Video cards

Lt._Taz · Post by **Lt._Taz** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:34 pm

I am in the market for a new video card the one I have is a Nvidia GeForce4 MX420 so you can see what I mean by I want an upgrade. I don't need top of the line but would like something close to it any suggestions? Midnight if you see this I talked to you about vid cards and can't remember what one you said to go for was it the 5700 ultra? I seen this one online http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?in ... 700-128MTV

Post by **Archangelus** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:49 pm

I had a GeForce4 MX 440 before my upgrade. I went to a 5700 ultra and was very happy.

-Arch

Undead_Mercenary · Post by **Undead_Mercenary** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 7:55 pm

Yeah Taz, I have the same card, and I really want a new one. I seen a GeForce FX 5200 128Mb card that looks pretty sweet and for a good price. The only thing though is that if I want to get a 128 card, I can only get one that is PCI since my AGP slot has only a max of 4X. So, since the card would be PCI, would its performace be much worse than an AGP version?

XoR · Post by **XoR** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 8:24 pm

Undead, whatever you do, DO NOT get a PCI video card. 33 mhz multiplied can never achieve ANY degree of performance with todays games.

An 8x card will work in a 4x motherboard because they all have the AGP 2.0 spec. Just make sure the voltage jives (1.5v vs. 3.3v)

When you think PCI video, think French militia.

Undead_Mercenary · Post by **Undead_Mercenary** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 10:27 pm

AGP 2.0? Do you mean that card has this, or my motherboard must have it? And whats this about the voltage?

Dr.Death · Post by **Dr.Death** » Fri Mar 12, 2004 10:54 pm

Hey Merc, if you want a little more knowledge of this stuff you should pick up the book i bought. Its called EXAM CRAM 2 (A+). I don't have the time or money for the schooling, so I bought this and it helped out alot. Its exactly what it says it is CRAM. Its a review book before you take your A+ test. Like I said, its just a sugestion, but it has helped me out a great deal understranding alot of the terms and usage of computers.

midnightservice · Post by **midnightservice** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 5:42 am

well merc nvidia is pretty smart you can pourchase the gForce FX 5900 for 199.99 on clearnace right now and if you happent o have a motherboard made in the last 2 years you can use a 2x, 4x or 8x card in it..........

As for the video card of my choice it would have to fall between the gForce FX 5900 and the ATI 9600XT.....both sweet cards.....both can do some reall good damage......but it is all going to be based upon your current pc system, such as CPU speed, frontside bus, memory size and speed and hdd RPM and size and then overall background running performance of your windows os and software at the current time.

Ultra · Post by **Ultra** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 9:44 am

i had a 4x AGP motherboard before going to this 8x...i used the same nvidia 5700 in both and seen no diff... 8x means max... but it works in 4x also...im getting ready to buy the ATI radeon 9800 all-in-wonder..then i can record my tv shows to hard drive and burn them on dvd....and a pretty damn good card for gaming:)

midnightservice · Post by **midnightservice** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 4:03 pm

dont do it ultra the all-in-wonder cards do not play games at all

XoR · Post by **XoR** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:26 pm

I'm sorry in advance midnight if I missed a joke here, but the only difference between the 9800 all-in-wonder and the normal 9800 pro is the all-in-wonder has TV and home theatre capabilities.

As for games, they are both identical.

Lt._Taz · Post by **Lt._Taz** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 6:50 pm

Ok does it make a difference on the manufacturer I've seen nvidia cards made by pny, asylum, xfx is one better then another

XoR · Post by **XoR** » Sat Mar 13, 2004 7:14 pm

No sir. They are all based upon the Nvidia reference design.

Fan architecture, default core speeds and software bundles are about the only thing that is different. I would recommend forgoing all the software and extras to save money, but that is up to you. I payed way too much for mine (Leadtek FX5900) because I got a birds nest of cables and a few budget bin games. But if you need the extras then of course go for it.

Imperil · Post by **Imperil** » Mon Mar 15, 2004 11:19 am

Best bang for the buck right now would have to be the FX5900 (ungimped version)

There is the FX5900, new FX5900, and FX5900 XT

The real FX5900 (initial release) has faster memory and therefore gives a better fillrate. The others aren't bad either, but if you can get an original it's the way to go.

With an FX5900 you can also do the following:

- Flash it with an FX5950 BIOS (since the cards are identical except for cooling and BIOS)
- Overclock it like crazy (you dont need to now but you might want to in the future to squeeze a few more games)

Mine runs at 500mhz core, 1Ghz ram and runs faster than either the 5950 or the 9800 by far.

3DMark03 broke 8k B-)

Also there is a difference between the manufacturers (ie PNY, Leadtek, etc).

They use different cooling solutions (therefore different ones can OC differently), and they use different RAM manufacturers (so some RAM will be able to clock faster).

BTW I'm not sure how many people actually OC their cards, but you can do so very safely if you have an nVidia card. If you download the "Coolbits registry hack" it unlocks developer only panels on the properties of your card.

There is actually a button to test what you can OC the card to safely without any extra cooling.

With an FX5900 you can immediately turn it into an FX5900 Ultra just by clicking that button B-)

Undead_Mercenary · Post by **Undead_Mercenary** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 11:52 am

Ok, I need your guys opinion on if I should get this... and of course if my computer can handle it.

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/ ... 0&NoMapp=0

Its the GeForec FX 5600, and surprisingly its at a good price. Now, my only concern is that it works on my PC. My specs are AMD Athlon 1.4 GHz Processor, 512 MB SDRAM and it has AGP 2.0 (not sure if thats important).
If there is any more information I need to post, please tell (unless of course by what Ive already posted, you can clearly see it cant support the card).

Post by **Archangelus** » Thu Mar 18, 2004 12:20 pm

What graphics card do you currently have, UM?