Suggestions for a video card?

[Kurupt]

I have integrated graphics still, which really sucks, so for a couple months now I've been looking to buy a new video card. I have only PCI slots. I won't spend any more than $100. I'd prefer it to be cheap. I'm only using it for The Sims 2, therefore I don't need something that's gonna be too powerful. If anyone has any suggestions on what I should buy, it'd be a great help. Thanks.

 

[halo71]

Have you looked at this link by chance?

https://www.techspot.com/vb/topic51437.html

 

[Kurupt]

Wow. It's an old thread. That's why I didn't see anything related. Thanks man!

***I was thinking about buying this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143032
you think that's good enough for The Sims 2?***

 

[halo71]

I would think you could do a little better than that thing. I have never played Sim 2, but if the graphics are anything like SimCity 3000, not very demanding at all. I think that card would probably work fine for you.

 

[Kurupt]

Excellent. Thanks.

 

[halo71]

You may want to hold off on ordering that card and let this post cook a little longer. And maybe get more opinions about it.

 

[wolfram]

It should be good enough, as long as you don't want 1600x1200 resolutions and extremely high details

 

[SNGX1275]

Under $100, far better card.

Another good thing about that card is it has more sophisticated x264 decoding onboard than even the 8800s, offloading a lot of work from your CPU.

Edit - The 8300 should be out soon, for $69-79, and will still likely be better than the 5500 - I believe it has the same x264 decoding capabilities as the 8500 and 8600 (which are better than the 8800).

 

[nickslick74]

Under $100, far better card.

Another good thing about that card is it has more sophisticated x264 decoding onboard than even the 8800s, offloading a lot of work from your CPU.

Edit - The 8300 should be out soon, for $69-79, and will still likely be better than the 5500 - I believe it has the same x264 decoding capabilities as the 8500 and 8600 (which are better than the 8800).

Unfortunately he only has PCI slots, so the 8 series isn't an option for him. :dead: The 5500 should be fine for Sims.

 

[SNGX1275]

Oh oops. That sucks.

 

[Kurupt]

Lol. Alright sounds good fellas.

 

[Wagan8r]

I just thought I would point out to you that you can get a GeForce 6200 for a bit less than the 5500. The 6200 is 128Mb and 64-bit compared to the 5500 which is 256Mb and 128-bit. However, the 6200 should still perform better than the 5500. I have a 3dFuzion 128Mb 64-bit 6200 and it was a lot better than the PNY 128Mb 128-bit FX5500 I had before it. I can play HL2 on max settings (no AA) at 1024x768 with 30-50 fps.