What Type of Video Card?

[Roshan]

Yeah, I was just about to build my own computer, and the only thing I don't know about are Video Cards. I was wondering if anybody could give me advice on what type of video card to get. I want to know what company and what type, and I would like to know all the details about a good video card. I am going to use an AMD Athlon XP 2000 Processor, a 48X12X40 CDRW, a MSI KT3 Ultra2 Motherboard, and an 80GB HD. So what type of Video Card would be compatible with these parts. Please give me advice on Video Cards. Thank You.

 

[jamie2833]

well it depends on what you are going to use the PC for.

if you are a gamer then you will probably want to get something pretty decent, entry level i would say for a system like your for a game would be a radeon 8500, however i have had problems with a radeon in a KT266a motherboard, but i highly doubt you would.

this card will do pretty much anything you want it it, also has great 2d IQ (image Quality) and you should be able to pick one up for under 100 dollars by now.

if you want something a little more juicy, in case you are a gamer who is playing the newer games like MOH:AA or SOF2 or maybe you are waiting for Unreal Tournament 2003 to come out. then i would suggest getting something like a geforce 4 TI 4200, 4400, 4600 either one should be great for these games, i am optimistic about UT2003 in that you wont need a radeon 9700 to play the game smoothly.

although if you do get a radeon 9700 (if you can find) then you will be getting an awesome card, there was a thread on this forum showing UT2003 running on a radeon 9700 and it was simply stunning.

if you are just gonna be using the PC for office use, or maybe just general surfing the internet then you dont need to spend a lot, you could get a geforce 2 mx for about 30-40 dollars and if you wanted to play the occasional game you could.

ATI cards seem to have sharper 2D IQ over nvidia cards in my opinion and apprently matrox have some great 2D image quality cards as well, although i have yet to try one out.

if i were you i would probably get a radeon 9700, mainly because i am a bit of a hardcore gamer, but if you are not so hardcore, or if you have a budget in mind then the radeon 8500 would be an excellent card nonetheless

 

[spanky]

if u have money to burn... get a 9700 pro

 

[AnAndAustin]

It does depend upon your requirements and budget.

If a 128MB Rad8500/8500LE isn't much more than a GF3 it's certainly a much better choice, unless you have to have AA and are willing to sacrifice '2D' image quality, great TVout, hw DVD playback (important to some) and dual display (not all Rads have it). But both Rad8500 and GF3 fail to give much more oomph once your CPU exceeds about 1.4ghz (Athlon, 1.6ghz P4) and a GF4TI4200-128MB is certainly a very wise choice, esp for an AthlonXP2000+.

GF4TI are much improved over both GF3 and Rad8500 sporting faster 3D, fantastic o/c'ing potential, great AA, high quality Aniso, dual display, better TVout (still not as good as Rads) and finally excellent '2D' image quality. For the prices involved it isn't really worth going over a GF4TI4200 for most people. Whatever card you get you really do want 128MB, although if pushed a 64MB 4200 is still generally a wise idea over a lesser 128MB card as they o/c very well, scale well with every mhz of CPU power as well as offering the all-round goodness of GF4TI cards.