Buying New Graphics Card-Need Some Advice

[7254278]

Hi all,

As you can see in my signature my PC(agp x4) is sporting an ati radeon 7500 w/64mb vram. I am looking for a cheap graphics card upgrade for the following uses:

Bryce 5
A bit of 3d rendering
Some gaming(WoW, FIFA series, unreal tournament 2004, prince of persia series)

I am not looking for a great super graphics card just looking for something with 128mb vram and can play some games ok and can do some 3d work. Im not planning to play doom 3 on max details. Also my current ati gives my a resolution of 1152x864, the new card should atleast be able to do 1280x1000(or something like that)
I went to my local store and they had the ati radeon 9250 w/128mb vram for 56 euros and they had the ati 9250 w/256mb vram for aroun 90 euros... Is this a good card?
Also if anyone can recomend a card it would be great but I am definetley not looking to spend over 100 euros.

I would prefer an nvidia card

Thanks in advance
Pat

 

[crazzyeddie]

First of all, the 7500 should be able to give you 1280x960 with NO problems. I would check your setup and monitor to make sure they support resolutions higher than 1152x864. Sounds to me like you have a 15"/17" monitor that is only meant to display 1024x768...

Anyway... for your price range the only two cards you should consider are the Radeon 9250 and GeForce FX5200. For speed there will be little difference between then two, it really depends which set of drivers you like, and it appears that you prefer nvidia. You might see a tad of a speed edge with the nvidia card also, considering that the games you're looking at are OpenGL games.

 

[7254278]

Isnt the Geforce fx 5200 the shi*y card in the imac everyone is complaining about? Is it a decent card? Is it available in 256mb version?
I can also afford the Geforce fx 5700 w/128mb is that card any better?

 

[Italiano]

There isn't a Radeon 9250 made for Macs... that's a PC Card and requires flashing - the 9250's are only working with 1 brand of card (flashing that is) - for flashing info visit my forum

 

[ChrisFromCanada]

There isn't a Radeon 9250 made for Macs... that's a PC Card and requires flashing - the 9250's are only working with 1 brand of card (flashing that is) - for flashing info visit my forum

But he is talking about a PC....

 

[crazzyeddie]

Isnt the Geforce fx 5200 the shi*y card in the imac everyone is complaining about? Is it a decent card? Is it available in 256mb version?
I can also afford the Geforce fx 5700 w/128mb is that card any better?

If you can afford the FX 5700, get it. It will have better performance than the 5200 for sure. The FX 5700 is comparable to the 9600 Pro in many cases.

 

[7254278]

Well I ordered the GeForce fx 5700 128mb and an ati radeon 9250 256mb which ever card i dont like ill return .
Thinking of keeping the ati though cuz of its 256mb and both cards are 400mhz are they good or even decent for gaming?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

Be careful when going by RAM amounts - the 9250 has twice the RAM but it is often a slower type which negates whatever speed boost you would have had. The 5700 should be markedly superior to the 9250 with most 3D games.

 

[7254278]

UPDATE

Well Everyone I got some good news for me,
I just go an Nvidia Geforce 4 ti 4200 128mb for FREE(friend gave it to me after upgrading to a radeon 9800).
I have now cancelled my orders for the other graphics card and stuck the $100 I was going to spend in my "mac fund".
Now all I want to know is this a MUCH better card then my Radeon 7500 64mb and is this card better then the Geforce 5200 128mb? Also how do you guys think this card will handle World Of Warcraft?

 

[7254278]

BUMP

 

[crazzyeddie]

Thats a nice card, you should just stick with it unless you find you need more.