Need advice on upgrading

[juni0r]

Hi,

I'd like some advice as to what graphics card i should upgrade to.Here are my system specs:

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1830Mhz @ 2200Mhz

Graphics Card: Asus v7100 Pro [NVIDIA Geforce2 MX/MX 400 @ Stock speed

Sound Card: M-AUDIO Audiophile 2496

Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-7N400-L, NVIDIA nForce™2 Ultra 400 chipset

RAM: 1 x 512MB WINTEC PC2700 @ 400MHz, 2.5-3-3-7

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200RPM 8MB

Power Supply: Thermaltake Silent PurePower 420W

My present graphics card served me well for over 3 years now but has been sluggish when trying to run first-person shooters.I need to upgrade but with so many models out there it's kinda confusing.Your advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

[pauldh]

What's your budget?

If it's around $100, get a Radeon 9600 pro, and make sure it is a real one clocked at 400 core / 600 memory.

You won't find a better brand new $200 AGP card than a <A HREF="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?id=1099382222003&skuId=6949822&type=product" target="_new">GF6600GT</A>

If you can afford a $350 card, then a GF6800GT would currently be the best choice.

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[juni0r]

I checked out prices for the 9600 Pro [around 150$] and 6600 GT [around 300$].Which one is the better investment at those prices?Will I get more than twice the performance with the 6600 GT when compared to the 9600 Pro?

 

[pauldh]

Where are you from Junior? AUS $, CAN $, US$ ?

Anyway, your prices, while higher than what I quoted, put you in the same shape as us over here in the USA. Basically a GF6600GT costs twice as much as a Radeon 9600 Pro. Is it worth it? Sure can be, but it depends:

Your 2.2GHz Athlon XP is plenty fast to take advantage of the difference between the two cards. So it depends on the games you want to play, the monitor you have(what resolutions you can play at), and whether you can or want to spend that money. Over where you are, maybe check for a radeon 9800 pro 128MB 256-bit card also. It is not as fast as the GF6600GT, but much faster than the 9600 Pro. If it is under $250, then it is a good option to spending $300 on the 6600GT. If it's $200, then it's the clear choice. Just don't buy a 128-bit 9800 pro or 9800 (non-pro).

Good Cards to look for, best to worst.

GF6600GT (your Price $300)
Radeon 9800 pro 256-bit (good choice $260 or under)
Radeon 9800 256-bit (good choice in the $200-225 range)
Radeon 9700 pro (good choice in the $200-225 range)
Radeon 9600 XT (good choice if around $175 or less)
Radeon 9600 pro (Your price $150)


Anyway, going from a GF2MX, any of these cards will amaze you. Just depends on how much you game, what games you play, resolutions you game at or hope to game at, and budget. Just make sure you properly uninstall those old NVidia Detonator drivers before swapping cards. Ask here in these forums if you aren't sure how.


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