Budget Video

[BSTime]

DISREGARD THIS, THERE IS AN UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE THREAD


Ok, I know you guys probably see a thread like this every other week, but I'm looking for a little help and couldn't find anything covering this specific topic in a search.

Anyway, I've had this same video card for a little over a year now. A Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, in other words, a piece of shit. Within the past few months, when ever I start up a game, the computer would make the 'shut down sound', and then lock up. Then it started doing it when ever I ran a movie, and now it has been doing it when ever I start up the computer. It's not a power failure because the entire computer stays on. The lights on the fans don't even blink during the 'shut down sound'. Anyway, I pulled the card tonight and dusted it off, and it does seem to be working for the time being. But in the event that the board heats up again, and the computer starts doing it again, I'm gonna have to start looking for a new card.

However, I'm looking for a budget card. Something in the range of 100 bucks. Something that will play games, but not the most graphicly advanced games. For instance, the only game I have been playing recently, is Quake III. I would however like to have the option to play a couple newer games, for instance Battlefield.

The motherboard I have is an ASUS P4P800, it has 8X AGP, so I guess I'm looking for an AGP card? I'm not really sure at this point, I used to to be real computer savvy in my youth, but after jumping into an IT major, and then jumping the fuck out, I havn't messed with the insides of a computer, and have pretty much avoided anything tech related because I just wore my self out in my early years. I mean hell, I dont even have an iPod.

So yea, if anyone can suggest a decent video card for around 100 dollars +- 15 bucks that is just an all around decent card, I would really appreciate it.

Spanks.

DISREGARD THIS, THERE IS AN UPDATE AT THE BOTTOM OF THE THREAD

 

[Pherret]

6600GTs are getting cheap. I too came from a 9800Pro. I was pissed when I bought the 6600GT because they rated the cards similarly, but It seems to handle the newer games great. After I upgraded to 1G ram the card was dishing out more. My sys was too slow for it! Overclocking does help too.

I think theres an eVGA one on newegg for $120 after MIR.

Make sure you specify agp in the search though.

 

[BSTime]

Thats another question I had, what is with all the video cards these days being manufactured(?) or supported by a whole bunch of different companies? Why is it that when I search for a particular card, I get like 20 different companies selling the same card for different prices? Do they really all have different functions and capabilities? I dont remember this kind of crap going on 5 years ago, why now?

Are there any I should stay away from?

 

[meatycheesyboy]

Thats another question I had, what is with all the video cards these days being manufactured(?) or supported by a whole bunch of different companies? Why is it that when I search for a particular card, I get like 20 different companies selling the same card for different prices? Do they really all have different functions and capabilities? I dont remember this kind of crap going on 5 years ago, why now?

Mainly because chipset manufacturers found out tha it is more profitable to license the chipsets out to other companies to make cardsrather than making the cards themselves. NVidia has never made it own cards as far as I can remember.

As for the differences in the cards, some manufacturers overclock them above the official specs right out of the box, some come with more quiet better cooling heatsinks/fans, some follow reference designs and are cheaper, and some boast lifetime warranties.

As for your original question, for $100 I don't think you'll get anything faster than what you have.

 

[StealthyFish]

go buy a nice heatsink for that 9800Pro and you should be good. Overclock it and you'll be good to go until that next paycheck where you order a whole new comp =D. Heatsink's are like 15 bucks for the better ones (for graphic cards). Just look around newegg. My friend's 9800pro lasted him over 3 years. OC'd. That and you could probably go for some more memory. it can compensate for a weaker graphics card =) (seem to)

 

[BSTime]

go buy a nice heatsink for that 9800Pro and you should be good. Overclock it and you'll be good to go until that next paycheck where you order a whole new comp =D. Heatsink's are like 15 bucks for the better ones (for graphic cards). Just look around newegg. My friend's 9800pro lasted him over 3 years. OC'd. That and you could probably go for some more memory. it can compensate for a weaker graphics card =) (seem to)

Deffinitly dont need a new comp. 2.8 GHz P4 and 512 Mb RAM and a decent hard drive is good enough to download porn, write lab reports, listen to music and play Q3. Anyway, this 9800 seems to be keeping up so far, so I guess I'll just stick with this. Thanks for the help though guys.

 

[BSTime]

OLD THREAD.. NEW QUESTION:

Hey guys, this is an update to an obviously old thread...

Well I found out the problem I had been having with this 9800 pro card is that it over heats even when there is a bit of dust in the heatsink/fan area. It hasn't been much of a problem for me recently since I have been in the hospital for quite a long time.... long story short they gave me a new heart and sent me home.

Well the damn thing is obviously still overheating. So the question is:

Can this be fixed by prying off the fan/heatsink and throwing on a new one. If so, what is a good fan/heatsink, and where can it be found.

Secondly, I am tempted to just buy a new card, how does a GeForce FX 5500 256mb AGP card line up with my current Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro?

I have an amazon gift cert. and:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...r_1_2/104-3659891-8921516?_encoding=UTF8&s=pc

loooks to be a decent deal

Please let me know.

 

[BSTime]

anyone? I wanna try and whipe the problem out today.

 

[cyks]

How much money do you have?

 

[arthur_tuxedo]

OLD THREAD.. NEW QUESTION:

Hey guys, this is an update to an obviously old thread...

Well I found out the problem I had been having with this 9800 pro card is that it over heats even when there is a bit of dust in the heatsink/fan area. It hasn't been much of a problem for me recently since I have been in the hospital for quite a long time.... long story short they gave me a new heart and sent me home.

Well the damn thing is obviously still overheating. So the question is:

Can this be fixed by prying off the fan/heatsink and throwing on a new one. If so, what is a good fan/heatsink, and where can it be found.

Secondly, I am tempted to just buy a new card, how does a GeForce FX 5500 256mb AGP card line up with my current Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro?

I have an amazon gift cert. and:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...r_1_2/104-3659891-8921516?_encoding=UTF8&s=pc

loooks to be a decent deal

Please let me know.

The GeForce FX 5500 is a much, much worse card than the 9800 Pro. You will see a huge drop in performance. Even the FX 5950 Ultra is not as good, so ignore anything with an FX in front of it. Basically, this is not a good time for you to upgrade until you can scrape together a bit more money than $100. $150 to $200 will get you a pretty nice card, such as a GeForce 6800 (just 6800 with no letters after it) or a Radeon X850 Pro or XT. Make sure what you're buying says AGP somewhere and not PCI-E or PCI-Express. Don't spend less than $150, because what you're getting won't be any better than what you've already got, and runs a big risk of being worse.

Still, if this problem can be solved by replacing a heatsink (and I'm not an expert in this area, so I don't know if it will), I would just hang onto the 9800 Pro. I'm still using one, and I plan to keep using it for another year or so. Runs all my games great, including Oblivion.

 

[BSTime]

Ok, that's basicly the info I was looking for. It seems to be running fine for now, just froze up last night for what ever reason. I don't really play any games, so I dont need any superfast video card so I can run the latest battlefield games and what not. On the other hand, I certianly do not want to downgrade from what I already have.

Thanks for the reply though!

 

[StealthyFish]

stay away from the whole FX series. If I were you, I'd probably go for an X800GTO. they're not too expensive on newegg right now. If you really want a good card, maybe a 7800GS, but since you said you didn't need anything too good, the X800 series could be something worth looking into, although I'm not too knowledgable of AGP cards since I own a PCIe supporting motherboard.