Video Card for Non-Gamers

nacheeze

Junior Member
Aug 7, 2001
20
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Hi Guys

I currently have a Athlon 64 3000+ chip on a nForce 250 Ultra motherboard with 1GB of Corsair XMS DDR333 RAM. I am using a Nvidia Gforce 4200 Ti 128Mb graphic card. I just ordered a a 24" Flat panel from dell (Dell 2407fpw) and it appears that my graphic card can not support it (according to Dell's website). I want to upgrade but now sure what should i get. My MB does not support PCIe and I almost never play any games on my PC. I need something that is good... especially for watching an odd DVD, lots of Divx and everyday use. I don't care much for games but i don't want a sluggish graphic card either just in case i decided to play something (last game i played was Age of Empire). Any advice?

I have been a long life Athlon fan but with the specs on Core Duo 2 looking very good for Multitasking/encoding i am leaning towards getting one of those puppies. But that is something i want to put off till Vista comes out so i can pick the right hardware. At that time i will be getting a new CPU/Motherboard/Memory and most likely a GPU since what ever i get now won't be PCIe.

Any advice guys? gals?

Thanks
____________________
Athlon 64 3000+
DFI Lan Party nForce 250 Ultra
Corsair XMS 1GB low latency memory
1x 74GB WD Raptor SATA HD
3x IBM/Hitachi 250GB SATA-II HD
Nvidia Gforce4 Ti 4200
Sound Blaster Audigy 2
Dell 1905FP
Dell 2407FPW (coming next week)
NEC 3500A DVD/RW
 

nacheeze

Junior Member
Aug 7, 2001
20
0
0
Wow the 6200 is only $36 while the 6600 is $95. Is 6600 3 times better? I am sure they both are better than my current Geforce4 4200. Thanks for replying guys. Any other suggestion?

Thanks
 

nacheeze

Junior Member
Aug 7, 2001
20
0
0
WTF! Just checked the GPU Chart over at Toms Hardware... and 6600GT is actually almost 3 times faster than the 6200. This is the first time i have seen the price difference equal the performace difference.

On a seprate note... does anyone know which benchmark should i be looking at when i am checking the GPU chart? Like in CPU they have added Multitaking benchmarks i wish they add a multimedia benchmark to GPU and not just games.

Thanks
 

Oxaqata

Senior member
Jul 14, 2006
372
0
0
Originally posted by: nacheeze
WTF! Just checked the GPU Chart over at Toms Hardware... and 6600GT is actually almost 3 times faster than the 6200. This is the first time i have seen the price difference equal the performace difference.

Thats the Turbocache version on Toms though. I have the non TC version (soon to be replaced) and it's great for watching videos and such.

 

pkme2

Diamond Member
Sep 30, 2005
3,896
0
0
I use FireGL and Quadro video cards for my Workstations.
I'm using a Matrox Parhelia on my video rig.
I have a ATI 9700 Pro on my Linux rig also.

What you use will depend on your needs and requirements. I don't game, so my cards are more 2D/3D oriented.
 

ForumMaster

Diamond Member
Feb 24, 2005
7,792
1
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i'd go with the 6600GT. it is a good card and has the best mix of purevideo enhancements. it will be good for watching DVD's as well as the occaisonal game with eye candy.
 

Operandi

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,508
0
0
If you are going to be building a new machine in the near future it doesn?t make a lot of sense to invest a lot of money in a graphics card that you won't be able to use later (AGP vs. PCI-E).

There is no "multimedia" benchmark for the GPU because the GPU has no impact there, it's completely CPU dependent.

I would go with this eVGA 6200, it's passively cooled so there it?s completely silent and has no fan to wear out and die.
 

nacheeze

Junior Member
Aug 7, 2001
20
0
0
I am thiking of getting the 6200 considering i am going to throw the card away in less than 6 months. Any reason you guys like the eVGA6 6200 over other brands? Also on my current card I have a hard time watching HD trailer from Quicktime. Will this imporve that? Is that GPU dependent?

Thanks
 

nacheeze

Junior Member
Aug 7, 2001
20
0
0
After a lot of reading and looking around... i have decided to get the eVGA (eVGA 128-A8-N350-TX Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail). I was thinking of the 6200 and i am sure it still would have been better than the 4200Ti I have now, but i kinda wanted the HD performance and if all is well i can push upgrading my computer till next summer. One thing surprises me... no one came up with an ATI suggestion. Anyway... thank you for all your advice. Will be back in a few months when i start putting a new PC together.

Thank you.