Need upgrade advice ... [mainly video card suggestion].

[Yves]

Here's my current system:

ASROCK K7VM2 Mobo with Athlon 2400XP+
512MB DDR @ 266 Mhz.
(Don't laugh) GEF2MX card.
Running Win2K.

What I want - I'd like to upgrade the machine so it'll play newer games
(mainly Tribes:Vengeance) at a decent clip. I'm not looking at
firebreathing performance at max resolution - all I want is decent
framerate at low/medium resolution (800x600 or 1024x768 say).

Would upgrading my video card suffice - if so, what model would you
recommend? Would upping the RAM a bit help?

I am _not_ interested in swapping out the mobo+CPU at the moment since I
am not a hardcore gamer and don't care if I have a 'l33t framerate.

- Yves

 

[Dave C.]

Here's my current system:

ASROCK K7VM2 Mobo with Athlon 2400XP+
512MB DDR @ 266 Mhz.
(Don't laugh) GEF2MX card.
Running Win2K.

What I want - I'd like to upgrade the machine so it'll play newer games
(mainly Tribes:Vengeance) at a decent clip. I'm not looking at
firebreathing performance at max resolution - all I want is decent
framerate at low/medium resolution (800x600 or 1024x768 say).

Would upgrading my video card suffice - if so, what model would you
recommend? Would upping the RAM a bit help?

I am _not_ interested in swapping out the mobo+CPU at the moment since I
am not a hardcore gamer and don't care if I have a 'l33t framerate.

- Yves

I think the following would be a good upgrade for you to match your current
motherboard. You don't want to spend too much money on a video card right
now. It will be replaced for your next motherboard upgrade, no matter what
you buy right now. -Dave

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-230&depa=0

 

[JAD]

what DirectX version?
and you need a video card replacement(but you knew that)
spending money on expensive computer parts right now can be a tough
decision. I think you could invest what you want in an AGP card and be
able to use it next mb change. New tech boards will have dual
compatibility (AGP/PCI blah blah) for awhile. 512 is still a good base
memory amount. Its your video that's lacking.

 

[Dave C.]

what DirectX version?
and you need a video card replacement(but you knew that)
spending money on expensive computer parts right now can be a tough
decision. I think you could invest what you want in an AGP card and be
able to use it next mb change. New tech boards will have dual
compatibility (AGP/PCI blah blah) for awhile. 512 is still a good base
memory amount. Its your video that's lacking.

Are you sure on that? Last I heard, only VIA was going to come out with
boards to support both AGP and PCI Express. Unless some more chipmakers
have decided to bridge AGP cards over to PCI Express chipsets, your choice
of motherboard could be somewhat limited if you insist on using an AGP card
for your next upgrade (say a year or so from now) -Dave

 

[JAD]

well anything could happen.........but AFA past history there is
always a board or two, from each brand, produced at the beginning that
had dual compatibility...much like the memory(even chip sockets). You
could be right as the PCI blah blah will be first gen TCPA enabled
hardware. a gamble NTL

 

[Bob Knowlden]

Yves,

Sierra recommends a Radeon 9600 for Tribes: Vengeance.

http://www.sierra.com/product.do?gamePlatformId=412

I presume that the "DirectX9c" reference is to driver support. I believe
that card that support DirectX9c features in hardware tend to be high-end
(Geforce 6800, Radeon X800) at the moment. They don't seem to have trickled
down to the midrange just yet, at least in AGP cards. (I presume that PCI
Express is of no use to you.)

If you get a 9600, be sure to get one with the 128 bit wide path to memory.
(Some of the low-end models use a 64 bit path, which might be a bottleneck,
even at 1024X768.) The XT version might be worth the extra expense.

If you want to stay with nVidia, you may want some form of Geforce FX 5X00.
The 5200 may be too slow. The 5700 is probably good, but more expensive than
the vanilla Radeon 9600.

The above cards look like they can be had for roughly $100 in the US, if you
choose one of the less expensive manufacturers.

I've only owned one ATI card, but it was a Radeon 9700pro. Quite a good
card. My current one is a Geforce 6800GT. Gotta have those l33t framerates.

HTH.

Bob Knowlden

Address may be scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.

 

[Mac Cool]

Yves:

I'd like to upgrade the machine so it'll play newer games
(mainly Tribes:Vengeance) at a decent clip.

there are several Radeon 9600XT cards under $150 at newegg.com