What should I upgrade my 8500LE to?

[sundev]

Here's the situation: I have the computer in my sig. I just bought a new LCD monitor (Dell 2005FPW) and my current video card doesn't support DVI, so I want a new one that does support DVI.

I am planning to get a new computer by the end of summer, and it will probably be a PCIe setup. So getting a kickass video card now is kind of pointless because 1) it has to be AGP, and 2) getting a good one like a 6600GT is wasted as my computer is old as ass.

Keeping all that in mind, what do you think is a good upgrade for me right now to tide me over with my new monitor until I get my new computer in about 5 months?

EDIT: I think I'm going to go for a 9550 or 9600. A 9600 Pro or XT would be nice, but I think a plain old 9550 or 9600 should be fine for now. Thoughts?

EDIT 2/3: The 9500 Pro is looking good, I think I'm going to get it over the other options. See last post for why. If you have any thoughts/concerns let me know!

 

[slash196]

DVI to VGA adapter?

 

[sundev]

I heard those aren't too great... that is, you get worse image quality than with just a DVI connection. Maybe this isn't true?

Or maybe I'm just being paranoid and there isn't that much of a difference between DSub and DVI?

 

[Rock Hydra]

I think you should get a radon 9 or X series card. They have better digital signal integrety, according to THG, that is.
I'm too lazy to find the link, but just look through THG's video section if you want to know all about it.

 

[imported_Hi]

used ti4200

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you're just going to be using it for a few months, then yeah, one of those cards should be fine to tide you over until you get your nice new card

Have you thought about getting your new AGP card now and then getting and AGP 939 motherboard in the future?

I don't know if this is appealing to you at all, but then you wouldn't blow $70 or whatever now on something you're not going to use in the future.

 

[sundev]

Yoyo: I don't want to get an AGP rig for my next system because I think AGP is basically on the way out.. and I would rather have a system that is more upgradeable, which PCIe would be. Especially when looking 5-6 months into the future, which is when I would be buying my system.

 

[sundev]

So I've looked over a bunch of benchmarks, etc. and it seems like the 9500 Pro keeps pace with or outperforms the 9600/9600 Pro (and thus also the 9550). And it sells for cheaper too, go figure...

Anyways this card has everything I'm looking for (cheap, DVI support, dual monitor support). It looks like a really good option for me right now, but if anyone has any reasons why I shouldn't get this and go for something else instead please let me know, thanks!

 

[masshass81]

I have a similar setup like yours, except I have a PIII 1Ghz. I recently bought a Ti4200 to satisfy my upgrade twitch, but it seems like my cpu is my bottleneck - I OCed to 4600 speeds with no increase in performance. So I think you would be ok with a Ti or something even a little slower with DVI since your system will not be able to take advantage of a fast video card. I got mine for $40 shipped on FS/FT forum.

 

[hans030390]

get a geforce 6200

1. Can have 4 pipelines unlocked and then OCed to make it a 6600 (3000 3dmark05 score)
2. supports shader model 3.0, all ati card as of now support 2.0

the 6200 is your best buy, and is only $100!!! it will perform the best.
If you wanna know what Sm3.0 is, read my thread, but it will be needed to play next gen games decently (with some eye candy)

trust me, you need the 6200, don't get a 9500 or 9600

 

[kmmatney]

More Pixel Shader 3.0 crap...:roll: Obviously he won't be playing next generation games with this card. The 6200 isn't bad, though, at $106 shipped. If your willing to chance it, it can be a pretty decent card if the 4 extra pipes can be unlocked.

For the ATI 9550 you would need the 128-bit version, which is $68 shipped. What can you get the 9500 Pro shipped for?

 

[sundev]

Yeah I only need this card for the next 6 months or so until I get my new computer (and likely new video card), so I won't need it for next gen games.

I live in Canada, so newegg, zipzoomfly, and most other US websites aren't options for me (unless someone knows of one that ships cheaply to Canada?). I mostly look on eBay for deals, and I can find the 9500 Pro for about $70-80 shipped, which seems pretty good to me.