Nvidia for the budget-conscious

[mathkid]

I realize that there have been a few threads on budget video cards (pci-express), and most of them have degenerated to "pay a bit more and get a 6600GT". But I'm on a tight budget, so that's not an option. The other thing I heard a lot was that the 6200 could be unlocked, but I also hear that doesn't work with newer revisions.

Given my budget, my options are the 6200 or 6200TC. Everyone says that the 6200TC is junk -- and it probably is -- but if you're on a budget...

So my question is, would the 6200TC play FPS games at low res (800x600, AA off) smoothly? And it should be fine with Sim games (i.e. Age of Empires, the Sims, Civilization, etc) and flight sims, right? So if I'm not planning on spending too much time with FPSs, would a 6200TC be OK? it's a $40 to $50 jump to 6200 -- is that worth it? What about a 6600? This computer's primary purpose is work (college, CSEE major), but I do want to be able to play games.

Side question: The 6200TC and 6200 won't be too much of a drain on the power supply, right? I know high-end cards take a lot of power, but these shouldn't be as much...?

Rest of system is planned to be AMD 64 3000+ (s939), Soltek mobo, 1GB corsair value ram.

 

[imported_Kensai]

The 6200TC should be fine for older games and maybe newer ones at low res. It *might* be fine at 800X600. They'll barely draw anything off your PSU. The standard 6200 offers quite an improvement over it's TC brothers and the 6600 is a leap over.

 

[mdahc]

Compare.

 

[Jeff7181]

I wouldn't even consider the Turbo Cache model... it's not much better than an integrated video solution. That regular 6200 you linked to has 256 MB of RAM for $110. A 6200 won't ever benefit from having that much RAM... it'll fall flat on it's face before it can use that much. This 6200 with 128 MB of RAM would be a better choice for $78.

 

[mdahc]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I wouldn't even consider the Turbo Cache model... it's not much better than an integrated video solution. That regular 6200 you linked to has 256 MB of RAM for $110. A 6200 won't ever benefit from having that much RAM... it'll fall flat on it's face before it can use that much. This 6200 with 128 MB of RAM would be a better choice for $78.

The guy's looking for PCIe, not AGP.

 

[ddogg]

hmm...im not sure if u get a regular 6200(non TC) in PCI-e format...u can search though. u will be able to play most games at 800x600 quite easily..but u will have to put all the settings to medium and i guess it should run nice and smooth. u might even be able to play at 1024x760 but settings will have to be on low.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: mathkid
Rest of system is planned to be AMD 64 3000+ (s939), Soltek mobo, 1GB corsair value ram.

I'd really try to scrimp together enough for a vanilla 6600, to do the rest of that system justice - but really, whatever floats your boat. With a system like that I wouldn't think budget is as big a concern as you're making it. Also, you asked about power draw. Speaking of budgets, that's one area not to cheap out on.

- M4H

 

[Munky]

Yeah, if you're on a budget, you should get a s754 combo and at least a gf6600. Those 6200 cards aren't much better than an IGP, if at all. As far a games go, the video card makes the most difference, and any modern processor will meet the requirements of the latest games.

 

[ddogg]

Originally posted by: munky
Yeah, if you're on a budget, you should get a s754 combo and at least a gf6600. Those 6200 cards aren't much better than an IGP, if at all. As far a games go, the video card makes the most difference, and any modern processor will meet the requirements of the latest games.

yup....ur amd 3000+ will play any damm game out there for the next 2 years but graphic cards really matter nowadays to get a good experience

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: mdahc

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
I wouldn't even consider the Turbo Cache model... it's not much better than an integrated video solution. That regular 6200 you linked to has 256 MB of RAM for $110. A 6200 won't ever benefit from having that much RAM... it'll fall flat on it's face before it can use that much. This 6200 with 128 MB of RAM would be a better choice for $78.

The guy's looking for PCIe, not AGP.

Oops... $8 more... $86 6200 128MB PCI Express

 

[mathkid]

Thanks for all the input.

What about this card? Will a 6600 benefit significantly from 256MB vs 128MB?

Or! What sort of a risk is it to get a refurbished 6600 from Newegg? Does anyone have experience with buying refurbished items?

 

[hans030390]

the 6600 won't benefit that much...but it doesnt hurt...and you can never trust refurbished items...most come to your door dead, from what i've heard.

Honestly, just get a 6600...it'll make your system much happier.

 

[dalmiroy2k]

If you are on a budget get a Gigabyte Radeon 9550 - GV-R955128D (128mb/128bits), It can overclock to 9600pro easily if you add a P1 cooler

 

[Skotos]

Originally posted by: mathkid
Thanks for all the input.

What about this card? Will a 6600 benefit significantly from 256MB vs 128MB?

Or! What sort of a risk is it to get a refurbished 6600 from Newegg? Does anyone have experience with buying refurbished items?

i have that card its very good i love it

it is clocked higher then normal 6600s

it plays doom 3, farcry all highsettings 1024x768

i overclocked mine to 525/700

this card is a beast

 

[fliguy84]

u can try ur luck by buying a normal 6200 and unlock it to 6600. heard the unlocking chance is very high, unless u get the nv44 core which has no chance whatsoever to unlock. but i recommend any 6600 series to u. that cpu needs some powerful video card!

 

[heedoyiu]

wait pci express dosent unlock for some reason

 

[heedoyiu]

i dont know why
prob rivatuner is a no go

 

[kurt454]

I believe that most of the 6200's are incapable of being unlocked by now. Go with the 6600. It is much better than a 4 pipe 6200.

 

[coomar]

How is this card?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102537

6 shaders and 8 pixel pipes compared to 3/4 (6200) and 3/8 (6600) according to this:

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/

 

[kurt454]

I have not seen any comparison reviews of the X700 vs. 6600, but the ATI card looks like it might be a little bit better card, except for Doom3 based games.

 

[coomar]

http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/digest3d/index0502.html

benchmarking 36 cards: 7. ATI RADEON X700 PCX 128MB DDR 2.8ns (400/700 MHz)
19. NVIDIA GeForce 6200 128MB DDR 3.6ns (300/550 MHz)
20. NVIDIA GeForce 6600 128MB DDR 3.6ns (300/550 MHz)

though this is with aa/af on

 

[rise]

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2238&p=3

 

[coomar]

http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050524/index.html

Their fairly close, the x700 edges the 6600 in more benchmarks though