Recomend me a good video card.

HallowedFaith

Right now I've got a Geforce MX 4000. It really isn't a terrible card because it was a decent deal and I was desperate at the time of purchase. My older video card had exploded and I needed to finish playing Diablo 2. At the time of course, it was fine since Diablo 2 is... well... Diablo 2.

I'm getting into bigger games now. Mainly MMO's and things of that sort. I noticed in WoW I can't choose any shader options. Bummer.

So what would be a good card, up to date-ish, that supports decent lighting effects in game and won't cost me an arm and a leg.

Thanks in advance.

Glal

If you just want WoW and its ilk to run well, something as simple as a Radeon 9600 Pro or a GeForce 6600GT will both run the game with all the bells and whistles turned on. They should be dirt-cheap these days. The latter will even run modern games, though not without sacrifices.

You can't really go that much faster past the 6600GT without a PCI-E motherboard though.

HallowedFaith

I saw this here:
http://www.futurepowerpc.com/scripts/product.asp?PRDCODE=VCPN-G62128APB&REFID=PW

That doesn't seem like a horrible deal, and it's around the range I am going for. What do you think?

Noray

If you only have an AGP slot (I'm guessing you do), and all you want is to run WoW, go for something around 60-80 bucks and you probably can't really go wrong.

Viscountalpha

HallowedFaith wrote:

I saw this here:
http://www.futurepowerpc.com/scripts/product.asp?PRDCODE=VCPN-G62128APB&REFID=PW

That doesn't seem like a horrible deal, and it's around the range I am going for. What do you think?

If you want decent framerates in WoW, 6600 minimum. They should be around 60-100$ If you wanna be any cheaper then that then you will regret it. Supposedly the midrange 8000 series should be out so alot of people will be dumping their older stuff in favor of the newer hardware out there. It would almost behoove you to jump to Pci-express when that happens. midrange 8600 is supposed to be 175-200$ range while the lower(125-150) end would easily beat the 6600 series

I have heard that 2 6600's in sli might be another route to go if your just doing WoW.

Its your choice but if your going to live with your decision for awhile, don't skimp out on it or you will regret it.

Edit..
http://www.guru3d.com/newsitem.php?id=4834

Looks like mid march. Not that far away if this information is valid. Ati's R600 sounds like it might be out soon as well. Ya, Wait if you can to take advantage of the price drops.

Stormwatcher

Glal wrote:

If you just want WoW and its ilk to run well, something as simple as a Radeon 9600 Pro or a GeForce 6600GT will both run the game with all the bells and whistles turned on. They should be dirt-cheap these days. The latter will even run modern games, though not without sacrifices.

You can't really go that much faster past the 6600GT without a PCI-E motherboard though.

Well, first of all, there is a big gap of performance between the 9600 and the 6600GT... The 6600GT is at least twice as fast, in real life performance. And it plays WoW really smooth with all the bells and whistles.

By the way, you CAN get a LOT faster than it. Like a Radeon X1950 PRO AGP, for instance. It is really, really faster than the honorable GF6600GT, even on an AGP bus.

And, as a former owner of a MX4 I have to comment that it is, indeed really, really bad. I commend you for having it still. I had a terrible time with on of those. It won't even run Prince of Persia games right.

Nocren

I've been running off a GeForce FX5700 for about 2 years now and have had no complaints. Backed with a gig of RAM and I can run most things decently.

I got it when I was stationed in Guam for about $150 (shipping and all that shit). Probably pretty cheap nowadays.

freshmasterfresh

Man, I can't wait until I can afford to buy a whole new computer. If this card is only $300, by the time I'm ready to drop a grand or two, I'll be able to push some pretty crazy visuals.

It'll be a few years, but the longer I wait the better the reward

Glal

Stormwatcher wrote:

Well, first of all, there is a big gap of performance between the 9600 and the 6600GT... The 6600GT is at least twice as fast, in real life performance. And it plays WoW really smooth with all the bells and whistles.

Both of them ran WoW playably at 1280x960 with everything turned on, including FSAA. The 6600GT was faster, of course, but it didn't usher in a new framerate revolution.

Neither of them allowed me to run around a busy Orgrimmar without substancial lag for example; that was only fixed once I grabbed myself a Raptor HD.

Stormwatcher

Glal wrote:

Stormwatcher wrote:

Well, first of all, there is a big gap of performance between the 9600 and the 6600GT... The 6600GT is at least twice as fast, in real life performance. And it plays WoW really smooth with all the bells and whistles.

Both of them ran WoW playably at 1280x960 with everything turned on, including FSAA. The 6600GT was faster, of course, but it didn't usher in a new framerate revolution.

Neither of them allowed me to run around a busy Orgrimmar without substancial lag for example; that was only fixed once I grabbed myself a Raptor HD.

Well, WOW aside, the 6600GT IS consistently 2x as fast as the 9600 in any DEMANDING games. Try playing FEAR on both, for instance. HL2 is another example.

and the GF6600GT has SM3.0. that makes a lot of games a hell lot prettier.

Noray

Also, running WoW decently is as least (if not more) a matter of RAM as it is a decent video card. I have a 7600GT, AMD 3500+ and 1gig of ram, and in outland especially when I get to crowded parts, or a big city, my framerate god south of 20. Pretty bad! I play it at 1080x720 with absolutely everything on though.

LoneIgadzra

I have me a 9800, cost a little over $100 a couple years ago. Played WoW with all bells and whistles and FSAA. You can probably do better now, but there's no need to go any lower than that or the 6600 (which is a bit better IIRC).

But for gods sake a 9600 is really undercutting it. That's not in the same league at all.

Daedalus

freshmasterfresh wrote:

Man, I can't wait until I can afford to buy a whole new computer. If this card is only $300, by the time I'm ready to drop a grand or two, I'll be able to push some pretty crazy visuals.

It'll be a few years, but the longer I wait the better the reward

The PCI-E version of that card is $200, though. AGP upgrades are more expensive because there's not as much demand.

Operative21

I'll second the vote for the GeForce 6600. I've got one that I upgraded to from a 9600XT. The 6600 ran WoW quite nicely with good solid frame rates.

That being said though, I fully expect to run into some serious slowdown once the new DX10 games start showing up (ie. Age of Conan), which probably isn't more than a year away at most. Depending on what kind of budget you're working with, you might consider upgrading to a PCI-E video card/motherboard.

If on the other hand, you've got a limited budget, then a 6600 is probably a good solid card for you.

Dratatoo

You could also try to get a nvidia Geforce 7800. Most vendors also offer the factory overclocked version. It should be cheaper now (the AGP version of the card came out around 1 year ago). Performance wise its between the Geforce 6600GT and Radeon 1950 - more leaning towards the Radeon. The advantage of the 7800 card is, that it is a single slot card and fits nicely into older Shuttle or other compact cases.

My system is a Athlon XP 3000, 1GB RAM, nforce2 motherboard and the Geforce 7800 GS ATI and I can play WoW with 4x FAA and everything on max at 1680x1050.

ruzkin

I've never understood the need for newer gfx cards... I've been using a GeForce 4200 Ti for over 3 years now, 768 meg of RAM, and I can still turn up at lans and rock out. I mean, I can't play FEAR or Doom 3, but then again, does anyone?

Daedalus

Dratatoo wrote:

You could also try to get a nvidia Geforce 7800. Most vendors also offer the factory overclocked version. It should be cheaper now (the AGP version of the card came out around 1 year ago). Performance wise its between the Geforce 6600GT and Radeon 1950 - more leaning towards the Radeon. The advantage of the 7800 card is, that it is a single slot card and fits nicely into older Shuttle or other compact cases.

My system is a Athlon XP 3000, 1GB RAM, nforce2 motherboard and the Geforce 7800 GS ATI and I can play WoW with 4x FAA and everything on max at 1680x1050.

For AGP, the 7800GS is a complete waste of money. The 7600GT scores pretty much the same in all benchmarks and is far less money. The X1950PRO AGP is the same price pretty much and is far more powerful.

BigDes

ruzkin wrote:

I've never understood the need for newer gfx cards... I've been using a GeForce 4200 Ti for over 3 years now, 768 meg of RAM, and I can still turn up at lans and rock out. I mean, I can't play FEAR or Doom 3, but then again, does anyone?

Well, there are plenty of games out there that plenty of people play that benfit hugely from a bit of extra oomph, like Oblivion.

BigDes

The Warlock wrote:

Dratatoo wrote:

You could also try to get a nvidia Geforce 7800. Most vendors also offer the factory overclocked version. It should be cheaper now (the AGP version of the card came out around 1 year ago). Performance wise its between the Geforce 6600GT and Radeon 1950 - more leaning towards the Radeon. The advantage of the 7800 card is, that it is a single slot card and fits nicely into older Shuttle or other compact cases.

My system is a Athlon XP 3000, 1GB RAM, nforce2 motherboard and the Geforce 7800 GS ATI and I can play WoW with 4x FAA and everything on max at 1680x1050.

For AGP, the 7800GS is a complete waste of money. The 7600GT scores pretty much the same in all benchmarks and is far less money. The X1950PRO AGP is the same price pretty much and is far more powerful.

It is? would it say be worth 'upgrading' from a 7800GS to an X1950?

homeobocks

My eVGA 7600 GT runs CS:S smoothy at medium settings at 1680x1050. But it's noisy as fuck. Maybe the fan speed control doesn't work because the Vista drivers aren't out yet*.

* Never mind, they were just released. Let's see how they do!

Dratatoo

For AGP, the 7800GS is a complete waste of money. The 7600GT scores pretty much the same in all benchmarks and is far less money. The X1950PRO AGP is the same price pretty much and is far more powerful.

I was just suggesting the 7800 in case they got cheaper compared to the x1950. Currently you are right, the price of the 1950 can't be beat (unless the 7800 gen gets ridiculous outdated.)

In your case I would suggest get a affordable graphic card like the 6600GT and save for a new system. Soon or later the processor or the system components (combination between bus speed, internal technology to manage the various components) become the limiting factor. It already seems to be the case on my system.

Daedalus

BigDes wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

Dratatoo wrote:

You could also try to get a nvidia Geforce 7800. Most vendors also offer the factory overclocked version. It should be cheaper now (the AGP version of the card came out around 1 year ago). Performance wise its between the Geforce 6600GT and Radeon 1950 - more leaning towards the Radeon. The advantage of the 7800 card is, that it is a single slot card and fits nicely into older Shuttle or other compact cases.

My system is a Athlon XP 3000, 1GB RAM, nforce2 motherboard and the Geforce 7800 GS ATI and I can play WoW with 4x FAA and everything on max at 1680x1050.

For AGP, the 7800GS is a complete waste of money. The 7600GT scores pretty much the same in all benchmarks and is far less money. The X1950PRO AGP is the same price pretty much and is far more powerful.

It is? would it say be worth 'upgrading' from a 7800GS to an X1950?

You'd be better off saving your money for a new motherboard, processor, RAM, etc. But hey, your call.

AGP reviews by THW

FreddyD

The Warlock wrote:

BigDes wrote:

The Warlock wrote:

Dratatoo wrote:

You could also try to get a nvidia Geforce 7800. Most vendors also offer the factory overclocked version. It should be cheaper now (the AGP version of the card came out around 1 year ago). Performance wise its between the Geforce 6600GT and Radeon 1950 - more leaning towards the Radeon. The advantage of the 7800 card is, that it is a single slot card and fits nicely into older Shuttle or other compact cases.

My system is a Athlon XP 3000, 1GB RAM, nforce2 motherboard and the Geforce 7800 GS ATI and I can play WoW with 4x FAA and everything on max at 1680x1050.

For AGP, the 7800GS is a complete waste of money. The 7600GT scores pretty much the same in all benchmarks and is far less money. The X1950PRO AGP is the same price pretty much and is far more powerful.

It is? would it say be worth 'upgrading' from a 7800GS to an X1950?

You'd be better off saving your money for a new motherboard, processor, RAM, etc. But hey, your call.

AGP reviews by THW

Don't buy any motherboard that doesn't support PCIe 2.0, and you might even want to wait for DDR3.

The prices on the x1950 pro are going to plummet when (if?) the x1950xt is released.