Graphics Card...What's good AND Compatible?

Dear all,

I am in the process of upgrading my graphics card (not least so that I can get involved with some BF2142), and wondered whether you had any advice on what would be the best available compatible card that I could get, and whether or not it would / should be a worthwhile improvement.

My current setup is:

CPU - AMD Athlon 1.88Ghz
Motherboard - Epox 8RDA+
RAM - 1x Crucial 1gb pc3200 64x64 DDR, 2x Crucial 512MB pc3200 64x64 DDR
Graphics Card - MSI Nvidia Geforce FX5600 with 128MB onboard memory
Hard Drive - 1x Maxtor 200GB and 1x Seagate 400MB
Power Supply - Built in in Antec Sonata case

My motherboard manufacturer has suggested that all ATI cards from 8500 up to 9800 should be fine, and similarly all nVidia cards up to a 6800 should be compatible.

So what I'm wondering is...what would be the best one to go for, and would I really notice the difference above the FX5600?

Any and all help / advice / theories appreciated!

MC

 

Dear all,

I am in the process of upgrading my graphics card (not least so that I can get involved with some BF2142), and wondered whether you had any advice on what would be the best available compatible card that I could get, and whether or not it would / should be a worthwhile improvement.

My current setup is:

CPU - AMD Athlon 1.88Ghz
Motherboard - Epox 8RDA+
RAM - 1x Crucial 1gb pc3200 64x64 DDR, 2x Crucial 512MB pc3200 64x64 DDR
Graphics Card - MSI Nvidia Geforce FX5600 with 128MB onboard memory
Hard Drive - 1x Maxtor 200GB and 1x Seagate 400MB
Power Supply - Built in in Antec Sonata case

My motherboard manufacturer has suggested that all ATI cards from 8500 up to 9800 should be fine, and similarly all nVidia cards up to a 6800 should be compatible.

So what I'm wondering is...what would be the best one to go for, and would I really notice the difference above the FX5600?

Any and all help / advice / theories appreciated!

MC

 

6800 GTs or 6800 Ultras got high marks when they first came out, they will be going cheap now, still good cards like. (the AGP ones your wanting, im assuming by ur sys spec.)

 

A more powerful graphics card will allow more detail settings to be turned on or up whilst doing it at higher resolutions.

The most powerful card you can buy is the Radeon X1950Pro, which should be compatible. If not, the 6800 Ultra is your best bet. In any case, both options will dramatically improve gaming performance.