New Graphics Card Needed

Discussion in 'Video Cards, Displays and TV Tuners' started by Gavzta, Dec 1, 2003.

  1. Gavzta

    Gavzta Geek Trainee

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    I havent got the money at the moment, but i really do need a new graphics card, the one i have at the moment is a nvidia geforce 4 that you could get a year ago for my pc, i have updated the drivers for it so i could overclock it, but i dont see the point as it hasnt got a fan on it and overclockin it too much would be a result in blowing it up :( my mate got a ati radeon 9800 pro 128mb and he got it for 210quid roughly and its really good, you can overclock it, you can play all the games at there best graphics its just brill, it makes my computer look bad:( are there any tips or advice you guys could give me bought new graphics cards
     
  2. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    I think it would depend on how much you wana spend on the card! for around £210 thats a excellent price for the card!!! I would def buy it, whats your limit?
     
  3. harrack52

    harrack52 Supreme Geek

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    Anothe vote for the 9800 Pro. It's extremely fast, nothing less. Even the non-pro is very fast, if you can find one.
     
  4. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    There's really no comparison between a Radeon 9800 pro and a GeForce4 MX (it has no fan, must be an MX). A GeForce4MX is actually more like a GeForce2 on steroids than a GF4. It has no pixel shaders for cool effects, narrow rendering pipes and poor memory bandwidth. But, you can overclock the GF4MX quite a bit if you add a fan to the existing heatsink. At least that way you can draw a few more FPS outta your existing card 'till you can afford the monster upgrade. Just take a 40-60mm fan, such as one from an old CPU or northbridge and screw it right onto your cards' existing porcupine. Bam! Overclock city. Also, I recommend Omegadrive's tweaked NVidia drivers to accompany your newfound overclockability. They come with overclock utlities such as artifact testers, to make sure you're not pushing the card harder than it can handle.
     
  5. Gavzta

    Gavzta Geek Trainee

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    Yeah i got them drivers a wile ago now so i could overclock my graphics card but i am not going to overclock it till i get a decetn fan for it at least. anywayz i dnt wna spend more than 250 on a graphics card
     
  6. Thomthus

    Thomthus Geek Trainee

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    im that m8 heya sean. by the tyime u get the wonga u shud beable to get an xt for tat price. cya at skool pal
     
  7. Gavzta

    Gavzta Geek Trainee

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    Yo tom lol, yeah good point but im askin what would be the best one to get for value for money? now or later it dusnt matter
     
  8. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    Right now, it's the Radeon 9800XT. I don't know what the future will hold as major changes happen about every six months. Unfortunately, I don't have the powers of Miss Cleo, so I couldn't tell you what's going to be the best thing to get.
     
  9. Gavzta

    Gavzta Geek Trainee

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    but surely if they bring out a new graphics card thats better than the Radeon 9800Xt than its going to cost more and then prices will fall and then the best ones to buy at my limit will be cards like the Ati Radeon 9800 Xt maybe or just the pro 128mb maybe
     
  10. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    If you go buy it immediately, the top of line cards run between $400-500 USD new. Wait a month or so and you can find them for less.
     
  11. Sniper

    Sniper Administrator Staff Member

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    Gav if you can wait for bit to see if the prices go down in a month or so, then buy it! theres bound to be better cards out than XT and will cost more, but I dont see why the Pro verson wont last you a long time! If you want a card now get the 9800 Pro! man I used to be a a Nivida fan :)
     
  12. harrack52

    harrack52 Supreme Geek

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    Whether you wait or not, if you buy the top of the line, it'll last long. Just look at the 9700 Pro. It can still play every game out there with the IQ on without any problems.
     
  13. Anti-Trend

    Anti-Trend Nonconformist Geek

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    Agreed, harrack52. I can still play most all current (non-DX9) games at decent framerates with my aging 8500LE! It only cost me $90-something a long time ago, and I never felt it was a bad investment. These new 9700 and better cards are so far ahead of the game, you shouldn't go lacking for years to come.
     
  14. Big B

    Big B HWF Godfather

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    8500LE here too. I've also got a GeForce 4 Ti4600, but realistically, I can't tell that much of a difference in actual gameplay. There is about a 4k gap in my 3Dmark 2001 score, but the systems aren't configured the same.
     

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