Not sure which card to buy for my system

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cgacfox

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I have an Asus P5AD2 premium MB and am looking to upgrade my video card. I see a lot of nice ones out there but the ones I am drawn to are SLI supported. Will my MB be able to handle those? I currently have a NVidia GeForce PCX 5750 128 mg card. I want to upgrade to 512 mgs or higher. Any suggestions that would work for me? Thanks.
 
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shinji01

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Something that i've learnt from experience, and from the friendly people on here, higher VRAM doesnt do squat except for higher resolutions.

Also, make sure ur PSU is up to scratch.. (i.e, make sure that ur PSU can acatually handle the increase in demand for power from the video card) or else your computer may randomly crash or whatever.

But yeah, knowing your budget is always good.
 
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cgacfox

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The one I really like is this:
EVGA 512-P2-N773-AR GeForce 8600GTS 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 675MHz
DirectX: DirectX 10

I have also seen a card with 256-bit but am not sure what the difference is -

ASUS EN7950GT/HTDP/512M GeForce 7950GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Chipset Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Core clock: 550MHz
DirectX: DirectX 9
DVI: 2


The price is good at around $210.

I am gathering PSU is the power supply? I believe I have a 500w power supply in my box. My box is the Silverstone SST-TJ05B-T. The box is huge. A tech friend built the system for me but has since fallen off the face of the Earth. I have 6 HDDs and it runs Raid 5 I think. 4 HDDS are for data and 2 HDDS house my OS and my programs. Although I am experiencing write errors with the data side so don't really know what to do about that...another problem another forum. I also have 4 gigs of RAM and 2 DVD burners. Also running a P4 3.4 gig CPU. I really didn't get to pick what is in the box...the husband let the tech friend design and build it. Since the tech friend is out of the picture now, eventually I will build another box where I do the research and pick the parts. For now I just want to upgrade my video card to handle my graphics that I use for web design and do online gaming and get better FPS and better graphics.
 
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cgacfox

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Well I really don't want anything with Radeon. I prefer Nvidia. However, why do you recommend the 7950 GT over the 8600 GT? I would think newer technology would be better.
 
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cgacfox

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I see this is is only 320mb while I was looking for something at 512mb. However the bit rate is higher...ok I admit that I have not kept up on technology as I should have. Could someone please explain why this card is better than a card with 512mb but maybe only 128 bit? Remember this is not only for my web graphics but also for the MMORPG that I play.
 
Maziar

Maziar

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8800gts 320 beats cards like x1950xt 512 or x1950xtx 512 or even in some games it beats 1gb 7950gx2 ,

8800gts wins because it has 96 stream processor , and also alot more new features compared to x19xx-7950gx2
 
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cgacfox

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Interesting...is there an article here or can someone explain what exactly to look for when purchasing a video card...in my case for web graphics and online gaming. Explain things like the bit rate, the pixelpipelines, the megs, etc. It would really be helpful! Thanks.
 
cleeve

cleeve

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Parts 2 and 3 are the meat of it:


http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/24/graphics_beginners/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/07/31/graphics_beginners_2/

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/08/08/graphics_beginners_3/
 
cleeve

cleeve

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And for the record, if $210 is your budget you shoukld consider getting over your fear of Radeons.

By far the best $200 card is the X1950 XT, which will eat a 7950 GT, 7900 GS, and 8600 GTS alive... nothing under $250 can touch it.

If you absolutely need a Geforce, your best bet is to up the wante and go for a $280 8800 GTS.
 
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cgacfox

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Well looking at Newegg.com the X1950 XT runs from $200 to well over $300 and ranges from 256 mg 256 bit to 512 meg 256 bit. The 8800 GTS runs from about $280 to over $400 and ranges from 320 meg 320 bit to 640 meg 320 bit. I did read the article on video cards and learned that the bit rate is actually more important than the RAM. Now before I commit to a purchase I want to again make sure that it will work with my MB and power supply. See above for the details. My box is large enough to handle the size. There is nothing in the way of the card I currently have. The LAN controller is above it but nothing below it. The husband wants me to get the best card I can for the time being before I build the next box. I guess my "fear" of Radeons comes from other forums and the newegg.com ratings of the Radeons vs the GeForce. I have a Radeon in my laptop and it is not as good as the GeForce in my husband's laptop. But that's another story.
 
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cristip60

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If you have a antec 600w true power psu i think it can handle a 8800gts, and yes it is compatible with your motherboard but it will be botlenecked by your p4 cpu. And newer graphics cards don't have pipelines they have stream processors.
 
lostandwandering

lostandwandering

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Also keep in mind that the 8800 could easily be used in her next system and no longer be bottlenecked so it isn't a bad purchase. I say get an 8800GTS, whether it's 320 or 640 is up to what res you game at. The 640 starts to be worth it after 1440x900.
 
cleeve

cleeve

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I wouldn't consider any X1950 XT's except the $200 model: the more expensive ones are priced too closely to the 8800 GTS.

Basically, the two you should be considering are the $200 X1950 XT and $280 8800 GTS 320. Either will serve you very well for the price.

As far as Radeons and Geforces... don't pay attention to Newegg fanboy reviews. I review videocards for a living - I work for Tom's and wrote the graphics card for beginners guides I linked to - and personally, I have had nothing but great experiences with both Radeons and Geforces.

The key is getting the best one for the $$.
 
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cgacfox

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Thank you all for your input. I really helped me make my decision. I will be going with the GeForce 8800 GTS 640. I currently have my resolution set at 1280x1024. That is a comfortable resolution for my eyes. I only have a 19" flat panel with this set up. The new set up I may be going to 22" or larger. In fact I will be haunting the other parts of the forum for the parts that I pick for the new box to see what others are experiencing. I really like the new Asus Striker or Striker Extreme MBs. I have always loved Asus and I know from experience that Tom's Hardware also likes the MBs. However, there might be better boards out there for the money, so I have a LOT of research ahead of me!
 
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cgacfox

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Well I bought my card and installed it last Friday. Worked well until Monday evening when my graphics went all weird. I put my old card back in and everything was fine. I have shipped the card back to newegg.com and they are to send me a new one. I went with the BFG version of the card. Again I am going to ask if this card is truly compatable with my MB. I just want to make absolutely sure that the new card won't have the same problems because it will not work on the MB. Thanks.
 
systemlord

systemlord

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Graphics cards nolonger use the term pixel pipeline anymore, it does't apply anymore. At least for the 8800's series cards. Have a look at the 2900XT it has 320 stream processers compared to the 8800GTX only has 128 streaming processers and beats the 2900XT.

If I were you I'd stick to reviews of cards that show actual performance benefits.
 
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