graphics card help

[Zeke the Freak]

hi guys, Zeke here.
Im a recently converted PC gamer and i recently discovered that my graphics card (6200) sucks epicly (running CoH on low-still gets lag). So Im deciding which one to get. Im on a budget tho. It has to be below $100. It needs to be able to run DoW2. Im stuck between these three:

3. BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

2. PNY Verto NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

1. BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

Feel free to throw in some reccomendations as well. Your help is greatly appreciated.

 

[oliveira8]

I dont know much about Nvidia cards...but what is the main diference betewen 1. and 3.? Apart from one having more 1000 in the name than the other.

 

[Tanzka]

From those mentioned, the PNY 9400GT is the best but I'd heartily recommend Ati Radeon HD 4830 or Nvidia 9600 GSO. I'd say you can buy each of em for 100$. Btw, what is your processor? So I don't recommend a too overpowered gfx card.

 

[Zeke the Freak]

about 40 bucks is the difference

 

[Zeke the Freak]

From those mentioned, the PNY 9400GT is the best but I'd heartily recommend Ati Radeon HD 4830 or Nvidia 9600 GSO. I'd say you can buy each of em for 100$. Btw, what is your processor? So I don't recommend a too overpowered gfx card.

im running a pentium 4. Ive 1 Gig of RAM (if thats relevant).

 

[clarinetJWD]

If you can be patient, you can pretty regularly get a 512MB 9600GT for under $70. 4830 is also a better choice than all of these, and a 9800GT can be had as low as $130 last time I checked.

 

[Zeke the Freak]

Can your motherboard take a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card? Also does your power supply offer a 6pin+2 outlet for the graphics card?

dumb it down a little. remember, im new to this computer stuff.

 

[Zildjin81]

hi guys, Zeke here.
Im a recently converted PC gamer and i recently discovered that my graphics card (6200) sucks epicly (running CoH on low-still gets lag). So Im deciding which one to get. Im on a budget tho. It has to be below $100. It needs to be able to run DoW2. Im stuck between these three:

3. BFG NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

2. PNY Verto NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

1. BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT 512MB DDR2 PCI Express Graphics Card

Feel free to throw in some reccomendations as well. Your help is greatly appreciated.

gpureview.com, its great.

 

[SquirrelPants]

I've got the 9400 GT, and it'll run most games on high with Antiailising(spelling?) on and all that. It's quite a good card, and you can get it for 80 bucks or so.

 

[Zeke the Freak]

I've got the 9400 GT, and it'll run most games on high with Antiailising(spelling?) on and all that. It's quite a good card, and you can get it for 80 bucks or so.

I envy you. It cost 100 where im shopping.

 

[LoopyDood]

From those mentioned, the PNY 9400GT is the best but I'd heartily recommend Ati Radeon HD 4830 or Nvidia 9600 GSO. I'd say you can buy each of em for 100$. Btw, what is your processor? So I don't recommend a too overpowered gfx card.

im running a pentium 4. Ive 1 Gig of RAM (if thats relevant).

Could you check the clock speeds of the processor for us? (Right click on My Computer on the desktop or start menu, go to Properties, and look for something like "2.00GHz")

 

[SquirrelPants]

I've got the 9400 GT, and it'll run most games on high with Antiailising(spelling?) on and all that. It's quite a good card, and you can get it for 80 bucks or so.

I envy you. It cost 100 where im shopping.

I got mine about a week ago. It was 60 on sale. XD

 

[Death916]

ATI anyting

 

[Zeke the Freak]

From those mentioned, the PNY 9400GT is the best but I'd heartily recommend Ati Radeon HD 4830 or Nvidia 9600 GSO. I'd say you can buy each of em for 100$. Btw, what is your processor? So I don't recommend a too overpowered gfx card.

im running a pentium 4. Ive 1 Gig of RAM (if thats relevant).

Could you check the clock speeds of the processor for us? (Right click on My Computer, go to Properties, and look for something like "2.00GHz")

its at 2.52 Ghz

 

[Zeke the Freak]

Can your motherboard take a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card? Also does your power supply offer a 6pin+2 outlet for the graphics card?

Do you think you can link your motherboard to us? Just need to know if your current motherboard can handle a PCI-E 2.0 graphics card.

You can usually find the ID number on the motherboard itself as well as the brand.

There is a difference between

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127412

and

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125240

can i just give you the product key of my computer so you have all the specs, cos i cant open it up right now (its late, im clumsy) and i havent changed any thing on it (cept for G card).

 

[clarinetJWD]

If you have a Pentium 4, there's a decent chance you don't have a PCI-e slot on your motherboard, and in fact, the GeForce 6200 comes in both AGP or PCI-e. If you don't have a PCI-e slot, I'm afraid there's no reason to waste your money on another AGP card...

Go into your device manager (Hit Windows+R to bring up the run window, and type in devmgmt.msc, then hit enter.)

Find "Display Adapters", and your video card should be listed underneath. Right click the card and select properties. On the 'General' tab, there should be a Location listed. If it says "PCI Slot something" (Mine is "PCI Slot 3 (PCI bus 4, device 0, function 0)"), then you're in luck. If it says "AGP something", sorry.

Tenmar: As for the 6 pin power, it's largely unnecessary in the cards he's looking at, as most just come with a 4 pin molex to 6 pin adapter.

 

[Horticulture]

If you have a Pentium 4, there's a decent chance you don't have a PCI-e slot on your motherboard, and in fact, the GeForce 6200 comes in both AGP or PCI-e. If you don't have a PCI-e slot, I'm afraid there's no reason to waste your money on another AGP card...

If you're on AGP, there are faster cards available, but they're quite expensive for what you get, and outdated by several generations. A Radeon X1950 Pro is old, but should manage DoW2 and is probably in your price range used. Check the wattage and amperage of the +12V rail on your power supply (will be at the back of your case on the top, and should have a sticker with specs, look for +12V: XX on the sticker. If there are multiple +12V numbers, get them all) and post them here or check them against the specs of the card. Another possibility is an AGP Nvidia 7600GT which should use less power but will struggle with DoW2 above quite low resolutions.

Edit: Apparently ATI kept making AGP cards long after it made any sense to do so.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102814
Will be a big improvement, shouldn't tax your power supply too much.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131090R
Is almost assuredly the fastest card that will ever be made for AGP, but will be held back by your processor.

Either will handle both of those games fine.

 

[clarinetJWD]

The rule of thumb for computer parts is "never pay more for outdated technology". You're better off saving the money and doing a bigger upgrade. If you upgrade an AGP graphics card, you are out $100, and when you upgrade again, you'll still need a new motherboard, processor, RAM, and graphics card... My vote is to hold off and save some money

 

[Zeke the Freak]

So you guys are against the BFG NVIDIA GeForce 9400 GT?