Would a new video card help my rig most?

[duragezic]

I got a rather old computer (see sig; 1.33ghz, 512mb SDR ram, Radeon 64 DDR) relatively because a lot of new or semi-new games run choppy at any decent resolution or detail. I was going to upgrade it all (see thread) but that would end up costing a bit much and maybe a new video card would be better?

I think I've finally figured out all the ATI cards. I had stopped looking at hardware for over a year and so much has happened! I'm probably getting an ATI card, although I wish they JUST didn't discontinue the 9800np. Bastards!

I would like to spend $150-$200, and I could've spent a little over $200 and had a 9800PRO basically had I known in time and gotten the 9800np a week ago. But, alas, too late.

So...

1) Would I see a huge performance gain, basically allow me to play new games like Madden 2004, HL2, etc... by keeping ONLY replacing the video card.
2) I know the more I spend the more fps I get, but it seems kinda overkill to get a 9800 still. But the damn 9600Pro has only 4 pipelines, and I'm wondering if that would hurt future performance.
3) Even though the 9500Pro and 9700 are old and hard to find, would they be a better buy than one of the new ones?

It seems that what I REALLY wanted is no longer possible because some are getting phased out with garbage called the 9800SE.

 

[Theslowone]

May I recommend the ti 4200, it will match up with your system a lot more(if you don't plan on upgrading soon). I know you are looking at ati, and out of the ati the 9600pro is going to be the card that is best for proformance and cost(and its less then 200). Your fps are still going to be low and the possibility of newer games not running good is still a possibility. I don't think a 9800np or pro would really be worth the money unless you plan to upgrade some of your other components soon.

 

[modedepe]

A 9800 would definitley be overkill. Even a 9600 pro would be the max you'd want to get. A agree that a ti4200 would be a good match for your system. But I doubt you're really going to be able to play hl2 with any enjoyable frame rates. It was fairly cpu bound in benchmarks, with a 3ghz p4, so don't expect anything incredible. You should still get fairly large gains in other games though.

 

[Insomniak]

With that Proc, anything faster than a GF4 Ti would be bottlenecked by your CPU. Hell, I have an AMD 1900+ and it bottlenecks my Ti 4400.

A new vid card would probably help your rig the most, but bumping up the proc and bringing the RAM over to DDR wouldnt hurt either, just fyi...

 

[Corporate Thug]

another vote for ti4200, use whatever extra money you have to upgrade processor/ram

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: eagle
I I wish they JUST didn't discontinue the 9800np. Bastards!

why do you say they discontinued it? ati still sells them.

right here.

 

[duragezic]

Ok, so perhaps a revised list would be: all 128mb cards

1) Radeon 9500 hacked to Pro (do they all do this?) ~$140
2) Radeon 9500 Pro ~$160
3) Radeon 9600 overclocked to Pro speeds ~$120, or I think the actual Pros are only $5 or 10 more so maybe would get that
4) Geforce Ti4200 $105
5) Geforce Ti4600 too damn much, unless it's real worth it
6) Geforce Fx5200 $70
7) Geforce Fx5600 $120

Are all the Ultras just higher clocked that is achievable by overclocking?

How come the Geforce FX cards are so cheap? Do they suck?

It's still a big list but I really don't know where one could say it is overkill exactly... I suppose they would all help but that's subjective.

 

[Jeff7181]

Maybe a 9700 non pro? How much do those go for now days?

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: eagle
I got a rather old computer (see sig; 1.33ghz, 512mb SDR ram, Radeon 64 DDR) relatively because a lot of new or semi-new games run choppy at any decent resolution or detail. I was going to upgrade it all (see thread) but that would end up costing a bit much and maybe a new video card would be better?

I think I've finally figured out all the ATI cards. I had stopped looking at hardware for over a year and so much has happened! I'm probably getting an ATI card, although I wish they JUST didn't discontinue the 9800np. Bastards!

I would like to spend $150-$200, and I could've spent a little over $200 and had a 9800PRO basically had I known in time and gotten the 9800np a week ago. But, alas, too late.

So...

1) Would I see a huge performance gain, basically allow me to play new games like Madden 2004, HL2, etc... by keeping ONLY replacing the video card.
2) I know the more I spend the more fps I get, but it seems kinda overkill to get a 9800 still. But the damn 9600Pro has only 4 pipelines, and I'm wondering if that would hurt future performance.
3) Even though the 9500Pro and 9700 are old and hard to find, would they be a better buy than one of the new ones?

It seems that what I REALLY wanted is no longer possible because some are getting phased out with garbage called the 9800SE.

The 9800 Non Pro is back in stock at Best Buy website. Go get it. NOW

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: eagle
Ok, so perhaps a revised list would be: all 128mb cards

1) Radeon 9500 hacked to Pro (do they all do this?) ~$140
2) Radeon 9500 Pro ~$160
3) Radeon 9600 overclocked to Pro speeds ~$120, or I think the actual Pros are only $5 or 10 more so maybe would get that
4) Geforce Ti4200 $105
5) Geforce Ti4600 too damn much, unless it's real worth it
6) Geforce Fx5200 $70
7) Geforce Fx5600 $120

Are all the Ultras just higher clocked that is achievable by overclocking?

How come the Geforce FX cards are so cheap? Do they suck?

It's still a big list but I really don't know where one could say it is overkill exactly... I suppose they would all help but that's subjective.

Go to newegg

Get a barton 2500+ and a Soltek NV400 = 166$ shipped.

Then add some DDR RAM. you only need one stick because the nv400 is single channel (it performs just as well as dual in almost any situation, if you dont believe me read the review at anandtech.com)

This wil give you better performance that a new video card on your old machine. Then save up a little more and upgrade the video card. or get a ti 4200 now

my barton 2500+ on the soltek board oc's to 3200+ with stock cooling and no voltage adjustment.

 

[VIAN]

unless your gonna upgrade the rest of the comp, i would get a geforce 4 and no later. dont get anything that you cant support like agp 8x - you'd be wasting money, keep clear of the new radeon 9x00 and new fx's. the geforce 4 ti 4400 - 4600 is your best bet.

 

[xenos500]

Originally posted by: Johnbear007

Originally posted by: eagle
Ok, so perhaps a revised list would be: all 128mb cards

1) Radeon 9500 hacked to Pro (do they all do this?) ~$140
2) Radeon 9500 Pro ~$160
3) Radeon 9600 overclocked to Pro speeds ~$120, or I think the actual Pros are only $5 or 10 more so maybe would get that
4) Geforce Ti4200 $105
5) Geforce Ti4600 too damn much, unless it's real worth it
6) Geforce Fx5200 $70
7) Geforce Fx5600 $120

Are all the Ultras just higher clocked that is achievable by overclocking?

How come the Geforce FX cards are so cheap? Do they suck?

It's still a big list but I really don't know where one could say it is overkill exactly... I suppose they would all help but that's subjective.

Go to newegg

Get a barton 2500+ and a Soltek NV400 = 166$ shipped.

Then add some DDR RAM. you only need one stick because the nv400 is single channel (it performs just as well as dual in almost any situation, if you dont believe me read the review at anandtech.com)

This wil give you better performance that a new video card on your old machine. Then save up a little more and upgrade the video card. or get a ti 4200 now

my barton 2500+ on the soltek board oc's to 3200+ with stock cooling and no voltage adjustment.

based on all we know (1.33Ghz and 512MB SDR RAM) Its clear he doesnt have an AMD thunderbird 1.33 and he has a P3 or P3 Celeron. Its useless to buy a new P3, they cost a crazy amount of money, and the fastest are 1.4Ghz.

I'd also say to get a nice Ti4200 from a good brand like gainward, or leadtek.
You could also save some more money and get a geforce 3 ti500 or 200, I used a gainward goldensample TI200 for a while, I loved it.
Gainward

Edit: Oh, you meant get a new motherboard too. For that I say, get a nice videocard now and then when you have more money to spend get on the intel bandwagon. If your on a buget you can get a new MB that supports the 512 SD ram you already have, and get a s478 celeron AND a GeForce 3


ECS P4VXASD2+
Socket478
Via P4X266
Supports both SDR and DDR(upgrade later)
onboard sound and NIC
$44.50

Intel Celeron 2.4Ghz
Socket478
$81.00

Gainward GeForce3 Ti 200 64MB
4ns ram access
Goldensample
S-video/TV out
$79.99

TOTAL
$205.49

Prices from newegg.com

 

[atlr]

I used the graphs from http://www6.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030120/vgacharts-02.html#aquanox to judge how different cards would perform with my AMD 1.4 GHz. I chose to splurge on the plain 9800 to get those 8 pipelines. It performs like the 9700pro. I bought it at Best Buy. I visited three stores in Atlanta that showed inventory but only one really had it. My next choice was a fanless 9600Pro "Ultimate" from Sapphire.