Graphics card quandry

[Stormhound]

I'm ready for Civ4...just about. Actually, my system meets the minimum specs (despite being 4 years old now...gasp), and actually meets almost all the recommended specs. The only place where I'm short is the graphics card...and well, it's been 4 years since the last time I really paid any attention to graphics cards. It'd be nice to have something that can handle the 3D graphics properly.

Since 3 grand for a new state-of-the-art system isn't about to drop into my lap anytime soon, I figure that upping the card is the best solution. What I have now is an NVidia Geforce2 Ultra AGP card, w/64Mb. After a little digging for specs, I've determined that my system's AGP slot is the 4x/2x (1.5V) variety, and the power supply is 250W. The PCI appears to be vanilla 1x. I'm assuming that limits (at least somewhat) which cards I can put in. I've got plenty of empty PCI slots next to the AGP slot, so space for an extra-wide card isn't a problem. And I'd like to keep the price of the card somewhere under $200US, or better yet under $150.

I'm slightly partial to the NVidia chipset, largely because that's what I have now and I shouldn't have to reconfigure a bunch of game software if I keep the same chipset. Aside from that, I don't know if there's that much difference between ATI and NVidia chipsets, and I don't know whether it'd be better (for the same $) to get a less "fancy" card or one with more memory.

If anyone's been through this minefield lately and has advice, I'm listening.

[Sava]

I'd recommend the Geforce 6600 series...

a quick search of www.newegg.com nets 79 results, ranging in price from $93-$250 (obviously the more expensive models being better)

here is a card that seems to fit your system requirements... eVGA GeForce 6600 256 meg DDR AGP 4x / 8x

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130232

it is $113

NewEgg is a good retailer, I have ordered from them before

[H Tower]

just pray you don't have to return something. their return policies will make you want to cry.

[Sava]

Originally posted by H Tower
just pray you don't have to return something. their return policies will make you want to cry.

usually if an item is defective, you deal with the manufacturer, not the retailer

I had an issue with my vid card and the company (BFG technologies) sent me a new card no problem and it works perfectly... I didn't have to even deal with newegg

[alva]

Originally posted by Sava
I'd recommend the Geforce 6600 series...

* snip *

On a 4 year old system that card is probably going to be overkill.
Not to mention that 250W might not be enough to 'carry' that card.

--
What are the specs of the rest of your system?

[Sava]

Originally posted by alva


On a 4 year old system that card is probably going to be overkill.
Not to mention that 250W might not be enough to 'carry' that card.

--
What are the specs of the rest of your system?

well if he plans on upgrading, it would be a good investment...

didn't see the 250w... dunno about that... lemme check back about power requirments

[Stormhound]

What are the specs of the rest of your system?

P4 1.7GHz, 512Mb RDRAM, and 90+Gb of HD storage space. It was an upper-end system at the time. Any other relevant info you need?

[Sava]

this card might be better...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130200

eVGA mx 4000

$31

should work with Civ4 I think?

minimum power is 250w

you are really limited with what graphics card you can get with that power supply

[Stormhound]

Part of the exercise is upgrading to a graphics card that meets the "recommended" requirements according to the SRL test, which means either a Radeon 9800+ or a GeForce 5600+. Since my current card already meets the minimum specs, I don't want to upgrade unless I can reach the recommended level. If I can't do that, then c'est la vie.

[Swissy]

Your also gonna need more memory. I recommend going another 256MB, 512MB if you can. You new video card must be rated for DX9 and get the best shader number you can get. And a new power supply is probably a must considering the other upgrades.

[alms66]

might as well get a new computer at that point...

In fact, I picked a good system up for $800 just a few months back @ tigerdirect.com. Take a look around and see if they've got something for you.

[Addled Platypus]

dont forget about checking your power supply as well, when changing vid cards

fried is not a good thing

[CanuckSoldier]

Originally posted by Sava
this card might be better...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130200

eVGA mx 4000

$31

should work with Civ4 I think?

minimum power is 250w

you are really limited with what graphics card you can get with that power supply

I would really stay far away from the Geforce MX cards the reason they are cheap is because they have no pixel shader support, and not likely to run any 3d game in 2005. I'd stick with a Radeon 9800 or Geforce 5800 or better. And the more main memory the better but if you have less than 512 I wouldn't waste money to look at the box art :-P

CS

[notyoueither]

Originally posted by Swissy
Your also gonna need more memory. I recommend going another 256MB, 512MB if you can. You new video card must be rated for DX9 and get the best shader number you can get. And a new power supply is probably a must considering the other upgrades.

RDRAM is very expensive. Better to save money than buy that on top of vid card and pow sup, I think.

[notyoueither]

Stormhound,

I'm going to hazard a guess that you could play with a 9600 or 9800. 9800pro prolly would need new ps. 350W and 9800pro for around $200 usd? Maybe.

9550 128M or 256M for way less than $200? definitiely.