Graphics card question.

Hellrazer

Just want to know if this card http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=121901&cks=PRL

would be any improvement on my existing GF2 ti as a short term measure.The gf2 will play most games at 1024*768 if I turn textures etc down to the lowest.Bearing in mind Id prefer to use this resolution rather than have all the bells and whistles turned on.Thanks
Richie

Woden

bah i won't bother, kinda performs similar to a gf4mx which is not dissimilar from a gf2mx and you have one of the ti series. i don't think its worth it. minimum upgrade should be a radeon 9600/pro/xt imo.

or if you could get it a nice cheap ti4200 second hand

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=121901&cks=PRL

data

Hellrazer

Ok if the minimum upgrade recommended is a 9600 radeon then which Nvidia is the recommended minimum upgrade.Things are tight as I just bought a new system,got bb etc.And my GF2 will play most things alright.

Woden

well i wouldn't recommend an nvidia card typically

you'll get a cheap 9600 pro for about 130, a similar nvidia card is 5700ultra or just a 5700 the ultra will perform better in dx8 games then a 9600XT however its not as good in DX9 games. avoid the 5600 series of nvidia cards.

however similar priced to the nvidia 5700ultra is the 5900XT basically a chopped down version of the 5900 i.e lower frequencies however despite the lower frequencies its a better card then the 5700ultra as it has 8 pipelines and you can see the performance difference the reviews.

however simlarly again just above the 5900XT is now the 9800pro which ways over 200 which i know isn't what you where looking at but you see my point.

my original advise stays goes with something like this if you can afford it

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=120318&cks=PRL

afaik it has slightly lower frequencies then typical 9600 pro's but its better then a non-pro.

data

Hellrazer

Fair play Data---That card is fairly reasonably priced.I might just pick one of those up next week.Ive a feeling that the graphics card in this new system is holding me back a bit.
Ive overclocked the cpu to 3.15(from 2.8) with stock cooling and standard core/ram voltages(and I believe theres more there aswell according to overclockers.uk) and its really stable but even with the extra few mhz theres still the graphics lag---I suppose the card cant really keep up with the cpu???
How much future proofing would I get from a card like that???I mean I bought this GF2 when they first came out about 2 and half years ago and Ive definately got my moneys worth for the price I paid at the time.
Thanks
Richie

Woden

yes i definetly would say your rig is graphics card limited at this stage, you'd probably see better performance with the new card and something like 2ghz

that card is a decent card but it all depends on how much you have to spend, give me your limit and i could probably suggest something else, i've no problem spending other peoples money .

with regards to future proof i don't think you'll get as long out of this card as you would out of your gf2 and a bit of future proofing i would recommend the 9800 pro good for at least a year, 2 and a half years ago that gf2 would have been high end, i bought a gf2 mx back then my first computer and it didn't come with a graphics card just onboard but sure i didn't know the difference, i remember looking at a gf2 ultra in peats that was 450pounds at the time and i was like wtf ah the nostalgia

anywho if your thinking of upgrading and you've lasted this long could ya wait for another month, month and a half. i think nvidia and ati are announcing there new chips around the 26th of this month so you'll either get a higher specced card thats out now for a cheaper price or you may be able to get one of the new mid range cards?

happy shopping

data

Hellrazer

Yep if I remember correctly I paid something like £300 pounds for this thing---I think it was the June/July before the Euro came in.
And as you say I probably would be better off with my old 1.2 celeron and a 9800..Jesus Id been playing 1942 with that setup for months and was as happy as a pig in sh**e.
I might wait a month or so cos from what Ive seen in the past when a new GPU is announced the current "old" one drops sustantially in price.Might even pick meslf up a 9800 at a decent price.
Richie.

Woden

yeap the 9800 pro has been dropping like a rocket. i got mine in october or so and was 320 and that was the powercolour one that was 100 cheaper then the others, check out the prices on the lite-retail ones that don't come with all the fancy software

yeah hang off for a month as the new ones are just round the corner, i know there's always something just around the corner however its been 6 months since the last big graphics card release so nows not the time to be upgrading imo