What card to buy and where?

[Bassgod]

I have a crappy computer and I wanted to upgrade it. Right now I have Athlon Thunderbird 900mhz, 128mb SDR pc-133 ram, Via Apollo KT-133 motherboard, and an NVIDIA Vanta 8mb video card. I already bought 512mb of extra ram and waiting for it to ship. I want to also buy a video card, but I only have around 100$ for it. I looked at everything and my choice came down to Radeon 8500le 128mb. The problem that I have now is that I can't find a good 8500le for under 100$. All I can find are Sapphires. As many of you may know, Sapphire put aweful memory on the 128mb verion and even lowered it to 250/200. I've seen Apollo Demon Monster II for 100$ (It's not much worse than Built By ATI), but with shipping and everything I'd rather buy a T4200, so I'm looking at buying 80-95$card woith free shipping. Is that a good choice for me? And where and what should I buy?

 

[Spitfire_x86]

You don't need 128 MB video memory. Just buy a 64 MB R8500 (not-LE) or R8500 LE

<b> "You can put lipstick on a pig, but hey, it's still a pig!" - RobD </b>

 

[Bassgod]

Why don't I? Does my CPU limit me? I can overclock it to about 1100-1200mhz.

 

[jankphil]

more than likely your cpu will hold back your video card, not to mention that old 133 ram, it would probably be a good idea to start pulling in new parts for a complete upgrade, maybe a new mobo and ram instead of the video card and older ram...

"What kind of idiot are you?"
"I don't know, what kinds are there?"

 

[phial]

actually, the athlon isnt all that bad. expecially if you over clock it (with 133 FSB mind you).

the 128 megs of ram? *puke* get 256DDR at least

the 8mb vanta? puke again..



BUT, the best upgrade will probably be the video card. goto www.ncix.com. they have ample 8500le's

good prices

 

[Bassgod]

Well I upgraded my RAM to 640mb SDRAM. Still no DDR, but will do for now. Well If I overclock the proc. and maybe get the retail Ati (but open box though) 8500LE I found on some site. I may get a 64mb Ti4200 if I save up some money though.

 

[Bassgod]

Sorry for doublepost, but there's something else I wanted to ask. What will serve me better in a long run, a ti4200 with 64mb or full radeon 8500 with 128. Most games now don't need 128, but in a year... So which one?
They cost about the same.

 

[Crashman]

dude, hang it up. I'm running the latest games at medium resolutions on a 32MB card. 64MB would probably work better, but the fact is that 32MB works good! So in a year, 64MB cards will still be where my 32MB card is now, good enough for medium resolutions. By then, an 8500 will seem like ancient history, still a good card, but outclassed by others (in a year the 9700 standard should be in the position the 8500LE is now).

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

 

[Bassgod]

Believe it or not, I play msot of the latest games on my Vanta (I have 800x600 on UT2k3 with low-medium detail without slowdowns). Right now I know that my crad will not play Doom 3 or STALKER, the 2 games that I'm waiting for most. I need some card that will play those 2 games with good FPS and will last me at least 1.5-2 years. I ask you, what would be better in the long term, 8500 with 128mb ram or GeForce4 Ti4200 with 64mb. I could also get a ti500 with 64mb, but I doubt it's even on the same level as the ti4200. So I need your advice, which card will last me longer for 90-120$?

 

[HolyShiznit]

Avoid the 128MB 8500LE cards. They're not as good. NewEgg.Com had a good price of $72 for a Sapphire 8500le 64MB clocked at 250/250 around Christmas. Check with them.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[Bassgod]

If 128mb isn't that much better, I'd rather buy a ti4200. BTW, what's better 8500le 64mb or MSI Ti500 64mb?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Bassgod on 02/02/03 01:20 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[HolyShiznit]

Check out <A HREF="http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/index.html" target="_new">these VGA charts</A> if you have not already. They are very informative, and answer a lot of performance questions you may have.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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[Crashman]

None of the above! I can't find an 8500 128MB that isn't an LE with crappy 5ns 200MHz RAM. For the same price as the 8500LE 128MB you can find the 8500 Full Version 64MB. I think this is the best solution you can get for under $100. It performs roughly the same as a Ti4200 but I like the features better on the ATI card.

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

 

[Bassgod]

I think I'll buy the ti4200 64mb then. It will last slightly longer and will give me about 10% better fps. It's a good overclocker too.

 

[DCB_AU]

The Radeon 8500 graphics are better.

DCB_AU

 

[HolyShiznit]

Maybe so. Either way, though, he'll be getting a good card.

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Guns kill people just like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
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