Any good PCI video cards out there?

[Fun Guy]

My friend had to get a machine ASAP, so we ordered him a Dimension 3000 that supposedly had an AGP slot. It doesn't. I'm sure we could ship it back, but if we don't have to, we'd rather not. Instead, I'm asking around to see if there are any good PCI video cards that are good for 2D and gaming both, so if he doesn't like the integrated video for Diablo (guessing he won't), we can get him an acceptable card. Any ideas?

 

[Matthias99]

1) Generally speaking, don't crosspost questions to GH and Video.

2) Use the search function. This is a VERY common question.

 

[Fun Guy]

Originally posted by: Matthias99
1) Generally speaking, don't crosspost questions to GH and Video.

2) Use the search function. This is a VERY common question.

You were extremely helpful, thanks!

 

[jiffylube1024]

Short answer: no.

Long answer: no f*cking way.

I went through this recently with a buddy of mine. There are no good PCI video cards to game with, not for any game made in the last 2-3 years.

Here are your choices:

-GeForce 4 440 MX (basically a GeForce 2)
-ATI Radeon 9200SE (a crippled 9200 because it only has 64-bit memory, while the 9200 isn't exactly a fast card either... The 9200 is about equal to a GeForce 3 (a bit slower).. the 9200SE is about half of that).
-ATI Radeon 7000 - not a gaming card, basically it's just a 2d card (maybe you can run a little Quake 1 on it .


You mention in your post that he will be playing Diablo. What is so bad about integrated video for this? If he really needs D3D, get one of the top two cards for cheap online. Diablo 2 is about 3-4 years old now, so those (garbage) video cards should be adequate.

Anything newer: Warcraft 3, any recent FPS, etc will require at least a decent AGP video card.

AGP came out in 1996. It's an 8 year old technology now! Sucks for those Dell/eMachines/etc cheapo machines with no AGP port. The moral as always: don't buy integrated graphics sh!t with no AGP if you intend to play any games at all! If you have children under the age of 20, get something with AGP (or soon, PCI-E).

 

[bluemax]

THEEee best is the Visiontek Xstacy Radeon 9100.

A close second in speed, but much more expensive are some of the GeForceFX 5600 PCI cards out there.

We're done here. Go shopping.

 

[Corporate Thug]

9100

 

[Fun Guy]

Okay, I believe you guys, but where do I buy the 9100? It doesn't look like NewEgg has it, and I can't even find it on PriceWatch...

 

[Corporate Thug]

http://www.enetshoponline.com/atirad9164dd.html

 

[Fun Guy]

They've got a really crappy rating on ResellerRatings.com .... are you a shill for them?

 

[xgi]

for ultra-low budget, there's the FX5200 PCI edition... can't get much out of it.. saw a review of it.. got only about 600+ 3Dmarks in 3Dmark03..

 

[df96817]

If that computer is going to be used for gaming, try your best and return it. A PCI graphics card will severely cripple most of todays game performance and has no potential for any future games.

 

[daveybrat]

Like bluemax said earlier:

THEEee best is the Visiontek Xstacy Radeon 9100.

The fastest PCI video card out there is this card. It's an ATI 9100 128MB 128-bit DDR with
250MHz core and 500MHz memory.

Here's the only place i could find still selling it:

Visiontek 9100 128MB PCI 250core/500memory

It's the best he'll get unless he get's a different computer

I bought the AGP version from this company a while back. Good luck!

 

[Steve]

Search pricewatch for 9100 PCI and you'll find a listing for it at Essential Computer. Their site is currently down due to changing to a new DNS host, but you can contact them at:

Telephone: 800.537.1420
Fax: 718.353.8476
E-mail: info@essencompu.com

No, I don't work for them. But don't buy from Shentech.

 

[Fun Guy]

Looks like Essential Computer has gone out of business.