Need Help on what graphics card to get

[elvenchrist]

I have got a VAIO PCV-RS530G and I have no idea which graphic cards out there are compatible with my model. I need a card thats at least 256MB. Any suggestions on the best brand and model of card would also help. Any help is much appreciated.

 

[mindless728]

i wouldn't bother wasting the money on an AGP/P4 system
though your best bet is a 4670 AGP 8x
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131161

 

[mindless728]

and for $120 you could get a much better PCI-E card

 

[marraco]

I have got a VAIO PCV-RS530G and I have no idea which graphic cards out there are compatible with my model. I need a card thats at least 256MB. Any suggestions on the best brand and model of card would also help. Any help is much appreciated.

Is time to save the money for a complete upgrade.

Do not update until you collect -at least- 400/500 U$S

 

[masterjaw]

If the gpu upgrade is intended for gaming then a complete upgrade is much better and wiser than buying an agp card. pci-e cards are so cheap nowadays plus they're way better than agps.

 

[elvenchrist]

thanks for your help. One other question if I may. I don't no anything about computer hardware. What is the difference between agp cards and pci-e cards?

 

[megamanx00]

For your system, I say go with this AGP 3650.

HIS H365F512ANP Radeon HD 3650 512MB $64.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161237


The AGP versions of the Radeon 3850 and the Radeon 4670 are the best AGP cards you can get. The thing is, they would be so limited by your CPU that it would be a waste to get them. You will get the same performance out of them on your system as you would a Radeon 3650 or 2600XT.

If you're just doing light gaming, like the SIMS or perhaps older games, then you should be O.k.. On the other hand if you want to play Crysis or Farcry 2 then you should be looking at a new computer rather than spending money on that one.

 

[masterjaw]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/nvidia-7800gs-confirms-agp-aint-dead,1213-2.html

If you want an info about AGP vs PCI-E.

 

[elvenchrist]

yup thats what i was afraid of. I am just gonna get a new set up altogether. Thanks for the help everyone.
It was much appreciated

 

[marraco]

If the gpu upgrade is intended for gaming then a complete upgrade is much better and wiser than buying an agp card. pci-e cards are so cheap nowadays plus they're way better than agps.

Completely agree. Also, if you don't need a card for games, then better spent the money on a cheap mobo with nvidia or ATI integrated, an Athlon X2 5600, and 4 Gb of DDR.

 

[marraco]

thanks for your help. One other question if I may. I don't no anything about computer hardware. What is the difference between agp cards and pci-e cards?

AGP is an older standard. Already very obsolete, since many years.
PCI-Express is used today, and in the foreseable future.

You cannot connect a PCI-E on an AGP slot, and you cannot buy anymore any good high performance AGP card. Also for an AGP card you pay a high premium price wich does not give you good hardware.

for 120 u$s you can buy a motherboard with a nvidia 6100 integrated video, an Athlon X2 processor, and 4 Gb of DDR2 800.

That is really scraping the barrel, but:

-If you don't need to play games, it will be far better than you system with any AGP card.
-If you want to play games, then you can add a Geforce 8800 GT, or ATI 4850, and play Crysis at 1024x768, mid settings, with 2x AA. (that is a fact, I did it with such a system, 2Gb of RAM, an Atlon X2 3600+, and GF 8800GT, it played Far Cry 2 even better)

 

[elvenchrist]

thank you for that. Then my last question would be: where can I buy this motherboard/video card/processor combo? Can I find it online?

 

[marraco]

thank you for that. Then my last question would be: where can I buy this motherboard/video card/processor combo? Can I find it online?

Well, a fast search on Amazon, returned this:

Athlon 64 X2 7750 Black Edition
http://www.amazon.com/AMD-AD775ZWCGHBOX-Athlon-FSB1000-Processor/dp/B001NHP96Y/ref=sr_1_22?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248484440&sr=1-22
70U$S

GIGABYTE GA-M61PME-S2P Socket AM2+/ GeForce 6100/ DDR2/ A&V&L/ MATX Motherboard
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001TUZ6M2/sr=1-4/qid=1248484554/ref=olp_product_details?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1248484554&sr=1-4&seller=
53U$S

Corsair XMS2 4 GB (2 X 2 GB) PC2-6400 800 MHz 240-PIN DDR2 Dual-Channel Memory Kit - TWIN2X4096-6400C5
http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-PC2-6400-240-PIN-Dual-Channel-Memory/dp/B000TPXULC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248485110&sr=1-1
47U$S

it add up to 170U$S, but I do not worked hard. just picked something fast. There still is place to cut cost, as in the processor, and you can buy half the memory, and play crysis and Far cry2 finely.


On Video card, I got this:

EVGA 512-P3-N973-TR 512MB GeForce 9800 GT DDR3 PCI-Express 2.0 Graphics Card
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-512-P3-N973-TR-GeForce-PCI-Express-Graphics/dp/B001KZH8KO/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1248484877&sr=1-18
110U$S

also, I are sure that you can get better deals if search.
The ATI 4830 or 4850 is similar. The 4850 is a bit faster, supports DX10.1, but not PhysX. I would choose a geforce, in hope to use it as a physx accelerator when I upgrade the video in the future.