Graphics card reccomendations?

[_VTEC_]

Hi ho all,

I stated on the FEAR thread a couple of weeks ago that I want to jack in my Geforce 4mx card and get someting that can at least render things in 3D.

My PC spec: 512ram, 2.6 pentium. Budget is 80 quid although I can go a *little* over.

Was thinking about this: www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0002KVWIW/qid=1130966608/sr=8-4/ref=pd_ka_4/026-3552821-6614042

Or this:www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0007W5L8M/qid=1130966608/sr=8-5/ref=pd_ka_5/026-3552821-6614042

Or maybe even this:www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000295WDO/qid=1130966608/sr=8-6/ref=pd_ka_6/026-3552821-6614042

Was thinking the Nvidia card would be best as there would be no compatability issues that I would have to overcome. Although I've heard nothing but good stuff about the 9600 xt ATi.

What does everybody recon? Any precautions I should take before installation?

[docevi1]

www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/2005-17gpu.html is a handy roundup of current cards.

[_VTEC_]

Cheers Stefan, I'll take a look.

[MarkBarton]

Good comparisons here, too:

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/grap

[lockstock2sb]

Hello Mate

out of the 3 you have listed go for the 9600XT. I have the 128mb version of that and it still runs battlefield 2 and GTR well. The beauty with these babies is also is that they are one of the first of the new boards from ATI that use a new board/micron size. Basically what it means is they are ripe for overclocking.

For example the clock speed on mine is 500mhz by default (which is fast compared to other similar spec' boards), but i've clocked it up to 560 with no problems.

Hope that helps

Steve

[kneedowndeano]

www.savastore.com/productinfo/product.aspx?catalog_name=Savastore&product_id=10280845&pid=207&rstrat=3160

For £87 you could get a ATi 9800 card, not too sure of its miles better than the 9600XT as the clock speeds are lower, but it runs on a 256bit bus compared to a 128bit of the 9600XT.

>> Edited by kneedowndeano on Thursday 3rd November 10:47

[_VTEC_]

I'll shop around a bit more. Thanks for the suggestions so far guys. ATi looks tempting.

[peterpeter]

i reckon you should have a serious think about upgrading to 1mb at least.

512 really doesnt cut it and even with a much better gfx card, you wont appreciate it fully.

[_VTEC_]

peterpeter said:

i reckon you should have a serious think about upgrading to 1mb at least. 512 really doesnt cut it and even with a much better gfx card, you wont appreciate it fully.

Yeah was thinking the same myself. Not sure how much an extra 500mb of memory costs though. I've got the extra ports to accommodate the upgrade though.

>> Edited by _VTEC_ on Thursday 3rd November 18:56

[kneedowndeano]

about £40
take a look at www.crucial.com and then choose the UK site as its the US site by default