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Determining video card compatibility
Graviija
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So here's the deal, fellas. My dad just got a new family computer, after our old one all buy exploded. He went with a standard Dell Inspiron...something. A basic, low(ish)-level computer with a few upgrades (2GB RAM, better sound system). The graphics card that we got is a Geforce 8300 GS 128mb. So not a good card.
He said if I was willing to buy it, he has nothing against a better video card. The problem is, I really don't know how to determine video card compatability, and I certainly don't know who to trust in these matters, company-wise. But I do trust you guys.
My question is this - how do I determine the compatability of a video card with our system (you know, AGP and PCI and all that), and what are some suggestions?
The basic system specs are thus:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Dual core processor at 1.6 ghz each
2gb RAM
250GB HDD (don't think this really applies to anything...)
The highest level card that Dell offers on this set up is a "256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT", if that means anything.
Thanks in advance.
Edit - oh, and I'd like the card to be sub-$200. A good mid-level card, or something like that.
He said if I was willing to buy it, he has nothing against a better video card. The problem is, I really don't know how to determine video card compatability, and I certainly don't know who to trust in these matters, company-wise. But I do trust you guys.
My question is this - how do I determine the compatability of a video card with our system (you know, AGP and PCI and all that), and what are some suggestions?
The basic system specs are thus:
Windows Vista Home Premium
Dual core processor at 1.6 ghz each
2gb RAM
250GB HDD (don't think this really applies to anything...)
The highest level card that Dell offers on this set up is a "256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT", if that means anything.
Thanks in advance.
Edit - oh, and I'd like the card to be sub-$200. A good mid-level card, or something like that.
Graviija on
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Err... better try the ATi 3850. 8600GT line wasn't exactly top notch. I mean, it depends on exactly what you want, but if you want any decent gaming to come out of it the ATi is the better choice.
Check your power supply spects first to see if it can support it, just in case.
*FACEPALM*
WRONG! The 8600 is NOT the best bang for your buck. the 8800gt is.Why? well the 8800gt surpasses the older G80 8800gts. I've heard of people OC'ing the 8800gt to almost GTX levels.
If you are going to recommend hardware, I would advise you to do more research into it. The 8800gt does easily go past the 200$ price of your budget. And not every card is going to fit into a PCI-E 16x slot since some cards take up two slots instead of one. The 8800gts/gtx line will not fit unless you have adequate space.
I bet the ATi 3850 is more suited for your needs. Find the omega drivers since I've also heard that they are the least buggy of all of them out there. I would recommend the 8800gt though. It is the sweet spot for affordable graphics cards.
In any case, the Inspiron 530 looks like it could take a double-width card for the cost of one PCI slot.
Eh its fine. I though you were trying to mislead this person so I was a bit overzealous in my response.
:oops: I wonder where you picked up a pic of the internals so quickly though.
Not only that, I believe they just announced the fifth card to receive the nVidia 8800 title. It popped up in my feed reader sometime today, though I'd have to go dig it out, and I'm too lazy.
holy shit yes. edit: or just fewer fucking cards; that'd work too
But anyway, the AMD Radeon HD 3870 is apparently only slightly slower than the 8800GT and can cost a good chunk less in a lot of places, so it's also something to consider if your budget is a little tight for the 8800GT.
We have the 8400, 8500, 8600, 8800gt, 8800gts,8800gtx. And then there are the GTS/GT varients. GTS320, GTS640,GT256,GT512,GTS256,GTS512 and finally a GT1gb
and, to make things worse, there are two different 8800GTS cards: the old one that gets outperformed by the 8800GT, and the new, G92-based one that is better than the 8800GT. Oh, and don't forget the low-midrange 8800GS, coming soon.
Man these multiple sku's are a complete mess.
I like the look 3850s (and the cost), but the 8800 GTs sounds so sweet. But the price is getting up there...
Ah. Decisions. Thanks for the help so far, either way.
That 256mb might be what you need. Depends on how demanding you are going to be on this card though.
50$ more and you get this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318
I would lean towards the 512mb since most games will take advantage of it. Card length might be an issue.
The last computer game I bought? Half Life 2. And it really didn't look very good on my computer. I'm not asking for Crysis or anything crazy. Just newer RTSs and maybe some select FPSs, looking pretty good.