Best price/performance card for $200-300?

[roper81]

Hey guys!

A friend of mine has a decent processor (2.2ghz P4). He was complaining to me that framerates were sucking in final fantasy xi and so I asked him what video card he had.. Geforce 4 MX!!!

He told me he thought processor speed was mostly what mattered in games and I told him that was so far from the truth.. So anyways.

I'm looking to tell him the best price / performance solution for 200-300 dollars to play FFXI the best (since that's the only game he's interested in.. He doesnt play many games on PC anyways beside MMO's).

Thanks for any help

 

[Pete]

I have no personal eperience with FFXI, but why not just buy a used Radeon 9700 Pro for $100-125 and be done with it? FFXI isn't that demanding on the video card (I think), and a 9700P will let him crank the AF and AA and enjoy really nice visuals at good framerates.

It ain't a bad card for other games, too. Plus, it's a 9700P, so that means good signal quality. And if the stock fan is too loud for him, an Arctic Cooling VGA Silencer is a very affordable upgrade.

It's not worth spending more money on a video card with that "slow" of a CPU. Cards faster than the 9700P really require a CPU closer to 3GHz to fully stretch their legs. If he insists on buying new, look for a 9800P. I've seen them go for as little as $155 new just a few days ago (JR.com appears to have since sold out of its Visiontek 9800Ps).

 

[roper81]

Well, just because he is willing to spend 200-300.. Plus, I have an athlon 64 3400+ and Geforce 6800GT and I can tell you that at a decent resolution with things maxed and 16x AF it can start to get a little choppy in high traffic areas..

He just said he wanted the best card he could get for 200-300 for the game.. so thats why i'm asking

Thanks for the suggestion though, I will keep it in mind pete!!

 

[nick1985]

Text

 

[Pete]

Well, if he can wait a few weeks for the GeForce 6600GT AGP version, that'll be his best bet by far for ~$200 new. If he wants to buy now, and you think a 9700P won't be fast enough, I guess he could splurge on a $250+ GF 6800 (browse NewEgg's selection). It seems somewhat wasteful, though, considering his CPU.

Are you sure that choppiness you experience is because of your video card/CPU, or maybe just the network struggling with updating a lot of ppl on-screen at once? It's hard to believe a near top-of-the-line system like yours would struggle with FFXI if you're only enabling AF, regardless of the resolution.

 

[Cawchy87]

I agree with nick. if he wants to spend that much money then thats the card for him. But the 9700pro would serve him very very well.

 

[roper81]

pete - FFXI is a pretty high resolution game.. quite a few poly's and not to mention I have done the registry hack to allow 2048x2048 background textures which brings a huge performacne hit (highest in the config util is 1024x1024 textures)..

so 1280x960 / 2048 texxtures / 16x AF / everything maxed.. it will definately slow down when you're at a place with 60+ people standing around.. Normally when I'm just walking around outdoors and such there isn't any slowdown.. unless there's weather effects going on such as dust blowing around..

It shouldn't be my internet conncetion I am on cable and don't have lag or anything in first person shooter games..

 

[Delorian]

I would attempt to get a gig of ram if you don't already have that much. It really can make a huge difference in most MMORPGs, also Nick's suggestion seems to be the better deal at the time unless you can hold out until the 6600GTs are released in the coming months.

 

[DannyLove]

There are certain parts in FFXI that chopped my computer up. For example, FFXI has weather changes, and in a dust storm I would get nasty framerates. Mind you, I have a Intel 2.6 with dual channel 1 GB, but only a Geforce 4 4200Ti. So FFXI is somewhat demanding in the video card department.

Off-topic: I'm surprised FFXI is still strong. I quit with a 45 level Healer. Couldn't take it anymore

danny~!

 

[Delorian]

Originally posted by: DannyLove
There are certain parts in FFXI that chopped my computer up. For example, FFXI has weather changes, and in a dust storm I would get nasty framerates. Mind you, I have a Intel 2.6 with dual channel 1 GB, but only a Geforce 4 4200Ti. So FFXI is somewhat demanding in the video card department.

Off-topic: I'm surprised FFXI is still strong. I quit with a 45 level Healer. Couldn't take it anymore

danny~!

Very true. The game only says it recommends a GeForce FX series w/64mb ram, but we all know the 5200 would do terrible things. A 9700 pro or better would do very nicely coupled with at least 512 (gig would be better) of ram instead of a system with a BFG 6800U and 256mb system ram.

OP you should list his system specs as to be able to find a better match for the system.