Getting a new graphics card

[Firefox_07]

Hi

I have a Nvidia Geforce4 MX Integrated GPU and it isn't good enough for
Matrix - Path of Neo
I need a new Graphics card but i can't spend big.
Is there a card uner $200 that doesn't have the extras (Tv output
etc.) but can play PON? i would prefer a 256MB

Also how do I get rid of the GPU of the geforce 4?

 

[John]

Hi

I have a Nvidia Geforce4 MX Integrated GPU and it isn't good enough for
Matrix - Path of Neo
I need a new Graphics card but i can't spend big.
Is there a card uner $200 that doesn't have the extras (Tv output
etc.) but can play PON? i would prefer a 256MB

Also how do I get rid of the GPU of the geforce 4?

Yeah the ATI 800XL 256 megs is an excellent card if you can find one
under 200.
Its roughly equal to the 6800 GT.

The 6800 non gt is excellent too though they tend to have 128 megs but
its not that big of deal unless you know something about the game you
want to play which uses lots of memory.

There are some 6600GT 256 cards. Thats one of the mainstream cards for
game playing now under 200. Some of the 128 meg ones go as low as 100
bucks with rebate but the avg non rebate price is 138-170 or so. There
are zillions ofdifferentversions of the card.

Havent played path of neo so I dont know the specifics of the game but
people are using the 6600GT etc with DOOM3 and fEAR and other current
games with excellent graphics.

There have been some clearance sales of 6800s recently at CC with
rebates under 200.

 

[Firefox_07]

THe min specs are:

Operating System Windows® 2000 / XP
Processor Pentium® 4 1.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 1.8 GHz or higher
Memory 512 MB RAM
Hard Disk Space 6 GB free
DVD-ROM Drive 6X speed or faster
Video NVIDIA® GeForce™ FX 5200 or ATI Radeon® 8500 or greater*
Sound DirectX® version 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX® DirectX® version 9.0c (included) or higher
*Hardware T&L video cards that do not support shaders, such as the
GeForce™ 4 MX or Intel Extreme Graphics® family, are not supported.

reccomended specs are:

Operating System Windows® 2000 / XP
Processor Pentium® 4 2.8 GHz or AMD Athlon™ 2.8 GHz or higher
Memory 1 GB RAM
Hard Disk Space 6 GB free
DVD-ROM Drive 6X speed or faster
Video NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 or ATI Radeon® X800 or greater*
Sound DirectX® version 9.0c-compatible sound card
DirectX® DirectX® version 9.0c (included) or higher

these cards are not supported:

As is noted in the minimum requirements not all video cards have
hardware vertex and pixel shader support even though they have the
required video memory available. Here is a non-exhaustive list of video
cards that are not supported:

ATI Radeon 7200
ATI Radeon 7500

Intel 82810 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82815 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82830M Integrated Graphics
Intel 82845G Integrated Graphics
Intel 82852 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82855 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82910GL GMA 900 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82915G GMA 900 Integrated Graphics
Intel 82915GV GMA 900 Integrated Graphics

Intel 82855GM Extreme Graphics 2
Intel 82865G Extreme Graphics 2
Intel 82865GV Extreme Graphics 2
Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS Express Integrated Graphics
Mobile Intel 910GML Express Integrated Graphics
Nvidia GeForce 2MX
Nvidia GeForce 2GTS
Nvidia GeForce 4MX
Nvidia GeForce 3
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4200
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4400
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4600
Nvidia GeForce 4 Ti 4800
SiS Xabre series video cards

if you can could you quote in $AU of $US

 

[John]

if you can could you quote in $AU of $US

Check Australian search engines like this and local large chain stores
for sales.

http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=xfx+6600gt

If you are talking 200 AU its around 148 US then the 6600GT is the
obvious choice. However the prices given in AU here are kind of high.
In the US there are versions as low as $100US with rebates.

Youll probably be jazzed by a 6600GT. I have the 400mx too and its
ANCIENT. Its actually quite decent for an older PC which is used only
to surf the web and do wordprocessing but its beyond useless for
modern gaming. The specs they give on that as a min are a joke.

One thing you have a pretty wimpy PC processor too. I know cause I
have a 1600 AMD athlon sitting around which Ive tested with a 9600XT.
The 6600GT is much better than that card but its not a bad card and
its really marginal with a 1600. Combine that with one of my more
modern PCs 3200 AMD 64 and it works a lot better.

You dont need a super powerful PC or the most expensive card but you
dont want a horrible deficit in either area or you have to make up for
it more with the other. With my 1600 Athlon there was a fair
difference when I swapped out a plain old 9600 with a 9600XT on it
which surprised me. The 9600 works ok though with lower settings with
the 3200 AMD.

After a certain point though unless you want to really crank up the
resolution and effects it doesnt make as much difference. I bought a
X2 dual core 3800 and a 7800GT OC BFG thinking WOWEE another
substantial difference and frankly I dont notice that much at all from
my 3000 AMD 64 and 800XL which I used to have. Im sure I have far more
reserve power for when future games come out though.

 

[Smith]

Those cards at CC, they're evga brand. Do you know by chance if their fans
still crap out like they did on the 5900's they made?

 

[John]

Those cards at CC, they're evga brand. Do you know by chance if their fans
still crap out like they did on the 5900's they made?

Have no idea but frankly I expect all those tiny little fans to die
out anytime after 1-2 years though they can last amazingly for years
sometimes. Ive had some die in a year or so and some several of the
small ones on motherboards I had got flakey after 1-1.5 years so I
wouldnt expect them to last forever. They sell lots of addons nowadays
that are available everywhere. The only thing I dont like is the
graphics cards tend to use proprietary heatsink fans so its hard to
match them up.

The regular 6800 is a terrific card I used to have one AGP then I
switched to the 800XL and then now the 7800GT OC.

 

[kony]

Those cards at CC, they're evga brand. Do you know by chance if their fans
still crap out like they did on the 5900's they made?

I would expect poor life out of any thin high(er) RPM fan.
The typical options include either replacing it before it
fails, keeping an eye on it or the temps if the software can
monitor them, or relubing the fan on a regular interval,
before it starts to make noise so your bearing isn't being
worn down much.

 

[Smith]

I was looking at the 6600gt oc below, heard bfg was a good brand. Think I'm
just going to stick with that, skip the Circuit City one, this one is over
clocked and only $20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143027

 

[John]

I was looking at the 6600gt oc below, heard bfg was a good brand. Think I'm
just going to stick with that, skip the Circuit City one, this one is over
clocked and only $20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143027

That fan does look better. In fact it looks better than the one ony
BFG 7800. That design is better for dust too.

Notice a lot of the higher end cards have that thin large heatsink
tray with a very thin fan in it and a metal cover over the heatsink
tray. My PC started crashing two weeks ago one night and I took my
card out to check it out and found the small space in the tray between
the cover and heatsink fins was completely clogged with dust. I blew
it all out and clumps came out. It ran fine after that.

Usually I would say defintely get the 6800 one since it used to have
more pipes that were switched off and it could possibly be overclocked
more than the 6600GT. The 6800 used the 6800 GPU at the time which has
more pipes they just turned some off for the non GT version. Thats how
mine was and you can turn them on with RIVATURNER etc. The one I had
briefly worked fine after I unlocked it.

However Ive since read that the AGP versions I think (or was it the
PCI express versions?) came with different GPUs now and couldnt be
unlocked cause they didnt come with more pipes. Something like that.
So overall the 6800 non GTs were roughly the same as the 6600GT.
Maybe thats why I dont see that many anymore listed at the price
search engines.

 

[John]

Oh yeah the clearance rebated prices varied from CC to CC region to
region.

Some people claimed they got a 6800 for $65 after rebates. KILLER
deal. ALL AGP version only probably clearing out some AGPs.

I checked my local one and it was $150 AR which seems like the WORST
price. Probably at the very worst CC was handing out lots of 10 % off
deals , the card was 300 before rebate (hefty rebates) so you probably
can get it for $120 even at its worst price which isnt bad though like
I said you can get some 6600GTs for 100 AR sometimes nowadays which
are probably fairly similar in performance.

 

[John]

I was looking at the 6600gt oc below, heard bfg was a good brand. Think I'm
just going to stick with that, skip the Circuit City one, this one is over
clocked and only $20 more.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143027

I just noticed the price 189 YIKES !

I would probably go for this one

119 after 20 buck rebate.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220

 

[Firefox_07]

does the 6600GT come with the blu VGA ports?

 

[Firefox_07]

Thanks today i'm going to a swap meet; i'll see if there's something
good there

 

[kony]

does the 6600GT come with the blu VGA ports?

Does it matter what color they are?

"Most" of them have one blue analog port and one white DVI
port. Less common are those with two DVI ports. If given a
choice, the two DVI ports might be more desirable because
the "normal" retail packaged products should come with a
DVI-analog adapter, so with such a dual dvi configuration
you still have the choice of running one analog output, but
better future support for two DVI outputs as well.