Buying a video card. Need direction!!

S

sciroccosven

Geek Trainee
Alright, I will likely spend less than $125 shipped. I currently am considering a 7600GS 512 MB PCI-e card for $150.00 (I have a $25 gift card which brings the total down). I have an older ati 256 card and havent had any problems but wants overwhelmed (it was just a pci on the comp I replaced)

My setup is an Athlon 64 3800 x2 processor
1 gig of ddr2 ram
200 or more gig's of hd space (a little irrelevant, I will never use that much)
motherboard sound which I will probably upgrade at some point.
17 Inch Acer lcd monitor
the computer is an acer brand. I bought it on sale before vista came out so its windows xp.

I really dont have a clue what to buy. There are so many different cards in a close price range. I would like to get a 512 MB video card. I dont know the difference between the ati and the geforce cards.

What I am looking to do is to play Doom 3 or games with an equivelent need for power. I would like to get a good card for as cheap as possible that isnt a flimsy piece of junk.

Thanks in advance for help.

Dave
 
Hi Dave,
just so you know, it's not about the amount of memory on a videocard. A good 128mb card can outperform a 512mb card. Chipset, pipelines, and memory speed can all help you decide. As far as differences between ATI and Nvidia, they both are good namebrand cards. I tend to trust nvidia more because it has been my experience that the drivers are better. Try to find out if the videocard your looking at has any instability issues. If you're looking to spend around a 150, a 256mb nvidia 7900GS is a much better choice than a 512mb 7600GS.

Let me expand on this, a 7600GS has 12 pipelines, most have gddr2 memory anywhere from 500mhz to 800mhz.
A 7900GS has 20 pipelines, gddr3 memory with a much faster memory clock (most 7900 cards have it over 1000mhz), and a 7900 graphics processor chip.

Having the 512mb on that card will not improve it's performance much if at all.
I think you would appreciate having a card with more pipelines, better memory, and gpu. I'd look for a Evga or XFX brand on newegg for around 145 with the mail in rebate.

You'll be able to play games like doom3 full settings on a 7600GS but the 7900GS should give you quite a bit more room for a similar price if you ever wanted to play a game like Oblivion.
 
Sounds good, makes sense. I will have to revise my search. My last card I bought was an old 9200 pci card so things have change since my last purchase. Thanks for the help, this will probably be enough help to get me on my way.
 
The 7900gs will treat you good. I just got one a few months ago and am still very impressed with its preformance for only $150.
 
The 7900GS is what I'd advise too, it's really worth having that extra oomph for down the road and it's not a whole lot more cash for about twice the card.
Alternatively you could look into these if you just can't see your self spending over the $125 mark.
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950GT 100199L HDCP Video Card - Retail
Newegg.com - Recertified: EVGA GeForce 7800GT 256-P2-N518-RX VIVO Video Card - Retail
and making up the cheapo yet very capable section:
Newegg.com - Foxconn GeForce 7600GT FV-N76TM2D2 Video Card - Retail
 
Thanks for the input. Big B gave me some advice on this and steered me that way. I do have a problem though that I did not realize. I have 300w power supply. Its a quality brand but will need to be uprgraded if I want to run anything with power. I have decided to go with the 7900GS, alot of bang for my buck. A little more than I was looking to spend but I think its a card that wont leave me wanting more out of for another couple of years matched up to what I have now. My list has gotten a little more expensive than I previously planned so once I see how much I have to pay for taxes I am going to pick up the 7900GS card, the base model SB extreme gamer x-fi card, and get a powerful 5.1 speaker system when circuit city has a good sale. Console gaming is just too much and not enough good stuff for it anymore so I am going to invest in a computer again. I will post on how things went when I get the setup. As of right now the computer, my lcd monitor, and my wireless mouse and keyboard are next to my bed to punish/motivate me to get everything. A few weeks of using this virus and porn riddled dell should get me gear.

Thanks for the input everyone, things change so fast and I tend to get out of the loop rather quickly.

Dave
 
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