Need a new GFX card.

 

Well my card is dying a slow and painfull death. I tried to get a screencap of the artifacts I'm getting but I cant for some reason,

 

Anyway. New card time. Currently I have a Duel core 6600GT 256mb

 

Its loud and hot but it has lasted me about 3 years.

 

I'm looking to spend around $300NZ

 

http://www.pricespy.co.nz/cat_16.html

 

Any comments on good cards in that price range?

 

I'm partial to NVIDIA cards but I wont say no to a good AMD/ATI one.

Edited January 29, 200817 yr by omgwtfbbqsrc

my 7300Gt cost me only around $100-150 Aus m8, u should be able to get a late 7 series or an early 8 series for $300.

Is it PCI-E (PCI Express) or AGP?

 

If its PCI-E then the 8800GT 512mb ($300-$350?) or the 8800GTS 512mb ($400) are the go. 8800gt is a bit loud and hot but great value for the power.

 

If you've got AGP, then you're a bit stuck for options...maybe best to look at a second hand AGP 7800/7900 until you can afford a mobo/cpu/ram/gfx overhaul.

 

Use Staticice.com.au to compare online prices in Aus.

PCI-E luckly

Go for an 8800GT if you can....even the 256mb version would be fine if you only have a 17-19" LCD.

yeah the card im using at the moment is 6600gt 128mb agp so ive had to buy a new system as well as it keeps malfunctioning, however im STILL waiting for my new graphics card to order in before i can put the new system together which has so far taken 3 weeks and it still isnt here .

the card im supposed to be getting is an Asus 8800gt 512mg clocked at 700mhz for $363 Aus, however id make sure your other system components are up to scratch if u get a card like this as otherwise it'll bottleneck.

im not even sure whether the processor i got will be good enough (its an E6750)

Can get a Geforce 8800 GT, 512MB, PCI Express for $366. Its Nvidia manufactured though

Meh - I run a PCI-E 8600 GT I bought last month for about $160 and it is brilliant. I can run everything on high (except AA) on a 22" widescreen. BF2 is just not *that* demanding on video cards compared to the newest generation of DX10 games. If you play lots of other games then go for it, otherwise save the bikkies and get just enough card to do the job.

Wow Bammo, that is fantastic I think I'll get one of those as it's time for a complete upgrade but can't do that until I move to Canada as it's not going to be cheap.

 

$160 for a stopgap 8600 is rad! I still have my 7600 GT and as I have an Asus A8N-E Mobo, AMD 3800+ x2 and 2 gig normal DDR ram getting a uber card is not worth it as my rig will bottleneck it.

 

Wow 160 bucks!

 

Where form?>

8600GT wont be all that great improvement over the 7600GT

Wow Bammo, that is fantastic I think I'll get one of those as it's time for a complete upgrade but can't do that until I move to Canada as it's not going to be cheap.

 

$160 for a stopgap 8600 is rad! I still have my 7600 GT and as I have an Asus A8N-E Mobo, AMD 3800+ x2 and 2 gig normal DDR ram getting a uber card is not worth it as my rig will bottleneck it.

 

Wow 160 bucks!

 

Where form?>

 

I'd shell out a little extra for the 8600GTS, a bit more power, pretty much the same price:

 

http://www.staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=8600GTS

Would that card be better Daveee?

It's hard to say. I'm only basing it off my 8500GT's performance in my file server.

 

It isn't all that great...its not terrible but I guess it depends on how many frames you're getting at the moment.

 

Personally I wouldn't waste my money...I'd just fork out the extra $150~ and get an 8800GT then whack that in my new PC when I got it (which is what I did with my 8800GTS).

 

It really depends on your budget and time frame for upgrading your PC. If you don't see an upgrade happening for the next 6+ months, then go the 8600GT or GTS as you'll get your moneys worth and it'll bandaid the PC.

 

If its only gonna be a month or two, then I'd just get a better card now you can use in the new PC when you get that.

 

But again, depends on budget and what your better half will say. Luckily I got rid of mine and can now spend my money on what I want to. Such as computer parts, xbox games, trips to qld with the lads to watch football and generally getting drunk and falling down....though thats probably slightly off topic

Hmm so graphics card or GF, this is a tough call.

LOL

Hmm so graphics card or GF, this is a tough call.

 

Well to make it easier... just ask yourself which one you can snuggle with in bed.

 

The answer, of course... is the computer.

daveee - just remember that there is a *huge* performance difference between an 8500 and a 8600. IIRC, the performance order goes 8500GT < 7600GT < 8600GT ! Of course that assumes a 7600GT PCI-E. The 7600GT AGP is nowhere near as fast.

 

Nvidia's marketing department make it almost impossible to accurately place all the chipsets in their true performance ranked order which is why so many people get fooled by budget chipsets like the 8500.

 

For my money, the 8600GT is about the best value for money chipset for BF2 at the moment, any performance improvements the 8800GT gives you are trivial compared to the price difference.

Yeah I only bought the 8500GT cos it was cheap, and an 8XXX series. I don't use it to play games, its only there because the PC wont run without one!

I just checked my card: I have the XFX 8600GT 650MHz "overclocked" version with 256MB RAM which cost $170. PLE sell the non-overclocked version (the 540MHz one) for $139.

 

That's a lotta card for under $140!

Edited January 29, 200817 yr by Brissy47

6800 or 8600? lol

Picked up a HD 2900 XT a while back for $300 off a mate after my 7600GT rusted out. upgrading my comp so i thought I'd get another in to hook the suckas up in crossfire but i can only find them for about $500!

Crap.

Well I just ordered my next door neighbour an 8600GT, 256mb - $99. Not bad I guess. Kinda thinking I should have gone with the 512mb version for $6 more. Ugh annoying. I guess I can always change the order when I go to pick it up on the weekend.

 

$600 gets you a computer these days..pretty good considering whats in it! (160gb, 1.8ghz dual core, 2gb ram, 8600GT).

Heres an OLD thread Razor set up.

 

http://www.bigdgaming.net/showthread.php?t=1873

 

Who has what,that they don't need and how much....

 

(I need an amd mobo....)

Well I just ordered my next door neighbour an 8600GT, 256mb - $99. Not bad I guess. Kinda thinking I should have gone with the 512mb version for $6 more. Ugh annoying. I guess I can always change the order when I go to pick it up on the weekend.

 

Not worth the money IMO. As I assume you know, VRAM is used primarily when these things are increased:

 

- Resolution

- Texture quality (& anisotropic filtering)

- Anti-Aliasing

 

With every setting maxed, at 1680x1050 with 4x AA, the card reports only 352MB usage on Qwai river. Guess what? An 8600GT would keel over and DIE before it was ever able to run settings like that, so I don't think you should stress over it

Psyrus,

 

I play Qwai river at that resolution with all settings on high but with AA=off and I can tell you it doesn't suffer at all...?