New video card reccomendation?

[trueimage]

It's an Athlon XP 2600+ on an Asus NForce2 board, with built-in gf4 mx, which my friend wants to replace.

Should I stick with nvidia?

He wants something low end, at or around $150 CAD max, definetly under $200 CAD

So, I was thinking:

$103 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9200 128MB DDR AGP8X VGA DVI-I TV OUT
$156 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 256MB AGP8X VGA DVI TV OUT OEM
$105 SAPPHIRE RADEON 9600 SE 128MB AGP8X VGA DVI-I TV OUT OEM
$111 SOLTEK NVIDIA FX5200 AGP8X/128BIT/128MB DDR /DVI & TV-OUT
$098 MSI GEFORCE FX5200 TD128 AGP8X 128MB DVI-I W. TV OUT

I mean, at this point, the onboard video has to go.. plus it is sharing some of the 612mb system ram, so its not good. He doesn't want to buy used because if something is wrong he wants the company there to replace it etc.

Any other suggestions are welcome.

Thanks

 

[Matthias99]

The only card out of those that's going to provide a decent performance boost is the RADEON 9600 (although you should see if you can find a 128MB one; they perform the same and the 256MB ones are more expensive and sometimes underclocked). A 9200 or 5200 is only a small step up from a GF4MX, and a 9600SE isn't a lot better. I'd recommend saving up some more money and getting at least a 5900XT or 9700Pro/9800/9800Pro; it'll actually provide a LARGE performance boost, and should last him a while.

THG video card roundup from a few months back

 

[PrayForDeath]

I don't know how much the 150CAN is in USD, if it was like 110$, then I would recommend an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro.
You could also go for an 80$ GeForce 4 TI 4200.
If I was limited to choose from your list, I would pick the 156$ Sapphire 9600 256MB, don't even get close to the FX5200s, they perform just like the old GF 4 mx

 

[nick1985]

256 = slower than the 128's

 

[trueimage]

this is $177 CAD, and after shipping and tax it will be $200, unless a local place will pricematch.

PowerColor Radeon? 9600PRO EZ 128MB

is that a better option than the rest there? He's isnt gonna get a new top of the line card, he has a ps2 and xbox already too, so this is just to get rid of the shared memory crap mx card he has. even a standalone gf4mx would probably be better than this crap.

thanks

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: trueimage
this is $177 CAD, and after shipping and tax it will be $200, unless a local place will pricematch.

PowerColor Radeon? 9600PRO EZ 128MB

is that a better option than the rest there? He's isnt gonna get a new top of the line card, he has a ps2 and xbox already too, so this is just to get rid of the shared memory crap mx card he has. even a standalone gf4mx would probably be better than this crap.

thanks

That's a 9600SE, just a higher-clocked one (essentially a 9600Pro with half the memory bandwidth). Still junk.

Is he unhappy with the performance of his current setup? If so, I doubt anything short of a 9600/9600Pro or a Ti4200/4600/5700/5700U is going to help -- and even those are starting to become inadequate for new games. The shared memory doesn't hurt it THAT much, especially if you have a dual channel setup.

 

[trueimage]

Well, he wants a new video card regarless, because prince of persia will NOT play with an MX. So I'll just try to convince him to buy a used ti4600 or just get an R 9600 256mb I guess...

 

[nick1985]

you do know that 256 9600's are slower than the 128 9600's right?

 

[Matthias99]

Originally posted by: trueimage
Well, he wants a new video card regarless, because prince of persia will NOT play with an MX. So I'll just try to convince him to buy a used ti4600 or just get an R 9600 256mb I guess...

If ALL he cares about is playing newer games (but he's not unhappy with the speed of his GF4MX), go ahead and get him an FX5200 or R9600SE. I'd strongly recommend a real 9600, though, or a used Ti4200/4600.