Help! Nid to be sure

[Raiden]

I bought radeon 9550 256mb , im not sure if this is the right VC for me,
i want to know what u think, should i return it and buy another VC my budget is only 100 to $140, and my MOtherboard only supports AGP not pci-e.

PLs tell me wat VC i should buy that runs smoothly w/ high graphic games like HL2. TNXXX

 

[DonNagual]

Probably a good idea to tell us your motherboard as well as your PSU. Just to be sure that you'll be able to use the card we recommend.

 

[Raiden]

my motherboard is ECS 848p-a7 ,intel 848p P4fsb 800, LGA 775,ddr 400
400W Power Supply

TNX

 

[Sharkfood]

That's an AGP 8x motherboard, so just about any AGP videocard should work without much work/effort.

If you are talking $100-$140 USD, I'd suggest a 9600XT, 9800 Pro or similar. These have substantially more power than the the 9550 Radeons. The Nvidia 6600GT is almost untouchable for bang-for-the-buck as well and some models are under $140.


A couple links from NewEgg:
9800 Pro - $139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102281

6600GT - $139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814135185


Some HL2 benchmarks- figure the 9550 is well below the 9600 listed:
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/vga-charts-pcie-05.html