Graphics card help

[Heliix]

Hello. I just have a quick question about graphics cards. I really want to be able to play HL2, but my pc is far from capable. I have a MSI geforce 2 pro 64 meg card, and I need something better, or atleast capable of HL2 decently. I have very little money to get something. Does anyone have any ideas for me? How can I get a better graphics card? I surely dont have 400+ to spend on a geforce 6800. Is it possible to buy one used? What do all these places do with the video cards after they run there tests with them etc. I would like to get ahold of something like that. Any sort of feedback would help me out. Possible places to find a used one. Is someone here possibly selling one, or have something laying around that they are not using? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[priyajeet]

Whats ur processor ?
HL2 is very processor intensive. So thats shld be the 1st buy. Get secinds hands to save money. Then go in for something like a 9800pro, second hands for $150.

:tongue: <A HREF="http://www.geocities.com/priyajeet/fing.jpg" target="_new"><i><font color=red>Very funny, Scotty.</font color=red><font color=blue> Now beam down my clothes.</font color=blue></i></A> :tongue:

 

[addiarmadar]

Go to newegg.com and look for a refurb 9800pro, usually under 200bucks. Thatll play HL2 good. That is if you have a descent enough system to start with.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

 

[Heliix]

Here are my pc specs. They are pretty sad, but it does decent in TFC. I know It's not capable of HL2 though. I dunno what to do. Dont have the cash to even buy a video card. This is why I'm looking for a used card or anything used that is better then what I have.
1 ghz athlon
256 memory
MSI geforce2 64meg
Iwill KT 266 mb
15 gig HD

 

[Crashman]

That's a nice older system. I could get around $200 for it. And that means replacing it will only cost your around $600.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[grafixmonkey]

You can save a lot of money too if you get cheap, overclockable components. Like, I hear some kinds of 6800 can overclock really far, and certain processors like the Athlon XP Mobile and the cheaper Athlon64's can do a lot too. If you combine getting parts second-hand with getting cheap, overclock parts, you might be able to pull off a pretty decent system. It does add a bit of a gamble as to how fast you'll be able to get though.

 

[Crashman]

I buy my parts with the intent to overclock. Since I get things like PC4000 free for testing, but only if I can complete testing, buying overclockable parts yield the largest take of free stuff.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[rx7000]

Crashman maybe we could chat and you could school me sometime on the mastery of overclocking processors



Asus p4c800 Deluxe,1 Gig Mushkin PC3200 Dual Channel Level II V2,Pentium 4 3.0 512k 800fsb HT, Thermaltake Xaser III, Thermaltake Spark 7+, Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro, eVGA GeForce 6800 GT

 

[cleeve]

1. Your CPU is your biggest limiting factor right now.

Find out what your motherboard is. If it isn't ancient, it can probably take anything up to an AthlonXP 2600+ (266 mhz bus)
If it's newer, it might take 333mhz or even a 200mhz bus CPUs. Then you're really in business.

Either way, buy yourself the fastest CPU you can use. If you're limited to a 266mhz bus, you can probably get a 2400+ for under $100. If you're not bus-limited, get a nice 2500+ and overclock it.

2. Your second biggest limiting factor is, of course, your videocard.

If you're really poor after the CPU, for about $30-$40 on ebay you can get a nice Geforce3 (Which are actually much better than Geforce4 MXs and most Geforece 5200's with the 64-bit bus).

If you can afford a few dollars more ($60-ish), your best bet is to get a Radeon 9550 (128-bit bus version) and overclock it. If you're lucky, you can get Radeon 9600 PRO speeds out of it, in some cases people have gotten 9600XT speeds from Radeon 9550's!

Either way, overclocking is your friend.

And if you have ~$150 after your CPU upgrade, look on ebay for a used 9700 PRO or 9800 PRO.

With a 2400+ or faster CPU and a Radeon 9550 @ 9600 PRO speeds, there's no game out there you won't be able to play nicely... you won't be able to play the most advanced titles at max detail of course, but it will be very playable at lower settings.

With the 9700 or 9800 PRO and a 2400+ CPU, it'll be even better... real sweet performance for the cash.



________________
<b>Radeon <font color=red>9700 PRO</b></font color=red> <i>(o/c 332/345)</i>
<b>AthlonXP <font color=red>3200+</b></font color=red> <i>(Barton 2500+ o/c 400 FSB)</i>
<b>3dMark03: <font color=red>5,354</b>

 

[rx7000]

I have a nice mint Geforce 4 Mx440 Pci Ill let go for 50...

Asus p4c800 Deluxe,1 Gig Mushkin PC3200 Dual Channel Level II V2,Pentium 4 3.0 512k 800fsb HT, Thermaltake Xaser III, Thermaltake Spark 7+, Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Pro, eVGA GeForce 6800 GT

 

[CaPtAiN_InSaNo]

For 200 the 9800 P is kinder a waste of money. Yes it is a great card, and I do owne one in an older system(XP1900, 512mbDDR333, 9800P 128). But from benchies performances is not as higher as newer midrange cards, for the same price you can get the 6600 GT and X700(i think XT) which outperform it in newer games like D3 and HL2. Pluse with the GT you get PS3.0 which is proving to make a speed difference in some cases of intense rendering which is a good deal for a midrange system. www.newegg.com is probably a good start for U.S. based sites, pricewatch.com is good for finding cheapest prices, but beware of some of the stores listed.

P4 2.6c@3 / 1GB OCZ DDR533 / Abit IC7-Max3 /
BFG Geforce 6800 GT @ 410/1100 /
Baracuda 7200.7 120 GB SATA / Lian-Li PC-65 Case
/ SyncMaster 700nf Monitor / 3DMark03-12100