What GFX Card?

[Cubby Broccoli]

Hello

I would like to know what Graphics Card is recomended for my system I currently have a geforce 3 but think an upgrade is due.

Athlon 2500 Barton
512 DDR P3200 Ram
Epox 8RGA

What would be recommended?

Thanks
Cubby

[Badger]

Ti4200

[Cubby Broccoli]

Whats that then? Who makes it etc?

Sorry but i know nothing.

[Badger]

MSI Ti4200 128mb 8X agp

[cem]

get a Radeon 9500 Pro - can clock it massively and its full DX 9

only 50 quid more than a ti4200

[Dalehead]

9700 pro... all depends on how much cash you wanna spend m8.
Tbh though, badger is a pykey and gives pykey hardware advice :E

[Slide]

Geforce 2 GTS 32Mb I'll send it your way for as little as £25

[Badger]

Well as that system seems quite budget (compared to a top of the range p4). I would have thought that he wouldnt have wanted to spend that much on a graphics card. Therefore a £100 Ti4200 that can run any game out this year isnt that bad advice :P

[WindyMiller]

Far better to get a £60 one tho :P

here (http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/products/index.html?action=c2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=49692)



If thats wot u want like :D

[Badger]

That is my card. It rox. Overclocks easily to 300/600 :D
woot

[Vincero]

Sorry, but in my opinion you would be mad to go from a Geforce3 to a Geforce4 Ti4200..... unless you play games that need the extra memory offered by a 128MB version of the card, you will not be getting a speed boost that in my opinion makes it worthwhile.

Unless you are using a bottom end Geforce3 like a ti200 card, upgrading from a straight Geforce3 or ti500 to a GF4 ti4200 is a bad move in terms of outright speed gains, and there is even less to gain in feature improvements.

The Radeon 9500 Pro is a better choice because it has DX9 (think Doom3 and Half-Life 2 here) and usually performs like a GF4 ti4400/4600, but if you wanna see real speed gains - when I say 'real' I mean ones which will make you think "I see what I'm paying for" - a Radeon 9700 (Pro or non-pro - non-pro is quite good value in terms of what you get) would be a better choice or an equivalent product.

[Badger]

Thing is, Ti4200 is a cheap £60 upgrade.
Radeon 9700 is a £200+ upgrade

[Vincero]

Thing is, Ti4200 is a cheap £60 upgrade.
Radeon 9700 is a £200+ upgrade

Yep, and unfortunately I dont set the prices :(

It really depends on what games you play, but if we are talking about half-life, a GF3->GF4 Ti4200 is not worth the £60. The only games that see worthwhile improvements are the latest games which stress DX8 and allow the improvements to show, and even then the gap between the average GF3 and GF4 is about 20-30% and most of that comes from the faster memory than improvements to the chip itself.

I'm not slating the product, but I would recommend keeping the money in the bank for the moment rather than get a GF4.

[Badger]

I agree if you are only playing HL. But anything newer would take advantage of the DX8.1 abilities of the GF4 chip. And ofcourse the faster ram and core speeds.
And I just dont like Radeons :D

[Cubby Broccoli]

Thanks for all the advice guys

my Geforce3 is an Asus one - I remember it being quite highly recommended at the time.