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Video Card - Which One To Buy

SKYLVIA

By SKYLVIA,
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SKYLVIA Grand Master

SKYLVIA

Posted
Posted

Hey all,

just got a pc and need to upgrade the video card...

i want a decent one, and essentially wanna play UT07/Unreal 3 when they come out...

i dont wanna spend more than $300

have had a look at a few, but i honestly dunno what exactly im looking at... im a n00b to the whole build your PC thang...

Gigabyte GeForce 6200, AGP, 256MB DDR2, DVI / TV out $99.00

XFX GeForce 7600GT, T73A-UDF7, AGP, 256MB, [email protected], DVI/TV $236.17

XFX GeForce 7600GT, T73A-UDE7, AGP, 256MB, [email protected], DVI/TV $271.04

are the above any good? what would you recommend?

Thanks guys

P.S. whats the diff between the two 7600GT's?

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shoebox Community Regular

shoebox

Posted
Posted

As a researcher in the graphics hardware field, I would strongly recommend you to purchase a video card with an NVIDIA chipset as there is more R&D and potential in their products as of late.

The GeForce 7 series is a pretty good range. I'm not sure about prices, but the 7600 series looks seriously weak. Have you checked the prices for the 7800 or 7900 series? I would imagine the 7950 being out of your price range, so we're leaving it out.

The difference is the amount of processing power those two cards have. The [email protected] variant would be able to compute slightly faster than the cheaper version.

SKYLVIA Grand Master

SKYLVIA

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  • Author
Posted (edited)

ok i checked on ebay for 7800, 7900 and 7950

7800:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/XFX-GeForce-7800-GS...1QQcmdZViewItem

7900:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NVIDIA-GEFORCE-7900...1QQcmdZViewItem

7950:

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NVIDIA-GEFORCE-7950...1QQcmdZViewItem

There seems to be heaps of different versions of VideoCards which i dont really understand...

Which would you recommend of the 7800 and 7900? does anyone know of any sites that have cheap prices for these?

Edited by SKYLVIA
shoebox Community Regular

shoebox

Posted
Posted

Go to http://www.nvidia.com/page/geforce7.html for more details. ^_^

Looking at the 3 links, it would be a choice between the 7900GS and the 7950GT. The 7950 is faster, but the 7900 has more memory.

I would choose the 7950 actually because it is a more balanced card (sufficient memory and more computational power), which should let you have a pretty good gaming experience for the next 2 years. However, the 7900 has more memory, so it'll have a longer lifespan provided that you don't mind laggy games when the time comes. Games at this point in time usually don't take up so much memory as to justify having 512mb video memory cards.

Just for kicks, you can try looking at the GeForce 8 series, but they're top of the range, so I would expect them to be much more expensive until the next generation is released.

SKYLVIA Grand Master

SKYLVIA

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)

another question,

Check this link:

http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail....VDGF7900GS%2DE2

Why is it, the 7900GS on ebay is 512 and the 7900GS on NetPlay is 256?

Arent they the same model? which would mean they should have the same specs?

Also, why does the NVidia 7950 have 3 different names?

Albatron

Gigabyte

XFX

Sorry to be a royal pain in the ass just wanna know which is good to buy.

Edited by SKYLVIA
izataskyrine? Collaborator

izataskyrine?

Posted
Posted (edited)

Theres 1 choice and 1 choice only if u do indeed have an agp motherboard (confirm this though that ur motherboard is not infact pcix, pcix has been around for more than 1 year)

the last of the agp video cards have now been made and they are not making any new ones (so r&d into agp = 0, there for showboxes point is invalid... maybe u should do some more research)

the best AGP video card is the ATI X1950 PRO.

you can pick one up for approx $300 for a 256mb one.. 256mb & 512mb although sounds like a big difference in reality performance is not all that much greater on the 512mb.

PS how much ram do you have and what speed is it?

Edited by izataskyrine?
izataskyrine? Collaborator

izataskyrine?

Posted
Posted
another question,

Check this link:

http://www.netplus.com.au/products-detail....VDGF7900GS%2DE2

Why is it, the 7900GS on ebay is 512 and the 7900GS on NetPlay is 256?

Arent they the same model? which would mean they should have the same specs?

Also, why does the NVidia 7950 have 3 different names?

Albatron

Gigabyte

XFX

Sorry to be a royal pain in the ass just wanna know which is good to buy.

256mb & 512mb is the amount of onboard ram on the video card.. similar to ram on ur computer.. videa cards come with different amounts even though they are the same chipset.

As for albatron, gigabyte & xfx these are all companies that take nvidia & ati's chipsets and then resell it to consumers (us). They will often bundle the card with software and fancy fans & heatsinks and even overclock them. Nvidia & ATI do not actually sell cards themselfs

D-G Rising Star

D-G

Posted
Posted

An easier way to tell Sky is check the graphics card slot, if you see a white pin about 1cmx1cm that you are able to pull back to clip in the graphics card, if there is a pin there then you have a AGP slot. From memory the PCI do not have this clip, so if theres none on it, you have a PCI!

SKYLVIA Grand Master

SKYLVIA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

ok i checked the slot where the graphics card was as you said D-G and there is a white clip

on that same slot it has "AGP1" just above it

BUT

The port under it has "PCI1" above it, there a 4 other ports under that and they go from PCI1 to PCI5

Are these ports able to have a PCI express video card plugged in?

will upload the pic when i get to work

HackerX Community Regular

HackerX

Posted
Posted

If it says AGP1 then it's an AGP slot and you'll need an AGP card.

The white clip thingy is manufacturer dependant. Some have a pin, some have a clip.

Of the three ebay links, the first is AGP, the other two aren't and thus won't fit/work

PCIX != PCI

Get one with 512mb of ram if you can afford it, it will make a difference in the future

Burgerman Enthusiast

Burgerman

Posted
Posted

Okdokey,

I'll try not to confuse you here.

I'm going to assume from your picture that you either took the video card out to take the picture or you are running on board video and don't require a video card. either way you have an AGP slot there so it's pointless looking at any video card that isn't AGP. That said yes AGP is being phased out and PCI express is in. Everyone has PCI slots, don't mistake these with PCIexpress slots. Just think of PCI express as the new AGP. It simply runs higher bandwith to the motherboard etc. resulting in your computer being able to utilise a better gfx card.

All that said I would recommend the following. If you are on a budget and you don't want to overhaul your system (basically buying a new computer) then go for an AGP card that has at least 256 meg memory and as stated above you would be unlucky to spend anymore than $300 for a "top of the range" AGP card anyhow seeing as they don't make top of the range ones for AGP anymore.

If you have money lying around like toilet paper then get yourself a computer that has a pci express slot cause all new gfx cards that are going to come out will support that type of slot.

BTW those PCI 1-5 slots you have run things such as tv tuner cards, sound cards, and ethernet cards (add on cards).

If/when you do get a new gfx card, make sure you install the nvidia/ati drivers(depending on what type of card it is) and update the drivers (this can be done manually through the website or sometimes there is an icon in your taskbar that will link your internet explorer with the appropriate download page). You'll just need to download the right drivers that being usually the ones for your type of gfx card and windows operating system.

PM me if you need anymore help, GFX cards are one of the easiest components to install into a computer, I"ve done it countless times. IF you live in or near brisbane I'll even do it for a beer.

Cheers

SKYLVIA Grand Master

SKYLVIA

Posted
  • Author
Posted

ok so i bought an ATI X1950 512mb on saturday, turns out its either the AGP Port on the motherboard, or the entire motherboard...

gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay...

My mate had a motherboard from his old pc lying around so im gonna use that... apparently its better than the one i had and as i bought a new case his brother is gonna transfer everything for me. i tried myself but got soooooooo lost...

so ive got a $335 video card which wasnt needed... ohwell i guess i dont need to upgrade anytime soon...

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