Graphics Cards.

[WldThing]

I would like to ask a few questions regarding graphics cards.

Okay i bought my computer and i havent changed its graphics card yet, and im about ready to, so i would like to know, can someone explain to me the benefits of a new graphics card?

Can you also propose a good graphics card to use for AH?

And 1 last question, getting a new graphics card will increase your FPS correct, therefore making the stuttering go away?

Sorry for the noob questions, just dont play much with the comp.

Thanks

[ALF]

Give us the specs on your rig so we can advise you based on YOUR COMPUTER


Anything fairly new will benifit greatly from a new graphics card, specifically, bang for the buc, a Geforce ti4200 (sinfully low price of $150 now).....RUN to get it.

[WldThing]

Sorry not good at finding System Specs, but this is what i found.

System Manufacturer   HP Pavilion 04
Processor   x86 Family 6 Model 8 Stepping 10 GenuineIntel ~1102 Mhz
SMBIOS Version   2.31
Total Physical Memory   128.00 MB
Available Physical Memory   16.29 MB
Total Virtual Memory   434.22 MB
Available Virtual Memory   192.01 MB
Page File Space   307.73 MB
Intel(R) 82810 Graphics Controller   
128 MB of RAM

Been a year since i bought my computer.

[eagl]

A geforce2 is sufficient for AH (I use one and get 50-60 fps at 1280x1024x32) but you could turn on antialiasing or ansiotropic filtering if you have a GF4-4200 or better.  Your cpu plays a factor however if you have under about 1.4ghz intel or 1.2 ghz Athlon.  I have a 1.4 Athlon with my GF2 and it's plenty fast enough, although I don't have fancy antialiasing or ansio filtering to pretty things up.

As for stuttering, I've see stuttering in AH on every single system I've ever seen.  At the last con HT and I looked into some stuttering, and every single computer we checked had some amount of stuttering under certain circumstances.  I have no idea if he's made any progress getting rid of it.  At the time, the ATI 9700 wasn't out so I don't know if that card gets rid of the stuttering either.

[WldThing]

I found a good site, and which one of these would you guys suggest?

Cards

[38ruk]

the 9700 pro studdered so bad i took mine back and put my g4 4400 back in  smooth as silk      ur from erie  wyldthing i live just north east of jamestown ny   38maw

[Pfunk]

Dont buy from Best Buy there cards especially those PNY ones are crap.  Go to http://www.newegg.com they are by far the best online retailer for computer products. But here is the deal.  I doubt very seriously that you HP computer has a phyical AGP slot, usually on the retail computers ie, HP,Compaq,Etc have the vid cards soldered onto the motherboard.  If i remeber correctly the Intel video card is just that it is integrated into the motherboard.  You will have to check your system with HP to see if the motherboard indeed does have an ACTUAL AGP SLOT.  The other thing is that if it does have an AGP slot you will have to disable the onboard video.  This is usually done via the Bios, however HP,Compaq, etc bios are toejam and hardly ever let you control any of these functions.  So before buying I would recommend you check into this.  If you do buy a card I would recommend either a GF4 Ti4200, or a GF3.  You can get a good GF4ti on newegg from either Gainward,or Leadtek.  Hope this helps.

[WldThing]

I think i have the slots that your talking about... While installing my Ethernet connection for my DSL, i had opened the Tower, and i seen a couple slots that were located by my Ethernet Card.

I have found these 2 cards, that dont sound bad.

First

Second

[Pfunk]

I dont know much about that  FTIcomputer.com company, i went to http://www.resellerratings.com and they didnt seem to have a very good rating.  There shipping is $8 just for UPS ground which sucks.  Newegg has the same card for $140 they are a MUCH more reputable company, I have spent over $3000 with them and are a WONDERFUL company to deal with.  Plus the 128MB version for $140 comes with Free Fed Ex delivery, They are in Cali and everything I have ordered from them has gotten here in 3 days.  My experience with ATI products is not very good, I've heard the 9700 is a great card, but the gf4ti4200 128MB card will far outperform that ATI 9000.  Go with Newegg and that MSI gf4ti4200 card, you wont be dissapointed.

[Pfunk]

Oh, when you opened the computer the slots that you see open what did they look like.  If they were the same size as the slot you put the Network card in then they are PCI  cards.  An AGP slot is smaller in length, they are usually brown in color.  Check again to make sure before you order.

[Kaz]

Another suggestion, try looking at the make of the motherboard (mobo) then go to their web site if they have one and locate your particular mobo. If it says that it has an AGP slot check for it on your board, as Pfunk said it's usually brown in color. Don't know much about the cards but I've heard lots of positive comments about the geforce4 Ti4200 and read reviews praising its performance.

[Eagler]

Originally posted by Pfunk
Dont buy from Best Buy there cards especially those PNY ones are crap.  Go to http://www.newegg.com they are by far the best online retailer for computer products. But here is the deal.  I doubt very seriously that you HP computer has a phyical AGP slot, usually on the retail computers ie, HP,Compaq,Etc have the vid cards soldered onto the motherboard.  If i remeber correctly the Intel video card is just that it is integrated into the motherboard.  You will have to check your system with HP to see if the motherboard indeed does have an ACTUAL AGP SLOT.  The other thing is that if it does have an AGP slot you will have to disable the onboard video.  This is usually done via the Bios, however HP,Compaq, etc bios are toejam and hardly ever let you control any of these functions.  So before buying I would recommend you check into this.  If you do buy a card I would recommend either a GF4 Ti4200, or a GF3.  You can get a good GF4ti on newegg from either Gainward,or Leadtek.  Hope this helps.

My PNY ge4 ti4400 is just as stable as my ge2 ultra from Leadtek ever was

The first PNY was bad out of the box but Circuit City exchanged it no problems. Great card - pretty cheap now (I paid $299 when they 1st came out)  85 fps (res limit of monitor) 95% of time with vsync on at 1280x1024x32

[bloodstain]

HP wont have an agp slot, they use those damn on board graphics acceleration! If you upgrade to a new video card your gonna have to get a pci card(yuck)and disable the onboard graphics. Disable but don't remove, if you remove it then it will only try to reinstall itself everytime you reboot the machine!

I used to run a HP with a 566Mhz processor and a Gforce2 pci card, it ran about 40-50 fps. While you have the case off and are changing things you should consider upping your system memory(RAM)you will be amazed how much quicker your machine runs applications!:D

[boxboy28]

Well Nvidia just announced there NV30 or GeforceFX card to be out starting next year. Im thinking big drop in prices for the geforce 4 card then..........

But if you gonna buy now go for a geforce 4 4200 64mg - best card for the money by far!!!!!!!

Another online place to look is

MWAVE.com  <-- they have decent prices too!

box

[214thCavalier]

Well my GF3 Ti500 just died after 1 year and 4 days, of course the guarantee was only 1 year GRRRR !

Anyway point is i just bought a MSI Starforce GF4 Ti4200 128mb in the uk thats £130 and was a bargain as only seen 64mb versions at that price point before.
Last time i ran a 3Dmark score on my GF3 at normal settings score was 8275 from memory, just ran the GF4TI4200 and gained 2000 points up to 10,200.
Out of the box it runs 446 mhz for the memory but has an automatic memory test proggy which tested and reset my memory running at 540 mhz !
And to think only a year ago i paid 3 x as much for the GF3 Ti500 admitted with VIVO capability but a cheap firewire pci card will cure that.
If you have the AGP slot which will be coloured brown  (pci slots are white) then definitely consider the GF4 TI4200.