Help buying video card for xmas for 12 yr old son

[magster97]

My son is a big gamer and wanted a new pc for xmas. We are building one together I'm ordering parts, and will be showing him how build the pc however, I'm not a big gamer and I'm in need of help purchasing a decent video card to get him started in his budget of $50 to $60 with the system below.

Mother Board - Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
K7 Flagship Motherboard NVIDIA® NFORCE2 Ultra 400 + MCP-T
Chipset
400 MHz FSB
Dual-Channel DDR400 Memory
Dual LAN with Gigabit
ASUS Wi-Fi slot
Dolby® Audio
SATA RAID

CPU - AMD Athlon XP 3200 + 2.2 GHz Barton Core 400FSB 512 OEM

Memory 2 stick of - 256 DDR 400 PC3200

Would a GeForce FX5200 made by Chaintech be a good choice? Any suggestion on other video card in the $50 or $60 would be great I need to order and have before xmas.

 

[Cawchy87]

You would be better off getting a 9800pro and an xp1800 than getting an fx5200. If he likes playing games, that entire setup is wasted by only spending 50-60 on a video card. If he ONLY plays older games then get him a ti4xxx for 50-60 bucks. But if he plays newer games then get him a decent video card. Or all the system will be good for is video encoding and processor intensive programs like that and useless for gaming.

 

[Navid]

I am not sure if you would benefit from RAID. I have read that servers benefit from RAID, but not a general-purpose PC.
Or, are you just saying that you are getting a SATA drive instead of PATA. In that case, that is good.

 

[thegimp03]

You may want to look into the Ti4x00 series of cards for that range. Even though they are geforce 4's instead of the more recent fx-series, they will outperform the fx5200 easily as the fx5200 is definitely not a "gamer's card". You could future-proof yourself by bumping your range up a bit more (20-30 dollars) and get an ati 9600 pro or even a much better 9700 pro used off of ebay.

 

[WT]

ATI 9600 gets my vote. They can be found for $110+ if you get lucky.

 

[LTC8K6]

No big gaming for $50-60. The least card I would get for a gamer these days is a 9800pro. 9600pro if I just could not afford anything else.

If you must get an FX5200, be sure you don't get one with 64bit memory, and don't bother with any of the 256MB cards.

 

[Cawchy87]

If you have to get an fx5200, don't get the computer. It would just be a waste.

 

[ponyo]

Go to ForSale/Trade forum here and type in Ti4200 in the search. You should be able to find used Geforce4 Ti4200 card for around $50 shipped. These are still excellent cards and will be more than fine for your son.

 

[Cawchy87]

But why spend less on a video card when he can get a cheaper processor/mobo and get a better video card? The fps would be much higher with a better vid card.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: Cawchy87
You would be better off getting a 9800pro and an xp1800 than getting an fx5200. If he likes playing games, that entire setup is wasted by only spending 50-60 on a video card. If he ONLY plays older games then get him a ti4xxx for 50-60 bucks. But if he plays newer games then get him a decent video card. Or all the system will be good for is video encoding and processor intensive programs like that and useless for gaming.

I agree, take that 3200+ Barton out of the mix and buy a sub $100 CPU and use the savings to boost the vid card budget. You can always get the performance back through a mild overclock since that board is a very good one for the purpose.

 

[kki000]

another vote for ati9600.
fully dx9 compliant part, 80-100 depending on mfg and memory size.
There was a rosewill 128mb 128bit 9600 on newgg for around 85 i think.
Kill the raid, drop the cpu a bit, get a less expensive motherboard, (epox comes to mind) and ixnay the wifi card if u can. all that should let u get a better vid card, nothing else has more impact on gaming.
K

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I think she is just showing the boards' specs in reference to SATA RAID. I would not change the board for another either, unless it has soundstorm and wifi can be added for less final cost.

 

[magster97]

Could you give me some good suggestion for video cards someone suggested a Geforece 4 440Mx 128 DDR what about this? I'm really not sure what to do and need any suggestions on which to put with this computer if it's more than $60.00 what kinda price range is he looking at.

 

[magster97]

I have already purchased the motherboard and CPU it's being shipped! Now the challege is finding a video card.

 

[CraigRT]

used Ti4200 comes to mind, like Naustica recommended.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
used Ti4200 comes to mind, like Naustica recommended.

Yep, given you ordered parts already that is the best choice in the price range. Even a Radeon 8500 would be better than a 5200 or G4MX, both of which should be avoided.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: magster97
Could you give me some good suggestion for video cards someone suggested a Geforece 4 440Mx 128 DDR what about this? I'm really not sure what to do and need any suggestions on which to put with this computer if it's more than $60.00 what kinda price range is he looking at.

I'd say no to the G4 MX cards. IMHO, Things like this are way overpriced for what they can do and just have lot of marketing hype on the box making it sound like something it's not.

What kind of games does your son play? This is fairly important because some games (ex. Warcraft 3) can be played just fine on a pretty weak gfx card. Whereas others (Far Cry, Halo, Half-Life 2) require stronger gfx cards to be played decently. In otherwords strategy-type games which generally have light 3D gfx don't need much of a card, whereas 3D intense games do need a good card.

Fern

 

[kki000]

ati 9600 66 bux
99 cent shipping, its 64bit vareity.. but i think its still yer best choice in that price bracket.

I highly recommend this guy,
ati 9600 80 bux
128bit memory interface, for 15 bucks more.

dx9 compliance will add more life to the card. 9600 in many games run at lower rez will give great results. I bought that 80 dollar card for my nephew, 16yrs old.
K

 

[bradyapba]

As a huge gamer, you are doing him and that system a huge diservice by only spending $50-$60 on a video card. the Video card is the #1 important piece to a gamer, its probably the most expensive part of any gamers system. a 50-60 Video card is not going to take advantage of that system, and is going to struggle to run current games at any decent level.

You really need to spent in the $200 dollar range for a VC.

That being said, if your mind is set on a 50-60 price range...

You are getting very good advice here. the 9600 is a very good card at that price. In or near that price range though, i too would get a GF4 4200. Make sure you get that right, not a GF4 4000, mx, anything like that. a GF4 4200.

Here are some links.

this is a NEW 4200 for $75

http://www.compuvest.us/Produc...s.aspx?ProductID=82198

here is an 4200 ULTRA refurb for $100

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...14-170-023R&depa=0

or check the forsale forums here, there seem to be quite a few ti4200 in the 50-60 range.

ebay has some too

heres a new one for 54

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISA...em=5146434766&rd=1

heres my search page

http://search.ebay.com/ti4200_W0QQsonewuserZ1

but of course it was me, i would spend some more and get a real card



Chris

 

[LouPoir]

T14200 for sure for that price range.


IMHO

Lou

 

[Cawchy87]

What kind of games does your son play? This is fairly important because some games (ex. Warcraft 3) can be played just fine on a pretty weak gfx card. Whereas others (Far Cry, Halo, Half-Life 2) require stronger gfx cards to be played decently. In otherwords strategy-type games which generally have light 3D gfx don't need much of a card, whereas 3D intense games do need a good card.

No system should have to suffer a geforce FX card. ti series or go ATI. In between ti 4xxx and the 6xxx series, don't even consider nvidia

 

[nick1985]

well no offense, you you really wasted a lot of money on that mobo and CPU. for the price of an athlon 3200, you could have gotten an athlon 64. or, you could have just gotten an athlon 2500 and used the saved cash to get a decent video card.

 

[IAteYourMother]

IF your son is a big gamer, then your entire system was a waste. With just a $50 card, everything else you bought doesn't really help the game run smoother.

 

[nitromullet]

What kind of games does your son play? This is fairly important because some games (ex. Warcraft 3) can be played just fine on a pretty weak gfx card. Whereas others (Far Cry, Halo, Half-Life 2) require stronger gfx cards to be played decently. In otherwords strategy-type games which generally have light 3D gfx don't need much of a card, whereas 3D intense games do need a good card.

As a huge gamer, you are doing him and that system a huge diservice by only spending $50-$60 on a video card. the Video card is the #1 important piece to a gamer, its probably the most expensive part of any gamers system. a 50-60 Video card is not going to take advantage of that system, and is going to struggle to run current games at any decent level.

You really need to spent in the $200 dollar range for a VC.

IMO, these are the two best pieces of advice I've seen in this thread. The only thing I would add to that is that you really need to spend at least $200 to get a video card that your son will be happy with if he plays graphically intensive games. You can certainly get by with a card in the less then $200 price range that wil suffice for now, but the performance jumps considerably when you go higher and your purchase will last a bit longer. Whereas, beyond $400, the gains are small and you don't get your money's worth.

Honestly, for a system of that caliber, I would recommend a GeForce 6800, 6800GT, or a Radeon X800 Pro (if you can find one below $400).

The sad fact of the matter is that PC gaming is expensive if done right, that's why consoles are so popular.

 

[EvanB]

Originally posted by: Fern

Originally posted by: magster97
Could you give me some good suggestion for video cards someone suggested a Geforece 4 440Mx 128 DDR what about this? I'm really not sure what to do and need any suggestions on which to put with this computer if it's more than $60.00 what kinda price range is he looking at.

I'd say no to the G4 MX cards. IMHO, Things like this are way overpriced for what they can do and just have lot of marketing hype on the box making it sound like something it's not.

What kind of games does your son play? This is fairly important because some games (ex. Warcraft 3) can be played just fine on a pretty weak gfx card. Whereas others (Far Cry, Halo, Half-Life 2) require stronger gfx cards to be played decently. In otherwords strategy-type games which generally have light 3D gfx don't need much of a card, whereas 3D intense games do need a good card.

Fern

Umm, the kid is 12. I dont think HL2 and Far Cry are high up on his list of games to play.