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Need advice on a new GeForce.

K

kthiessen

n00b
Joined
Aug 3, 2004
Messages
36
Greetings Forum Dwellers!

Yes I am a n00b =/

I bow before your uberness! <bow>

I'm looking to upgrade the graphics on my Windows box. It's main function in life is to play everquest.

EQ is really more processor/Ram-intensive then GPU-intensive so I've upgraded those first, but with the new DX9 engine Everquest is now a little more laggy then I'd like graphics-wise.

Currently I'm using an older GeForce4 128mb DDR
System is P4 2.8, 1gig HyperX DDR, 450watt PSU

I run EQ at 800x600 with all quality options turned ON and Anti Aliasing turned OFF.

My budget is $150-$200

I've heard very mixed things about the FX5200-FX5700 series, are there still issues with performance?

The last Video Card I tried in my machine ( was a friends old card fx5200 ultra ) required an external power feed, it didn't want to work with my PSU, Even after unplugging all my CD drives and puitting it on it's own cable are there generally issues with external power?

What can you suggest ?

P.S. I won't buy any ATI products ever again in my life so nvidia is what I'm looking for.
 
dont know why that 5200u wouldnt work but for under $200 id suggest either a 5700ultra, or a 5900xt. both require additional power thru a molex connector tho.
 
At first it appeared fine but I got a window when i booted up windows that said the power wasn't connected and it was scaling back speed to compensate ( i tested it, it was in fact slow as hell )

I thought I might just not be giving it enough juice, so i disconnected my 2 CD drives and some fans and gave the card it's own cable off the PSU and was only powering the HD, Floppy, and 1 80mm fan off the power supply

When i booted i still got the " Power connector is not attached, scaling back speed" message

:(
 
You're really best off with a 9800pro. A 5200 or 5700 will only be marginally if at all better than your Geforce 4 (ti?).
The 9800pros are a really good card, you should give ati another chance on this one.
 
i'd strongly suggest the 9800pro over the 5900xt. i mean, if you're dead set on nVidia, then by all means go for it, but ATi definately took the top position during that round of cards. in the newer gen (which is more expensive than your budget allows) i'd suggest a nVidia, but when you're looking at those models, the 9800pro all the way.
 
Heh

The ATI product is probably great but back in the day when ATI used to make their own cards I had an issue with one. I was told it would be suppoerted under warrenty and sent it back for repairs, ATI ended up billing me $200 for the supposed warrenty repairs, I tried for 10 months to get the situation resolved with their customer service, they were never able to resolve it ( called, wrote letters, contacted their management etc.) I got the runaround for almost a year .. eventually I gave up. :confused:

Months later I was threatened with legal action for nonpayment by a credit agency ( this is $200 remember) I tried again to resolve the situation with the collection agency, and the representitive there told me " Sure thing, pay us this money plus accrued interest and after we get it we'll talk about it more" ;)

The whole episode put a ding in my credit rating and I vowed to never buy an ATI product again. :mad:
 
Spend a few bucks more and get a GeForce 6800 Non-Ultra - they run around $280. Or, if you can wait a month or so, the 6600GT will be coming out for $199, which looks excellent, and initial benchmarks show it to be much faster than the 5900xt.

For instance, this card is excellent and comes with FarCry free, $283:
eVGA 6800 128mb (in stock)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-130-202&depa=0
Very good customer support too, with 1yr warranty :)

Here is another card that is a bit more money but comes with a true lifetime warranty (even after the product is no longer made) Its basically the same as the other one however it is a tiny bit faster and a little quieter.... However no free game:
BFG 6800 OC 128mb (on order), $299
http://www.chumbo.com/info.asp?s=MGX-10129095

It's really worth the extra money for the 6800 series over the FX 5xxx series.
 
kthiessen said:
Heh

The ATI product is probably great but back in the day when ATI used to make their own cards I had an issue with one. I was told it would be suppoerted under warrenty and sent it back for repairs, ATI ended up billing me $200 for the supposed warrenty repairs, I tried for 10 months to get the situation resolved with their customer service, they were never able to resolve it ( called, wrote letters, contacted their management etc.) I got the runaround for almost a year .. eventually I gave up. :confused:

Months later I was threatened with legal action for nonpayment by a credit agency ( this is $200 remember) I tried again to resolve the situation with the collection agency, and the representitive there told me " Sure thing, pay us this money plus accrued interest and after we get it we'll talk about it more" ;)

The whole episode put a ding in my credit rating and I vowed to never buy an ATI product again. :mad:
Click to expand...

wow...I'd be pretty bitter too. :eek:
 
That scenerio would get mine all in a bunch too and would prompt me to at the very least file a complaint at the BBB.

Another card worth considering is the 6800 LE, it's ear marked for OEM release in the next month or two but I'm sure a bunch of these will make to it a retailer somewhere. It outperforms the 9800 Pro by a substantial margin and will be the same price, if you can wait.

Else, I suppose a 5900XT might be okay.

Which GF4 128MB card do you have exactly? TI 4600?
 
Which GF4 128MB card do you have exactly? TI 4600?
Click to expand...

It's a ti4200.

Are the "LE" cards the slightly gimped versions as the "MX" cards were?

I normally would shy away from that, but even a detuned version of the top-of-the-line card would probably still be twice as good as what I'm running now ....hrm....
 
kthiessen said:
It's a ti4200.

Are the "LE" cards the slightly gimped versions as the "MX" cards were?

I normally would shy away from that, but even a detuned version of the top-of-the-line card would probably still be twice as good as what I'm running now ....hrm....
Click to expand...


Yes gimped down to 8 pipes.

I went from a TI 4600 to a 6800. Huge difference. Then I got my paws on a 6800 GT. Even better. :cool:
 
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