Cost effective upgrade

[TurkeyHunter]

I have happily been running an Asus AGP V7700 GEForce 2 GTS 32 MB card for a few years - but recently have lost the ability to run Nascar Racing 2003 in DirectX mode. Game started hanging during menu changes and when getting out of the car - so I ran have to run in opengl and all has been ok....but I am worried that this may be the beginning of the end for my card.

Soooo - I am looking at buying a new card to serve as a stop gap until I have enough $ saved up to build a new system. I am looking at trying to stay under $100 with this card.

My current system (built 2 - 3 yrs ago) is as follows: AMD Duron processor at 700MHz, AOpen AK33 Mobo w/VIA VT8363 Apollo KT133 chipset, 640 MB of PC 133 SDRam, and a Soundblaster Live sound card. The MoBo supports 1x 2x 1nd 4x AGP.

The only serious gaming I have done in the last year is NR2003 (I run in some online leagues).

Looking for a card that will be an improvement over what I have - yet hate to get something that will be hampered by the lack of power the 700Duron provides --- have been thinking about GF TI 4200, Radeon 9000,9100,9200s.


Hope this makes sense - thanks for any suggestions

 

[modedepe]

You can get a new ti4200 for $100 and it would be faster than any of the other cards that you mentioned. If you want to spend less you can always get a refurb 4200 for about $75. Its performance would definitely be hampered by your cpu, but would you put this card in the new rig when you upgraded?

 

[TurkeyHunter]

Depending on what card I get - if I go with a higher level card(TI 4200 or 4600) I would most likely run it in the new system for a while. Cant make much of a cpu jump with this MOBO, so I figured I would give it to my 1st grader to play with after the new build.

What cards would you recommend if I jumped my spending limit up to $200. Maybe if I tell myself the new card has to go in the new system it will be easier to justify spending the dollars.

Also wondering - I have seen that some of the cards list on 8X agp. Would a card like that run on my mobo if it says it is 1,2,4X AGP?

Thanks for the quick reply. I did see a Chaintech TI 4200 64MB Retaol for $85.....that sound like an OK deal. Did read some on their cooling fans being suspect. Thanks again.

 

[beatle]

I went from a 32 meg GF2 GTS to a 64 meg Ti4200. I was less than impressed because I was still running my Tbird @ 1266. Sure, I could run higher resolutions at the same FPS, but the newer games were hungry for CPU power that my computer couldn't deliver. If you really can't wait, a Ti4200 might be a good stop-gap, but if you can hold out, the benefits of a balanced system are great on the eyes and your wallet.

 

[Datajack]

I've been doing a lot of research on a $200.00 card. I've posted on this forum for advice and on others. I think the best card at the $200.00 price range is the 9600 Pro 256MB. You can get one at New Egg for $179.00. You can also get a 9500 Pro for $205.00. The 9500 Pro seems to outperform the 9600 Pro, but the 9600 Pro has newer architecture.

If you want to stick to nVidia, you can get a FX5600 Ultra 128MB, but this card seems to be much slower than the 9600 Pro. In fact, in the latest HL2 test, the 9600 Pro ran about the same as the FX 5900 Ultra, which is Nvidia's current top of the line card. There's been a lot of questions about those test however....

So, to the point, I recommend the 9600 Pro 256MB.

Datajack

 

[modedepe]

You can get a 9600 pro for $150, a 9700np for $210, or a 9800np for $235. Those are the best deals around $200. And 256mb on any card (especially a 9600 pro) is a waste. If your mobo says it'll run 1x, 2x, 4x, it should run 8x, as I think your mobo has one of those universal apg slots.

 

[Datajack]

Question. Why is 256MB on any card a waste? I thought the more the merrier???

Datajack

 

[NelsonMuntz]

Originally posted by: modedepe
You can get a 9600 pro for $150, a 9700np for $210, or a 9800np for $235. Those are the best deals around $200. And 256mb on any card (especially a 9600 pro) is a waste. If your mobo says it'll run 1x, 2x, 4x, it should run 8x, as I think your mobo has one of those universal apg slots.

I agree with this guy. I think if you are planning to take this into your next
system, then a Radeon 9600 Pro or a Radeon 9500 Pro would be the way
to go. If you are not planning on taking it into your next system, then get
a 9200 for less than $100 and get a better card later.
256 mb is a waste for any card right now because the new games are
waiting on the GPU so much that they are barely able to keep 128 mb
of memory full let alone 256 mb.
The same thing applied when the cards made the jump from 64 mb to
128 mb. The newest cards (Ti4600) could occassionally take advantage
of the extra memory, but nothing lower than that could.
Now the newest cards (5900 Ultra or 9800 Pro) can occassionally take
advantage of the added memory, but the lower cards can't ever use it.
In fact, 9200s with 128 mb of memory are overkill, but it's all about the
big numbers for marketing.

 

[Datajack]

Thanks for the explanation on the memory.

Datajack

 

[fell8]

You may as well go for the Ti4200 as you will still need a video card for this computer after you build the new one.

Unless of course, you approach it from the standpoint of splitting up the cost and you'll buy the budget card at the new build. In which case you should take advantage of the situation and splurge on a 9800 you can flash to Pro.

Another budget option is a $57 9100 at Z-buy. They're a decent outfit.