Please help me to buy a suitable Graphics Card

Hello There,

Actually I was reading posts on this site for a couple of hours to get some help to by me a new Graphics Card. Currently I am using on-board graphics card. My Sytem Specs are:

Processor: Intel Pentium-4 1.80 GHz
Board: Intel D-845 GEBV2 with onboard audio and video
Video: On-board graphics card i.e. Intel Extreme Graphics
RAM: Kingston DDR 256 MB

I want to have a card within my budget which is 70$-90$. I know it is a low budget but I can not afford more than it yet. I want to play games like Doom3, Quake 3, Unreal 4, Half Life 2, GTA: Vice City and my upcoming favourite Stronghold 2.

Please suggest me a card best suitable for me according to my budget,system specs and game types i want to play.

Currently I am thinking of Radeon 9550 or GeForce FX 5700.

Help in this context will gratly be appriciated.

Thanks in Aadvance.
Also Thanks for reading my a bit long post .

my friend has a FX5700 LE and he can play any game with total stability
if you read the forum on this card it accually highly recomended over the ATI RADEON
something to think about but both ATI RADEON and GeForce are really good cards but for the money the 5700 would probale be the better buy

MSI GeForce FX 5200 FX5200-TD128 Video Card
$52 - $65
this is also a really good card for the money it will do everything you would like it to

I think an ati 9600 or 9600 pro if you can afford it would be a good choice.
Compare some cards here . For your price range though, you can't expect blazing framerates at high graphics settings.

Edit: for ~$100 the 6200 is a decent card. 6200

Thank u folks but I don't want extra blazing speed out of a cheaper card I know it is not possible but I want to play games I mentioned in my thread's start to play at low or medium settings even on 800x600 is ok.

I want a card which is not outstanding but which can handle new games at least at the levels to play. I think now I have cleared it more that what type of Graphics Card I want.

So, any suggestions will be greatfully welcomed.

Thanks.

I recently read my Motherboard's (Intel D845-GEBV2) Manual and found that:

The D845GEBV2 AGP socket can accept universal AGP cards that comply with the AGP 2.0 specification. The D845GEBV2 can use 1X / 2X / 4X card(s) operating at 1.5V.
Note: Legacy 3.3V AGP cards are not supported.

I thought to let u folks know it as well so that u can suggest me card in the light of this information.

Thanks.

I think all 8x agp are 4x compatible too, so any 8x agp should work.

Well any more suggestions...? :wave:

Does it have to be <$90?

Well not very strictly I can spend more if a good choice to be made upto 100$-110$.

I think a 6200, like this
would be a good choice. I think it gets similar performance to a 9600 pro in far cry, but in doom 3 it gets performance about between a 5900 and 5900ultra. Some 6200's have 4 extra pixel pipes that can be unlocked to get more performance. Even without unlocking, it's a good deal.

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP $81.00...

Here's the site: Newegg.com (Non pro)

-Kitaro

I realise you said you could go up a bit more in price. But I'm sure that if you're really on a budget, you'd prefer to save a few bucks.

But if I'm wrong... you want to spend a little more for the 9600pro?

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP $94

newegg.com (PRO)

Thank u very much guys u are really supportive to me. I think that now I am real close to make a choice but I am a bit confused too. The confusion is that one of my friend says (perhaps he is wrong) that GeForce cards support more game titles than Radeon. Means that GeForce has compatibility to more games than Radeon. Is it true?

I think that perhaps I will go with nVidia GeForce FX 5900 or a GeForce 6200 as vnf4ultra suggests. But I want to know the difference between them are they both same or what r they?

Thanks.

I couldn't find too many benchmarks comparing the 6200 to the 5900. But I did find this . Those are pci-e cards, but I would think they would be comparable to agp. The 6200 is clearly beating the 5900 in far cry. Here you can compare their 3d mark scores. Here's a doom 3 bench. Here's a hl2 bench. Did you really mean the 5900 though. The 5900 is usually a lot more money than a 6200, even though the 6200 performs better in some cases.

I bought an ATI Radeon 9600XT from futureshop about 6 months ago. I got it for $200. I know that this is a little out of your price range but it won't be as expensive in the US. (I'm in Canada.) The 9600XT has been great in every way and I've been able to play every game that I've ever thrown at it...including Doom 3! :O My mobo doesn't accept AGP 8x but the card still works.

If you can, check it out.

I live in the UK and I bought a GeForce FX 5200 AGP8X 256 MB card for about £50, approx. $80 I think, and it works fine with GTA Vice City. I had a AGP 4X slot as well and similar specs in terms of processor speed (AMD 2000+).

im really glad you have found your self a pretty good card i just built a comp for my father with that same card in it and it works great good for you and it was still easy on the pocket i see

Out of all the cards mentioned here, the 6200 is certainly the superior, but also the costliest. I think you will find it will last longer as well in terms of the features on the card. If you dont want to go that high in price, then the Radeon 9600 or the Geforce 5700 card would certainly be the next to look at.
I missed out for a couple of years because I couldn't afford to upgrade my old Radeon 7500, which just would not run many titles, so if you can afford it, buy the best you can possibly stretch your budget to now, and it may just last a year or more longer with newer titles coming out.

Good luck with whatever you buy.

Well Folks, here I'm back. Actually I was busy in monotonous meetings at office and could not give attention to my Graphic Card Saga

I was once again reviewing my MotherBoards FAQ saction one of the point says:


The D845GEBV2 AGP socket can accept universal AGP cards that comply with the AGP 2.0 specification. The D845GEBV2 can use 1X / 2X / 4X card(s) operating at 1.5V.

Note: Legacy 3.3V AGP cards are not supported.


Now according to the suggestions of u folks I have narrowed my serach to choose one of these cards:

1) WinfastGeForce FX 5700, 128 MB DDR, 400 MHz core speed (my priority)
for 103$

2) MSI Radeon 9600
can not get from local stores.

3) MSI Radeon 9550
for 83 $

Now can anyone tell me that what is this Legacy 3.3V and 1.5V (volt I think) is and whether these card can work with my board (D845-GEBV2).

Thanks.

THis basically means u can only use 4x agp cards becuse of the voltage issue.How much do you actually have for everything then we go from there...