GeForce 7300GT buying guide
- Thread starter bradthegreat
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vnf4ultra
Posts: 1,360 +2
While the asus 7300gt is a good card, there are faster 7300gt cards out there.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122008
The asus has a passive cooler though, so it would be silent, if that's an important feature to you.
As far as the motherboard, the one you chose is somewhat dated, as it doesn't support the newer core2duo cpus. If you will only use a pentium 4 or pentium d, it'd be a fine board.
I'd look at these boards in the $100-130 usd price range.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128012
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122008
The asus has a passive cooler though, so it would be silent, if that's an important feature to you.
As far as the motherboard, the one you chose is somewhat dated, as it doesn't support the newer core2duo cpus. If you will only use a pentium 4 or pentium d, it'd be a fine board.
I'd look at these boards in the $100-130 usd price range.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128017
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130082
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128012
captaincranky
Posts: 19,684 +8,825
About a hundred bucks.....
EVGA's 7600GT cards are currently selling in the $100.00 price range. (Newegg.com)
7600GT cards are faster than 7300GT cards. Someone else want to weigh in on this?
EVGA's 7600GT cards are currently selling in the $100.00 price range. (Newegg.com)
7600GT cards are faster than 7300GT cards. Someone else want to weigh in on this?
Grafficks
Posts: 287 +3
The GeForce 7300GT is a low-end card, so you will not get fantastic performance with this. I would agree with captaincranky that you should get a 7600 instead. I have a 7600GT and it is great for mid-range gaming.
The motherboard you mentioned is the one I have. It performs superbly but would not be a wise choice at this time. Core 2 Duo support is an asset when shopping for a motherboard these days.
You should also tell us the rest of your hardware. It seems you have only selected a motherboard and a graphics card, so you might be building a new computer or upgrading an existing one. Are you certain your new purchases will be compatible?
The motherboard you mentioned is the one I have. It performs superbly but would not be a wise choice at this time. Core 2 Duo support is an asset when shopping for a motherboard these days.
You should also tell us the rest of your hardware. It seems you have only selected a motherboard and a graphics card, so you might be building a new computer or upgrading an existing one. Are you certain your new purchases will be compatible?
bradthegreat
Posts: 97 +0
I am actually helping a friend upgrade. He has a couple of IDE drives, so he needs at least 4 possible slots for that. He has a Celeron D, and he was just going to keep that and hopefully upgrade to a Core 2 Duo later. He is looking at getting a new case, pretty standard one. I believe the only compatibility issues would be with the CPU, so I wonder if his Celeron would work...Maybe I can talk him into getting a Core 2 - which would be a good one to look into? I'll have to ask him what his budget is too...
captaincranky
Posts: 19,684 +8,825
Which Celeron D?
All the Cedar Mill Celerons (and some of the Prescotts) Have "EMT64" technology. They require a 64 bit enabled bios, Even if you are running a 32 bit operating system. In Intel's newer boards (I have a G965WM) with a Cedar Mill Celeron D 356 (3.33Ghz),the Celeron can be directly replaced with a Conroe Core 2 Duo. God knows, that's why I bought that particular Cele, to get the system up and running until I spring for one of the Conroes. But, that board is EMT64 enabled. You can also only run the Cedar Mill Pent4s (631,641, etc). with 64 bit BIOS. I Guess the moral here is that all the latest Intel processors are not backwards compatible with a great many older boards. Intel's web site has comprehensive listings of which processors will work with which of their boards.
All the Cedar Mill Celerons (and some of the Prescotts) Have "EMT64" technology. They require a 64 bit enabled bios, Even if you are running a 32 bit operating system. In Intel's newer boards (I have a G965WM) with a Cedar Mill Celeron D 356 (3.33Ghz),the Celeron can be directly replaced with a Conroe Core 2 Duo. God knows, that's why I bought that particular Cele, to get the system up and running until I spring for one of the Conroes. But, that board is EMT64 enabled. You can also only run the Cedar Mill Pent4s (631,641, etc). with 64 bit BIOS. I Guess the moral here is that all the latest Intel processors are not backwards compatible with a great many older boards. Intel's web site has comprehensive listings of which processors will work with which of their boards.
vnf4ultra
Posts: 1,360 +2
If he wants to be able to run a core2duo(either now or later), but still wants to use ide drives, and still stay on budget, then boards based on nvidia's 650i chipset will be better as they support up to 4 ide drives(instead of 2).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130082
Both support celeron through core2duo cpus.
And yes, a 7600gt is a much better card than a 7300gt, and the evga models already mentioned are good cards.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=532&model2=529&chart=224
The cheapest core2duos are the e4300 and e6300.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130082
Both support celeron through core2duo cpus.
And yes, a 7600gt is a much better card than a 7300gt, and the evga models already mentioned are good cards.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics.html?modelx=33&model1=532&model2=529&chart=224
The cheapest core2duos are the e4300 and e6300.
bradthegreat
Posts: 97 +0
oh, does the mobos need DDR2 memory? I totally forgot about that. My friend says he has some older DDR memory, I believe.
vnf4ultra
Posts: 1,360 +2
If he really wants to use ddr that he has, he could get this (supports 2 ddr or 2 ddr2), but it's kind of a low end board. It will support up to 4 ide drives as well.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157107
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157107
bradthegreat
Posts: 97 +0
I think he's gonna spring for some new DDR2 stuff - I'm liking the Asus board here a lot. Going with this board, a 7600 GeForce and some DDR2 memory here, and I missing anything? Would it be vital to get 2GB or would 1GB memory suffice? Also, with video cards, what is a good minimum memory to look for - 256, 512???
bradthegreat
Posts: 97 +0
I'm thinking this video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122245
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814122245
bradthegreat
Posts: 97 +0
or maybe this one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130073
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130073
Grafficks
Posts: 287 +3
The Asus P5N-E SLI is a superb choice - I also have a particular liking for that board.
eVGA 7600GT's are very cheap now, that last eVGA 7600GT you posted looks good. If you decide to change your mind, just make sure you get a 7600GT and not a lower-level variant like the 7600GS.
For the memory, 1GB should suffice for everyday tasks. However, it may be ideal to get 2GB to place the system in a position comfortably ahead of the curve.
For your question on graphics card memory, 256MB would be a good amount to have. Keep in mind that graphics memory is not the deciding factor in the performance of a graphics card. The amount of graphics memory on a video card is not what you can judge a video card by. Same thing with CPUs, where clock speed is no longer the most important specification. There are many other specs of a graphics card that are just as important as its memory, and you can no longer classify a graphics card as "good" by simply looking at its onboard RAM.
eVGA 7600GT's are very cheap now, that last eVGA 7600GT you posted looks good. If you decide to change your mind, just make sure you get a 7600GT and not a lower-level variant like the 7600GS.
For the memory, 1GB should suffice for everyday tasks. However, it may be ideal to get 2GB to place the system in a position comfortably ahead of the curve.
For your question on graphics card memory, 256MB would be a good amount to have. Keep in mind that graphics memory is not the deciding factor in the performance of a graphics card. The amount of graphics memory on a video card is not what you can judge a video card by. Same thing with CPUs, where clock speed is no longer the most important specification. There are many other specs of a graphics card that are just as important as its memory, and you can no longer classify a graphics card as "good" by simply looking at its onboard RAM.
captaincranky
Posts: 19,684 +8,825
Guess What Else is Cheap Now....
Newegg is offering Kingston Value RAM DDR667 in a 2 Gig kit for $129.00
When I saw this I was flush with 4 GIG fever. I Don't want to hear about not being able to overclock it, a mobo stuffed full of RAM suppresses a lot of other sins. Some of the newer Intel chipsets (P/G 965) have trouble with some DDR800 sets. With the Kingston they seem to POST happily ever after. Oh, BTW free shipping. Just Checked,it's down to $110.00!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046
Newegg is offering Kingston Value RAM DDR667 in a 2 Gig kit for $129.00
When I saw this I was flush with 4 GIG fever. I Don't want to hear about not being able to overclock it, a mobo stuffed full of RAM suppresses a lot of other sins. Some of the newer Intel chipsets (P/G 965) have trouble with some DDR800 sets. With the Kingston they seem to POST happily ever after. Oh, BTW free shipping. Just Checked,it's down to $110.00!! http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046
captaincranky
Posts: 19,684 +8,825
My Head Hurts Just Thinking About It....
Vowing to continue my campaign to ruin my credit score due to computer parts purchases I pondered deeply the 32 bit memory recognition conundrum. (I have 2 Gig now w/MCE 2005<big waste of money (for me at least)))(MCE! Not the memory!) My Mobo just laughs at any attempt to install any Linux OS. It either asks for drivers (????) or just sort of hangs. Suse 10.0 was sort of petulant saying; dude you're trying to install a 32 bit OS into a 64 bit computer. So, I clicked the Look, @#$%^&*,do it anyway box, at which point it hung. So I began to formulate Plans Ba, Bb, Bc, etc.
Ba: Just jack the extra 2 Gig into the machine, at that price you can almost afford to have the OS ignore about half of it.
Bb: Buy a 1Gig kit, but this (at the time) was well over half the price of the 2Gs.
Bc: The Cedar Mill P4 641 is down to $75.00. I could pull the Celeron and install that. Would the improvement be noticeable? I pondered on....
Bd: Should I spring for a Core 2 Duo so that I might have the same toys as the other children?
Be: None of the above. Should I just simply not buy anything! This seemed like a tragic failure of logic and moral obligation!
Then, I gave up, put my credit card away, and promised myself the looong sulk-a-thon I believe I am entitled to.
P.S. The yellow "Add To Cart" buttons on the Kingston DDR2 667 Mhz page are rapidly turning to gray "Auto-Notify" buttons. Who knows how much the next shipment will cost.
Vowing to continue my campaign to ruin my credit score due to computer parts purchases I pondered deeply the 32 bit memory recognition conundrum. (I have 2 Gig now w/MCE 2005<big waste of money (for me at least)))(MCE! Not the memory!) My Mobo just laughs at any attempt to install any Linux OS. It either asks for drivers (????) or just sort of hangs. Suse 10.0 was sort of petulant saying; dude you're trying to install a 32 bit OS into a 64 bit computer. So, I clicked the Look, @#$%^&*,do it anyway box, at which point it hung. So I began to formulate Plans Ba, Bb, Bc, etc.
Ba: Just jack the extra 2 Gig into the machine, at that price you can almost afford to have the OS ignore about half of it.
Bb: Buy a 1Gig kit, but this (at the time) was well over half the price of the 2Gs.
Bc: The Cedar Mill P4 641 is down to $75.00. I could pull the Celeron and install that. Would the improvement be noticeable? I pondered on....
Bd: Should I spring for a Core 2 Duo so that I might have the same toys as the other children?
Be: None of the above. Should I just simply not buy anything! This seemed like a tragic failure of logic and moral obligation!
Then, I gave up, put my credit card away, and promised myself the looong sulk-a-thon I believe I am entitled to.
P.S. The yellow "Add To Cart" buttons on the Kingston DDR2 667 Mhz page are rapidly turning to gray "Auto-Notify" buttons. Who knows how much the next shipment will cost.
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