Graphics Card...budget €150-€250

Eddie Brennan

Im not 100% sure what info you need to recommend one but this is what im running on:

1 gig RAM (2 x Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB Unbuffered, Non-parity, 64Megx64, CL2.5)https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=117212

AMD Socket 754 MSI K8N NEO Platinum,nForce3 250Gb, ATX Socket-754,SATA,GbLAN,Firewire,DDR,AGP8x https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=300050

And currently have: Gainward GeForce FX5200 256MB DDR AGP, "PRO/680TV-DVI",Tv-Out, Retail https://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=118630

which isnt enough at all! Wanna be able to play Age of Empires 3 when it comes out and games like that. Possibly online too.

I understand the card must be in compliance with the voltage etc of the PC but i dont know how to check that!

So what would you recommend. Prob get from Komplett or if theres anywhere else could you point me in that direction. If theres anything else you'd need to know let me know.

Thanks a mil

Eddie

K.O.Kiki

Going by your budget, you've got enough for an nVidia 6600GT.
Get for the XFX model with GDDR3 memory. I'm don't think you should spend extra money on the 256mb model though; may be better off buying an Arctic Cooling Silencer to keep it cool & quiet;)

Eddie Brennan

cheers for the comment

K.O.Kiki

No probs. Always happy to help a fellow gamer out!

duridian

A bit dearer but still within your limit of €250 is:

Point Of View 6800GX for €220.
This would be slightly better than a standard 6800 (ie. not a GT or an Ultra model) since it has the same number of pipelines and type of ram (DDR) as the standard model, but has higher core speed of 350 and higher ram speed of 425(850 effective). The standard 6800 is 325 core and 350 (700 effective) on the ram.
Since it is within your budget, it might be a better option than the 6600GT. 6800 is a more powerful core than 6600 (even 6600GT). It has a 256 bit memory interface as opposed to the 128bit of the 6600GT, so this bandwidth boost more than makes up for the benefit of faster running GDDR3 on the 6600GT.
Whichever option you go for, make sure that you do not make the mistake of buying a 6600 non-GT model as this would be a much weaker performer than the 6600GT. A common trick by manufacturers is to slap 256MB of ram on these cards to make them seem more attractive to less informed buyers. Do not fall for this trick, putting 256MB on a slower gpu gives no benefit.
Good luck with whatever you choose.

Eddie Brennan

i hate baseball season too! thanks no 2nd season lost for 3 weeks

K.O.Kiki

The 6800 GX?? Are they just making up 2-letter monikers nowadays?

Here, I have one for you: the 6200 BS 1024mb DDR
Super-hyper BS performance with X-treme graffix, with extra BS multi-muppet-threading... actually, f*ck this, I hate talking like a ret*rd. Or an Intel marketing guy.

Alright, I actually have to agree with duridian; the 6800GX appears to be an upgraded 6800; so it should have pretty damn good performance.
Plus, a 3yr manufacturer's warranty;) Can't argue with that.
Go 6800GX

*ps: ignore me if I sound like an old ranter; I've got book reports to do -- so no comedy night!!*

popey21

doesn't the 6600gt support all the latest pixel shading Jiggery Pokery. will the 6800gx. is this going to be important in future games?. im thinking about upgrading around Christmas time. but will probably wait to see what the new mid range ati cards are like X1000 series

astrofool

the whole 6 series from nvidia have the same features, just differ in speed.

poggy

i have a 6600gt PCIE works great on all the latest games, got it here on boards have a look around when the x1000 come out somebody might want to upgrade and u might get a good deal.

K.O.Kiki

From what I've seen of the X1000 series, not impressed at all.
The x1300"pro" costs more than the x800gt, and performs worse!

Get the 6800GX; it'll still be a long time before you're forced to run at low-res;)

Eddie Brennan

thanks for the comments. im clueless at these sorta things so all i want is something good enough to run age of empires 3!!

Garibaldi

I hear tell that the 6800 is the minimum card necessary to adequately run the HDR Source engine that all new Valve releases will use. BTW, anyone seen HL2: The Lost Coast yet? Looks excellent. Not a colossal leap forward, but every little helps.

bagdaddy

if its just for age of empires 3 and not for something like css a 6600gt will do the trick

=$hr@pnel=

CS-S and D0D-they are runnable on my 9600xt 128mb- you dont need much to run them, but HL2 the lost coast is a different story altogether.

req spec 2.9ghz, 1.ghz ram and a very decent card- for new lighting features to highlight the power of the source engine...

so I dont think I will even bother witht he free download..:(

Garibaldi

IIRC, that's a 2.9 Pentium, or a 2.2 AMD. True about the RAM, though.

Eddie Brennan

sorry forgot to mention my processor is AMD Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4GHz Socket 754, 512KB, BOXED w/fan

the 6800gx its looking like so. wots with fans etc and how can i check the heat in mine cos currently its quite noisey

Garibaldi

Motherboard Monitor should sort you out
http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

Eddie Brennan

thanks Garibaldi

Bruce Campbell

I'm actually in the same position myslef. I have about 200 euro to spend on a card. After doing loads of research I've decided to go with the 6800GX on komplett, its cheap, and the best thing is that it can be modded to the same level as a 6800GT!!! See nvidia use the same GPU, the NV40, on all the AGP versions of their 6800 range. The only difference is that they lock off the extra pipelines and vertex shaders on the cheaper models, and stick less RAM bandwidth on them. But with an app called RivaTuner you can enable them again, giving you almost the same performance as the 6800GT, a card worth double the price! Bear in mind though, the 6800GX has less memory bandwidth as the GT, so it'll never perform as well, but close enough! plus as it's not technically overclocking, the extra heat is negligable!! This will void your warranty though, so be prepared! Also, sometimes the extra pipelines are damaged in the manufacturing process, so they might not all work!

All in all, i recommend getting the 6800GX (i'm getting it) its faster than the 6600GT at stock, plus it can be softmodded to enable all the Pipelines and shaders!

Ow, my hand hurts form all the typing.:o