What's the Best nvidia card for 1ghz 1gb ram machine

[fobster]

I have an old machine lying around. 1ghz 1gb ram machine which i want to restore to play some games, maybe not the latest games. Which nvidia card can I get without going overboard. From my understanding, the top of the line video card today would be useless on this machine because it will not be able to take full advantage of the video card. Is there a site that can match up the best video card with the machines specs? TIA

 

[SynthDude2001]

Geforce 3/4 probably, you should be able to pick up a used one for next to nothing these days.

 

[thepd7]

wow 1 Ghz with 1 gb ram? 1st off you are probably wasting 512 of ram. But in any case, maybe a fx5700 would be a good match. You could get a 6800 which would be overkill but hopefully around $40 and easier to find than something really old.

 

[tuteja1986]

7600GT AGP

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: tuteja1986
7600GT AGP

lol

 

[happy medium]

A plain 6600 for it's features but still will be overkill.

 

[conlan]

Originally posted by: fobster
I have an old machine lying around. 1ghz 1gb ram machine which i want to restore to play some games, maybe not the latest games. Which nvidia card can I get without going overboard. From my understanding, the top of the line video card today would be useless on this machine because it will not be able to take full advantage of the video card. Is there a site that can match up the best video card with the machines specs? TIA

Does the mobo have an AGP slot? and if so, what speed? ie. 1/2, 2/4, 4/8?

 

[bigsnyder]

Get the fastest AGP you are willing to spend on. Many new cards are overkill, but if the price is right then it certainly doesn't matter.

 

[fobster]

Originally posted by: conlan

Originally posted by: fobster
I have an old machine lying around. 1ghz 1gb ram machine which i want to restore to play some games, maybe not the latest games. Which nvidia card can I get without going overboard. From my understanding, the top of the line video card today would be useless on this machine because it will not be able to take full advantage of the video card. Is there a site that can match up the best video card with the machines specs? TIA

Does the mobo have an AGP slot? and if so, what speed? ie. 1/2, 2/4, 4/8?

I believe it has 4/8. I have a 4200 in it already. Probably should've mentioned that. I want something better, I dont mind if the the card will be a slight overkill as long as the price is right.

Thanks for the responses so far

 

[adairusmc]

Originally posted by: happy medium
A plain 6600 for it's features but still will be overkill.

That would be my suggestion.

If you cannot find one of those, maybe a 5950Ultra or something.

 

[Munky]

What's with all the FX card recommendations? Avoid those unless you can find em for free. Otherwise, a 6600 would be my recommendation, or even a 6600gt if you can find one for cheap. Also, the radeon 9600 and 9800 are good alternatives.

 

[CurseTheSky]

What's wrong with you all? 9800Pro all the way.

nVidia only? Probably a 6600 as everyone else said, or a CHEAP FX5500 / 5600 / 5900 / 5950. I would pay as little as possible if you get an FX series card though.

Just curious - why nVidia? I buy purely nVidia cards these days, but if I had to pick between any flavor of a 9600, 9700, or 9800 vs any flavor of an FX card, I'd go with ATI any day. I think the ti4200 and 4400 were popular back then as well.

Really, for 1GHz, you should be able to get a FX5200 for free, or extremely cheap, and shouldn't notice too many problems. I think I was playing Warcraft III when it came out on a 1GHz Pentium III, 256 or 512MB of memory, and a Geforce 4 MX420 (64MB) for a while. When I started getting chop, I upgraded to a 128MB FX5200 and it ran fine.

 

[Matt2]

6600 or 6600GT.

 

[fobster]

Originally posted by: CurseTheSky
What's wrong with you all? 9800Pro all the way.

nVidia only? Probably a 6600 as everyone else said, or a CHEAP FX5500 / 5600 / 5900 / 5950. I would pay as little as possible if you get an FX series card though.

Just curious - why nVidia? I buy purely nVidia cards these days, but if I had to pick between any flavor of a 9600, 9700, or 9800 vs any flavor of an FX card, I'd go with ATI any day. I think the ti4200 and 4400 were popular back then as well.

Really, for 1GHz, you should be able to get a FX5200 for free, or extremely cheap, and shouldn't notice too many problems. I think I was playing Warcraft III when it came out on a 1GHz Pentium III, 256 or 512MB of memory, and a Geforce 4 MX420 (64MB) for a while. When I started getting chop, I upgraded to a 128MB FX5200 and it ran fine.

The only reason I want nvidia is that it has better linux support. I'm gonna rebuild this machine with ubuntu and see if i can play games using cedega. I have an ati on my windows machine but i need this machine cause im gonna be away from home for a while and do not want to bring the main machine.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: Matt2
6600 or 6600GT.

ftw.

 

[conlan]

With a 1gHz CPU you are already reaching the point of diminishing returns with the GF4 ti4200 you have.

That being said, the 6600/6800 class would be best for what you're trying to accomplish.