Suggest a video card!

[Nebuchadnezzar 0]

I've been way out of the hardware scene for awhile, because up till now I was pretty happy with what I had. The time has come for me to build my wife a new computer - she's always complaining about how I always get the newest and best hardware and she gets the left overs. So, this time I'm building her a comp with all new cutting edge components (relatively, there still is a bit of a budget to maintain).

 

Here's what I got so far:

 

CPU AMD ATHLON XP DESKTOP 1800+ PROCESSOR

MBOARD Asus A7V266-E RAID with Audio

MEM Corsair 512 MB PC2100 DDR SDRAM

DISP SONY 19 INCH CPD-G410R

HD 80GB EIDE 7200RPM UDMA 133 3.5LP

BURN CDRW DRIVE 40X/12X/40X EDIE PLEXWRITER

CD CDROM BLASTER 52X W/AUDIOACCEL TECHNOLOGY

AUDIO SOUNDCARD SB AUDIGY MP3+ SOUND BLASTER

NET ETHERFAST FAST ENET PCI 10/100

KEYB NATURAL KEYBOARD PRO

MOUS WIRELESS INTELLIMOUSE EXPLORER

CASE SX830 PERF WORKSTATION W/ 300W P/S & 8 BAYS

SPK ALTEC 2100 3PC SPEAKER SYSTEM

 

Any comments are welcome on what I've already picked. What I'm really having a problem with is the videocard - last time I bought a videocard was a TNT2, back when it was the best you could get.

 

I am looking to spend about $75 to $150 on it. My needs are a fairly highend video card with excellent 3D capabilities, to play the latest games. The best of the best isn't necessary, but it should do pretty good.

 

I've found this, is this any good?

 

http://www.buy.com/retail/computers/product.asp?sku=10319208&loc=425

 

Thanks,

 

Neb

[jmmijo 1]

As for the video card you looked at, I'd have to say no. It's really just a slightly suped up GeForce 2 MX chip. Yes you will see some performance gain over the 2 MX but not by much and the price is almost twice that of a 2 MX card.

 

There are now three models of the GeForce 4 Ti series, some manufactures have released the 4200 model along with a 4400 and the top of the line 4600 model. They are all the same except for the core and perhaps the memory speeds. The suggested retail prices for each is $199, $299 and $399 respectively.

 

Another good alternative is the ATi Radeon 7500/8500 series.

 

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10313117&loc=425

 

or even a GeForce 3 Ti 200 is a pretty good buy right now, perhaps even a Ti 500 model would be in this price realm as well

 

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.asp?sku=10315294&hdwt=31001&loc=101

 

I would also suggest swapping out the 52x CD reader for a DVD reader instead, this gives you the ability ot view DVD media and it serves as a CD reader as well, most will read up to 48x. Also note that you can pick up the TDK VeloCD-RW drive, 40 x 12 x 48, for about $150 now, at least that's what my local Fry's store had them at. I highly recommend these drives as I use them all the time without any problems what so ever

[DosFreak 2]

Trident TGUI9400CXi, 1MB expandable (2 chips), VLB (pulls)

 

http://home.att.net/~videomonitors/adapters.html

 

Woot!

 

Seriously, That is WAAAAAAAAYYY too much to be paying for a GF4 MX 440. Heck, I bought my parent's GF4 MX 420 at best Buy for $99. Just check out www.pricewatch.com and thr absolute highest price for the GF4 MX series is $160 from where? PNY! LOL!

 

If ya check out www.newegg.com you can get a GF4MX for about $97.

 

So yeah if your going to get a GF4 MX 440 don't buy it for that much. Heck, for that price ye can get ya a GF4 Ti4200 which is far superior to that MX. Check the bottom of this page: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?Submit=TOPSELLER&DEPA=1

 

Excellent website. I don't really shop for cheap cards, I usually get the Ultra/Ti4600 brand cards so you might want to ask around about how overclockable the 4200's are. Some can reach 4600 levels.

[Brian Frank 0]

The GF4MX's do have one thing that may or may not matter to you: they do not have Direct X 8 hardware, so for DX 8 features (in the games that actually use them), a GF3 Ti200 (or plain GF3--faster than the Ti200) would be better.

[sapiens74 0]

Spend an extra 50 and get a GF4 TI4200

[Vasco 0]

I fully agree with Sapiens. Buy a card with Geforce4 TI-4200 GPU. It's definitely worth its money. And like Brian said, it supports DirectX8 in hardware. Plus Vertex- and Pixel-Shader, which will be used more and more in new games. If you want to buy a video card for the future (2 - 3 years I mean) for a good price, go for GF TI-4200.

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

WAIT!

 

now is NOT the time to buy a card, i just bought a G4 4600 Ultra, and well, wish i didn't.

 

Both ATI and NVIDIA supposedly, are making new chips this august, as well u got Creative making there new card, and Matrox which will be coming out with theirs soon.

 

I say wait till Sep, even november if you can to buy a new card, just to see what is coming out.

[Mr.Guvernment 0]

Quote:

Trident TGUI9400CXi, 1MB expandable (2 chips), VLB (pulls)

http://home.att.net/~videomonitors/adapters.html

Woot!

Seriously, That is WAAAAAAAAYYY too much to be paying for a GF4 MX 440. Heck, I bought my parent's GF4 MX 420 at best Buy for . Just check out www.pricewatch.com and thr absolute highest price for the GF4 MX series is 0 from where? PNY! LOL!

If ya check out www.newegg.com you can get a GF4MX for about .

So yeah if your going to get a GF4 MX 440 don't buy it for that much. Heck, for that price ye can get ya a GF4 Ti4200 which is far superior to that MX. Check the bottom of this page: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?Submit=TOPSELLER&DEPA=1

Excellent website. I don't really shop for cheap cards, I usually get the Ultra/Ti4600 brand cards so you might want to ask around about how overclockable the 4200's are. Some can reach 4600 levels.

Don't buy a GF4 MX, they are not based on the g4 chip, but on the G3 chip, with some added support. it is not what it seems., a scam if you ask me.