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Helpme get a new video card
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trancejeremy
Adventurer
I plan on getting a Nvidia 6600 GT AGP in the near future (when I can afford it). $150 or so.
The best place to get info on video cards is www.tomshardware.com
The best place to get info on video cards is www.tomshardware.com
Rodrigo Istalindir
Explorer
trancejeremy said:
That's about the sweet spot in that range right now. You can also find some decent deals on Radeon 9800 Pros at ~$125, which give about the same performance and (IMO) slightly better picture quality.
Make sure your friend is aware that an AGP board is likely not going to follow him to his next PC, since PCI Express is gradually replacing AGP for video cards.
trancejeremy
Adventurer
Here's the most recent benchmarks for AGP cards
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html
In some cases, there is no real diference between the performance in the 9800 and 6600 GT, but for about have the games they used, there is about 25% difference (in favor) for the 6600 GT.
Nvidia also came out with a 6200, which are real cheap (like $70 at www.newegg.com) and seem to be pretty decent. At least, much much better than their previous budget card (the 5200, which I currently have)
http://graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20050705/index.html
In some cases, there is no real diference between the performance in the 9800 and 6600 GT, but for about have the games they used, there is about 25% difference (in favor) for the 6600 GT.
Nvidia also came out with a 6200, which are real cheap (like $70 at www.newegg.com) and seem to be pretty decent. At least, much much better than their previous budget card (the 5200, which I currently have)
I've got a 6600GT myself, but with an older PC (and if it's definitely an AGP 4X slot, and not an 8X slot, then it's an old motherboard, at least) you might have to be very careful about power requirements; my 6600GT had an external power connector, and the box said you needed a 300 watt+ power supply.
I second the power supply requirment. You might want to check what size power supply you have. When I changed my card, i had to get a whole new case and power supply to switch everything out to it because HP did not make it easy to just switch out the power supply. Most of the newer cards need a 300 watt power supply.
Bront
The man with the probe
I like the ATI cards personaly (I have an 8500 I've been using since they came out, been great for me). However, if you're talking an AGP 4x system, the CPU will be a bit of a limiting factor, so I'd probably go with whichever you can get cheeper (the 9800 ATI or the 6600 NVidia). Also, make sure you have a good power supply. Compair the power outputs (5+, 5-, 12, and 3 I think), not just the net wattage.
Better power supplies will often have higher outputs, and are therefore more efficent, which results in cooler running, better power consumption, and they generaly last longer. I wouldn't get anything less than a 400 watt for a new system (or a good 350+), and even an older system needs a good power supply.
I can't stress this enough, and while it's gotten better it's still an issue, a cheep or inadiquate power supply will cause stability problems in your computer, as well as potentialy damaging situations.
A good power supply will last. I've only had one of the PSU's in any of the machines I built myself since '97 go bad, and that was the first one I bought, and it was the lowest end one, and had other contributing factors beyond simply age (New owner smoked, and did not clean well).
Better power supplies will often have higher outputs, and are therefore more efficent, which results in cooler running, better power consumption, and they generaly last longer. I wouldn't get anything less than a 400 watt for a new system (or a good 350+), and even an older system needs a good power supply.
I can't stress this enough, and while it's gotten better it's still an issue, a cheep or inadiquate power supply will cause stability problems in your computer, as well as potentialy damaging situations.
A good power supply will last. I've only had one of the PSU's in any of the machines I built myself since '97 go bad, and that was the first one I bought, and it was the lowest end one, and had other contributing factors beyond simply age (New owner smoked, and did not clean well).
Jupp
Explorer
I would recommend a passively cooled Gigabyte Nvidia GF 6600 GT. The less noise the better 
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=6315637
I have two cards of those (but PCI-e versions) and I am qui(e)t happy with them.
http://stores.tomshardware.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=6315637
I have two cards of those (but PCI-e versions) and I am qui(e)t happy with them.
Rodrigo Istalindir said:
You need to be careful picking out a Radeon 9800. A lot of the cards, especially the cheaper models are actually a crippled version with a 128 bit memory access. So if you do get one, make sure that it has 256 bit memory access. It should say in the card specs.
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