which is a good video card? - Guild Wars Guru archive powered by Guild Wars Legacy

Articus Red

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2007

California

E/Me

06 Feb 2008 at 06:29 - 1

Hello I have a HP PC with 1536mb of ram 2700mhz with an amd processor.

Ok so on terms on RAM I'm pretty sure I'm fine I run GW and other games fine. But I have some extra cash so I was hoping to upgrade my computer and the first thing that came to mind is my video card. my current video card is an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE 256 mb. Alright so I run guild wars fine but sometimes I do get slow fps rates I think its probably just cause I run other processes in the background and once I exit them it speeds up. I don't want to get a new video card thats going to be 300 dollars expensive, maybe like 200 or 150 range. Also I know GW2 is coming out in about a year, I want a pretty good card that will run that game smooth as well so when it comes out I'm ready to play and be happy

Any advice of which I should get, I'd prefer to stay with NVIDIA.

deluxe

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

Monkeyball Z

S.K.A.T. [Ban]

Mo/

06 Feb 2008 at 07:47 - 2

The best performance for your money at the moment: Ati Radeon HD3850
There's not really something from nVidia that can beat the price and performance from that card.

EniGmA1987

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Apr 2007

Me/Mo

06 Feb 2008 at 07:49 - 3

First you need to know if you have an AGP or PCI-Express graphcis slot on your motherboard. Once you find out then you will know what kind of graphics card options you have. AGP cards are slower and cost more now days.

PCI-Express:
ATI Radeon HD3870 w/ 512MB of video memory
ATI Radeon HD3850 w/ 512MB of video memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814103051

Those are your two best choises for under $200, the 3870 might be slightly over $200 depending on where you look. The Nvidia GeForce 8800GT w/ 512MB of memory is a bit better than the 3870, but costs around $240. If you can afford it and want great performance for the money, get an 8800GT.
You can get a 3850 for $200 AFTER tax and shipping so that might be what you want to do. Plus the 3850 seems to have one of the best price to performance rations out of all the cards on the market.

AGP:
ATI Radeon 2600XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102718
ATi Radeon 2600PRO (best performance to cost ratio)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102709
Nvidia 7600GS
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130076

Not too many good cards for AGP anymore. None of them seem to have a 256-bit memory interface. The only reason I recommend the ATI cards over the Nvidia for AGP is because the ATI cards have newer tech in them that will work better in the future. Besides, image quality is better with ATI cards than Nvidia.

*EDIT* oh, and judging from the look of your current card, you more than likely have an AGP slot. Building a brand new computer with a 3850, a nice dual core processor, and 4GB of good RAM only costs $800 now days. You might think about saving your money and upgrading to a whole new computer with the latest tech in it instead of spending so much on upgrading an old computer that wont be able to play games in a year or two.

Yichi

Furnace Stoker

Join Date: Sep 2005

Guild Hall, Vent, Guesting, PvE, or the occasional HA match...

Dark Alley [dR]

06 Feb 2008 at 07:49 - 4

XfX 8600 gt OC 512mb. Best buy has them for like 229. I run 2 of them and love the performance i get out of them.

deluxe

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

Monkeyball Z

S.K.A.T. [Ban]

Mo/

06 Feb 2008 at 08:02 - 5

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yichi

XfX 8600 gt OC 512mb. Best buy has them for like 229. I run 2 of them and love the performance i get out of them.

I'm pretty sure a single 3850 is faster than 2 8600gt budgetcards

ps. dumb people buy hardware at bestbuy, lmao at the prices. 8600GT is 83 euro's here (120 dollar), 229 dollar on bestbuy.

Surena

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Mar 2007

N/Me

06 Feb 2008 at 08:39 - 6

[email protected] SLI.

Get a 3850 with 512MB, it's a way better deal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by deluxe

I'm pretty sure a single 3850 is faster than 2 8600gt budgetcards

An old 1950XT is already faster.

Articus Red

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2007

California

E/Me

06 Feb 2008 at 09:16 - 7

Quote:

Originally Posted by EniGmA1987

*EDIT* oh, and judging from the look of your current card, you more than likely have an AGP slot. Building a brand new computer with a 3850, a nice dual core processor, and 4GB of good RAM only costs $800 now days. You might think about saving your money and upgrading to a whole new computer with the latest tech in it instead of spending so much on upgrading an old computer that wont be able to play games in a year or two.

Wow is it really as low as 800 bucks? I've never thought of building my own computer but if I can get all parts for 800 give or take a few...I would do it. I think I'll look into it, thanks.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

06 Feb 2008 at 11:35 - 8

Articus, ignore most posts above IMO. Buying a whole computer when you don't need to is a huge waste. Get a new rig when you can't run the games you want to play, not because someone says it's old. Remember, the longer you hold out on upgrading, the better your machine will be when you finally take the plunge.

You have an AGP slot. Therefore any 8000-series card is not compatible. This is not a problem for GW, as it runs great on AGP-level graphics cards.

For $104 you can get GeForce 7600 with 512 mb of ram at Circuit City. This price is as good as any online retailer. This is a sweet deal for AGP people. It's way more than enough to run GW at a high frame rate with maxed-out settings, without getting major dips in performance when the screen gets busy.

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/eVGA-...oductDetail.do

Snograt

rattus rattus

Join Date: Jan 2006

London, UK GMT??0 ??1hr DST

[GURU]GW [wiki]GW2

R/

06 Feb 2008 at 12:04 - 9

Wow, a sudden spate of ATI love - what happened?

I used to be a great supporter of the Athlon series processors and the X series GPUs, but then along came Core, Core2, Duos and Quads, and the almighty nVidia 8000 series. Was sad to say goodbye to AMD/ATI, but it had to be done.

arrowofthewood

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Apr 2007

Belgium

Never Alone Always Together [TeaM]

R/

06 Feb 2008 at 12:27 - 10

I'd go for the 8800GT 512MB by Nvidea, best quality/best performance, its pwns all the ati cards out there.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

06 Feb 2008 at 13:20 - 11

Quote:

Originally Posted by arrowofthewood

I'd go for the 8800GT 512MB by Nvidea, best quality/best performance, its pwns all the ati cards out there.

Again, ignore inappropriate posts like this.

The Meth

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Jan 2007

R/

06 Feb 2008 at 14:39 - 12

Since you say you run guild wars and your other games fine, I would say hold off on upgrading. Don't upgrade your computer now for guild wars 2, upgrade it when it comes out, prices drop so fast over time with computer hardware that you will be able to afford much better by then.

Also, although you don't state whether you have PCI or AGP, I'm assuming you probably only have an AGP slot, unless you have one of those rare systems which have both types. That means you are going to need to upgrade at least your motherboard as well as your video card if you want to upgrade past a 7800, which was the last AGP nvidia card I believe.

Edit: 7800 is the last AGP card, not 6800.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

06 Feb 2008 at 14:50 - 13

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Meth

Since you say you run guild wars and your other games fine, I would say hold off on upgrading. Don't upgrade your computer now for guild wars 2, upgrade it when it comes out, prices drop so fast over time with computer hardware that you will be able to afford much better by then.

Also, although you don't state whether you have PCI or AGP, I'm assuming you probably only have an AGP slot, unless you have one of those rare systems which have both types. That means you are going to need to upgrade at least your motherboard as well as your video card if you want to upgrade past a 6800, which was the last AGP nvidia card I believe.

There are multiple posts above referring to a 7600 for AGP, so I'm not sure why you're saying this. There are even links to vendors selling them.

There is also a 7800 for AGP. It's quite a solid performer even with today's games. Here it is at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUNOTM?...0&linkCode=asn

Articus Red

Academy Page

Join Date: Apr 2007

California

E/Me

06 Feb 2008 at 22:27 - 14

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

There are multiple posts above referring to a 7600 for AGP, so I'm not sure why you're saying this. There are even links to vendors selling them.

There is also a 7800 for AGP. It's quite a solid performer even with today's games. Here it is at Amazon.com:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RUNOTM?...0&linkCode=asn

Hey thanks alot bud, yeah the computer thing, my computer isn't going anywhere anytime soon, my baby runs smooth and I hope it will do so for a few more years till it actually comes to the time to upgrade it to a new one. unfortunately for me I don't know how to check if I have an AGP or PCI slot, I'm new to the video card section of my computer so I don't know much about it when it comes to that area...after opening up a new window and doing a bit of research, I went to the crucial.com website and put my comp model in..an a320n and I now know my graphic support is AGP 8X..whatever that means. But yeah I can read spec and understand them! for the most part heh

and I really like the 7800, a bit out of my budget, but I can afford it if I really want to. The 7600 is good too, but it being a PC card that means I can use it right?

Also to Meth: I know theres alot of time from here till now till GW2 and other great games that are going to need good graphic cards, but I don't know if I'll have the money then cause I'm a full time student, so I normally don't get spending cash like this

But yeah I'm just taking upgrading into consideration, I might hold off, just gotta see my options

moriz

??ber t??k-n??sh'??n

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada

R/

07 Feb 2008 at 00:47 - 15

first thing first:

there's a pretty big difference between PCI and PCI-E. PCI is very slow and not suited for graphic cards. PCI-E is the newest standard for graphic card slots, and is faster than AGP and PCI.

anyways, since you have AGP 8X, you obviously have AGP. so follow the geforce 7600 advice if you wish, since those are probably the best value. it will play GW and any other game you play very well.

BTW, if you can still find a radeon 9800PRO for $50, that's a very good buy as well. that card, is. a. BEAST. very much outdated now, but can probably match or exceed the geforce 7600. the problem is, i'm not sure if you can find it anymore.

I Dont Do Coke

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2008

Japan

07 Feb 2008 at 02:08 - 16

Lul... ATI will have one month of glory with their 3850s and 3870s before the GeForce 9s are out.

deluxe

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Feb 2006

Monkeyball Z

S.K.A.T. [Ban]

Mo/

07 Feb 2008 at 05:11 - 17

Quote:

Originally Posted by I Dont Do Coke

Lul... ATI will have one month of glory with their 3850s and 3870s before the GeForce 9s are out.

I think you are missing something. The 38x0 cards arent meant to compete with the best of the best, they are meant to compete with the 8800GT. They come pretty close for a heck of a lot less money.

I Dont Do Coke

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Jan 2008

Japan

07 Feb 2008 at 05:39 - 18

Yes, of course. AMD's Athlons and Phenoms also suck, but they're priced competitively.

Mmm I meant their HD3870X2 specifically, which reigns at the top as the most powerful single-PCB GPU, but costs about the same as an 8800 GTX. It'll be first-rate until NVIDIA's 9800GX2 comes a month later at about the same cost.

Master Sword Keeper

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Sep 2006

Dead Isle

Farmers Of Woe [FoW]

W/

07 Feb 2008 at 06:34 - 19

Nvidia 2600 sapphire pro.

Smoothest FPS ever.

HD, 512mb.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

08 Feb 2008 at 13:49 - 20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Articus Red

Hey thanks alot bud, yeah the computer thing, my computer isn't going anywhere anytime soon, my baby runs smooth and I hope it will do so for a few more years till it actually comes to the time to upgrade it to a new one. unfortunately for me I don't know how to check if I have an AGP or PCI slot, I'm new to the video card section of my computer so I don't know much about it when it comes to that area...after opening up a new window and doing a bit of research, I went to the crucial.com website and put my comp model in..an a320n and I now know my graphic support is AGP 8X..whatever that means. But yeah I can read spec and understand them! for the most part heh

and I really like the 7800, a bit out of my budget, but I can afford it if I really want to. The 7600 is good too, but it being a PC card that means I can use it right?

Also to Meth: I know theres alot of time from here till now till GW2 and other great games that are going to need good graphic cards, but I don't know if I'll have the money then cause I'm a full time student, so I normally don't get spending cash like this

But yeah I'm just taking upgrading into consideration, I might hold off, just gotta see my options

If you're planning to upgrade your graphics before getting a new computer then why wait?

The 7800 and 7600 are the ceiling for you so it's not like you can wait for new technology to come out. Sure these cards will get a little bit cheaper in the next few months but not too much.

I upgraded from a 5700 to a 7600 by the way. The difference was so amazingly huge I was like whoa...

King Farquaad

Academy Page

Join Date: Jan 2008

Farmington Hills, Michigan

The Angel Blades [TAB]

W/Me

08 Feb 2008 at 14:50 - 21

well, here is one i like I am getting for my gaming pc in the future...

DIAMOND Viper 3850PE3512O Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

if you got the money for it. here is the link to

http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16814103051

2Broke!

Ascalonian Squire

Join Date: Jan 2008

08 Feb 2008 at 15:44 - 22

From reading the original poster's post he is running GF FX 5700LE, so chances are that is an AGP slot he has to work with. You're already in limited in terms of upgradeability. Best price & performance AGP card available now would be a ATI Radeon 1950PRO 512MB, but DirectX 9 only and if you can find one. Not many games even support DX10, let alone can many low/medium range cards handle games that fully utilize DX10. If can wait then a new Radeon HD 3850 512MB AGP DX10.1 card is supposedly going to be available from ATI's 2nd or 3rd party manufacturers.

If your motherboard GPU slot is PCI-Express then Radeon HD 3850 512MB and 3870 512MB cards are more than sufficient for the price range you are willing to spend. If you can find a GF 8800GT for around $230, might be a better buying option just on performance alone.

Prior to any upgrades must check Power Supply Unit (PSU) wattage (500-500W should do for most single GPUs), +12V amp (recommended volts range 26-32 for most current GPUs), 6-pin GPU power adaptors (PCI-Express only), etc. Good luck.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

08 Feb 2008 at 16:24 - 23

To the OP... buy a new system if you are getting ready to pore that amount of money into your computer. It isn't worth investing money into old systems just to squeeze out a little performance. You would be better of buying a media pc from HP for a little more money and getting ten times the gain.

Lastly, your system is fine for GW. Intergrated Intel chipset runs gw okay, nevermind that you are running an older Nvidia chipset. In terms of fps... probably a factor of the following...

fragmented HD... off paired RAM... Slow Bus Speed... outdated drivers... Nosy Antivirus... and whatever crap you have running in the background

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

08 Feb 2008 at 23:37 - 24

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Way Out

To the OP... buy a new system if you are getting ready to pore that amount of money into your computer. It isn't worth investing money into old systems just to squeeze out a little performance. You would be better of buying a media pc from HP for a little more money and getting ten times the gain.

Lastly, your system is fine for GW. Intergrated Intel chipset runs gw okay, nevermind that you are running an older Nvidia chipset. In terms of fps... probably a factor of the following...

fragmented HD... off paired RAM... Slow Bus Speed... outdated drivers... Nosy Antivirus... and whatever crap you have running in the background

I couldn't disagree more. The upgrade from a 5700LE to a 7600/7800 is HUGE. He will probably double or triple his frame rate, not to mention actually be able to turn all the settings up.

So don't dismiss this as "squeezing a little more performance out". Its a very big deal.

He'd be far better off getting the 7600/7800 now... and then getting a new computer next year that's better than anyone's on this thread (for $800).

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

11 Feb 2008 at 15:35 - 25

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

I couldn't disagree more. The upgrade from a 5700LE to a 7600/7800 is HUGE. He will probably double or triple his frame rate, not to mention actually be able to turn all the settings up.

So don't dismiss this as "squeezing a little more performance out". Its a very big deal.

He'd be far better off getting the 7600/7800 now... and then getting a new computer next year that's better than anyone's on this thread (for $800).

I can tell you have very limited experience with systems by your comment, because it sounds a bit angry and dismissive of mine. The OP is looking to pour money into a computer that is clearly outdated. That is a definite bad decision in my line of work (Information Technology). The gain he will get from a better computer will outway any 7600 he throws into that system... and he will no be able to "turn all the settings up" be AA will stick around 2X before he starts having issues. He motherboard is outdated. His processor is outdated. His memory is outdated. His hard drive is probably PATA and outdated. You are suggesting that he upgrade a video card for xxx dollars, when he can get away with better "system" performance with an upgrade for not much more.

Before I start flaming you, don't dismiss people in forums you have more knowledge of computers when you yourself are a weekend gamer.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

13 Feb 2008 at 01:35 - 26

What's a weekend gamer?

I'm not angry at all. No clue why you're projecting that on me...

I've spent four years custom building computers, about 40% of which were multimedia or gaming machines. I've built and upgraded a couple dozen on my own time as well.

I have a machine that runs GW with all settings at max at about 28-34 fps. It has a single core Athlon 3200, 1 gig ram, GeForce 7600 and PATA hard drive.

If he's looking for a better GW experience until GW2 comes out, I stand by my recommendation to make the cheap, yet very significant upgrade to a 7600/7800. And then when GW2 arrives, upgrade to a better machine. If he waits until later to upgrade, he'll have a much better machine at the GW2 release date.

Of course if the OP is trying to play games other than GW and is having problems, that's a separate analysis.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

13 Feb 2008 at 14:33 - 27

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

What's a weekend gamer?

I'm not angry at all. No clue why you're projecting that on me...

I've spent four years custom building computers, about 40% of which were multimedia or gaming machines. I've built and upgraded a couple dozen on my own time as well.

I have a machine that runs GW with all settings at max at about 28-34 fps. It has a single core Athlon 3200, 1 gig ram, GeForce 7600 and PATA hard drive.

If he's looking for a better GW experience until GW2 comes out, I stand by my recommendation to make the cheap, yet very significant upgrade to a 7600/7800. And then when GW2 arrives, upgrade to a better machine. If he waits until later to upgrade, he'll have a much better machine at the GW2 release date.

Of course if the OP is trying to play games other than GW and is having problems, that's a separate analysis.

You have a minimalist rig, and judging by the specs you have given me, don't know much about newer hardware that is coming out. You are not giving sound advice to the OP by suggesting that he pour money into a dying system. That is like putting a bandage on a deep cut... nice attempt to fix the problem but an upgrade is needed... not a video card.

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

14 Feb 2008 at 02:26 - 28

We have multiple computers. I only told you a little bit about one of them.

You're just plain wrong that a whole new system is necessary to play GW. His system is likely just fine for GW purposes. Unless he states a reason to throw out his current compy and get a new one then there's no reason to go that route.

Does someone pay you to go around judging people on forums? You know nothing about me or what machines I currently have. You just look ignorant to me.

Biostem

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Oct 2007

14 Feb 2008 at 02:44 - 29

OP: Since you have AGP, and if you have money to spare, consider an Nvidia Geforce 7900GS. I was quite happy w/ the performance on my last computer, and it should be quite affordable now. If and when you decide to upgrade the whole computer, you can always try to get one w/ both AGP and PCI-express, so you can use the card you buy now yet still have the option to upgrade to PCI-express at some later date.

Just as an FYI, I built myself a desktop w/ a dual-core 3Ghz processor, 2GB ram, 320GB hard drive, dvd burner, and a geforce 8600GT for about $700. And that was based off of a pre-installed motherboard & case, (that's the hardest part of building a pc).

Still, GW is rather light on the system requirements, so a simply video card upgrade on the rig you described would result in very nice performance.

moriz

??ber t??k-n??sh'??n

Join Date: Jan 2006

Canada

R/

14 Feb 2008 at 02:54 - 30

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

We have multiple computers. I only told you a little bit about one of them.

You're just plain wrong that a whole new system is necessary to play GW. His system is likely just fine for GW purposes. Unless he states a reason to throw out his current compy and get a new one then there's no reason to go that route.

Does someone pay you to go around judging people on forums? You know nothing about me or what machines I currently have. You just look ignorant to me.

i think he's approaching it from this perspective:

OP's current computer, if bought today, will be worth... about $150. the proposed graphic card upgrade will cost anywhere between $80 to $140. in other words, the upgrade is worth almost as much as the computer itself. that's the equivalent of dropping a 8800GTX into a $700 PC. the only difference is that the $700 PC is current, while the OP's computer is not. proportionally speaking, the upgrade is simply not worth it.

now here's how i'm gonna look at it:

since the OP's computer does not have an PCI-E slot, i'd suggest to hold off upgrading and just buy a new PC later on. the 5700LE is powerful enough to play GW. heck, if my fx5500 PCI can do it well enough, the OP's card is more than enough. overclocking it slightly should bridge any performance gaps necessary. if it blows up... oh well, it's not like that thing's worth anything anyways.

had the OP have an PCI-E slot, i'd suggest upgrading, simply because the card can be reused in his new computer.

Mr Pink57

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2007

a van down by the river

iBench

P/W

14 Feb 2008 at 10:13 - 31

1st I would ask about the psu before I start recommending a GPU. The system can probably handle a 7600GS but past that I would watch it.

2nd a 512mb card is overkill unless he is running some major resolution which I doubt since he has a 5700. Go cheaper with a 256mb.

Sounds like your running 3 sticks of ram which equals out of dual channel. Did you add a stick or did or come that way? Reason I ask is dual channel could give a slight boost.

As for card recommendations totally for a 7600GS, or if it exist a 1950PRO I dunno if it comes in AGP but its god of its class. I keep pci-e version in a lan rig and feel it may sometimes out do my 8800GTS.

Edit: His cpu will probably bottleneck most "top o line" agp cards.

pink

cebalrai

Jungle Guide

Join Date: Mar 2007

Mature Gaming Association

Me/E

14 Feb 2008 at 11:47 - 32

According to everything I've read, no AGP cards ever had bottlenecking issues. Bottlenecking would have been an issue in the future, but AGP was just fine for the 7000-series Nvidia cards.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

14 Feb 2008 at 14:03 - 33

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

We have multiple computers. I only told you a little bit about one of them.

You're just plain wrong that a whole new system is necessary to play GW. His system is likely just fine for GW purposes. Unless he states a reason to throw out his current compy and get a new one then there's no reason to go that route.

Does someone pay you to go around judging people on forums? You know nothing about me or what machines I currently have. You just look ignorant to me.

Do you even read any of the posts that I have put up? I told him his current rig was fine for guildwars... without an upgrade. I told him Intel integrated graphics are okay for guildwars.

What is wrong with you? I told the OP that "IF" he is going to pour money into a dying system, his best bet is to upgrade, because a new video card isn't going to give him the performance that a new system would.

Also, I am here to help people out, not judge, however, you make that a bit difficult when you clearly have no clue what you are talking about.

Rushin Roulette

Forge Runner

Join Date: Sep 2007

Right here

Ende

14 Feb 2008 at 15:39 - 34

Quote:

Originally Posted by Articus Red

Wow is it really as low as 800 bucks? I've never thought of building my own computer but if I can get all parts for 800 give or take a few...I would do it. I think I'll look into it, thanks.

Yup, its deffinitely possible to build a good computer for that price.

I build one a year ago for about EUR 550, and the only thing I have added since then is 2GB of Ram instead of one and a dedicated soundcard because both were selling for a good price. I can still play nearly every new (Windows-XP) game at top or close to top settings.

I wont bother posting specs, because the system is a year old and the prices have dropped significantly for the parts I have... but I just wanted to say it is possible

P.S. You might want to keep your HDD if it is a SATA une and either use it as the only HDD, or as a second HDD ontop of the new one if you really need more space. Same for teh monitor, Keyboard and mouse. If they work and you are happy with them, then save the money of buying a new one and invest it in the computer.

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

14 Feb 2008 at 16:14 - 35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rushin Roulette

Yup, its deffinitely possible to build a good computer for that price.

I build one a year ago for about EUR 550, and the only thing I have added since then is 2GB of Ram instead of one and a dedicated soundcard because both were selling for a good price. I can still play nearly every new (Windows-XP) game at top or close to top settings.

I wont bother posting specs, because the system is a year old and the prices have dropped significantly for the parts I have... but I just wanted to say it is possible

P.S. You might want to keep your HDD if it is a SATA une and either use it as the only HDD, or as a second HDD ontop of the new one if you really need more space. Same for teh monitor, Keyboard and mouse. If they work and you are happy with them, then save the money of buying a new one and invest it in the computer.

It is possible to build a decent system for around $450, if you have software. If you don't, and you can only afford around $350 to $450 for everything, go to HP's site and pick up a low-budget media pc. Just keep an eye out for what they are giving you for a video card.

jax falcon

Pre-Searing Cadet

Join Date: Jun 2007

R/E

14 Feb 2008 at 17:13 - 36

Guys if your showing him graphics cards u need to have alook at his power supply cos standard pc's have cheap power supplies that can't run a decent graphics card. Also you need to work out which connectors your power supply has because not all power supplies have the right pins.

This doesn't apply so much to the ATI cards as much as they are getting more power efficient.

However I wouldn't buy the 3800 series card's yet as their drivers arent' very good yet.

Seeing as you've got AGP have a look at the x1950. It's a good card but you will need a decent power supply.

iridescentfyre

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Mar 2006

W/

14 Feb 2008 at 18:17 - 37

Quote:

Originally Posted by Articus Red

Also I know GW2 is coming out in about a year, I want a pretty good card that will run that game smooth as well so when it comes out I'm ready to play and be happy

None of us have any idea what GW2 is going to require. If this is your primary reason for upgrading, I say wait a year or so. A lot can happen in the year or two until its released.. who knows, by then you may have to be running a DirectX 10 card, and if that's the case you will need a whole new system so you have access to PCI-X

DX10 as a requirement for GW2 is probably highly unlikely, but its just an example of how these things can change unpredictably. IMO its a bad time to start making predictions about GW2.

Wrath Of Dragons

Burninate Stuff

Join Date: Aug 2005

New Mexico

E/Mo

14 Feb 2008 at 18:45 - 38

Im fairly certain Gaile said that gw2 would support dx10, but do fine on 9

The Way Out

Wilds Pathfinder

Join Date: Aug 2007

In my peanut brain

Zomg Zombies [OMG]

Mo/E

14 Feb 2008 at 19:12 - 39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wrath Of Dragons

Im fairly certain Gaile said that gw2 would support dx10, but do fine on 9

I thought I had read that somewhere also, however, I didn't want to post that and bring out the angry teenieboppers that love to argue about the color of rain.

Mr Pink57

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Apr 2007

a van down by the river

iBench

P/W

14 Feb 2008 at 21:10 - 40

Quote:

Originally Posted by cebalrai

According to everything I've read, no AGP cards ever had bottlenecking issues. Bottlenecking would have been an issue in the future, but AGP was just fine for the 7000-series Nvidia cards.

I'm not talking about AGP I am talking about the bottlenecking between his CPU and his card. And furthermore we have not even fully used the AGP bus on the round of card. Technology moves faster then we do on the buses, a future released 8900 will probably just start to use up x8 lanes but nothing else has.

pink