I'm upgrading my videocard, halp!

[MNC]

So, I've lived long enough with my FX5200 that I dare to say I'm going to upgrade. <3 you always though.

So here's my specs (If for whatever reason the specs button fails to work:

Mobo: AX4SPE-UN AGP Socket 478
CPU: P4 2,6Ghz rated at 3,2Ghz (What does that mean, anyway? I got it from SRtest)
Card: Geforce FX5200
RAM: 1,5 DDR RAM

Note that I am not upgrading my mobo or anything else for that matter. I'm staying AGP till I'm getting a full new PC.

Right now I'm going for the 7600GS or GT. I'm pretty happy about the price/performance it's giving. With it I'll be able to run Source games on high and the occassional new game on low/med, which is more than enough for me. I youtubed the card along with some game names and it'll run AC, Crysis, etc on pretty good frames.

What do I need to look out for if a videocard is compatible? Just if it's AGP compatible? Is the 7600 compatible with my PC?

Is this a good AGP card? I want to stay as low as possible with the price.

What's the difference between the GS and GT? Does the GT have 512MB as opposed to 256MB?
Will I be able to run newer games properly? (low/med)

I'm such a computer analphabetic.

Also: Thanks to that FX5200 I've learned to live with framerates in the 20-25 area. Not that much need for 60fps.

[InnerGoat]

The difference between the 7600GT and GS is just clock speed. Both should come in 512mb versions, unless nobody sells them any more.

A 256mb 7600GS would be fine.


ps that cpu doesn't meet minimum requirements for crysis so don't worry if it can run it :awesome:

[MNC]

What, that 200Mhz difference makes a difference?
And... And... I see people playing Crysis on Youtube with a single core 2Ghz processor :saddowns:

[InnerGoat]

Yeah it's probably an A64. Your chip would need to be at 3.6Ghz or more just to come even...

[MNC]

Oh well. Atleast Bioshock and others will run. I'll be getting it in 2 weeks and I'll see how the Crysis demo will run. How reliable would you say SRTEST is? Most say it's completely bullshit, but I think it's ok to look if a game will run. Because according to srtest, I'm running 2 processors, but that doesn't mean dualcore, does it?

Also, I've been hearing stuff that you should look at the 100s in Geforce cards, as the 8600 is the followup to the 7600, which is the followup to the 6600. So, except for clock speed, the 7600 and the 8600 aren't that much different?

[Sel]

Remember AGP, PCI and PCI-E Are ALL intercompatible :downs:

The graphics card should be good for Crysis, but the CPU might slow you down. Its probably close enough to be able to play it, but might steal some performance

[InnerGoat]

What is SRTEST? Some shit from the sound of it. Go get CPU-z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) to see if it's really a dual core and not just hyperthreading. :-3

[Patrickssj6]

What is SRTEST? Some shit from the sound of it. Go get CPU-z (http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php) to see if it's really a dual core and not just hyperthreading. :-3
It's Hyperthreading. Also, never heard of SRTEST but sounds like StrestTest.


StrestTests are for testing stability on overclocking. Use PCMark/3DMark for Computer/Graphic benchmarking.

[MNC]

www.srtest.com (http://www.srtest.com)
It's a website for checking your system requirements on a game.
Yeah, CPUZ is already here, but I haven't thought looking there yet..:saddowns: Hyperthreading it is
http://img377.imageshack.us/img377/9387/cpu2593oh7.png

[InnerGoat]

damn that thing sucks :saddowns:

[Patrickssj6]

At least it has L2 Cache...:lmao:

1.5V? Also, missing half of the processor instructions there...how far have we come. SSE3, 3DNOW! (which is AMD btw) xD

[SnaFuBAR]

The graphics card should be good for Crysis

Not really. A friend of mine had a 7600 series and it sucked for crysis, even on low.

[Patrickssj6]

My bro is playing Crysis with 1.0GHz Sempron 765MB RAM and 6200...hmm...on low obviously but it's playable.

[Sel]

Not really. A friend of mine had a 7600 series and it sucked for crysis, even on low.

I dunno, one of my friends has that card, and he was bragging to me about how he could play crysis on medium and shit :|

[MNC]

damn that thing sucks :saddowns:

At least it has L2 Cache...

HEY FUCK YOU D'=

the whole PC is from 2004 or something. I think it's living pretty durable so far.

MC6sa_Ah8q

See? It's possible, he's got an Pentium 4 2,6 Ghz.

[Bodzilla]

hmm, So how much money can you spend realistically, because your in a bit of a pickle to be honest, Not upgrading your Mother board and CPu means you will have to upgrade them next time.

i just think that if your gunna buy the 7800 because you have the intention of playing good looking games on it then you need to re think your idea a bit more.

Do what i did and dont skimp on the essentials, But recycle older parts such as mouse, keyboard, screen, Dvd's Hard drives ect.
Get a new motherboard that will build you a platform for future upgrades, 8800, 2gb of good ram and something like a q6600.
Your computer will be reasonably cheap and it will run everything good, if not well.

Getting the 7800 means our going to get little value for money when it comes to Gaming.

[MNC]

That's the thing, I don't have the need for upgrading. It's usually like this in this household: My dad gets the newest computer/laptop, and after a year, maybe 2, the PC gets passed down and he builds/buys a new one for him. Me and him just
build him this PC:

Vista Ultimate 32bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
Geforce 8600GTS
2GB RAM, 2 slots left
1TB HDD

And I see no use in upgrading this pc (except for this graphics card) when in about a year I'm going to get his pc. It might be a bit outdated by then, but good enough for me.

[Limited]

I got GeForce 7600 GT, 256mb, pretty good. I can play source games well on med.

Oh and you think your CPU sucks?

http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/4710/cryki4.png

[MNC]

Is medium HDR turned off?

I think you can easily achieve high in something like Episode Two. Model detail, Texture detail, they hardly had any performance hit on me with the FX5200, even though I was in Dx81 mode, but still.

[Limited]

Think so, I never usually have HDR in games.

[legionaire45]

Buying an AGP video card for that rig is a waste of money, period. Either go PCI Express or don't bother upgrading. If you insist on buying an AGP card, then at least go for something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131097). Honestly though, you are wasting your money by buying an AGP card. If you must, save up some money and buy something decent. A $50 PCI Express motherboard and like a $70 Pentium Dual Core will make your life much better. At the moment you are going to be so CPU limited that any modern game that you play will end up being absolutely unplayable unless you have the graphics settings turned all the way down.

[Bodzilla]

Buying an AGP video card for that rig is a waste of money, period. Either go PCI Express or don't bother upgrading. If you insist on buying an AGP card, then at least go for something like this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131097). Honestly though, you are wasting your money by buying an AGP card. If you must, save up some money and buy something decent. A $50 PCI Express motherboard and like a $70 Pentium Dual Core will make your life much better. At the moment you are going to be so CPU limited that any modern game that you play will end up being absolutely unplayable unless you have the graphics settings turned all the way down.
This.