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video card
natevploeg
Member Posts: 35
in Tabula Rasa
I need to get a new vid card for this game. I dont want to spend too much but want it to run decent. Whats a good AGP card for the money that will run this nicely? Thanks
Comments
high end games on low end cards!? what a concept!!
you sure you have enough ram AND a cessor that can handle it?
since you said agp i would just go as big as you can since its a dead platform anyways and next upgrade will most likely not be agp. theres tons of web sites dedicated to selling hardware, might i suggest looking at them (newegg.com for example)?
Save up a little bit and get your self a nvidia 7800 Gefore.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/9335/11
This is the part where cameron goes berserk!
Megaflux speaks truth!
Last years 128MB card won't cut it... And some of the 256MBs won't do much better.
Make sure you meet the minimum specs listed, or live in regret!
I've tried running it on some of the other comps I have around and the framerate suffers badly on older cards... and your dual core processor can't make up for the difference... (if you are running one)... So I like to experiment... sue me.
Upgrade your Mobo first then your card, if you can't afford that then buy the cheapest AGP card that meets the requirements then upgrade when you have the cash. I found the 8500 GT to be a very reasonably priced mid-upper range card, it doesn't touch the 8800's in performance but it is more than adequate to run most online ganes at medium - high settings in my experience. Also if you're Mobo uses AGP then there's a chance you still use DDR1 Ram which costs a fortune to upgrade compared to DDR2 as no-one makes it anymore, also DDR2 performs better and newer mobos have architecture built in to optomize it.
I bought an Asus P5K SE motherboard and would recommend it to anyone upgrading, but seriously any AGP card is going to be left wanting especially with DX 10 around the corner.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
I hate to say it friend but your gonna have to upgrade your PC. Thy dont make AGP cards anymore and If you got one, I'm afraid it will not help your performance at all. You'll have to play in low settings and the game will be very LAGGY.. If you want, I could help give u advice on what type of PC to buy, including motherboard, processor, graphics card, PSU, etc.. Just email me if interested.
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
If I were going to get a new AGP card it would be either
this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150210
thats a great card will probably last you a little while and its fairly cheap.
just my recommendation...search the newegg site....has lots of great prices, really. then maybe look up reviews of the cards that look best for you.
good luck. honestly, dont spend too much...PCI X is cheaper than AGP cards now...so you might want to just consider getting a new motherboard with PCI X and starting from scratch if you're looking to spend more than $150-200. Just a thought.
here is the same card i mentioned earlier except $10 cheaper
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2743727&CatId=935
it really is a good card for the buy.
It would be much easier for him to purchase a new system. I wouldn't even think of gettign a AGP card these days. That 7600 GT was decent 2 years ago when people were stil using AGP slots in their old 758 - 939 pin MOBO's. But everything today is PCI X and PCI X2.. And If he purchased a PCI X MOBO, he'd probably get a cheap one under 100.00 and those are all bleh! They only run video at 8x and cards that use 16x will only see half their potential. Then he'll almost have to get at least a 400 Watt PSU, compatible RAM, etc. So he'll have to find someone who has some crazy knowledge on computers to help him out cause just buying a cheap pci X MOBO and not fully knowing what they're buying wouldn't be recommended.
My advice would be to just hit up Best Buy or Circuit city, get a HP or something since they come with a decent processor even though their mobo's are bleh, but they have updated DDR 800 Ram, windows Vista included and a crapola onboard video card. All you would really need to buy after that would be a decent grapics card.. You can get a 7800 GT seen here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130035 reasonable. "which blows away that 7600 GT" and both are the same price
And by adding another gig ram, your online gaming days would be a blast for years to come.
Rallithon Oakthornn
(Retired Heirophant of the 60th season)
i dont exactly have 1000 dollars to throw at a new computer. I dont care if its low settings. I don't care too much how polished the graphics are, i just want to be able to play the game.
Now lets say i did want to upgrade.(which i do) How much would a new motherboard cost?
I would get a new vid card for around 120, another gig of ram to get to 2gig for 80 we'll say + however much the mother board is. That i might be able to do.
There is no way it would be easier for him to purchase a new system. Thats putting down a lot of cash and he said he doesn't even want to spend that much money to begin with. It would be easier to just buy a new graphics card. You're right the 7600gt isn't the best card you can buy, but it's the best card for the money for an AGP system. I'm still running games on a 9800 pro 128mb without too much trouble. Granted, the settings are usually on the lower side, but not abysmal and I game regularly.
Just because you wouldn't think of getting an AGP doesn't mean other people wouldn't. Most of us probably don't have the money to spend on a brand new flashy system given certain financial situations. Just because AGP is becoming out of date, doesn't mean it isn't worth the consideration. Lord knows he might have a TI4200 in his current system or a 9600 and if he were to jump to a 7600GT thats about 3-4x more the performance of his current system. That's not a bad deal my friend.
You're right, the 7800gt is significantly better for the same price, but he would also have to update his motherboard as well for at least another 100 just to be PCI X compatible. It just becomes an expensive process and you have to ask yourself, is it really worth it? Chances are his current processor wouldn't be compatible with the new mobo either, probably need a new power supply to run it as well, etc. That's talking a lot more dough.
The 7600gt is at least 2x as fast on 3dMark06 than the 9800 pro and it is also an extreme update compatibility wise with pixel shader 3.0, etc. I wouldn't call that a bad deal for $120.
Now...if he wanted to get a new system, which it sounds like he is considering you have to get a mobo for at least $120 for a decent one with PCI X. Then he would probably end up spending at least another $130 for a good graphics card, then depending on what graphics card he got he would need to spend at least $50-80 on a new power supply depending on the wattage required by the new graphics card. Then probably about $70-100 on new RAM to be compatible with the new mobo. Then if he couldn't use his current casing he would have to get a new case for about $20, he would then have to swap his CDRW drive/DVD RW drives and then he would need a processor for at least $130-150.
Thats about $600 for a pretty good system that would last at least a few years. Everything would be up to date, but that's $480 bux more than just getting that new AGP card that would last him probably another 2 years of solid gaming before he ran into compatibility issues with next gen games.
And btw, Best Buy and Circuit City pre-made systems are crap and ripoffs compared to what you can make by hand...screw HP, E machines, IBM, DELL, etc, they can all burn in hell with their outrageous pricing and cheap motherboards. As for Windows Vista...YOU DO NOT WANT IT. If you want to suck up and use all of your pc resources and RAM, then go ahead and get it and don't forget about all the current compatability issues that are associated with Vista right now. The only reason I would get WIndows Vista is for DX10 compatability, but as of right now DX10 isn't big yet and probably won't be for at least another solid year and current graphic cards that are DX10 are expensive.
I would just drop the 120 if you can spare it on the 7600gt. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. Unless you really think you might want a new system, remember you're talking about 450-650 for a new system (a system that is semi-future proof).
Experience: 4 years Computer Systems trade school.
very awesome reply thanks whoever that was above me. Thanks
Now i did slightly debate getting a new system premade one since thanksgiving sale day is close and there could be a sweet deal, but id rather just slowly keep upgrading my system so i dont have to drop 700 bucks at once. 200 here and there through the years doesnt hurt as bad since im in college.
Now you mentions i might have a 9600, fact is my current card is a 9200. The game literally will not even load up with what i have.
I also am not sure if my processor will need to be replaced to play this either. I currently have a AMD 3000+. Is that good enough for now.
My plan is to upgrade my video card (agp for now) and once i get some xmas money and save up, ill get a new motherboard and ram later.
so basically i just need a card that will play it with my system. i have AMD 3000+ and a gig of ram right now. My video card is what is holding me back im almost positive because its a radeon 9200, so i really just need to know what card (preferably under 100 dollars) will play this game since i dont have much disposable income at the moment.
You're welcome.
I totally understand the college situation as I'm in the same scenario.
The AMD 3000 sounds perfectly fine. I am actually running a AMD 2800 with my 9800 pro and its been pretty reliable, but my 9800 has been showing a lot of its age the past year or so.
Games are usually a lot more graphics card intensive than CPU nowadays, so while the AMD 3000 may provide a slight bottleneck for your performance, you'll still notice an extremely significant difference over your 9200 with the 7600gt.
And just remember, Tabula Rasa seems to be well optimized with its performance on slightly older systems especially compared to other MMORPGS (except there has been some minor nvidia compatibility issues with certain cards, but they're supposed to be addressed in the next patch/driver update (if they haven't already)) so I believe you will be pretty well off, actually more so than a lot of people once you get the 7600gt. I'm actually surprised you made it this far with the 9200.
Yeah, so I wouldn't worry about your processor so much as your video card. As long as you got at least 1GIG of RAM, I think you'll be well within range to play Tabula Rasa with some pretty good eye candy.
Good luck to you. If you have any more questions feel free to PM me or whatever.
If you really want something under $100 mainly just to play Tabula Rasa
Then I would say either this:: (7600GS 256MB) <--- I think this is the most reliable card out of the 3, but most expensive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130076
It says 99.99 or whatever, but right now there is a $15 rebate. So it would only be about 85 +5 for shipping. Thats 90...you'd save like 30 bux overall vs the 7600GT, but you'll take a descent performance hit using this card over the 7600gt. So you just gotta figure out if the extra $30 is worth it or not.
or (if you really want to save money):: (HIS 1650 Pro with 256MB RAM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161053
it says $85 but there is a $25 rebate right now on it....so yeah thats only $60 bux...thats a damn good deal IMO.
Only thing I don't like about that card is it seems to have some overheating issues....but you can always RMA it I suppose (which I've done 4x with my 9800pro)
OR::: (HIS 1650 Pro WITH 512MB RAM)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161052
Its $80 but has a $10 rebate...so its really $70--->Only $10 more than the other 1650 with 256 more RAM (not sure how much of a performance difference that will be, but probably fractional)
So...hope that helps a bit. There are some great deals out there.
How about the GeForce 6800XT 256 MB 128-bit DDR? Not too expensive and big upgrade from mine.
Radeon X 1950 Pro with 512mb
works fine
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I haven't heard good things about the 6800XT...I've actually heard it's pretty laughable especially compared to the 7600GS. You'd only save 10-15 dollars over the 7600GS and the GS is a significantly better buy. If you nickel and dime too much you could screw yourself in the end. I wouldn't get it, IMO. It'd probably run Tabula Rasa though, but not great.
Oh yeah...just as a sidennote (lol im beginning to think I should get a new graphics card as well) incase you are thinking about getting the 7600gt...i just found a 7800gs for only $10 more and it is marginally better than the 7600gt...so might as well get the 7800gs if you're thinking about getting the 7600gt at all (but you seem to prefer <100 so....yeah...) but just a thought.
here it is incase u were wondering::: (its got a 30 dollar rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130274
if you're using an AMD 3000+, I feel sorry for you. If you're going to stick with an older architecture, you really need at least an AMD64.
I was playing TR in beta with an AMD 3000, 1gb memory, and an ATI x1650 pro 512mb, and it ran like crap. I happened to find an AMD64 3200, another GB of memory, and a 10,000 rpm SATA hdd in a system, which cost me $50 from a friend who just built a new system. I slapped my ATI and my original gb of memory in the case, and now it runs VERY smoothly.
There ARE good AGP cards for the older platforms...but even the best AGP card available isn't going to make the game smooth if your 32-bit processor is struggling. You'll likely also encounter "hitches" every few feet as the system struggles to get the data to and from the video card fast enough, and/or memory / hdd latency issues.
we'l have to wait and see, i just got the Geforce 7600 GS 256mb 128-bit card. Everyones advice is get a new computer, but im not going to do that yet so please dont tellme to get a new computer anymore, i know mine isnt awesome. Thank you
Ill update later once i use it to tell ya how it works.
Whargoul, did you get that upgrade before or after the game ACTUALLY came out? Cuz I know they did optimizations when beta ended to make the game run smoother on all systems. Cuz I don't see how a jump from a 3000xp to a 3200-64bit could make that significant of a difference...maybe the harddrive since it's at 10,000 RPM? Was your old one a 5400RPM or 7200RPM? I think it was more your RAM than anything, though.
7600GS has better performance than the 1650 512 anyway so i believe he will be well off.
Before, during the last couple months of beta.
Old HDD was 7200rpm IDE.
But don't forget that the AMD64 has HT, which the old XP processors didn't. Not to mention the higher bandwidth memory architecture, improved MB chipset, etc. For a full list of the advantages that the AMD64 holds over it's predecessor, check out this link.
Also, your statement about the performance of the 7600GS VS the ATI x1650pro are debatable, as the cards are so close that it is really application specific. Various benchmarks and comparisons around the web show slight performance differances between the two, each occasionally beating out the other by 1-5 fps average in games.
You should have listed your budget.
Do not take any advice from anyone telling you "AGP cards are no longer made". They have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
There are some very nice AGP cards coming out and this is in no way a dead technology due to the majority of in-use motherboards which support them. Some AGP cards will actually out perform PCI-e cards!
The pipelines are the main thing to watch for. PCI-e cards have 16 by default and most current AGP cards are 12. Now, this doesn't mean you can't get an AGP with 16 pipelines...x800/x850
If AGP was truely dead then you wouldn't be seing current generation video cards using the format.
I just picked up an HIS x1950 pro 512mb AGP for less then a 170 USD. Will this outperform the latest $800 USD PCI-e card? No, but it does not need to either.
Of course, I also had to purchase a new PSU and this, the psu, is likely where you'll notice a substantial increase in overall cost of the upgrade.
AGP is not dead.
p.s. the pipes are being locked at 12 instead of 16 on most agp cards not 'cs of technology, but 'cs they want you to buy newer and more expensive equipment. Some of these "locked" cards can be unlocked...
All you need is ram, motherboard, processor, and video upgrade.
This will cost only 250 USD.
It will save you the trubbel of wasting your money on an outdated interface.
So spend 120 USD now and get an over priced card or get a new setup for 250.
And how are you going to get your money back in the future selling a card that has an interface thats no longer supported.
Anyway newegg has:
BIOSTAR NF520-A2 AM2 NVIDIA nForce 520 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
BIOSTAR V8502GT21 GeForce 8500GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5D-2GBNQ - Retail
AMD Athlon 64 LE-1620 2.4GHz Socket AM2 45W Processor Model ADH1620DHBOX - Retail
With shipping its going to cost 250 USD. Assuming you live in the states.
I use 2 7600GS in my system seems to Work fine so Go sli if you can. You could Get 2 PCI E cards for under 120.
You should have listed your budget.
Do not take any advice from anyone telling you "AGP cards are no longer made". They have absolutely no clue what they're talking about.
There are some very nice AGP cards coming out and this is in no way a dead technology due to the majority of in-use motherboards which support them. Some AGP cards will actually out perform PCI-e cards!
The pipelines are the main thing to watch for. PCI-e cards have 16 by default and most current AGP cards are 12. Now, this doesn't mean you can't get an AGP with 16 pipelines...x800/x850
If AGP was truely dead then you wouldn't be seing current generation video cards using the format.
I just picked up an HIS x1950 pro 512mb AGP for less then a 170 USD. Will this outperform the latest $800 USD PCI-e card? No, but it does not need to either.
Of course, I also had to purchase a new PSU and this, the psu, is likely where you'll notice a substantial increase in overall cost of the upgrade.
AGP is not dead.
p.s. the pipes are being locked at 12 instead of 16 on most agp cards not 'cs of technology, but 'cs they want you to buy newer and more expensive equipment. Some of these "locked" cards can be unlocked...
I have to disagree with you here, in my opinion and that of many others the AGP platform is a dead platform. I wan't aware that an AGP card had that much bandwith but isn't that a moot point since the platform cannot utilize it all, where as pci-e x16 can utilize it all?
Also after upgrading to that card he's probably not going to be able to upgrade any further, as Nvidia hasn't released any AGP cards in the 8 series to my knowledge this year nor have plans to (correct me if I'm wrong). That card you bought was released in January this year and is probably still the best AGP card around.
A good 8 series nvidia pci-e x16 can be purchased for under $100. A good motherboard with a pci-e x16 slot will go for under $100 too so depending on what his other parts are he could theoretically upgrade to a new mobo and pci card in the 8 series for a similar price to that AGP card. If he has to buy new RAM well DDR 2 is very cheap and DDR 1 costs a bomb so he's gonna save money and he probably can get a mobo with the same CPU socket as his old one.
The only thing against going PCI is that people don't want the hassle and sometimes extra epense (although this is small and saves money in the long run) of upgrading and would rather get an AGP card. Until one day there is nothing on the market that their mobo can use to effectively play games.
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis