upgrade advice please!

[Guido The Tiger]

I would love to buy the latest graphic card with all the bells and whistles but unfortunately Im on a tight budget and really have to improve my system step-by-step!
I currently have a PNY Verto GeForce FX5500 (AGP) 128mb card, the system this runs on is a DFL Lanparty nf3 UT 250GB board, 512MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM, 2x Western Digital 80GB HDD etc etc
I have been using the FX5500 for a couple of years (I bought 2nd hand!) and want to upgrade to something else (I will also be buying used - thank god for ebay!) I also plan on putting in another 512MB of the same RAM
all that said I would simply like to know what is a viable and reasonable upgrade for my graphic card?
I would like to stay with Nvidia as I like my experiences so far, and ebay is full of cards with specs that mean absolutely nothing at all to me! I dont play anything new in the way of games (Tiger Woods 2006 is about my most recent game!)
my head is spinning with MHz & pipelines & ramdacs & 128 bit!
all the web comparison sites (including TH!) seem to focus only on new cards or at least recent ones
for instance right now on ebay I am watching a FX5900 128mb, a FX6200 256mb & a radeon 9700 pro 128mb, amongst others!!!
just an idea of how one card is better than another card would really help me
I cant even be sure I am right in thinking a higher number actually means a better card? ie. FX5900 is better than FX5500 etc etc?
any help would be appreciated
thanks!
oh I should say I have used Nvidia Ntune to fine tune my system which as overclocked? the card to AGP bus 71MHz (was 66), GPU core 301MHz (was 270) & GPU clock 401MHz (was 400 I think?) I would like to overclock any replacement card but its not a vital part of whatever card I get
thanks again

 

[cleeve]

On the cheap, the best used AGP cards for the money are probably the Geforce 6800 GTs out there.

It'll be worlds faster than your FX5500, a little slower but close to the performance of the new 8600 GT.



For an idea of what's faster than what, here is a chart that shows the tiers of graphics cards ranked in performance. It includes even very old cards, so it should help you when you're buying:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/11/06/best_graphics_card/page6.html


One final note: not sure what your budget is, but you can get a brand new AGP 2600 XT for $112 on newegg. Even better than the 6800 GT, and brand new, to boot.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Generally, the first numerical character of a graphics card model number is the generation of the card. The second numerical character is the class of the card.

For NVidia Generations (from oldest to newest): 5xxx, 6xxx, 7xxx, and 8xxx.

For AMD/ATI Generations (from oldest to newest): 9xxx, 'X'xxx (think roman numeral 10), 'X1'xxx (11), HD2xxx, HD3xxx.

There are four primary classes of cards: Integrated chipsets, Budget, Mainstream, and Enthusiast

Integrated chipsets: - usually numbered 0-2, provide the most basic functionality (windows/office/etc...) and will run very simple games. Borrows it's memory from your system RAM.

Budget class cards: - usually numbered 2-4, provide slightly more functionality than integrated chipsets and will come with some memory (though often, if not always, will also borrow memory from your system).

Mainstream class cards: - usually numbered 5-7, provide most, if not all, available functions in games (higher settings have a significant impact on performance). They have their own dedicated memory so no need to borrow from the system. IMO, these should be the minimum for anyone looking to purchase a video card for gaming.

Enthusiast class cards: - usually numbered 8-9, provide all available functions in a game (higher settings usually have little to modest impact on performance). Of course, these cards come at a premium price.

Note: the latest round of cards from both companies (NVidia/AMD) throw most of this out of whack with the NVidia 8800GT and the AMD 3870/3850 being classed a mid-range (mainstream) cards.

So the FX5900 you're looking at would be classified as a 4 generation old enthusiast class card. Given the age of the card, I wouldn't waste money on it unless your current card has died and you NEED to replace it. Yes, it's better than your current FX5500, but only marginally so and IMO, not worth the cost.

The next thing you need to be concerned about is power. Should not be an issue with any of the cards you're currently looking at, but newer cards (like the 7xxx series from NVidia) require more power than the graphics card slot can provide by itself. This means there is additional draw from your power supply. You need to make sure, before you get a new card that your current power supply can handle it. Again, shouldn't be an issue with the cards you're looking at.

-Wolf sends

 

[Guido The Tiger]

thanks for your helpful responses!
I think for me I will look at the GeForce 6600 or 6800 variants, if I can get one at a price that works for me
again thanks for the help