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video card DILEMMA!
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Junior Member
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9. October 2007 @ 18:49 |
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hey guys. i have decided to play games on my computer. now i need a new graphics card! the one i currently have is the ATI RADEON 9200. now anyone who knows something about cards knows that this is old technology. i played World in conflict on this card and trust me its not good! its like PS1 graphics! anyways i wanna get a new graphic card, i know its gonna be either ATI or nVIDIA but there r other things to consider.
1) my computer specs: Pentium 4, 2.6 GHZ, 1 GB RAM(i am prolly gonna have to add 1 more GB of ram) i can't think of anything else u need to know about my comp to buy a card.
2) budget <$200 (less than $200), but if its really good then i can go around $220.
now considering the above in mind what r my options? i want to know the best card i can get in my situation. plz give me the model name and price, thanks!
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Senior Member
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9. October 2007 @ 19:16 |
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1.Since you have ATi Radeon, i ain't sure if you can upgrade to a geforce card. So i won't be able to help you since i don't know much about ATi cards.
2.The processor is OK, but you'd want something that is atleast 3.00 GHz Pentium 4. Or an Intel core 2 Duo!
3.Get 1 more Gig of RAM. NOW.
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 11:56 |
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ok now i don't know how to upgrade the processor. if i buy it seperately do i just remove the old one and just simply physically put in the new one? also if its core 2 duo isn't it different thickness? so then i can't "simply" put that in? how do u do that?
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 12:45 |
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ok i think the budget will be a problem! i am in canada so CDN dollars will effect.
now looking at the future shop website i find:
VisionTek Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB AGP Video Card - $219
BFG GeForce 7800GS Overclocked 256MB AGP Graphics Card - $209
BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT 512MB Video Card - $149
EVGA 8600GT Superclocked 256MB PCI-Express Video Card - $209
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT AGP8X Superclocked 512MB Video Card - $199
ATI Radeon HD 2600 XT 512MB PCI-Express Video Card - $189
ATI Radeon X1600 Pro PCI-Express 512MB Video Card (100-437514) - $179
ATI X1650 Pro AGP 512MB Video Card (100-437809) - $169
now there r some AGP cards in there but i am sure they have PCI versions of them. i also want to know wats the difference between PCI and PCI express? do i need to look out for something in the motherboard? so which one is the best above?
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Senior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 14:13 |
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Well if he's running a 9200, then his board is AGP. And he cant upgrade his processor to a C2D if he doesnt have a socket 775 mobo, which he most likely doesnt.
Best card for AGP is the Gecube x1950xt. I have it, runs great. It does however have heat issues with the stock cooler, so you will have to go with aftermarket cooling. If you dont want to do that, then a 7800 will work fine.
Or, you can save up your money and upgrade to a PCI-e platform, with a C2D, new mobo, and a faster (and cheaper) graphics card. PCI-e cards are way faster than AGP, and the equialent PCI-e card costs about half of the AGP card.
@Global893, you cant use the 2600Pro, the 8500, the 8600, and x1600pro as they are PCI-e, not AGP.
Besides, if you could, your CPU would bottleneck the 8600, even though it is not that good of a card, and neither is the 2600s.
The difference between PCI and PCI-e is that PCI-express is way fast of a port, and way more popular. The PCI slot is mostly used for sound cards, network cards, etc. NOT VIDEO cards.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. October 2007 @ 14:32
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 14:51 |
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ya i just checked it is AGP. now can't i just plug in the new card in the existing PCI slot? also how much will the whole upgrading from AGP>PCI-e, C2D, 1 GB RAM (and how exactly do i go from AGP>PCI-e)cost? so if the upgrading is too expensive, i will get an AGP card and upgrade 1 GB RAM and to C2D. will this still work?
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Senior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 15:10 |
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No, AGP cards will only fit in AGP slots, PCI-e cards will only fit in PCI-e slots, and PCI cards (which are real old, I dont see why you would bother to use one) only fit in PCI slots.
As for the upgrade, it depends on what you want. I think it'll probably be around $500 for a fairly good setup. (One that can play Crysis real well)
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and how exactly do i go from AGP>PCI-e
You need a new motherboard, new graphics card, new cpu and possibly new ram.
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i will get an AGP card and upgrade 1 GB RAM and to C2D. will this still work?
No, you will not be able to get a Core 2 Duo with your motherboard, since yours is most likely a socket 478, which the Pentium 4s run on. The newer socket 775 are what the C2Ds and Quad Cores run on, as well as some faster P4s, and Pentium Duel Cores.
The fastest cpu you can buy for your system would probably be a P4 @ 3.2Ghz, like mine.
Seriously dude, if you plan on doing some real gaming, like Crysis, Mercenaries 2, or any other graphic intesive games, I suggest you upgrade to a newer system.
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 15:50 |
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ok how about i upgrade to P4 3.2 GHz, add 1 more GB ram and get an AGP card. cuz a whole new motherboard is too much. i won't even know where to plug all the wires(in the motherboard not the hardrive and stuff, i know that).
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Senior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 16:12 |
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Ok, that sounds good I guess, but remember that you wont be able to play the newer games with an outdated system...
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 16:18 |
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its ok man. i just want an ok card. if i was a hardcore gamer i'd get the nVIDIA 8800 i have more than nuff money. i just want it for playing games here and there. ok i got some AGP cards from a shop near my home:
so i am looking at
VisionTek Radeon HD 2600 PRO 512MB AGP Video Card - $219
EVGA e-GeForce 7600GT AGP8X Superclocked 512MB Video Card - $199
ATI X1650 Pro AGP 512MB Video Card (100-437809) - $169
wats the difference in these? they r all 512mb then y the different prices?
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Senior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 16:41 |
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The 7600 is the best out of all those. The 2600 is a mid card, and it has a slower core and memory clock speed than the 7600, and the same with the x1650. Also, ATi has been known to have driver issues with their cards, so the nVidia is probably the best one to go for.
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:07 |
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hey man if u don't mind can u check the specs for the nVIDIA 7600 at this site futureshop.ca just make sure it meets my requirements. and thanks for all ur help. it really helped!
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Senior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:12 |
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This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 11. October 2007 @ 18:13
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:18 |
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i don't like to do online shopping and i have never seen a newegg.com shop anywhere.lol. and i live in canada so there not many comp shops. btw if u look at features at that site it says "High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface" is this it?
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:25 |
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as for the power supply i don't really know. the sticker on it doesn't say the watts but its got. turbolink switching power supply model lc-a350atx 12V and some other frequency, voltage and current numbers.
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:31 |
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ok after putting the model number in google.com i find that its is 350W.
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Junior Member
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11. October 2007 @ 18:43 |
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hey man i just found an AMD sempron 300 w/motherboard for $89. would this be helpful?
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Senior Member
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12. October 2007 @ 03:47 |
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Well newegg has the best reviews, and probably the best customer service and satisfaction, but I dont think they ship to canada. If you shop online, you will have a bigger variety of things to choose from. Do they have best buy in Canada? They sell some ok computer stuff too.
Quote:
btw if u look at features at that site it says "High-Speed GDDR3 Memory Interface" is this it?
GDDR3 is the newer faster memory, that has higher bandwith and can process things faster than DDR2 memory. There is even GDDR4, but that just came out and is only available on the newer expensive cards.
Hmm, 350 watts... Well, I think thats cutting it short, but then again if you went out and bought a new PSU, it could be pretty complicated to attach all the wires back to the mobo, the hard drives,etc. I guess 350watts will be enough since the 7600 is a mainstream card.
Btw, the AMD sempron 3000 w/ mobo isnt that good, the processor I dont think is faster than 3.2Ghz. If you want something good, like a mobo/cpu bundle, I would look at at least $150.
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Junior Member
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12. October 2007 @ 10:40 |
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ya we got best buy here. do u know any special offers they got? also wats the advantage of getting a power supply with greater watts? but i think i could hook up the new supply if i get it, i just need the right connectors and just plug everything in the same place. if its not right and greater watts go in, its BOOM!
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morguex
Account closed as per user's own request
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12. October 2007 @ 11:35 |
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@Global893
Go with the 7600gt card, it's the best on your list by far.
I assume your in canada, so here's a link to a very good site.
I have been dealing with them for over 3 years now, and I give a 100%
for customer service.
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?s...anufacture=EVGA
P.S. Try not to buy computer stuff from big box stores, They really don't have the best prices.
If I can't sense time, How can I heal?
Why am I in this precorpse state?
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Junior Member
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13. October 2007 @ 14:15 |
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damn! nice website. u know anymore like those? they have the 7600
for $173 and it required a minimum of 350W power supply and of course everything else i have! and today i got 1 more GB of ram so i am at 2GB and finally! do i really need to upgrade to 3.2GHz? i tried finding a P4 3.2GHz but its not on any of the sites i know. so wat do u recommend?
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Junior Member
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13. October 2007 @ 14:24 |
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i found this but its $209 how do i know it'll work on my cpu?Pentium 4
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morguex
Account closed as per user's own request
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13. October 2007 @ 15:45 |
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If I can't sense time, How can I heal?
Why am I in this precorpse state?
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Senior Member
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13. October 2007 @ 16:31 |
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Well if you're runnning a P4 below 3.0Ghz, chances are its a socket 478, which doesnt support duel cores, only P4s, and that all you can get. If you buy a new mobo, you can get a 775 duel core, or quad core.
Btw, the one you found for $204 is a socket 775, which wont work. The highest you can get is a 3.2 I believe. I cant seem to find one right now, but this one should be fine:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116027
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morguex
Account closed as per user's own request
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13. October 2007 @ 16:45 |
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If I can't sense time, How can I heal?
Why am I in this precorpse state?
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