New Video Card

[Neutron]

I ordered a new video card today. I currently have a GeForce2 MX400 64MB RAM. I finally found something that this card can't handle too well: World of Warcraft.

It runs it okay but everytime I get a lot of graphics on the screen at the same time it slows down tremendously. It also doesn't do pixel shading, something Blizzard recommends for a video card.

My wife really put me on a limit for this, but I found through pricewatch.com a GeForce 5200FX 128MB DDR RAM, shipped, for $48. The card manufacturer is eVGA.

 

[bbqman]

Neutron, as you well know bigger is better. If you can spring for it go for the 256 ram one. That is one I use. It should not be that much more than the 128 ram. I don't use it for gaming but for video editing. But anything will be an improvement over the 64.

 

[Neutron]

The 256MB version was $50 more. My wife would have had my hide for that.

I'm lucky I got this.

I haven't been keeping up with video cards as much as I should.

I've had someone telling me on the World of Warcraft forum that the GeForce4 Ti is a much better card than the GeForceFX 5200.

What improvements does it have over the GeForce4 Ti?

I really only need it for this one game. Everything else I do runs fine. Then again this is the only game I'm currently playing on the PC.

 

[bbqman]

Maybe I misunderstood. The GeForce 5200 is a legacy product. The GeForce4 Ti is current generation.

 

[Neutron]

The GeForceFX series is the current generation. It's a generation after the GeForce4.

My best friend has a GeForce4 Ti 128MB card and he says WoW runs awesome on his machine.

Our computer specs are the exact same except for the video card.

 

[bbqman]

If the 128mb card works then I say "Totally tubular dude".

 

[Neutron]

I'm in the hunt now for a video card fan as I'm sure this only has a heatsink on it.

I would have thought Best Buy or Circuit City would have them but they don't, only case fans.

I will have to call my local PC shop tomorrow. If they don't carry it I'll order it online.

 

[charper1]

ATI Radeon cards rate a bit higher on professional and real world reviews and are just as fast & reliable. For an all-around card for cinema & games I would go with a Radeon AIW 9600 series or higher. For pure gaming, I would go with the Radeon x700 series or higher. With a minimum of 128MB of DDR Ram in either case.

http://www.ati.com/products/gamer.html

http://www.ati.com/products/multimedia.html

http://www.ati.com/products/home-office.html

 

[vandalous]

If you buy from pricewatch, make sure you check the merchant's ratings at resellerratings.com! Better yet, just buy from Newegg. They've got very competitive pricing and great service.

 

[bbqman]

Neutron, well did Santa bring you a new video card?

 

[Neutron]

Well, it's somewhere in the country in FedEx's hands. Thanks to all this ice and snow my delivery got postponed. I was supposed to get it on the 24th but I called last night, knowing what they would tell me, and they said things were a mess with the weather.

Not sure where it is.

 

[kwajr]

I'm in the hunt now for a video card fan as I'm sure this only has a heatsink on it.

I would have thought Best Buy or Circuit City would have them but they don't, only case fans.

I will have to call my local PC shop tomorrow. If they don't carry it I'll order it online.

http://www.compoutlet.com/cso/product.asp?dept_id=275&sku=PIFANVGACARDTYPEXX

 

[Neutron]

Well, after an arguement with FedEx (my delivery was delayed from Friday, the lost it over the weekend, and it still didn't get delivered today thanks to an idiot driver even though it was on his truck.) I ended up picking up my card at the FedEx distro point in town.

Here is the new card: http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/N303-L2.pdf

I know it's not the best card out there but I only had $50 to spend on it. The MSRP on evga's website is $96 so I came out good spending $48 on it. All I care about right now is pixel shading which my GeForce2 does not do.

 

[Neutron]

Well, World of Warcraft throws a fit with this card. The graphics get really glitchy even on the login screen. So bad that I can't even read it, and it locks up after about 5 min. After numerous driver changes, WoW reinstallation, and posting on both Blizzard's and eVGA's forums I keep getting asked about my power supply.

The PS that came with my case is a no name brand 350W. I'm starting to wonder if that's my problem. I keep reading that the +12V rail needs to be at least 20A since the GeForceFX chip pulls a lot of power.

What do yall think?

 

[cdru]

Wasn't it so much simpler once upon a time when all you had to worry about was processor speed, hard drive space, and whether you had a VGA or SVGA video card.

Now it seems you not only have to worry about specific features about your video card, but also your PS wattage as well as current draw on the 12v voltage rail? Shesh. Good thing all I use my computer for is por^Winternet access.

 

[Neutron]

Well, so far I picked up this:

http://www.overclockersrip.net/review.php?id=21



I'm also going to get a slot fan to sit right in front of the video card to suck the heat out the back of the computer.


EDIT: Just bought this slot fan to sit directly beneath the video card.

http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77094

How much of a difference do yall think this will do?

 

[hometheaterman]

I have a ATI 9600PRO AIW and like it a lot the only complaint I have which is kind of my fault is sometimes it will cut in and out on the video for a split second and stop the recording. What happend is the pins in the plug on the end of the cable got bent and I replaced it but I think the plug on the video card may have gotten a tad bit messed up it sometimes works great sometimes messes up but I still like it a lot. I have a Raedeon 9600 Pro Turbo in my laptop and it also seems like a good card.