Author Topic: Video Card Upgrade (Read 350 times)

otoole · « **on:** June 03, 2004, 10:58:04 AM »

Can anybody reccomend a reasonably priced video card that will give me the performance needed for AHII. I have already upgraded MB and processor, but am still using a Geforce2 vid card.

MOSQ · « **Reply #1 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:02:33 AM »

It depends on what your definaition of "reasonably priced" is. We also need to know what CPU you are running now. There's no point in getting a top notch card if you are going to be CPU bottlenecked.
So what's your budget for your card?

otoole · « **Reply #2 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:06:09 AM »

Athlon 2100+
512 mb sdram
$100-200

otoole · « **Reply #3 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:18:30 AM »

my current card gives me between 30 and 75 fps in AHI but only 20 - 40 fps AHII. This is running it in 16 bit, 1024 X 768 and the sliders in default.
NVIDIA GeForce2 MX/MX 400

MOSQ · « **Reply #4 on:** June 03, 2004, 11:53:44 AM »

Your card is not DX-9 enabled. Be sure to get a card that is. All the Nvidia FX cards and ATI 9600/9800 are DX-9.

There is a big range of cards between $100 at the low end and $200 at the top.

My votes on chipsets:

Low end: A FX-5200 Ultra or FX-5700 LE. I wouldn't normally advise any card that ends in LE or SE, but the 5700 LE is different. It can be overclocked to 5700 Ultra performance. You'll need the coolbits registry change to enable the built-in Nvidia overclocking sliders.

In the middle at $150: the ATI Radeon 9600 XT or a FX-5700 Ultra.

At the $200 end: ATI Radeon 9800 Pro.

Note these are chipsets, not necessarily ATI branded cars. Go to Newegg.com, click on Computer Hardware tab, then the Shop By Category, then Video Cards. Use the search tool on the left to choose the chipsets.

A few folks are having problems with ATI chipsetsin AHII. Others report they work great.

jasper001 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 03, 2004, 02:21:43 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by MOSQ
Your card is not DX-9 enabled. Be sure to get a card that is. All the Nvidia FX cards and ATI 9600/9800 are DX-9.

Mosq, or others, what's your opinion of the ATI 9600SE? I know that the SE models are not highly regarded, but they're selling the cards at my local computer warehouse, Fry's, for $59! ($79-$20 rebate.)

Is the price performance ratio so much better for the 9600 or 9800 that I should forget about using the 9600SE?

Can anyone currently using a 9600SE report on it's AH2 performance?

TIA

MOSQ · « **Reply #6 on:** June 03, 2004, 03:13:08 PM »

Forget the 9600 SE. It's a piece of junk. They stripped a lot out of the 9600 to make the 9600 SE. That's why it's so cheap! You will be much happier with a 9600 Pro or XT.

I got my 5200 Ultra at Frys on sale for $99. Using the Nvidia overclock sliders it's running 424 CPU and 760 Memory. The stock settings are 350 CPU and 650 Memory. It works great. But don't get a plain 5200.

The 5700 LE is an overclockers dream. It has all the memory pipes and other important goodies intact that the 5700 Ultra has, just a turned down CPU speed. So you just turn it back up. About $110 at Newegg.

Newegg has better prices and quick delivery, you just can't take it back for an instant credit if you don't like the card like you can at Frys.

One last thing I forgot to mention. There is no point in 256MB of video memory unless you are running ultra high resolutions. If you use the normal 1024x768 or 1280x1024, you only need 128MB. The rest will be doing nothing but costing an extra $50.

jasper001 · « **Reply #7 on:** June 03, 2004, 05:00:59 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by MOSQ
Forget the 9600 SE. It's a piece of junk. They stripped a lot out of the 9600 to make the 9600 SE. That's why it's so cheap! You will be much happier with a 9600 Pro or XT.

LOL

Mosq...don't hold back...tell me what you really think!

Seriously, thanks for the quick response. I'll do a little online shopping and see which one of your recommendations look best.