Help with $50 video card selection

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EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
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Originally posted by: Mloot
I think the combination of the 6200 PCI and some extra RAM is the best bet. Whereas it will be nice for the kid to be able to open up a shiny, new video card for his birthday, you can get some really good deals on RAM in the FS/FT forum, usually at a much lower price than new.

Do you know what kind of memory it uses (i.e. what speed, such as pc2100, pc2700, etc), and is it a dual or single channel mobo?
The HP spec for the motherboard stated 2 slots for 2100/2700 DDR with one slot occupied with a 256MB stick, IIRC (I'm at work and the info is at home).
 

Sunrise089

Senior member
Aug 30, 2005
882
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71
Quake 4 will be violent.....very very violent. If the mom doesn't like that sort of thing, you should probably look elsewhere for a new game (AOE 3? Civ. 4?)
 

Mloot

Diamond Member
Aug 24, 2002
3,038
25
91
According to the specs of the mobo, it looks like it is not a dual-channel job, so I don't believe you have to have matched pairs of RAM. If you have enough left over after buying the video card, you might even be able to score a 512mb stick of pc2100 or pc2700 (depending on what the kid has now) from the FS/FT forum. I've seen several 512mb sticks going for about $35-40 shipped, and going from 256 to 768mb (plus freeing up whatever RAM is currently being used by his onboard video, once you get the PCI card installed) will give his system a nice little boost in overall responsiveness.
 

EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
91
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Originally posted by: Sunrise089
Quake 4 will be violent.....very very violent. If the mom doesn't like that sort of thing, you should probably look elsewhere for a new game (AOE 3? Civ. 4?)
Thanks for the feedback Sunrise!

 

imported_Rampage

Senior member
Jun 6, 2005
935
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Originally posted by: Rollo
Since we're limited on the card by the slot, what about a SBLive and another 256 RAM as well?
Or a SB Audigy?

Onboard audio can impact framerates as well, and going to a Live or Audigy would help.

SB cards, are known to be PCI bandwidth hogs. Many people experienced breaks in sound and other anomolies with non-intel chipsets in the past.. very finicky cards.
Regardless of that, the PCI bandwidth hogging is well known.
I'd guess the advantage in FPS would be lost (and then more-so) as it robs precious bandwidth from the 6200.

In case anyone here would like to know about this (or the validity of my claim), I did a quick google search on "sound blaster pci bus hog" and came up with these links quickly.

A very good explanation of the problem in regards to the SB Live
Reports of even the X-Fi's being affected by something similar
Another good informative link

I've experienced all of these issues myself, and over the years tried multiple motherboards to get my sound cards to work. I now use onboard, I go by the philosophy now to upgrade my sound cards for sound quality, not FPS (which at higher res and with a A64, you see less than a 1% FPS increase).. it might help a slower computer more, but I think it might be more trouble than its worth.
I certainly wouldnt purchase a SB card to find out, maybe if an extra was lying around. I personally would either do an M-Audio card, or onboard. Unless they ever wise up and release a PCI SoundStorm, I'd still take that over any soundblaster just for the ease of mind..

The fact is that the PCI bus is a shared bus. I would suggest taking out any PCI cards that werent absolutely necessary.
The Live/Audigy bloats data out over the PCI bus, even when not even in use. It actually shoots out null data, believe it or not. :thumbsdown:

Originally posted by: EricR
Hi again,

So does everyone agree on the GeForce 6200 PCI by 3dFuzion?
:D I can't believe that card actually exists! Its completely for real though, I enlarged the box and its an actual 6200 PCI... (sorry I'm in shock someone had the wisdom to create this card).

Wow.. that card probably about maxes out the PCI bus.. anything faster would probably be a waste.

I can't find that video card for sale anywhere else, nor can I find another single 6200 PCI.

The first good DX9 PCI card. Nice to not to have to settle for an FX.. this will be a huge performance gain over a 5700 in DX9 games.

6200+256MB RAM= great rig.


On Quake 4, the official rating
Quake 4 Activision, Inc. PC,Xbox 360 Mature (17+) Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language 8/24/2005

BTW, 3dfuzion is made by BFG.. the best card maker in my book. :thumbsup:
 

nRollo

Banned
Jan 11, 2002
10,460
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Damn you Southpaw! ;)

Well you could be right about the PCI bus, never thought of that as I've never had or known anyone with a PCI video card in the days of SBLives.
 

EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
91
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0
Originally posted by: hans030390
Sweet, great find on the PCI 6200! Get that!

and more ram. :D
The 3dFusion GF6200 PCI it is!

And a bump to at least 512MB of ram.

Thanks!
 

fbrdphreak

Lifer
Apr 17, 2004
17,555
1
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Originally posted by: EricR
Originally posted by: hans030390
Sweet, great find on the PCI 6200! Get that!

and more ram. :D
The 3dFusion GF6200 PCI it is!

And a bump to at least 512MB of ram.

Thanks!
Hell yeahs, MUCH better than some GF 5xxx crap (Rollo ;))

Keep us updated!
 

imported_Rampage

Senior member
Jun 6, 2005
935
0
0
Originally posted by: fbrdphreak
Originally posted by: EricR
Originally posted by: hans030390
Sweet, great find on the PCI 6200! Get that!

and more ram. :D
The 3dFusion GF6200 PCI it is!

And a bump to at least 512MB of ram.

Thanks!
Hell yeahs, MUCH better than some GF 5xxx crap (Rollo ;))

Keep us updated!

GF FX wasnt crap. It just wasnt the fastest product out at the time for DX9 games that didnt even exist in any quantity/quality.
It wasn't the slowest either. The world consists of more than ATI and Nvidia.
 

EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
91
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0
OK it's all set. I ordered the GF6200 PCI from Chumbo for $76.00, with free shipping and no sales tax.

Five guys made contributions to this cause for an incredible total of $61.00! That's people giving to the birthday of a young man they don't even, nor ever will know!! I take it you guys love your gaming and your willingness to spend your hard earned $$ to share that experience with a total stranger is great. Thanks also for your willingness to trust a total stranger to do the right thing with your money. Without this trust there would have been no donations and no GF6200 PCI as it was out of the price range.

Out of respect for this trust and your kind donations I want to give you some sort of assurance the money was spent as intended. In this regard I have posted the following screenshots for your review:

Summary showing the total amount donated
Order summary from Chumbo.com

If you have any other ideas how I might reassure you regarding your donations please let me know.

A sincere THANK YOU for your contributions to this young man's birthday!

Highest regards,

EricR
 

EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
91
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Summary:

I came to this forum hoping for some quick advice so as to not botch spending this $50 (and based upon the feedback given, I would have botched it).

And the AT Graphics community response was WAY BEYOND what I had hoped for!

The end results is we have found the very BEST CARD at the very BEST PRICE!

Adding icing to the cake are the DONATIONS totaling $61.00 given towards the cost of the card ($76.00) which made buying the right card a reality!

Here is the difference you AT'ers have made:

Pre AT'ers help = Wrong and/or crappy video card consuming the mom's entire $50 birthday gift budget.

Post AT'ers help = The very best card was purchased even though it was over budget, and best of all, the mom will still have $35.00 to buy her son another gift (clothes, music, etc.)!!

Thank you all for your help, your money, your time, and for working together on this!

Thanks again!!

EricR
 

EricR

Member
May 8, 2002
91
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Anandtech.com one of the only forums I've found where the desire to be helpful exceeds the need to be right!!

:thumbsup:
 

Silversierra

Senior member
Jan 25, 2005
664
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So, did you recieve the card yet? I'm interested in how the 6200 performs, and if being pci is a big bottleneck.

With my p4 @ 2.8ghz, with my 6200 I get 26,900 in aquamark 3, do you think you could run aq3 and see what score the pci 6200 gets?
(side note: I wonder if the pci 6200 can unlock to a 6600 with rivatuner, my agp 6200 does).

Anyway, I hope the kid had/has a great birthday nonetheless, and am really impressed by you all here, way to go.

 

Skyhanger

Senior member
Jul 16, 2005
341
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THERE IS A X850XTPE ON SALE FOR $34!!!!!!

I donno why! It just is! Why would anyone do that???