Yet another 'which GFX card' thread...

[Drew]

Yo hyper clever beings.

Yep, I am going to buy a graphics card.

Bear in mind, this is to replace the on-board graphics on this mobo...

http://www.asrock.com/mb/overview.asp?Model=775I945GZ

And I have a budget of about £50 delivered (UK remember).

If it helps, I'm running a Celeron D 2.66 o/c to 3Ghz with 1Gb of Ram, and will mostly be playing Live For Speed and this new thing I found called 'Rappelz'.

DX10 is not even an issue, as Vista really, really doesn't appeal, nor do any of these uber-games like NFS carbon or 'Oblivion', whatever that is.

There's the challenge... a graphics card for almost no monies at all, capable of actually playing games and stuff. A tall order I know, but let me know what you can dig up, because graphics cards pros and cons and ATI vs. Nvidia are not something I have ever been terribly clued up on.

Mostly they sound like motorbikes to me....

[Spawn-Inc]

DX10 is not even an issue, as Vista really, really doesn't appeal, nor do any of these uber-games like NFS carbon or 'Oblivion', whatever that is.


haha that says it all...


i was going to suggest a 8500GT but it seems as though you only have pci expree 4x which i don't think will work. so i'm not sure what to recommend now.

[Drew]

i was going to suggest a 8500GT

See... sounds like something Suzuki or Yamaha would make....

Check out my new Kawasaki 8500GTGSXRRightURNinjabladeMarsbar!

Thanks for the input dude, it's appreciated.

:edit: After a bit of 8500GT googlage, it comes with a copy of Dawn of War... that's another game I like, so we're on the right track...

:edit again: More googlage has come up with nVidia GeForce 8 Series with loads of different brands... what's the crack? Educate the moron please....

[Spawn-Inc]

haha sry, i forgot to include a link on that. its the second lowest card from the 8xxx series (the 8xxx series is the newest out by nvidia but the 9xxx series is coming out soon). the 8500GT played crysis for xRyokenx on low settings so it should handle what you have to through at it.

but the main thing is i'm not sure if you can use PCI Express cards. on the link for your motherboard it says "1 x AGI Express slot (PCI Express x4)" i don't know what that means.

[Drew]

I see.....

I am still bouncing around the net trying to get my head around graphics card technology, and it's mental.

What I can gather is that any PCI-e card will work, just at reduced speeds. Can someone from TBCS set me straight?

Everywhere else just blathers on in Klingon, I need someone to spell it out in Engerleesh.

[Drew]

http://episteme.arstechnica.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/77909774/m/312008771831

I am getting sooo confused.....

[Spawn-Inc]

i take it you don't have any other computers that have pci express cards? ask to borrow a friends card and see if that works before you buy anything just in case.

i will ask a question for you at ocforums.com as they know hardware way more than case modding and should know the answer.

[Ap1thy]

aparently the orgional AGI was an agp slot on a pci bus. AGI Express is PCI-Express with only 4 lanes instead of 16. I dont know if all cards will work at the reduced bandwidth, but with that 8500gt you should have a problem

[Drew]

aparently the orgional AGI was an agp slot on a pci bus. AGI Express is PCI-Express with only 4 lanes instead of 16. I dont know if all cards will work at the reduced bandwidth, but with that 8500gt you should have a problem

Right, maybe I'm simple (actually, bin maybe, I know I am...), but what exactly is a lane?

I presume more is better, but I really have no idea what it is.

This is my only PC, and the first one I've ever owned without an AGP slot.

The only friend I have that actually runs a card instead of on-board also has AGP.

And did you mean should have a problem, or should not?

[Spawn-Inc]

if you really want to find out maybe bring your pc to a computer store and ask if they can pop in a card and see if it works. and don't worry about drivers, just see if it works.

i think he meant there shouldn't be a problem.

[Drew]

Done some more digging, and came across the manual for the mobo, and these are the recommended cards....


NVIDIA ASUS EN7600GT/2DHT GeForce 7600GT
ASUS EN7800GTX/2DHTV/256M GeForce 7800GTX
ASUS Extreme N6800GT GeForce 6800GT
Albatron GeForce 7300GS GeForce 7300GS
Albatron PC6600GT GeForce 6600GT
Albatron PC6600LEQ2 GeForce 6600LE
Gigabyte GV-NX66T256DE GeForce 6600GT
Inno3D GeFORCE 6600 LE GeForce 6600LE
LEADTEK PX6500 TDH GeForce 6500
LEADTEK PX7300GS TDH GeForce 7300GS
LEADTEK WinFast PX7800 GT TDH GeForce 7800 GT
MSI NX6800GS-TD256E GeForce 6800 GS
MSI NX7300GS-TD256E GeForce 7300 GS
MSI NX7900GTX-T2D512E GeForce 7900 GTX
MSI PCX 5750-TD128E GeForce PCX5750
Sparkle GeFORCE 6200TC GeForce 6200TC


ATI ASUS EAX700PRO/TVD Radeon X700 Pro
ASUS Extreme AX800XL Radeon X800 XL
ASUS EAX1900XT/2DHTV Radeon X1900XT
ABIT X600XT Radeon X600XT
Gecube GC-RX700S-D3H Radeon X700SE
GECUBE RX1600PG2 Radeon X1600PRO
Gecube RX1600XTG3-D3/256M Radeon X1600XT
GECUBE X1800XTD-VIE3 Radeon X1800XT
Gecube X850XT-VIVO Radeon X850 XT
MSI RX1300GPRO-TD256E Radeon X1300 PRO
MSI RX1600GPRO-TD256E Radeon X1600PRO
MSI RX1600XT-T20256EZ Radeon X1600XT
PowerColor X800GT Radeon X800GT
PowerColor X800GTO16 Radeon X800GTO

Anyone spot anything cheap and worth having there?

Remember, none of that means a damn thing to me.....

[Drew]

Have spent time in the chat room with XcOM and SirKillalot, and I'm thinking of havign this one here.....

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139552

Thoughts?

[Spawn-Inc]

sounds good, the only 7xxx series i've ever had was a 7200GS (FYI-lower number means not as good) and it could handle half life 2 on medium specs, and crysis on low settings, though not very well.

[Drew]

I've just noticed...

I have this monitor...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000JW97N0/interactiveda3019-21

Which has the old style blue plug on the end, and that card seems to have a completely different arrangement.

Problem? Or just an adaptor job?

[Spawn-Inc]

the card should come with an adaptor if brand new but then again they don't make that card anymore

you can get them cheap on ebay though.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/DVI-to-VGA-Adapter-Convertor-DVI-I-Converter-d-sub-15_W0QQitemZ180213251863QQihZ008QQcategoryZ41999QQ ssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[Drew]

w00t

[crenn]

The 7900GS will do nicely.

[Drew]

All ordered up... I ordered this:

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/139552

And this.....

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=170192547519&ssPageName=STRK:MEWN:IT&ih=007

And a couple of other bits and bobs, to be delivered for Thursday.

Will report back.

[Drew]

Delivered today (along with new keyboard, mouse and case)... and well chuffed.

LFS frame rates up from about 18ish to 90+.

Rendering times seem well reduced too.

It's even really pretty, and quiet.

+rep to all who helped.

Many, many thanks.

:edit: Came with it's own adapter... so I have a spare. Coolness.