Under 100$ video card for CS:S

S

slaya

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Nov 10, 2002
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Hey, my brother is interested in purchasing HL2/CS:S, but I told him his video card isn't all that good and that an upgrade would give him much better quality. He doesn't want to spend anymore than $100, and isn't an extreme gamer like some of us. He just wants good picture quality, smooth FPS, and good price. We don't mind getting a used video card from the classifieds or ebay, so what do you think is the best card for the price range.

His system specs:
Intel 2.5C
512MB PC2100
MX440 64MB

He plays at 1024x786 or 800x600, would like to have some nice settings with that too.

I was thinking maybe a 9600XT, but i'm not sure..


Thanks
 
A 9600 XT doesn't go for under $100.

A 9600 pro would... and it'd run Source fairly decently.
 
Well I was hoping to find a deal on ebay, or classifieds or something..?
 
Other options:

1) soft-moddable 9500 (eBay)
2) 9700 Pro - refurb - from www.crucial.com - slightly above $100 but still a hell of a deal.
3) 9800 Regulars if you can find one - (eBay)
 
I'd look around for someone hard up for cash, you might be able to score a 9700
 
Sometimes there are 9700's on these forums for about 110.

Otherwise, see If you can find a 9500 pro, sometimes they go pretty cheap and are pretty good. Even better, if they have a regular 9500 and have tested the softmod and it works.

You *might* be able to find a 5900XT also for 100.

How about Geforce TI-4200? I have one know and can play UT2004 at 1024x768 everything max at 40fps.
 
How would a 9800 SE do for CS:S?

I am wondering though, if anyone knows the picture "quality", like the way the textures look and stuff between a 9800 SE and 6600GT, not a comparison of how much FASTER the 6600GT is.


Thanks
 
last generation of ati and nvidia cards(X series and 6xxx series)have the best quality...and pretty much identical except for there differnt AA settings

plus i think SE cardshave 64bit memory bus thats BAD stay away,correction i think this cards bus is 128 but still owned by the 6600gt
 
Not the 9800SE. It has four pipes locked down and a 128 bit mem bus, as opposed to 256. I'd stay away from it, unless you can get the Powercolor 9800SE. They have a full 256 bit interface, and many are softmoddable to open all eight pipes.
 
icthus13 said:
Not the 9800SE. It has four pipes locked down and a 128 bit mem bus, as opposed to 256. I'd stay away from it, unless you can get the Powercolor 9800SE. They have a full 256 bit interface, and many are softmoddable to open all eight pipes.
Click to expand...
lol i edited 13minutes before you posted
 
He needs AGP, not PCIE. On my old Athlon 1700, a TI4600 runs it on meium-high at 60fps but my system is tweaked good and I have a few cfg opyimizations. My old 9100 even ran it at about 40 fps. You don't really need a great card to run it. I got my 4600 for $50 shipped and couldn't pass it up, but a 9500 Pro would be a better bet. My friend has one and it is an amazing card. Also, HL2 likes ATI cards. Just be sure to stay away from the FX series. I had a 5600 and my old 4200 CRUSHED it. I could sell you my 4200 or Radeon 9100 for say $65 shipped. The 9100 is 128bit 64mb DDR 250/500 oc's to 285/550. The 4200 is 128bit and I am not sure about the memory. I think it is 128mb DDR 4.5ns 444mhz. It overclocks really good though past 4400 speeds. They both are made by Visiontek which I think comes with a lifetime warranty. CSS is more cpu than gpu intensive so either one will do fine. They are nice budget cards. PM me if you want them.
 
The thing is, my brother has a MX440, and he can run CS:S, it pretty much looks like CS with better materials, still crappy looking though.

He saw me playing it with my 6600GT, and it looks amazin, he's more of a PS2/Xbox gamer so he doesn't wan't to spend money on a graphics card for computer gaming (I don't know why, computer > *.) He want's to play CS:S with that type of image quality, i'm sure it isn't possible without spending the extra money on a 6600GT but he would like to get as close as possible, he plays at low res and his monitor only does 60hz so FPS isn't much of a problem really..

Thankz
 
9500, 9500 PRO, 9600 PRO, 9600XT, 9700 PRO, 9800SE

all lower priced cards that will play CSS pretty good.
 
I3roknI3ottle said:
9500, 9500 PRO, 9600 PRO, 9600XT, 9700 PRO, 9800SE

all lower priced cards that will play CSS pretty good.
Click to expand...

Out of all those cards, (if you can find it) I would go for the 9700Pro, if not, then the 9600XT should also be good.
 
I'm guessing the GeForce 6200 is out of the question. It's the cheapest DX9 video card (around $70-$90), but you get what you pay for. Still, it'll work.
 
Blinkme323 said:
You don't think a 9100 or 4200 would play source good on medium 800:600.
Click to expand...

Well, I have an M440SE (I dont really know the specs of those cards) and I can tell you, running low settings, on 800x600. with no aa or af, I get something like 30FPS

I would swing for a 9800Pro, or 9600XT
 
if want to play with anything other than bare minimum settings and 640x480 resolution, you are going to need a 9600 class card or better. A GeForce 5900 might do the trick aswell. I personally recommend a 9800pro video card. You don't want to spend $100 now only to have to buy another video card when the next game comes along.
 
icthus13 said:
Not the 9800SE. It has four pipes locked down and a 128 bit mem bus, as opposed to 256. I'd stay away from it, unless you can get the Powercolor 9800SE. They have a full 256 bit interface, and many are softmoddable to open all eight pipes.
Click to expand...
Not all Powercolor 9800SE's have 256-bit mem busses, but you can unlock just about ANY 9800SE, even the ones with the 128-bit busses. I've unlocked two different Sapphire 128-bit/128MB 9800SE's to run 8x1, as well as my beloved Powercolor 9800SE that did over 400mhz on the core.

Here's the ATI softmod drivers to do the unlocking - i find they work more reliably than RivaTuner.

http://www.techpowerup.com/softmod
 
The best choice available for that game at that price is definitely the 9600Pro/XT. Get the XT if you can find it for that price.
 
New: 9600pro

Used/Refurb:9600XT or if you find a good deal 9700pro

Both should be around 100 dollars + - 10

Don't mess with a gf4. I tried to play Thief 3 with my old one and it chugged. Good card but way passed it's useful life.
 
9700 pro would be my suggestion within the bounds of the thread.

It is my opinion that nickel-and-diming a gaming PC is a bad idea though.
 
I loved my 9700.

But we all know how well the Nvidia Ti series performed.

I think on par or better than ATI 9XXX series. Aside from 9700 and 9800 of course.
 
my 9600pro can run alot of things at stock settings at 800x600 (hl2/source games max settings, farcry and the like low-moderatley high, ut2k4 can be run at FULL settings but only with a huge framerate hit)

i can even run CS:S with 4x AA at about 50 fps

so the 9600 pro is a great card


id recommend saving a little more and getting a 9700pro or 9800pro personally

thank god my 6800 is on its way from a fellow member here :D
 
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