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Upgrading entry level card, good choice?

M

mETRo

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2005
Messages
1,045
Ok, so my HTPC that I just built was using a VisionTek ATi Radeon 9250 AGP 128DDR card. It was running everything in windows just fine, Media Center ran great and all was well. The only problem was the memory interface was only 64-bit, which frankly, sucks.

So I returned the card in favor of a PNY nVidia GeForce FX5500. Now I know a lot of you say th entire line of FX cards sucks, and you're entitled to that opinion. The thing that caught my eye with the 5500 was its 256-bit interface, and its ability to support Direct X 9 and OpenGL 1.5.

When I was using the Radeon 9250, I could play BF2 at 1024x768, but ALL of the settings had to be the very lowest they could go, and for me that wasn't cutting it. Now I'm not a hardcore gamer so I don't need all the eye candy in the world, but something better than "low" settings would be nice. I kind of attributed most of that to the 64-bit interface of the card. The core clock on it was 240MHz, the new FX5500 is 270MHz but with the 256-bit interface instead of 64. I am able to play BF2 at 1024x768 on most medium settings now, which looks 10 times better than it did before, and the game all around looks "better" with the nVidia card. Colors are richer, lighting is better. I noticed this before I even upgraded any of the eye candy in-game.

Anyway, for someone who was only looking to spend ~$70-75 on a card for regular applications and a bit of light gaming, did I go horribly wrong with the 256-bit FX5500? Everything seems to run smoother with this card, but I just want to know what you guys think. I don't need recommendations on more expensive cards and such, I just wanted something entry-level that I could do some light gaming on and improve the performance in Windows.
 
I think the ATI 9550 has the best price/performance in the ~100 price range, but for the price the FX 5500 looks like a nice deal.
 
First off, your FX5500 does not have a 256bit memory interface. It most likely has 256mb of memory though, which is a total waste because that card cant even drive enough to fill 64mb's most of the time.

Not to burst your bubble or anything, but you actually did choose a bad card. A simple look on Newegg could have grabbed you the Radeon 9600 Pro, or if you go refrubished you could have even grabbed a 9800 Pro (which does have a 256bit memory interface) for slightly below $100.

Any recent card is going to drive Windows fine, no issues there.

The FX cards, no matter how you slice them was totally out classed at every price range by a ATi card of the time. This still holds true today, and even more so has the FX series terrible shading support means as games get newer and use more DirectX 9 features it simply wont hold up as well.
 
Well, the card is a 128MB DDR, 256-bit GeForce FX5500 (says it right on the back of the box), and it beats the living piss out of the ATi 9250 that I was running just earlier today. I have been playing BF2 at 1024x768 on medium settings for the last 4 hours straight without a single hiccup, where as with my ATi card I could only play at the lowest possible settings the game offered..

So, not to burst your bubble, but it looks like this card is MUCH better than my ATi card was, which was all I was looking for. I didn't want a card that I'd have to change my PSU out to run, and like I said, I don't need all the eye candy, just something that can run these games at something above the bare minimum.

I would have gone on Newegg, as I do for about 95% of my computer parts, but I didn't want to wait the 3-5 days for it to get here, I wanted to pay BF2 now, and I have been now that I bought this card. All in all I'm happy with the purchase, everything from 2D to games has much more vibrant color and things just look "better" with it.

Anyway, the FX line of cards is not for everyone and I knew that, but after reading the specs I knew it would be better than the ATi card I had. I'm sorry if my decisions aren't good enough for everyone else but it suits my budget and my needs just fine.


Thanks :)
 
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