are these 6 games properly playable with a geforce fx5200 card?

[ani123]

friends,I have decided to buy a geforce fx5200 ,128mb video card only to play my favourite 6 games,these are half life 2,prince of percia-sand of times,far cry,moha-pacific assault,battlefield two and constantine.my system config is:intel p4 2.4 ghz,256mb ddr ram. please tell me how this 5200 card will perform with all these games at various settings.

 

[DonNagual]

Want the straight up truth?

That 5200 card is the bottom of the bottom for cards that are "acceptable" gaming cards. I'd highly recommend saving your cash until you can get something that will be able to give you some good frame rates without having to turn all the settings on low.

 

[Blakhart]

If you turn all the textures and effects down, and run at no more than 800x600 resolution, and don't move in the game at all, the 5200 will do.

 

[flashmonkey]

I have a GeForce FX5200 and let me tell you I HATE IT. Can't overclock it and the speeds are so low it will barely play Half-Life 2. I can play it, but I've had to do a MAJOR tweak job which lowers everything to minimum, but I can play on 1024x768 at around 30fps. That is very crappy for all settings low. Stay away from this card, and go for a 9800pro or 9600xt by ati of you're looking for a budget gaming card.

There was an article about budget cards in Computer Gaming World magazine, here's some ideas for you:

All tests are at 1024x768, no AA or AF on a 3.4gHz Pentium 4 EE system, 1GB RAM.

Under $100:
GeForce 6200TC 64/256MB - 1358 3DMark's (2005), 18.4 Doom 3 fps.
Radeon X300 128MB - 1432 3DMark's (2005), 18.7 Doom 3 fps

$100-$150
Geforce 6600 256MB - 2108 3DMark's (2005), 51.1 Doom 3 fps
Radeon X600XT 128MB - 2108 3DMark's (2005), 29.9 Doom 3 fps
Radeon X700Pro 256MB - 3319 3DMark's (2005), 54.1 Doom 3 fps

$150-$200
Geforce 6600GT 128MB - 3826 3DMark's (2005), 83.6 Doom 3 fps
Radeon X800 128MB - 3733 3DMark's (2005), 71.1 Doom 3 fps

Over $200
Geforce 6600GT OC 128MB - 3826 3DMark's (2005), 85.9 Doom 3 fps
Geforce 6800 256MB - 3992 3DMark's (2005), 93.9 Doom 3 fps
Radeon X800XL 256MB - 5038 3DMark's (2005), 89.5 Doom 3 fps

The prices may have changed since the article was written, but it gives you an example of what your looking at for what price range. There is a giant leap in performance from the under $100 and the $100-$150 range, and since you are looking for budget, that's where you should probably buy from.

 

[numan]

I just sale my old Fx5200 and bought a new Radeon 9800pro. Fx5200 Can play all the 6 games u listed here but the performance is very very low. If u want to play these games at minimum settings then u can buy it. But I rcommend u to dont waste ur money and time with Fx5200. Buy a good card if u aford it.

 

[C_Conqueror]

You are also going to need and 256 mb of ram.

 

[zephead]

well, i wouldn't say 256mb of ram is the minimum. more inportant is the gpu and memory interface. i reccomend you get a card based on a 6600gt gpu or better, with a 128-bit memory interface or better. in ati's terms that would mean an x300 or higher. you should give special attention to your card's clock speeds before you buy. i recomend getting a card whose clock speeds are at or above the gpu mfg's specs, because low speed 6600gt cards are out there. poeple are tempted to buy them because of the lower price, and find thier performance to be lackluster.

 

[numan]

Battelfield 2 can run on Fx5200 but it is very very slow on the minimum graphics. So it is better to buy a good 3dcard to play the most new age games. I recommend u these according to ur budget. I think that u have an AGP slot so the cards are
88$-100$ (Its the minimum card u may buy for play uplisted games on good performance. I sugest u to buy a better card. It is very lowlevel card according to budget)
Radeon 9600XT
130$-150$ (Medium level card.)
Radeon 9800pro
145$-170$(Very good for playing such games at high settings.)
Geforce 6600Gt

*Prices may differ.

 

[zephead]

the 6600gt is a midrange card. the 9800xt would run HL2 alright, but for BF2 and farcry forget about it. the 6600gt's are cheaper and can run farcry at a playable speed with all the eye candy.

my system config is:intel p4 2.4 ghz,256mb ddr ram

i'm going to point out that you'll need 512MB or more of ram to play those games (definitely BF2 and farcry). i reccomend 1GB. what speed is your memory running at? and that 2.4ghz cpu will be struggling through said games.

 

[numan]

Zephead do u mean that R9800pro cannot run farcry and BF2?

 

[C_Conqueror]

No I run far cry and I only have a radeon 9200 SE but I also have an athlon 64 and a gb of ram. But I could still run it using using an athlon xp 2500 and 512 mb of ram. The settings were on low though.

 

[nWo9898915456]

Umm..

For one you can't even play Battlefield 2 with that. Battlefield 2 requires a 5700 or greater.

 

[zephead]

oh a 9800pro/xt would run farcry. the question is how well and at what frame rate. my point is that if you want satisfactory performance, see to it that you've got a fast 6600gt or better.

 

[DonNagual]

the 6600gt is a midrange card. the 9800xt would run HL2 alright, but for BF2 and farcry forget about it.

I just upgraded from the 9800pro, and just wanted to step in and say that this card had no problems at all running farcry at decent settings with good frame rates. Of course not the highest settings, but mid level. I had a gig of ram, and an AthlonXP 3200 CPU. Ran beautifully for me. The 9800pro is an excellent card still for those on a tight budget.

9800pro vs 6600GT? I'll take that pepsi challenge anyday. 256 budwidth makes a big difference.

 

[flashmonkey]

I'd go with the 6600GT (if you're still on the topic of a new card, I was in New York on a road trip for a few days and I don't really know what's going on). It would run those games on meduim settings and if you want more than that, buy another one for SLI.

 

[zephead]

The 9800pro is an excellent card still for those on a tight budget.

as i understand it, the 6600gt's are generally cheaper than the r9800pro/xt, and deliver equal or better performance.

 

[DonNagual]

I did some research. You are right about the performance, the 6600gt does perform a little higher.

But a good name brand 9800pro is a little cheaper than a good name brand 6600gt. About $20-$30 cheaper.

Bottom line? I change my mind on that "pepsi challenge". If you have a choice between a 9800pro or a 6600GT, I'd go for the 6600GT.

 

[morphous666]

i have XFX 6600GT and it is a good strong card and has no problems running games to the max (meduim for the new games)

 

[zephead]

i haven't looked at that price comparison since i bought my 6600gt this may, but i still see r9800 cards for around $210 here in the US.

 

[DonNagual]

You can get the 256Mb version (sapphire) on newegg for $170 bones now (128Mb for $150, or even better yet $130 for the OEM model), and sapphire is a decent maker.

And the prices are continuing to drop fast on that card. For those on a VERY tight budget, it's still a good buy. Me? After looking at the performance of the two, I'd say save the cash and go for that 6600GT. Then again, there is always the "if I just save a little more" factor.... it's never ending, isn't it?

 

[C_Conqueror]

You can get the 256Mb version (sapphire) on newegg for $170 bones now (128Mb for $150, or even better yet $130 for the OEM model), and sapphire is a decent maker.

And the prices are continuing to drop fast on that card. For those on a VERY tight budget, it's still a good buy. Me? After looking at the performance of the two, I'd say save the cash and go for that 6600GT. Then again, there is always the "if I just save a little more" factor.... it's never ending, isn't it?

It is never ending until you save a $1000 lol