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PCI Video Cards: Geforce FX 5200, ATI 9100, or ATI 9200SE?

I

Infinity

Member
Title pretty much says it all. My gf's little brother wants to play Command & Conquer: Generals, but his parents system doesn't have an agp slot (newer Dell system, but the cheaper 2350 model). What I've found are below:

$82 - XFX NVIDIA Geforce FX 5200 128MB
$103 - PNY Verto GEFORCE FX 5200 128MB
$92 - POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9200SE 128MB
$70 - Visiontek Xtasy 9100 128MB

I read here on another thread that the 9100 did better than the FX 5200 series, but I've also read of people have compatability issues with the card. Also I think this was before the PowerColor 9200SE was available. If the FX 5200 is the way to go, any reason to spend the extra $20 on the PNY over the XFX version? Anyway, which would you recommend? Thanks!
 
9100 (250/250) ~= 8500le
9200se (200/200) ~= 9000 with 8xagp, core is a slightly lesser version of the 8500 anyway.

get the 9100, it should do as good/better than the others for the most part and is cheaper, even better if you get the $20 rebate (iffy at tiger???)

note: 9200 is silent, pssively cooled with just a heatsink
the 9100 has a fan, which = some more noise, if thats a concern (which i doubt, but wanted to note)
 
From the reviews i've seen around here, 9100 is the way to go and since it looks to be your cheapest option, theres not much to loose.
 
Go for the 9100. It's still the fastest PCI video card you can buy, even with all the new FX PCI cards coming out. Btw, the PNY is just about the slowest of the 128-bit FX 5200 PCI cards, since it's clocked at 250/150(300). The fastest 5200 PCI is the one made by Mad Dog Multimedia, which you can find at CompUSA for $99/after $20 MIR. The Mad Dog 5200 PCI is clocked at 250/250(500) and is a good deal faster than the PNY card, but still not as fast as the 9100.

EDIT: The 9200SE PCI is a 64-bit card and is in many cases only half as fast as the 9100, and sometimes even slower than that. Even the PNY 5200 PCI is faster than the 9200SE PCI.

2nd EDIT: Here are some detailed instructions on how to install the 9100 PCI in a 2350 from a 2350 owner who loved the upgrade.

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Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'll tell my gf's little brother that I found the card he should get, and better yet its only $50 (If the rebate comes, I hate tigerdirect).

Mloot,

Thanks for the link to the Dell 2350 thread, very usefull. Just out curiousity, what game is NWN that you were having trouble with?
 
I'd love to see a shoot out between the PCI and AGP versions of the same GPU's, with similar memory. See what kind of a difference AGP actually makes.
 
Hi fellas i need your help....I recently fried my 1.1 ghz amd athlon with 1.0 gig of pc133 mem with a soundblaster pci512 soundcard and a gladiac 920 geforce 3 vid card. While seriously going through withdrawal symptoms for not being able to play my favorite games i made a quick and huuried decision and bought a Dell 2400 that did not have an AGP slot. Now i have had to buy 512 mb of pc2700 ram to speed it up and i need to buy a pci vid card. Will i be able to play all my 3d games with the same or better graphics results than i had with my Geforce 3, if i put in a pci vid card such as a geforce fx 5200. I currrently play games such as Tribes 2, Soldier of Fortune II, and my best games Medal of Honor with all of the expansion games and i hope to play the newest games such as Star wars: galaxies and the new pc version of xbox's game Gunmetal soon to be out. Please help me!!! I feel so stupid for not buying the Dell 4600 which has an AGP slot but what's done is done and I need to quench my craving for intense, high FPS, GAMING!!!!
 
As was recommened before, the 9100 is probably the best pci card out there. It should be around the same level as your gf3, but don't expect much more. For intense, high fps gaming, there isn't much of a selection in the pci department anymore.
 
do u know whether or not i will have to disable my integrated graphics before i install the ati radeon 9100 or can i just insert the card in the pci slot and load per the instructions. remember i have a Dell dimension 2400......... man now that i look back i wish i had waited and got the Dell 4600 that has an AGP slot!!!!1
 
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