What's the best Nvidia and ATI card that my computer can handle

[crazdude]

I want to get a new video card soon but am still not sure whether to get Nvidia or ATI, and I want to know which card model from both brands will work the best with my computer. Here are some specs.

Intel Celeron D processor at 2.93 GHz
512 RAM
windows xp media centre edition 2005
350 PSU

That is all i can think of right now, if more specs are required I'll be more than happy to give them.

 

[ani123]

I can't tell you about ati card as I haven't ever used it.Right now,I have a nvidia geforce 6200(256mb,256 bit memory interface) and I can tell you my experience with it as an user.It is working well with all games I have tried,It gives comfortable resolution(1024 by 768 in HL2),moderate fps and it hasn't shown any directx related problem that you often read,in games like battlefield2,mohpacific assault,brother in arms.It hasn't caused any overheating problem.Most of my friends use nvidia geforce fx5200 card,they also don't have any problem in playing games(though in a medium settings and resolution).You may go for higher versions of nvidia(geforce 6600 and so on)if you can afford.My sys config is p4 2.4 ghz,512mb ram.

 

[vnf4ultra]

What interface do you have, Agp or Pci-express?
I'd assume you have agp, but you might have the newer pci-e.

I think you should look into the 6600 or 6600gt cards.
The 6200 costs nearly as much as the 6600 now, and the 6600 is better.
There are many 6200's that are very cheap, like $70, but they're 64bit, you want a 128bit card, they're a lot better. The 6600 is only about $10 more than a 6200.
6200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125183
6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130232
6600gt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220

 

[crazdude]

i have a 1.5 v agp slot, and u recomend i shud go with either the 6200 or 6600 from Nvidia? how about from ATI what card from ATI should i go with? I wanna know asap because am getting a new video card for my birthday which is in 3 weeks. So i wanna know wether Nvidia or ATI will work better on my system.

 

[vnf4ultra]

Well ati doesn't have as many options in that range, but the best option would probably be the ati 9800pro card, it's older, but it's still pretty fast.

My pc has a 1.5v agp slot(the newest agp have 0.8v), and it works fine with my 6200 card, so the 6 series nvidia should work. Most new cards are compatible with agp 8x/4x and 0.8v/1.5v.

 

[crazdude]

ok i dont know much about Nvidia so can ya name all the possiblity of cards my system cud use? like i dont know the different between geforce and gt, and what works best with my pc, geforce 6200 or geforce 6600?

 

[vnf4ultra]

You should probably specify a price range, since there are so many cards.

The list would be (of current cards).
Nvidia:

6200 64Bit ~$65+, 128bit ~$105+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

6600 ~$115+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

6600gt ~$140+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

6800 ~$165+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

6800gt ~$290+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150102

6800ultra ~$390
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170058

Ati:

X700 ~$110+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

9600xt ~$80+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

9800pro ~$140+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

X800 ~$235+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

X800pro ~$240+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

X800XL ~$260+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

X800xt ~$330+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property

x850xt pe ~$420+
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=48&Submit=Property


Ati has a big selection of cards, but hardly any under $200(most pc users spend less than $200 on a graphics card) for agp that are very good(and I even listed the 9600xt and 9800pro, which are older generation cards, so ati only really has the x700 agp as a reasonable gaming card for less than $200 of the current generation). Nvidia has the 6200, 6600, 6600gt, and 6800, which are all pretty good, for under $200.

 

[crazdude]

ok, so ur saying i shud get Nvidia, so now, am willing to spend 200 bucks on a card, i dont mind but now what do i get geforve 6200, 6600 or 6600 gt? i need to know the system requirements for them in order to know if they will work on my motherboard. In case u need to take a look at what my motherboard specs are, this link shud take u there:

http://www.asrock.com/product/product_775vm8.htm

 

[crazdude]

ok, now whats better the ati radeon 9800 series or the geforce 6200? am getting one of those 2, whichever is better am buying

 

[swker98]

i would say the ati redoin would be thwe better dead just because of the 256mb interface

 

[crazdude]

anyone else agree?

 

[swker98]

befpre you get an 9800 look at these two cards there different


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814153018


and


http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102286


they are differnt the top one has only a 128bit interdace where as the pure ati has a 256 withch is better, and does anyone kknow if the last 2 re fvvewsa for the first cqard is true that if you puout it in a agp 2x\4x it will not get enpohp ppower and will not work probpielty









ps i would go with the pure ati if u go radion

 

[ani123]

As i told you earlier,my xfx nvidia geforce 6200 card has 256 bit memory interface with 256mb memory.Now, the price of the card increases with both memory and memory interface(like 256 bit interface is costly compared to 128bit,128 bit is expensive than 64bit and so on; again 256mb memory card is costly than 128 mb card), price also increases with version of the card like,6800 is costly than 6600 which in turn is costly than 6200 and so on.Definitely,performnce of the card improves sharply with the increase of card memory,bit interface and card version.Now,considering price,card version,card memory and memory bit interface,it is upon you to finally decide which card to buy among 6200(256mb,256bit), 6200(128mb,128bit), 6200(128mb,64bit), 6200(256mb,128bit), 6600(128mb,128bit), 6800(128mb,128bit),ati 9800pro(128mb,128bit)........,ie you will have to go through a big calculation considering all permutation,combination before buying a card.

 

[vnf4ultra]

Of just the 9800pro and the 6200, the 9800pro kills the 6200. The 9800pro gets close to 2600 points in 3dmark05, and the 6200 gets 1500.
Here's a listing.
6200 1500pts
6600 2000pts
9600xt 2050pts
9800 2300pts
9800pro 2600pts
6600gt 3300pts
6800 3550 pts
x800pro 4900 pts
So a 6800 is the best you can get for under $200, and the 6600gt is a close second, and if you want an ati, either get a 9800 pro, or get a x800pro, for about $40 over budget($240). The x800pro is very fast though, if you can afford it it would be a very good card.

 

[crazdude]

guys, keep in mind io have to make sure the card is compatible with my system, anyuone here think a 6600 will work?

 

[vnf4ultra]

According to your motherboard specs, your board supports agp 8x and 4x at 1.5v signaling voltage. I think most modern agp 8x/4x compatible cards would be fine. My gigabyte 8IG1000MK board has the same type of slot, agp 8x/4x 1.5v. I have a nvidia 6200 installed in it, and it works fine, but I think any agp 8x/4x card should work.

To answer your specific question, yes I think an agp 6600 will work(the 6200 and 6600 are basically the same core, but the 6200 has half the pixel pipes disabled).

Many cards are compatible with 0.8v and 1.5v(both).
Here I will look up some cards in the reviews and see what ones have been used successfully with an agp 4x motherboard. If they can work in a 4x motherboard(which is 1.5v signal), then they should work in your board.

My leadtek a6200td 6200 agp is.
It's apparantly discontinued now though.

The chaintech 6600.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145112
and the asus 6600 are compatible
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ.../products/radeon9600/radeon9600pro/specs.html

The 9800pro is.
http://www.ati.com/products/radeon9800/radeon9800pro/specs.html
Like this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102286

The evga 6600gt apparantly is.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220
]
The ati x800xl is compatible.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102542


There are many that are compatible.

 

[Merc14]

I agree with Vnf4ultra that your best choice is the 6800. It is well withing your budget at $165 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150106 and can be overclocked and possibly even given 4 more pipelines with RIVA tuner. The cheapest X800 is around $230 and performs on par with the 6800.

 

[crazdude]

you know i have to be 100% sure the card will work, seeing as not only the agp is my biggest concern, i also have to keep in mind that have a celeron D processor and the power supply and all things like that, so ill keep it safe and go with either the geforce 6200 or 6600 or the ati radeon 9800, now i found this card in staples, is it any good? heres the link:

http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?CatIds=&webid=613538&affixedcode=WW

is that Nividia good enough? even for 200 bucks?

 

[vnf4ultra]

I can't use your link, it asks for a postal code, and I don't know canadian codes.

What games do you want to play? That might help us figure out what you will need.

 

[crazdude]

type this code in P0N 1H0 and i wann play games like call of duty, star wars battelfront 2, rome total war, age of empires 3, things like that i aint much into cmputer gaming but once in a while some games call my attention so i like to buy them when they do.

 

[C_Conqueror]

Out of the 6200 and 9800 pro the 9800 is better the 6600 and 9800 pro are more of a comparison. But if you can spend $200 get this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130202

of if you want to spend a little less get this geforce 6600 gt http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133137

 

[crazdude]

dude what are the system requirments for a geforce 6600? i wanna know if it will work on my computer.

 

[Merc14]

If your PSU is a decent quality unit then you will have no problems running any of the cards mentioned. I ran a 6800 on my wife's Dell. It had only a 250watt PSU and was using a 2.6GHZ/800FSB Northwood P4. Get the 6800 and have some fun.

 

[crazdude]

yeah but see, your wife has a pentium 4 2.6Ghz, I have a Celeron D 2.93 Ghz, which is supposelly not as fast.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I think you have a celeron d "340", like this, correct?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819112195
So look at this chart for the 340 in gaming tests.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/sempron_6.html
So the results? In doom3 you'd be about 4fps slower than a 2.8ghz p4, and in far cry it'd be about 18fps. You're about 8-15% slower than a 2.8ghz p4. That isn't terribly bad. So if you take 15% off your cpu clock speed, you'd have a 2.516ghz cpu. I'd guess your cpu would be between a 2.4 and a 2.6ghz p4 in performance.