Buying a graphics card... which one?

[UCFCSGuy]

Ok guys and gals here's the story.

I want to upgrade my graphics card from my current Intel 8x series chipset.

My current system specs are:
P4 3.0GHz Hyperthreaded
1.0 GB RAM

My current frontrunner is the ATI Radeon 9250/9550. I like these b/c they have 256 on board RAM.

My other current consideration is the PNY Verto GeForce FX 5500.

I'm liking the extra 128MB RAM on the Radeon.

Does anyone have a reccommendation between these two? If they are both dogs, does anyone have another reccommendation of a card in the $100 price range?

 

[thethiefbarabus]

AGP or PCI-E?

 

[UCFCSGuy]

Currently I don't know.

Its a Dell that I ordered in the April-May timeframe this year.

I am planning to look inside the box before making my purchase though...

 

[thethiefbarabus]

probably a AGP

check out

www.pricewatch.com to get the best prices

www.newegg.com has the best service and return policy IMO

i would go ati

if you go onto ATI's website, sometimes you can get a kick ass refurbished card at a cheap rate, they give a 3 year warrenty so it's not really that much of a risk, you will upgrade again long before that...

 

[Sorceresss]

Ok guys and gals [...] I'm liking the extra 128MB RAM on the Radeon.

1. THXxx for including us "gals".

2. Are the extra 128 MB (up to 256 MB of VRAM) really that interesting if one does not play games at higher resolutions?

3. I am a long-time fan of the nVidia chipsets, so I would go for the GeForce.

My two-year old GF FX 5200 (128 MB) has functioned flawlessly with CIV IV, for the past 50 days, even though my in-game, graphical settings are all set to maximum quality. Of course, I do not play at higher resolutions than the basic one.

 

[thethiefbarabus]

I am a long-time fan of the nVidia chipsets, so I would go for the GeForce.

ATI Radeon X1800 XT owns anything GeForce has to offer, no questions...

 

[Efexeye]

If you're getting a Dell, make sure you buy a PCI card- they don't support AGP, even on their "uber" XPS systems.

 

[UCFCSGuy]

@Sorceresss:

If the VRAM is only going to help on higher resolutions, then I don't really need it. Thanks for the tip.

One consideration is that I read through the technical problems forum and most of the people who had issues were running with ATI cards. Although the problems have probably been alleviated by now, I'm still a little cautious.

 

[thethiefbarabus]

Are you buying this card ONLY to play Civ or are you going to play any other games on your PC, it is sometimes unwise to buy a card soley for the purpose of playing a single game... :suicide:

 

[Sorceresss]

ATI Radeon X1800 XT owns anything GeForce has to offer, no questions.

Possibly. I really do not know, from a technical & rational perspective.

I prefer the GeForce series because I have never experienced any problem with its videocards : but that is just a very subjective, limited experience.

Since my FX 5200 runs CIV IV flawlessly with the maximum-quality settings, my luck seems to hold. But that is not proof of anything.

 

[superslug]

Does anyone have a reccommendation between these two? If they are both dogs, does anyone have another reccommendation of a card in the $100 price range?

Civ4 is very performance reliant on what level of PixelShader your card supports, and in that area, Nvidia has a lot more options, and I think cheaper ones too. This GeForce 6200 would put you on the bottom rung of PixelShader 3.0, and still give you 256mbs of RAM for under $100. It's also rated very highly.

Radeon 9250's are good cards, but they only have PixelShader 2.0:
http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=133278

EDIT: Just make sure you identify what slot you have free before you order anything!!!!

 

[UCFCSGuy]

This GeForce 6200 would put you on the bottom rung of PixelShader 3.0, and still give you 256mbs of RAM for under $100. It's also rated very highly.

EDIT: Just make sure you identify what slot you have free before you order anything!!!!

I will take a look inside the case to see what I'm up against slot-wise before ordering anything. Thanks for the tip on the GeForce 6200 -- it sounds like a steal.

BTW -- what version of PixelShader is current? Are we past 3.0 yet?

 

[superslug]

BTW -- what version of PixelShader is current? Are we past 3.0 yet?

No, we're still at 3.0. If you look at the chart in the first post of the thread I linked to, you'll the breakdown of which cards have what PixelShader.

 

[Smidlee]

ATI Radeon X1800 XT owns anything GeForce has to offer, no questions...

I have a question. Why is Geforce (7800's) cards on top of a lot of these performance charts then?
http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/02/vga_charts_viii/
(by the way this site also shows you differences between Pixelshader 2.0 and 3.0)
6200 to me looks like your best offer for $100.

 

[Adam7Eight]

ATI Radeon X1800 XT owns anything GeForce has to offer, no questions...

Thanks for the laugh.

Moving along...

If cost is an issue then I would definately suggest the 6200 as well. It's your best bang for the buck at the moment.

 

[Sorceresss]

[To what was previously posted by thethiefbarabus :]

"ATI Radeon X1800 XT owns anything GeForce has to offer, no questions..."

[Reply :] Thanks for the laugh.

Gee : I'm not the only nVidia fanatic on this thread.

 

[Adam7Eight]

It's not that I'm an nVidia fanatic, and the fact I've owned several GeForce cards in my life is irrelevant. You usually see a few of these guys pop up in a video card related thread no matter what forum it is, just to spam it with the "this card owns all" crap, when in reality they have almost no clue, thus making themselves look like total morons. The 7800 GTX card has smoked the X1800 XT in every gaming test I've seen. But, thethiefbarabus is right... there are no questions.

 

[superslug]

I'm sorry, but the 7800GTX isn't the best way to go:

Spoiler :

The best way to go is two of them in SLI mode.

 

[Jimbo30]

Assuming the average gamer doesn't have billions to spend on dual 7800 GT's, a 6600 GT will do nicely.

Your system (the original posters) is practically identical to mine, and my 6600 GT can easily cope with 12 civs on a standard map all the way through the game. Turns take seconds and it never lags. It chokes a bit (a lot, actually) with 18 civs on a huge map late in the game although I doubt this has anything to do with the graphics card. It's probably more a lack of memory (1 Gb) and of course, shoddy programming.

Don't fall into the 'more memory is better' trap with graphics cards though, because it's not that clear cut. You don't want anything less than 128 Mb now but 512 Mb might be a bit excessive, and certainly for a game like Civ 4. The cost you pay for double the memory usually isn't worth it (the Radeon 9800 is a good example - a great graphics card that actually performed worse with double the memory). Although the 256 Mb version of that card is better than the 128 Mb version *now*, it's getting towards obsolete on the games that push graphics to the limit. It'll should still run Civ4 pretty easily though.

It's probably best that you advise us on what you're willing to spend, and maybe what other games you're playing.

 

[vbraun]

I'm sorry, but the 7800GTX isn't the best way to go:

Spoiler :

The best way to go is two of them in SLI mode.

/me wishes he had the money...