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Low-end graphics cards - recommendations?

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:09 / 05.08.04

This is one of a series of discussions based on almost total technical incompetence, but...

I was pondering extending the life of my old compubanger, and thus giving time for 64-bit processors and PCI Express slots to calm down a bit, by whacking in something a bit more graphicky than my current Intel Extreme (ahem) graphics... ont he other hand, given that the thing is not going to be able to deal with anything too demanding anyway, and also that it only has an AGP 4x slot, there's really not much point in going hardcore.

So... first up, what actually *works* in an AGP 4x slot? The bottom end of the "mainstream"? The value cards? Second up, what, assuming a v. low expenditure, is good? I guess it's prolly down to the Radeon 9600SE or the Nvidia FX5200, although you can get refurb 9600 propers, as well...

So, what do you literate kids, think? Remember, I am technophobic and unambitious. Any suggestion of water cooling or FX-53s will make me flee screaming to the hills...

20:04 / 05.08.04

It really depends on what you want to play, and how high you want to crank the detail level. It would help to know the specs of your system too. Offhand, I'd say go for a GeForce2. Dabs.com sell a Dabsvalue GeForce2 board with 64Mb RAM (£23 plus delivery) that can deal with most things you throw at it...my Celeron 800/256Mb RAM system has a GeForce2 with 32Mb that runs things like Morrowind and Freelancer acceptably fast, albeit not at the highest detail level.

For other cards, check here. There's a Chaintech 128 MB GeForce FX 5200 which might be suitable for your system...otherwise consider any of the GeForce2 MX440 or 460 chipsets with at least 64Mb RAM.

nedrichards is confused

21:15 / 05.08.04

I'd snaffle a GeForce FX 5200. It's pretty damn cheap, considering and it's well within the range of playing Doom 3. (if you do want to do that, buy more RAM, even if you have enough, buy more).

I was going to get a GeForce FX 5200 in my newish Linux box but had an epiphany when I realised games were what my Xbox was for and decided to go for the dual head monstrosity of a Matrox GX550. Go, go 2D performance!

Cloned Christ on a HoverDonkey

21:59 / 05.08.04

Some great bargains for used graphics cards cam be found on eBay - a friend of mine picked up a very decent ATI card a few weeks ago for around £20.

Worth a thought...

02:16 / 06.08.04

sorry for the mild veer offtopic, but what are the vital pieces of information when buying bits for a tower? compatibility-wise?

for example, i noticed you mentioned an AGP 4x slot, haus.
i have no idea what mine has.
what is that?

i only recently found out that not all bits go in all boxes, and my PC buliding dreams have been on the wane as a result.
the main issues for my PC are RAM and CPU related, so i guess thats what i'll be buying...

what do i need to look for?
is it all inside the machine, or is it all inside the brochure that came with it?

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

05:55 / 06.08.04

Avoid the GeForce MX- it sounds impressive, but they're actually fairly pants. They won't run Deus Ex-Invisible War, Splinter Cell 3 and Thief

eadly Shadows, to name but three.

07:11 / 06.08.04

Hi guys,
If I want a fairly decent graphics that will run Deus Ex, Far Cry and Doom 3 without trouble, what card should I be looking at?

I don't want anything TOO high end but something that will run them at Medium-High graphic levels, and smoothly too.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:37 / 06.08.04

AGP is a type of slot designed for graphics data transfer - before that, graphics cards used PCI slots, and some still do. the latest AGP protocol is AGP 8x, which is what the high-end graphics cards are aimed at - I think it allows 2.1GB/sec data transfer, or summat like that. 4x is the next level down, and 2x below that. THe best way to find out what you have without actually takingyour computer apart would be to use a program that identifies the parts of your compy. I use AIDA32...

However, there's a new slot type, PCI Express, being developed now which looks to make current AGP and PCI technology obsolete, so you may want to hold on, as ever...

07:40 / 06.08.04

Toksik, there's a couple good tutorials on building PC's out there. If you're looking to build something around a Pentium 2, try this for starters. Or check here for a complete basic PC that stays within a $1000 budget (there's also two higher-end setup recommendations). Bearing in mind that American prices are cheaper than UK ones...it's probably not far-fetched to say that substituting a £ for the $ will get you the UK equivalent.

For a definition of AGP, look here. 2x, 4x & 8x basically refer to the speed of your AGP port and the voltage it can supply. More powerful cards demand more power, and the 8x (and above) ports cater to this. However you'll find that many high-end cards require you to plug in a floppy-drive power cable too.

Note that most of the modern (read: less than two years old) components will probably not be compatible with a store-bought PC that's more than four years old (I know I'm having trouble finding bits to go into my PC World PoS). If you're looking to upgrade the processor, you might be looking at a whole new motherboard, with new RAM and a new graphics card. I.e.: A new computer. EBay is a handy source for serviceable components, but there's always a chance you can get stung and end up with a shoddy component. So only buy off someone who has high positive feedback (caveat emptor and all that).

And regarding a GeForce4 MX(whatever)...well if you're looking to play DeusEx 2, Thief 3 and Doom 3, my opinion would be that you're not going to get much satisfaction out of a slower machine, no matter what kind of graphics card you shove into it. That's just my opinion, mind.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

19:28 / 06.08.04

And strangely enough, according to this months PC Gamer, Doom 3 WILL run on a GeforceMX! Weird!!!

I'm upgrading mine as soon as poss (when I bought the fucking package I didn't know that the MX suffix meant "Ah! Had you going for a minute there!!!") but at least Far Cry plays fine on it. As do most games, to be honest... I'm just running out of new ones to buy...

21:31 / 06.08.04

I dont know which graphix card you should get. Didnt even know i had one till i read this thread. Learn to play rock n' roll guitar instead of buying one of these cards
Love & Kisses Richard

02:23 / 07.08.04

um.. what?

If you're looking to upgrade the processor, you might be looking at a whole new motherboard, with new RAM and a new graphics card. I.e.: A new computer.

yep.
thats exactly what i decided yesterday.
its a packard bell running W98, and the processor is pentium2. it has 6Gig and runs 96mb of RAM. its basically been creaking under the weight of broadband and the musicsofts i use for the last six months or so, and i reckon i need a new one entirely.