Graphics card upgrade...recommendations???

unbiased4u

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Hey there :)

I'm looking for an upgrade for my computer, after the upgrade, I'm going to wait for the Conroe/AM2 price drop and buy/build a system then...

For now, I'm going to upgrade a few things because my computer seems slow in comparison to my friends, and it's time for an upgrade anyway (upgraded Graphics one year ago)

System specs (the important ones ;)):

AMD Athlon XP 1800+
256MB DDR266
Nvidia MX-4000
17" Generic CRT

Looking to add:
512MB DDR266 - $40

and a Graphics card....I'm confused on this one....I want to spend as little as possible yet have a good system....some cards that I'm looking at:

Nvidia 6600

ATI Radeon X1600pro

Or an X700??

Those are about my price range, although I would like to spend less....any recommendations?
 

chocobocorey

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i wouldnt buy a new grafx card if your gonna update to the next gen of chipsets in 6 months, cuz they wont have AGP slots. throw in the extra RAM to keep you going cos RAM is so cheap now. do you need a new grafx card for any games or solely because your friends comps are faster? if not, just save the cash so you can own your friends comps later
 

cleeve

Illustrious
I'd get the cheapest solution, wether it's a 6600, X700, or X1600.

Any will allow you to game a hundered times better than that old MX4000, although your CPU will bottleneck you on the newest games. But you'll still be able to play them on a newer card, where your MX4000 is pretty much dead in the water.
 

unbiased4u

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hmm...should I go any lower? I can't really game at all with this...oh well, I'll just get the RAM...I'm still debating whether or not to upgrade the graphics card...any second opinions?

thanks for the posts so far :D
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Lower than a 6600, X700, or X1600 would be a waste...

...unless you wanted to find a used 9700 PRO or 9800 PRO on ebay. You could probably get one of those for about $40. They are as good as a any of the new cards listed above.
 

kaotao

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You can get a 9800 pro on Ebay for much less than you'll pay for an x1600, with pretty much the same performance. I've got a 9800 pro, and can play most of the latest games at decent settings with playable frame rates.
 

sailer

Splendid
Having used a 9800 Pro for a few years, I'd go for that if you can find one. Its been a very good card in my experience. Other then that, I'd just bite the bullet and wait for Conroe or AM2, whichever is your faviorite, and upgrade the card then. Moneywise, that would probably make the most sense in the long run, but its all up to you.
 

unbiased4u

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hmm....Ok...anyone have experiences on Newegg refurbished? And is $80 too expensive for one of those? Should I cheap out and get a 9600 Pro or XT?

:p yay new posters :D
 

chenBrazil

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If brand new... 6600 ... but if you can get on ebay... 9800pro would be wiser... or even a used 6600 ... refurbished are not always bad... SE is more limited series so don't go for them ... cheaper options would be nice if you can wait...as you will spend serious bucks on your upgrade...
 

tipoo

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hey im in the exact same situation as you (athlon xp 1800+, 256mb ram, agp board)
im also looking for a good graphics card upgrade, and am lookin gat the same cards as you are (exept the 1600, because i hear that is crap...) anyways, ive looked at some benchmarks with an athlon 1800+ on 3dmark 2003, and here are the results

NVIDIA GeForce 6800 LE- 8216 3dmarks (thats the very highest with this processor)
NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT- 7590
ATI RADEON 9800 PRO- 5281

NVIDIA GeForce 6600 (non gt)- 5094

so im thinking about getting the 6600 gt and 512 mb pc 3200 ram... there are no results for an x700, but ive heard its what they call "hollow hardware" anyways...
i hope that helps
 

unbiased4u

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Ok, I've decided to seriously cheap out and get 256MB RAM and Ati 9600 Pro new or 9800 Pro for ~$40 Ebay....We'll see what I can get ;)
 

unbiased4u

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Cool 8) I bet you have a better mobo than me though.... :cry:

Biostar M7VIG Pro

So anyway, thanks for the info! I only considered the X1600Pro because it looks good on paper and was at a good price, but I decided to try and find one of those AGP cards on ebay, though I've had no experience with it...yet ;)
 

cleeve

Illustrious
The 5700 is not very good at all.

That ebay ad is bogus, don't bother with anybody selling 'info'.


Stick to a 9700 PRO, 9800 PRO, X700, 6600, or X1300. Anything else in the price range is crap.
 

Vascular

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First off what game are you trying to play??

Why are you going to upgrade an old system to wait for prices to come down on future PC parts? Your reasoning doesnt make sense.

The most logical solution is to save what ever it is you were going to spend on that current system and save it towards your new one and not wait for prices to come down. Late June early July will be the time for new computers.

If you are dead set on getting a new card get more ram also.
The 6600gt would be my choice, you can see here it out performs the x1600 and x700.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html

Doesnt any one read Tomshardware.com???

Oh and the 6600gt is faster than a 9800pro
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/vga_charts_vii/index.html
 

cleeve

Illustrious
Doesnt any one read Tomshardware.com???


Doesn't anyone read questions before answering?

He said he wants to spend less than the $100. Jeez, he's looking in the $50 range.

6600 GTs are difficult to find for under $100, we're looking at viable cheap solutions... 9700 and 9800 PROs can be had for $40 ish on ebay, 90% of the performance of a 6600 GT for much less cost.

If you can find a 6600 GT for $50 I heartily recommend, but I don't think that's going to happen...