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What video card should I get?


Arreat

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I'm looking for a 3D card and my i'm willing to spend $250 max. I've come across a couple of 3D cards that are within my budget, but seeing as i'm not really all computer literate, I don't know which card to choose. Here are the cards I've come across, can anyone help me choose which is best?

 

BFG GeForce FX 5500OC 256MB AGP Video Card

ATI AIW 9800 PRO 128MB Video Card

ATI Radeon X700 Pro 256MB AGP Video Card

ATI Radeon X700 Pro ViVo AGP 256MB Video Card

Diamond Radeon X1300 AGP 512MB Graphics Card

BFG Technologies GeForce 6200 256MB AGP Video Card

ATI Radeon X1300 Pro AGP 256MB Video Card

 

I'm only using it to play video games (of course). To be more specific, I'm hoping to play BF:2 and its expansions.

Here are my current specs

P4, 1.5 GHZ

256 SDRAM (hopefully upgrading to 512)

(Diamond Radeon 9200se, but that doesn't matter seeing as i'm upgrading it.)

 

I'm planning to upgrade my ram, but do you think I can run BF smoothly with 1.5 GHZ? and lastly, do you think i'm gonna need the warranty? I'm asking because i've never had my video cards break/malfunction, but then again that's maybe because I've not played a game in 4 years.

 

Thanks very much in advanced.

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Well personally, I know people who have had very bad results with Radeon 9800s, so I personally would not go that route, and I don't see anything special with the X700.

 

If you want a great card I would go for the X800GTO, but since that doesn't support Shader Module 3 it would really last very long. IMHO I would suggest that you buy a nVidia 6800 like this one.

 

In truth however, from what I've seen of BF2 it will barely run on SD RAM, especially especially with just 256 MB of it, in fact, the minimum requirments are 512. And if you are going to upgrade you RAM to DDR (highly suggested) you'll need a whole new motherboard. Also, the minimum system requirements for your Proc for BF2 is 1.7 GHz. You can see all the minimum specs here.

 

So I'm sorry, but it looks like you might want a whole new system if your looking to play BF2. But hey, that's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?

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Yes, you'll need a new one. Get the 6800 that Wally pointed out, at least 512mb (1 gig would be better) RAM and a new mobo w/CPU. Anything over 3 ghz would be good.

 

Actually, come to think of it. My "Junk/Internet Only" computer is better than yours, and I don't even play games on it. I don't even want to know what playing BF2 on this computer would be like.

 

Junk:

5200U 128mb

1.8ghz P4

512mb RAM

 

Game Comp:

7800GS 256mb

3.2ghz P4

1024mb RAM (I want to upgrade to two gigs)

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Uchiha, what I think you mean are AMD chips that are 2.0 ghz. Even though they are 2.0 ghz, they're rated at 3. For instance, this AMD Athlon 64 3200+ operates at 2ghz, but the way AMDs architecture works, it's rated at 3.2 ghz. My Athlon XP 2000+ operates at 1.6 ghz, but it's rated at 2.0 ghz.

 

So anything P4 3.0 ghz and above OR AMD 3000+ and above :)

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And the other question is how long you want your computer to last. Do you want to have to upgrade in a year or two to play Crisis or Project: Offset, then either choose parts that can just barely play BF2 on med/high and then upgrade when the next "nextgen" comes (seeing as how you apparantly only plan on playing BF2 for now) to something top of the line.

 

So the question basically is, do you plan on getting "back into gaming" or just playing a select one or two games from the years to come?

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http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1782292&Tab=2&NoMapp=0

 

or

 

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16742&vpn=128-A8-N374&manufacture=eVGA

 

 

also your specs dont meet the BF2 system requirements. u need a 1.7 ghz CPU, 512mb Ram (1gb recommended)

i personaly have a eVGA e-GeForce 6800GS and i like it, but im thinking of upgrading iit... u might wanna consider getting an eVGA vid. card since they have this "Step-up Program" which means that in 90 days u can trade ur card in and get a better one, paying the difference, and if u get a good deal on ur card, then id go for it...IMO.

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Uchiha, what I think you mean are AMD chips that are 2.0 ghz. Even though they are 2.0 ghz, they're rated at 3. For instance, this AMD Athlon 64 3200+ operates at 2ghz, but the way AMDs architecture works, it's rated at 3.2 ghz. My Athlon XP 2000+ operates at 1.6 ghz, but it's rated at 2.0 ghz.

 

So anything P4 3.0 ghz and above OR AMD 3000+ and above :)

 

Oh <_<

I didn't knew that >_> I feel dumb now :lol:

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I'm running a AMD 2800+, 1 gig DDR, and a bootleg nvidia 6600 256 DDR. It runs BF:2 pretty well but still can get choppy if I have everything up on high. In other words "You're gonna need a bigger CPU". Upgarde completely. Go with Tie's choices.

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Thats not that bad, of coruse, you should be going for a Socket 939 mainboard and CPU instead of a 754. Ah well, nevermind since its hitting your budget, i cant say anything. :)

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