Need help on Video Card Upgrade

[fas66]

I currently have the Nvidia GeForce 4600 ti AGP(128mb DDR). The computer is a Dell Dimension 8200 with a Pentium 4 processor @ 2.2GHz w/512 K l2 Cache. I am maxed out on RAM with 2Gb. I recently bought Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and found that it won't work. The Video cards recommended are the GeForce 6/7 families. Will one of the Nvidia 6800 series cards work? Am I stuck with cards that have only 128mb of DDR?

 

[dopefisher]

for that game you should definitely get the aegia physx card if you really wanna experience the game it was meant to be played.....

 

[fas66]

Is there any particular model or does it make a difference?

 

[dopefisher]

a few different companies make it, asus being the best of em all imho. the only problem i hear is that they overheat like crazy, so be careful with it.

 

[Tedster]

provided you have an AGP slot and plenty of PSU power. Ensure your PSU is at LEAST 450W.

 

[dopefisher]

the best card out for your AGP slot is the nvidia 7800gtx. it is a bit pricey, but it's the best route you can go with agp. for the best quality and bundled games, etc, go with MSI or ASUS, and consider buying it from Newegg.com, because they have free/very low shipping and tend to offer rebates on a lot of products. they also have many open box items, although i would NOT recommend buying an open box item from newegg. from my own experiences and that of many others, only buy new if you can afford it.

 

[fas66]

Thank you!!

 

[Sharkfood]

Hi fas,
Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter only needs a Shader Model 2.0 card with at least 128mb of video memory. The Ti4600 series is simply a Shader Model 1.1 card, so this is the only problem you have.

As your system has an AGP slot, how far you upgrade for a new 3d videocard will only be limited by your budget, and as previously mentioned, how strong of a power supply you have. Beefier 3d cards require a lot more juice!

I'd also strongly urge for a 256mb vram card as this game has some extreme textures that can tax a 128mb vram card a little with some higher game settings.

Luckily, if your budget is low and you're unsure of your power supply, you can find a 256mb 9600 Pro or XT for cheap and these have Shader Model 2.0 support and draw just about the same power as the Ti4600 series. It will play this game quite well with medium to high settings, but wont be very forward thinking.. but it'll work.

If you have a stronger power supply, you may wish to consider an X800 GTO, 7600GS or as previously mentioned, the 7800GS is the most powerful AGP card you can get (and also goes all the way up to Shader Model 3.0, with support for 2.0, 1.4 and 1.1 also)... but they are expensive (usually $280 or more) and need a lot of power.

Hitting Newegg.com if you're a US poster will be your best bet. Look for AGP 4x/8x cards within budget and also inspect your power supply for how many WATTS it has (this will usually be like 200W, 250W, 300, 350 Watt etc.etc.). It's usually on a sticker on the side of the power supply so opening the case may be needed.

Good luck and enjoy the game! It's a lot of fun.

 

[fas66]

Thank you for the info. One more question however, Is there any problems with the motherboard or processor accepting a card with 256 mb? The reason I asked is that I originally called Dell for help in selecting an upgrade and was told that a 128 mb card was my limit. If this is not true, then I would rather have a 256 mb card anyway.

Thanks again

fas66

 

[Tedster]

no. Dell has no clue what they're talking about. The more memory in a graphics card, the better. Ensure you set the BIOS to handle it. You should have no problems with a 256mb card.