Need advise quick on video card for gaming

[Cuper]

Hey,

I need to get a video card for gaming but would like to spend as little as possible. I am not a gamer at all so just would like something that will play all games currently out well. Doesn't have to be the best just well ;)

Thanks!!

[wildfrogman]

If you would tell us the games you plan on playing and roughly how much you are willing to spend we can find you the best card to fit your needs.

[Cuper]

soory, don't really play any games. I was thinking of getting battlefiel 1942.

[OC Noob]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?catalog=48&DEPA=1&submit=property&mfrcode=0&propertycodevalue=4530

The cheapest thing you can get that will play everything decently is the Radeon 9100 (250/230) for $57 at newegg.com. They usually come with Hynix 4 ns mem which can do about 275-300 mhz.

It sits between a GF3Ti and a GF4 Ti4200 and if overclocked can often run as fast as a GF4 Ti4200. Thats a lot of card for $57:)

You won't find anything new that is better for the price. Now if your budget is higher you can always go for a Ti4200 or something faster, but if you don't play many games the 9100 is cheap and will handle any games you might consider playing.

ps get the 64 mb card as the 128 mb cards come with 200 mhz ram that is very slow.

[Cuper]

OC Noob - Thanks! I actually saw that about 2 hours ago.

[Perre]

If your're going to play Battlefield make sure that you have atleast 512mb of ram aswell. Or else that game won't play any well. Also about the videocard why don't you buy something like Ati 9600Pro I'm not sure that is costs over there in US but since it's rather inexpensive here in sweden I could only imagine it will be less over there.

[Zim2411]

Originally posted by Perre
If your're going to play Battlefield make sure that you have atleast 512mb of ram aswell. Or else that game won't play any well. Also about the videocard why don't you buy something like Ati 9600Pro I'm not sure that is costs over there in US but since it's rather inexpensive here in sweden I could only imagine it will be less over there.

I got my ATI built 9600p for 172, but powercolor's go for 150 on newegg.

If you are going to be doing light light LIGHT gaming, but want some decent visuals, ATI Radeon 9600 is what i'd reccomend. Only 108 dollars off newegg.

[sQUiRLy]

Definitely get a dx9 card for future gaming.

[Cuper]

Perre - Thanks, I have 1 gig in all of my machines so I think that I should be ok ;) :D

Zim2411 - Thanks for the advise.

sQUiRLy - Will cards be able to be flashed or something along those lines to accept dx9?

[OC Noob]

No, you can't flash a DX8 to DX9. The card just won't do the DX9 effects or it will do the DX8 version of the effect.

If you get a DX9 card then you will want to get one powerful enough to actually run DX9 games and the low end of that is the 9600 Pro. Anything less will probably have unacceptable frame rates and now your talking $150+.

You really need to decide on a price range and how much gaming you'll actually do.

If, like you said, your not going to game much, if at all, then there is no reason to get a DX9 card. If you want all the bells and whistles then you should consider a mid ranged card or even a high end card.

I can tell you all the benifits of each step up in price range and tell you each is worth the money. Although, ultimatly you need to decide what your willing to spend and what your usage will be.

[Cuper]

I would really like to spend no more than $100. I actually think that I might go with the one that you posted. That should be more than enough for me :) THANKS!!!

[TUK101]

If you dont care about DX9 then you can get a TI4200 for under $100 nowdays. You can get a Radeon 9500 for around $100 also. You cant go wrong with the Radeon 9600 though, it is the DX9 version of the Radeon 9500.

[XunknownX]

The 9500 supports DX9.

[itizme]

Here we have an online trader/seller/buyer classified adds
Try a used card, some of us do sell perfectly good parts cause we wanted better, and in most cases still new enough to have warranty

[Cuper]

itizme - thanks, I was going to check there tonight :)

[OC Noob]

Maybe an easy performance chart would help for refence if you find some good used cards.


Ti200(DX8)<8500le(DX8)<8500(DX8)<Ti4200(DX8)<9600(DX9)<9500(DX9)<Ti4400(DX8)<Ti4600(DX8)<9600pro(DX9)<9500pro(DX9)<9700(DX9)

Not sure where the FXs fit in there, maybe someone else can help with that.