havoc

thanks to uncle sam, i'll be getting a new graphics card in a couple weeks.
any recommendations?
i have AMD Athlon dual core proc., Vista, and will also be adding some RAM. and i'm pretty sure i need a PCI-e card.....
lookin to spend up $400.
thx muppets.
lol

* edit : fixed title and moved post to hardware section by niels *

boogle

I am currently running an NVIDIA 8800 GT and love it.....more than a year old still kicks ass!
If I was buying right now I'd grab an NVIDIA 9800 GT or better. Just had a look and found this. Major bargain the vid card segment!!

XFX GeForce 9800 GT - 512MB GDDR3, PCI Express 2.0, (2) Dual Link DVI, HDTV, VGA Support PVT98GYDLH at TigerDirect.com

watch the video on the page...he tells it like it is

They have super cheap ram as well....just to give you a price range to look for.
Hope that helps.

PS. Bigger graphics means more power required (the 9800 should run well on lower output power supplies)

Niels

Hey Havoc,

To help you out here I need some more info. Like what kinda CPU?. How much ram you have in there and what kinda mobo?. What is the power of your PSU?.
The option mentioned by Boogle is good. Remember those GPU can use some power. Anyway I will have a go at it without knowing what your system specs are.

Here we go:

GPU : XFX GeForce 9800 GTX + Video Card - 512MB DDR3, PCI Express 2.0, SLI Ready, (Dual Link) Dual DVI, HDTV, VGA Support $159,99 after rebate
RAM : Corsair XMS2 DHX 2048MB Dual Channel PC6400 DDR2 800MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) $9,99 after rebate
PSU : OCZ OCZ500SXS StealthXStream 500-Watt Power Supply - SATA Ready, PCI-Express Ready $34,99 after rebate

So this will set you off at $204,97 after rebate. Not sure what the heck that means in USA but this a good deal. This will safe you some money and will play LFS or any game right now rather good.

You can get any higher GPU but would not be a wise suggestion. Why, well since your using a AMD processor which arent the fastest around nowadays you would propably end up with a PC were the GPU would be fatser then the CPU. Dont get me wrong, the AMD cpu are great but just not fast enough to handle the GTX2.. serie from nvidia very well.
You will end up in a system which will be CPU bottlenecked. Run smooth though but you dont use the limits of the GPU.

For if you not knowing what it all means :

PSU : Power Supply
CPU : Central Processor unit, short processor.
GPU : Graphic Processor unit, short grahpic card.
Mobo : Motherboard.
Niels : Hardware mupp€t

havoc

------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 1/17/2009, 08:07:44
Machine name: 08-PC
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6001) Service Pack 1 (6001.vistasp1_gdr.080917-1612)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Acer
System Model: Aspire M1100
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: AMD Athlon(tm) X2 Dual Core Processor BE-2300 (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Memory: 766MB RAM
Page File: 979MB used, 818MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6001.18000 32bit Unicode
---------------
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: ATI Radeon X1200 Series
Manufacturer: ATI Technologies Inc.
Chip type: ATI Radeon X1200 Series (0x791E)
DAC type: Internal DAC(400MHz)
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_791E&SUBSYS_0E0A105B&REV_00
Display Memory: 383 MB
Dedicated Memory: 255 MB
Shared Memory: 127 MB
Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: ACER X193W
Driver Name: atiumdag.dll,atiumdva.cap,atitmmxx.dll
Driver Version: 7.14.0010.0621 (English)
DDI Version: 9Ex
Driver Attributes: Final Retail
Driver Date/Size: 10/28/2008 21:03:13, 3955712 bytes
WHQL Logo'd: Yes
WHQL Date Stamp:
Device Identifier: {D7B71EE2-3A5E-11CF-8671-002EA1C2CA35}
Vendor ID: 0x1002
Device ID: 0x791E
SubSys ID: 0x0E0A105B

ran dxdiag. hope this info will help, and thanks for the input.

teedot

In case your board doesnt support PCI-e ....

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
$84.99 after rebate from Newegg.com

Intel Core 2 Duo E7300 Wolfdale 2.66GHz LGA 775 Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7300 - Retail
$119.99 - Newegg.com - no rebate available

and to power:

COOLER MASTER eXtreme RP-500-PCAR 500W Power Supply - Retail
$39.99 - Newegg.com (Same PSU as i have... works great... not as quiet as i'd like though)

That would give you a brand spanking new computer along with Niels' suggested hardware for about $450

A kick-ass computer I might add


... dont forget you can overclock just about everything on new motherboards I smell 3.8GHz lol

havoc

gee i wonder if i'd be better off dropping the dell i have upstairs off at a builder and having all that installed?
so many choices....and yes i do believe i have PCI-e in the tower i am currently using,thanks again.
now where is that RSR application i started to fill out................