Is this a good video card?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

I'm in the process of slowly upgrading my computer to be relatively modern but without spending big bucks on it. Right now I'm looking at video cards.

Currently I have an old GeForce4 MX 420 w/ 64MB of onboard RAM. Its OK, but doesn't help me much with any of the newer games. At a local shop I found a GeForce FX 5500 based card with 256MB of onboard RAM, featured here:

http://www.everbest.on.ca/ver2/showProduct.php?id=1005

Its $99 CAD, which seems like a pretty good deal to me... especially with 256MB included, although I must admit I'm not too informed on these things.

My question is, is this a good deal and will I notice any significant different in performance compared to what I have now? Also, its AGP... does that have any benefits or drawbacks comapred to PCI? All I want is for newer games (like Half Life 2) to run better, I don't need any fancy extra features.

Oh, and in case it makes a difference, here's my current system specs:

Pentium 4 1.7Ghz
768MB PC2100 DDR RAM
PNY GeForce4 MX 420 64MB

So, is it worth going for this card or should I wait for better cards to get cheaper?

Thanks in advance for the advice, guys.

[Asher]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO don't do it.

BAD!

[JimmyCracksCorn]

And here's the manufacturer's website with more information:

http://usa.aopen.com/products/vga/AeolusFX5500-DVD256.htm

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Asher
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO don't do it.

BAD!

Why?

[Asher]

It's a very bad/slow/"quirky" family of Nvidia cards that most people want to forget about.

5xxx series is terrible.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

That was a pretty quick response I have to say though.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Asher
It's a very bad/slow/"quirky" family of Nvidia cards that most people want to forget about.

5xxx series is terrible.

Is that why its so cheap?

Or a better question: even if it sucks, would I get better performance from what I had before?

[Asher]

Yes, better performance.

But there are better buys...

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Well, I'm glad you let me know... damn, that was really quick.

How about this card then? Same price, $99:

http://www.leadtek.com/3d_graphic/winfast_px6200_tctdh256_1.html

It supposedly uses NVIDIA® IntellisampleT 3.0 technology - whatever the hell that is.

[Gamecube64]

It uses PCI-E instead of AGP so that is good. Don't know much beyond that though.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by Gamecube64
It uses PCI-E instead of AGP do that is good. Don't know much beyond that though.

Do all newer motherboards support PCI-E... thats what I was wondering when I read it.

[Nostromo]

Do you want an ATI 9550 with 256 MB ddr? I'll sell you mine for about 120$ cdn. It's almost new. Its worth about 200 $ before taxes. Still under waranty.

[JimmyCracksCorn]

Originally posted by nostromo
Do you want an ATI 9550 with 256 MB ddr? I'll sell you mine for about 120$ cdn. It's almost new. Still under waranty.

Thanks for the offer, but I think I'd rather buy it new from the store.

But guys, on this page:

http://www.everbest.on.ca/ver2/showProducts.php?idcat=22

Which card would give me the best performance for $120 or under?

[JimmyCracksCorn]

And how much of a difference does the onboard memory actually make? In other words, would 256 on a crappy card perform worse than 128 on a good one?

[Urban Ranger]

Depends on the situation.