Graphics Card Help

[Murc XIII]

I'm looking into buying a CHEAP graphics card to help my computer last a little longer. I have a fast enough computer that I can run most games with no slowdown, but recent games have not performed as well. I want to buy a card to give my computer a little boost to help play these games and hopefully HL2 when it comes out.

I'm looking at this card:
http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=312306&pfp=BROWSE

Will this help me out? If I remember correctly, my computer is a P4 @ 2.8GHz with 1 gig of ram.

Thanks for the help.

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gree gree. (http://murc13.homestead.com/files/index.htm/)

[Shintock]

NO. If I remember correctly, the SE has half of the active pipelines of the non-SE and cuts the bandwidth in half (64 bit vs 128 bit).

I have a 9600XT. It's not too expensive, and runs everything sweet as pie. I got a voucher for HL2 free with it, but I think that promotion is finished now.

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

[This message has been edited by MaD CoW (edited July 18, 2004).]

[Murc XIII]

I'd buy that one, but I honestly don't have the money. I'm going to college next year, so I need to save as much money as possible. I'd like to spend under 150 for the card.

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gree gree. (http://murc13.homestead.com/files/index.htm/)

[Murc XIII]

howsabout this one?

http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=303437&pfp=BROWSE

Thanks for the help so far.

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gree gree. (http://murc13.homestead.com/files/index.htm/)

[Shintock]

I'd wait out and save my money.

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When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

[Murc XIII]

I have the money, I just can't spare more than ~150. College isn't free.

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gree gree. (http://murc13.homestead.com/files/index.htm/)

[Cool Matty]

Try to find a Radeon 9700 or 9700 Pro. They're older, but they have full DX9 support and aren't that slow. They are definately faster than the 9200, and they should be pretty cheap by now.

But if you want the next gen games to work well, you need a DX9 compatible card, and that requires something Radeon 9600 or greater. Basically, anything that isn't SE is good, even the plain Radeon 9600's can get you decent speed.

For example, this:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-254R&depa=0

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[This message has been edited by Cool Matty (edited July 18, 2004).]

[Warlord]

What card do you have now?

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What (http://forums.massassi.net/cgi-bin/ubbmisc.cgi?action=getbio&UserName=ShapeShifter) once was (http://tjs.oscempire.net/forums/index.php?s=)...

[Murc XIII]

I don't have any card right now. All I have is an integrated graphics card that's maybe 64 megs, I'm not sure though.

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gree gree. (http://murc13.homestead.com/files/index.htm/)

[finity5]

Bleh, stop shopping at Comp USA http://forums.massassi.net/html/tongue.gif

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ZGPC (http://www.zgplayersclub.com)

[Ric_Olie]

I recently purchased this card:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-170-044&depa=1

It's most definately not 9800Pro level, but I think it should do okay. I'll let you know in a few days when I finish building my compy. I'm still waiting on the case, motherboard, RAM, and harddrive. Should arrive tomorrow sometime.

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Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

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[IDJunkguy]

I recommend you get the 9800SE. Although they come with only half the pipelines enabled, the other half is still there (but just disabled). You can easily softmod it safely (see http://softmod.ocfaq.com/index.php) to enable ALL the pipelines. The only difference will be slightly lower clock speed than Pro, but that won't make too much of a difference in game.

It won't damage your card, unlike overclocking. Here's a quote from the FAQ section:

Q: Can I damage my card with the softmod? What if it doesn't work?
A: You can not damage your card by using this driver. If it does not work for a reason just reinstall the original unmodified driver. It is also not possible to detect if a card has been softmodded before.


[This message has been edited by IDJunkguy (edited July 19, 2004).]