Need a good video card that will run current games @ 1024x768 w/ as many goodies as possible

[nan0bug]

I'm in the process of putting together a newer computer, and I'm on a pretty tight budget. This is what I'll have for now:

New version Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon XP 2100+ (expecting a 2.2ghz overclock based on the previous owners experience)
256 mb of Winbond BH-5 PC3200
a 20gb wd 7200rpm drive and what i imagine is a 5400rpm 10gb drive out of a HP celeron 600
Allied 450w ps

I was wondering what video card I could get for around the $75range that will allow me to play titles like BF1942, UT2003, etc without having to turn down too many goodies at 1024x768. I'd prefer to be able to run AA and/or AF, but thats not really as important as just being able to hang in there when the action gets really hectic.

Cards I've been considering:

Radeon 9000 Pro 64mb - around $80 at newegg
Radeon 8500 - around $75 on ebay. Supposedly the same as retail, but afaik they're system pulls. Anyone got any info on these?
Geforce3 Ti200 64mb - $74 @ ebay

I'd also consider an 8500LE or 9100 if anyone knows where I can find the 250/250 clocked ones. I had the 8500LE before (oc to 280/300) and was able to run BF1942 on an athlon 900 w/ 256mb of pc133 ram @ 800x600 w/ nearly full detail, 1024x768 with the detail turned down a bit.

 

[nan0bug]

nevermind. all is well. I just looked at ebay and found an 8500LE that is flashed and stable at 300/600 for $80.

 

[screw3d]

I would also strongly suggest that you get at least 512MB of RAM to start with!

 

[nan0bug]

Thanks for the suggestion but like I said my budget is limited. I can deal with not having 512mb of ram for a couple of weeks.

 

[nut581]

$80 for 8500LE is too much .. I got mine long ago for $75 shipped, and the same cards popped up all over the classifieds (oc.com, amdmb.com, etc) for around $60 shipped (64mb) ..

 

[Whitedog]

Aren't the 9100's the same as the 8500's?

You can get a 9100/128MB for about that much (Brand New).

Go look at PriceWatch.

 

[Blastman]

THe Sapphire 9100 64MB is $69 at ncix.com and is clocked 250/230 (128MB card is 250/200)

 

[Rogozhin]

try newegg.com too

I'd sell you my 8500 LE 300/300 flashed but I'm keeping for a server rig.

rogo

 

[ProviaFan]

It appears that your video card questions have already been answered, but I have to comment on the hard disk: that is really going to slow you down. I just went from a 20GB 7200RPM Western Digital to an 80GB 7200RPM "Special Edition" Western Digital, and the difference is very noticeable. Most people don't care about their hard drive, so I doubt you will change any things in that area.

However, I still do feel that your priorities are out of line; why buy a small amount of expensive "overclockable" RAM when your hard disks, video card, and lack of amount of RAM are going to limit your performance?

 

[rogue1979]

Originally posted by: jliechty
It appears that your video card questions have already been answered, but I have to comment on the hard disk: that is really going to slow you down. I just went from a 20GB 7200RPM Western Digital to an 80GB 7200RPM "Special Edition" Western Digital, and the difference is very noticeable. Most people don't care about their hard drive, so I doubt you will change any things in that area.

However, I still do feel that your priorities are out of line; why buy a small amount of expensive "overclockable" RAM when your hard disks, video card, and lack of amount of RAM are going to limit your performance?

I don't think his gaming is gonna suffer from his hard drive choice. Also for just gaming 256MB of ram is not gonna be a whole lot slower than 512MB. I can guarantee that 256MB of ram running at 400MHz DDR is gonna be faster for gaming that 512MB clocked at 333MHz. There are other programs that would indeed get a large benefit from 512MB of ram, but from the original post it is clear that gaming is his priority, keeping in mind a tight budget.

 

[nan0bug]

The hard drive is a non issue. Its coming from my old rig.

Believe me, if I could afford to upgrade everything at the same time, I would. Unfortunately I have kids to feed and bills to pay. The computer is a toy, so it gets taken care of last.

Oh, and $80 might be too much for an LE, but I'm getting a radeon 8500 thats flashed to retail speeds and is verified to do 300/600 memory. I dont think $80 is too much for that. $80 isnt going to get me much better between now and next week.

 

[0utlaw]

hey guys, ive pretty much got the same problem and so i didnt want to make a new topic. im going to buy a video card pretty soon and ive got a budget of ~$200. i looked around, read some reviews and finally ended up with 3 cards. Geforce FX 5600 or Albatron Geforce4 Ti4800SE (4400 with 8x agp) or Geforce4 Ti 4600. The games i normally play (plan on playing) are GTA3, CounterStrike, GTA VC, EnterTheMatrix, UT2003 (all at 1024x768-1280x1024). which card do you guys recommend? or am i overlooking some other card?

btw, what exactly is Memory Bandwidth and what does it do? cos i looked at geforce4 ti 4600 and that is 10.4gb/sec while geforce4 ti 4600 with 8x support is 8gb/sec

 

[dnoyeb]

Originally posted by: rogue1979

I don't think his gaming is gonna suffer from his hard drive choice. Also for just gaming 256MB of ram is not gonna be a whole lot slower than 512MB. I can guarantee that 256MB of ram running at 400MHz DDR is gonna be faster for gaming that 512MB clocked at 333MHz. There are other programs that would indeed get a large benefit from 512MB of ram, but from the original post it is clear that gaming is his priority, keeping in mind a tight budget.

I disagree about the RAM. If he is using winXP he DEFINITELY needs more RAM. If he is doing multiplayer I would also recommend MORE RAM. But single player on win2K he should be ok :moon:

 

[The_Lurker]

Originally posted by: 0utlaw
hey guys, ive pretty much got the same problem and so i didnt want to make a new topic. im going to buy a video card pretty soon and ive got a budget of ~$200. i looked around, read some reviews and finally ended up with 3 cards. Geforce FX 5600 or Albatron Geforce4 Ti4800SE (4400 with 8x agp) or Geforce4 Ti 4600. The games i normally play (plan on playing) are GTA3, CounterStrike, GTA VC, EnterTheMatrix, UT2003 (all at 1024x768-1280x1024). which card do you guys recommend? or am i overlooking some other card?

btw, what exactly is Memory Bandwidth and what does it do? cos i looked at geforce4 ti 4600 and that is 10.4gb/sec while geforce4 ti 4600 with 8x support is 8gb/sec

For around $200.. i would recommond you take a look at the Radeon 9500 Pro as well. Its about as fast as a Ti4600 without anything turned on, but when you turn on AF and AA, then 9500 really takes off. Also you do get full DX 9 support, another plus in case you're planning to keep your card for a while. If ATi's not you're thing... then it's up to you on those nVidia cards (i don't really keep up )

 

[nan0bug]

Originally posted by: dnoyeb

Originally posted by: rogue1979

I don't think his gaming is gonna suffer from his hard drive choice. Also for just gaming 256MB of ram is not gonna be a whole lot slower than 512MB. I can guarantee that 256MB of ram running at 400MHz DDR is gonna be faster for gaming that 512MB clocked at 333MHz. There are other programs that would indeed get a large benefit from 512MB of ram, but from the original post it is clear that gaming is his priority, keeping in mind a tight budget.

I disagree about the RAM. If he is using winXP he DEFINITELY needs more RAM. If he is doing multiplayer I would also recommend MORE RAM. But single player on win2K he should be ok :moon:

Uhm, how do you figure? I'm on a Celeron 600@750mhz with 256mb of ram and I'm running Win2k3 server and it's fine. On my Athlon 900 box I only had 256mb of ram and I ran WinXP from RC2, playing all the latest games up until Battlefield 1942 with no problems whatsoever. 512mb of ram is nice to have, but its not a necessity by any means.

 

[FearoftheNight]

blah just quick note ....win xp....256 mb --> 512 mb.... its like night and day....512 mb of pc2700 will > 256 pc3200....and since in athlons u run it in sync...are you going to be able to achieve 200 fsb to take advantage of ur memory?

Edit: I hope that made sense. So tired. So many finals....ugh.

 

[nan0bug]

Yeah, I'll be hitting 400fsb with this memory. I'd sell it and get 512mb of pc2700, but I'd rather wait until I get another $50 and just pick up another stick of this, then I'll have 512mb of pc3200 sync'd at hopefully at least 200fsb.

I know the board is capable of it and I know the chip is capable of it, so its all going to come down to the memory.

 

[Schadenfroh]

Originally posted by: nan0bug
I'm in the process of putting together a newer computer, and I'm on a pretty tight budget. This is what I'll have for now:

New version Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon XP 2100+ (expecting a 2.2ghz overclock based on the previous owners experience)
256 mb of Winbond BH-5 PC3200
a 20gb wd 7200rpm drive and what i imagine is a 5400rpm 10gb drive out of a HP celeron 600
Allied 450w ps

I was wondering what video card I could get for around the $75range that will allow me to play titles like BF1942, UT2003, etc without having to turn down too many goodies at 1024x768. I'd prefer to be able to run AA and/or AF, but thats not really as important as just being able to hang in there when the action gets really hectic.

Cards I've been considering:

Radeon 9000 Pro 64mb - around $80 at newegg
Radeon 8500 - around $75 on ebay. Supposedly the same as retail, but afaik they're system pulls. Anyone got any info on these?
Geforce3 Ti200 64mb - $74 @ ebay

I'd also consider an 8500LE or 9100 if anyone knows where I can find the 250/250 clocked ones. I had the 8500LE before (oc to 280/300) and was able to run BF1942 on an athlon 900 w/ 256mb of pc133 ram @ 800x600 w/ nearly full detail, 1024x768 with the detail turned down a bit.

get the TI200 and o/c it to TI500 levels. it will beat the 8500/9000 when o/c

 

[Blastman]

get the TI200 and o/c it to TI500 levels. it will beat the 8500/9000 when o/c

A ti200 overclcoked to 240/ 250 ?(from 175/200) will just get past a 8500LE 250/250, but it is slower than a 8500 (275/275) and even slower yet than an 8500 clocked 300/300. And that?s assuming you could even get the ti200 clocked that high which is no guarantee.

A stock speeds, a 8500LE will be quite a bit faster than a ti200.


THG vga charts ?

 

[Rogozhin]

Outlaw

You can find a radeon 9700 non pro for $215

I would go that route, don't buy cigs, beer, or coths for a few weeks and you have another $15

It smokes the geforce 4 line and my 9700 non pro runs just fine at pro speeds

rogo

 

[dnoyeb]

Originally posted by: nan0bug

Uhm, how do you figure? I'm on a Celeron 600@750mhz with 256mb of ram and I'm running Win2k3 server and it's fine. On my Athlon 900 box I only had 256mb of ram and I ran WinXP from RC2, playing all the latest games up until Battlefield 1942 with no problems whatsoever. 512mb of ram is nice to have, but its not a necessity by any means.

I never suggested he would have problems. Only that his performance could be improved. I stand by what I said.

 

[Uclagamer_99]

you could find a ti4200 for about the price you're looking to pay for those older cards, look in the for sale boards

 

[nan0bug]

Originally posted by: dnoyeb

Originally posted by: nan0bug

Uhm, how do you figure? I'm on a Celeron 600@750mhz with 256mb of ram and I'm running Win2k3 server and it's fine. On my Athlon 900 box I only had 256mb of ram and I ran WinXP from RC2, playing all the latest games up until Battlefield 1942 with no problems whatsoever. 512mb of ram is nice to have, but its not a necessity by any means.

I never suggested he would have problems. Only that his performance could be improved. I stand by what I said.

Performance can always be improved. The way the computer industry is, you can only have top of the line for about a week or two until something comes out that is in some way better than something you have. Its the nature of the beast.

at 1024x768, the performance boost isn't even going to be noticeable while gaming. I'm not one of those freaks who needs 100fps to be happy. 40+ is good for me.