Need suggestions on video cards...

Greylock · Dec 27, 2004

Thanks for the advice, Krieg. Surfing Compaq didn't get me very far, but it revealed that my power supply is 250 watts.

You tease me with the promise of a link, though...

Greylock · Dec 27, 2004

OK, found the link you referred to at Radeon's site. If the 9800 can cope with a 250 watt power supply, I may take Radeon up on it. But if the price differential between it and the 9600 is too much, I may go with the 9600. Spoke to a tech guy tonight at work who said he'd be happy to give me an extra cooling fan for free.

Azul · Dec 27, 2004

The Radeon 9600/9700/9800 options people have been describing are indeed excellent choices for mid-range video cards in your price range, but frankly you won't see more than a tiny fraction of their actual performance if you pair them with a Duron 700. You aren't even seeing anywhere near the full video capabilities of your current Radeon 7000 I'd wager. A Duron 700 can push an original GeForce 256 or a GeForce 2MX fairly efficiently, but any more powerful video card won't really shine. Even a GeForce 2 or original Radeon likes to have over a GHz of processing power. Your current video card is already complete overkill compared to the rest of your system specs.

You are far better advised to spend you money fixing your system's real bottleneck for gaming... your CPU/motherboard/RAM combo. Upgrading to a Sempron system with something like an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe motherboard and 512MB of 400MHz RAM would cost only slightly more than a Radeon 9800Pro and you'd see a MUCH bigger gain in performance both in games (as your Radeon 7000 would suddenly have enough processor behind it to really let it show its stuff) and everyday desktop applications.

Hmm... I just noticed that you mentioned "surfing Compaq"... are you running a Compaq branded system (and thus probably have a custom case and a relatively weak power supply)? That would complicate upgrading your machine considerably. It might be worth investing in a new case (and power supply) if you choose to upgrade. The drives should be transferrable (although Compaq hard drives from that era have messed-up partitioning schemes to allow their "it sometimes works right" system restoring software to work).

/worked tech support for Compaq when they were selling Durons and remembers just how problem-ridden almost the entire Presario line was (top end system weren't too buggy since fewer corners were cut in designing them)

Greylock · Dec 27, 2004

Azul said:
Hmm... I just noticed that you mentioned "surfing Compaq"... are you running a Compaq branded system (and thus probably have a custom case and a relatively weak power supply)? That would complicate upgrading your machine considerably. It might be worth investing in a new case (and power supply) if you choose to upgrade. The drives should be transferrable (although Compaq hard drives from that era have messed-up partitioning schemes to allow their "it sometimes works right" system restoring software to work).

*sighs*

Yes, I am in a branded Compaq system, everything wired to the walls, cheap motherboard and all. This means I should just go ahead and spend the $ on the LotR set and books. What you suggest is what I lack the funds for. I've already shopped that option locally.

Krieg · Dec 27, 2004

Greylock said:
You tease me with the promise of a link, though...

Oops, sorry about that...

Select the cards you want to compare and click [next]...
http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/

As long as it isn't pushing a lot of extra pieces (extra hard drives, multiple PCI cards etc) a 250W PU should be fine for either of the ATI units.

Greylock · Dec 27, 2004

Needing a lot of compare and contrast here. Any take on Azul's remarks?

KenM · Dec 27, 2004

When I was looking at video cards, I saw the ATI 9800 needs at 300 watt power supply. Thats why I did not get one and went with the 9600 XT.

Krieg · Dec 27, 2004

Greylock said:
Needing a lot of compare and contrast here. Any take on Azul's remarks?

He is pretty 100% correct, but purchasing a new CPU, MoBO, Case & Memory is going to push you past your $200 range pretty quickly.

With my machines I upgrade a couple of times a year, rather than going whole hog & replacing everything I target one or two components at a time. You can go with the new video card right now with an eye towards replacing your CPU/MoBO once you can afford it down the line.

Unfortunately computer upgrades are always a balance between performance, obsolescence & cost.

KenM said:
When I was looking at video cards, I saw the ATI 9800 needs at 300 watt power supply. Thats why I did not get one and went with the 9600 XT.

The 9800 requires 75W by itself. ATI recomends a 300W PU and they may not warranty a card in a machine with a lower rated PU. On the otherhand manufactureres are very conservative by nature & I know first hand that a 9800 will run without problems with a less powerful PU, as I have a 9800 All-In-Wonder in a SFF box with a 200W PU.

That being said the possibility of voiding the warranty of a 9800 is probably a deal breaker.

Greylock · Dec 28, 2004

Oh well, thanks for the advice, ya'll.

Went down to my FLMnPCCS [friendly local mom'n pop comuter chop-shop] and showed the owner Carl this thread. He agreed with everything Azul said. Told me I'd be throwing away my money to put any more money into my machine. Since everything I put in it is uncompatible with newer machines, it's really a waste.

Bummed. Carl was pretty sad, too. He wanted my $200. But he's an honest man, at least. Maybe someday when I can put together 6 or 7 hundred bucks, I'll let him build me a rig.

Someday. A long time off...