me, I couldn't justify the cost to myself for the sake of a nice benchmark, I do it for purely utilitarian reasons.

 

[Heyyou27]

I still use my old Pentium 4 Northwood based system with a 6800GT, but when it comes to newer titles like Oblivion it simply doesn't cut it.

 

[jeremyrailton]

i started out with a p4 2.8 and an fx5200 and got into competition with ut2004, but that setup got me killed cause i couldn't get enough frames, so i upped it to a x800xt, much better, but not good enough, then to a 6600 and a x1900xtx, now i get a smooth 85 fps no matter what. good for killin!

 

[hergieburbur]

I use my old ATI 9800 in my linux/test machine all the time and am plenty satisfied with it.

 

[dietzjack]

I use ATI 9600XT. Ever since I bought it, it has given me reliable service. It's great for older games like Warcraft 3. With the integrated video in my system it was just too hard to play. The 9600XT hiccups a lot on newer games like Fable and Heroes of Might and Magic 5. Also, Rise of Nations Rise of Legends is unplayable due to low FPS. I don't even wanna try a hard-to-run game like Oblivion. It would probably be something like 1 FPS.

Needless to say, my current system is pretty old. It's not going to win any contests for oldest system out there, but hey I have the cash for a better one. I already have a C2D/E6600/X1900256MB HTPC is already built, and my C2D/E4300/7600GT based system is on the construction bench. That second one is replacing the P4Celeron2.0G/9600XT based system I am using to write this post. The C2D system plays all the games very much better than my current system. It helps that the processor and graphics card are both 2 generations newer.

 

[Gundam1s]

My HP 734n with a GeForce 4 MX420 is still my primary system when I have my gaming comp with a E4300,2GB ram, 8800GTS 320MB.
This is probably only because I have all my anime/music in here, I play games on the new comp via KVM switch and have music in the background from the HP comp.

 

[pmr]

i started out with a p4 2.8 and an fx5200 and got into competition with ut2004, but that setup got me killed cause i couldn't get enough frames, so i upped it to a x800xt, much better, but not good enough, then to a 6600 and a x1900xtx, now i get a smooth 85 fps no matter what. good for killin!

Please say that move was because you switched from AGP to PCI-E and you wanted to save money 8O