Video Card

LetterT

i have an intel 82915G/GV/910GL Express Chipset family, i need an upgrade bad and i dont wanna spend too much,( $70 Max) i have win xp, any suggestions on what gfx card i should get, i dont wanna waste my money on an Over powered gfx card cause it would be like putting a ferrari engine in a ford focus, just doesn't work. just want to get get better FPS.
I think my computer can take both types of cards.

KazeSim

assuming your in the states lol... lets look at my favorite store.. .future shop

this is there cheapest card
http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&MSCSProfile=3C79F0C7EA3162B25DCF0857B6387C8E86372A35D77A5A16F9654F183B32D7F85986DA83FD60D802A88065C22F60E48FD9F9840CF731FAD478941441C4C11443972ADB323382A7F988B451B4D9B7697031B1E96E434D6DB76A37CF9DB2052A86D2A65C6D1F69337957E3932956981D2A4D1B52878F183623&sku_id=0665000FS10119601&catid=

how ever even though its the cheapest (69.99) its also packing 512 dedicated graphics memory... witch is a lot... infact probably 3x's the amount a average cf player has lol but it is a older gpu there for wouldn't get the same performance as a newer 512 because it has GDDR2 ram (mines has gddr4 ram.. some have gddr5 kinda like a V6 car vs V8 car lol) but you said you wanted something cheap and good but not to amazing.. that seems to be a pretty good fit ... btw how much ram do you have? if its only like 1gb ram you should also upgrade that

Vathers

And um. I'm gonna totally show you where to get it even cheaper than that.




Follow this link for the cheapest cards on the net.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=28&name=Video%20/%20Graphics%20Cards

Scroll down to the bottom and select the filter you would like. And sort from lowest to highest. Buy the card of your dreams for cheap cheap dude.:)

KazeSim

oohh:O nice find lol i was just looking for a store that mite be in his town or w/e but defiantly well worth it to get it at 1/3rd the price online lol:)

Vathers

MasterJayme wrote: »

oohh:O nice find lol i was just looking for a store that mite be in his town or w/e but defiantly well worth it to get it at 1/3rd the price online lol:)

Yeah I know. But that's a great starter card you suggested, very stable. No problems at all in any game. It does the job right. Now if only I could say the same for my 295's.... Stupid ass buggery powerhouses often crash me out a lot. FPS through the roof. How the hell does a game run too fast and why can't I control it....



Sorry to hijack. Anyways, you can get huge deals for the biggest video cards at that website. Just make sure that you're certain about what kind of PCI Express slot you have. A 2.0 card will not work in an original PCI Express slot. Also make sure you have an upgraded power supply. As most computers come with a 200-350 Watt Power supply, and this is barely enough to keep the computer on.


Happy Hunting!

KazeSim

lol yeah when I'm in like 1v1 or 2v2 games any map I get 190-212fps and it starts to feel like your speed hacking or something things go so fast O.o I set my gpu setting to be highest in quality rather then performance to slow it a bit lol... even in a full game still at say metro or the lab I'm getting 150fps average.. witch is about where i like it to be:)

LetterT

i already got the ram sorted out i found ram compatible with my comptuer so im getting around 2GBs but how can i know for sure whats compatible gfx card with my computer like PCI slot without opening my computer

Vathers

You don't. Unless you search the model number on the internet of the motherboard. And even then you'd have to search the internet for the motherboard by the model number of the brand name computer.

crossfireXPS

Are you allowed to open your computer case? If you can't, then you might as well play it safe and go for those really low-end cards.

And PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI-E 1.0, but the card WILL revert to PCI-E 1.0 SPEEDS.

If you live in the USA, go to newegg, they are the best in the US from what I've heard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187082 - Sparkle 9400GT - $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121342 - ASUS 9500GT - $59.99

or if you prefer AMD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121310 - ASUS HD 4350 - $37.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125250 - GIGABYTE HD 4550 - $49.99

I would not recommend going for a GFX card anything more powerful than what I've suggested; 910GL Chipsets do not support Core 2 or any of the newer processors and support only Pentium 4/Ds which will literally bottleneck any mid-range graphics card.

If you definitely have a PCI slot, you'll be hard-pressed find a GFX card less than $70 based on that 15-year old tech.
In that case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130499 - EVGA PCI 9400GT - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130451 - EVGA PCI 8400 GS - $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161238 - HIS ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO PCI - $72.99

Generally
9400GT > 8400 GS < 2400 PRO

All these cards are extremely power-efficient and idle at 10W and in CrossFire barely 20W. Most pre-configured, OEM machines (Dell, Lenovo) offer PSUs that have low wattage but have just enough headroom for low-power PCI devices.

Hope this helps.

-NightRider-

Vathers wrote: »

And um. I'm gonna totally show you where to get it even cheaper than that.




Follow this link for the cheapest cards on the net.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=28&name=Video%20/%20Graphics%20Cards

Scroll down to the bottom and select the filter you would like. And sort from lowest to highest. Buy the card of your dreams for cheap cheap dude.:)

in my opinion, tiger direct is always the best way to go. future shop can be a little pricy at times.

LetterT

crossfireXPS wrote: »

Are you allowed to open your computer case? If you can't, then you might as well play it safe and go for those really low-end cards.

And PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible with PCI-E 1.0, but the card WILL revert to PCI-E 1.0 SPEEDS.

If you live in the USA, go to newegg, they are the best in the US from what I've heard.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814187082 - Sparkle 9400GT - $34.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121342 - ASUS 9500GT - $59.99

or if you prefer AMD

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121310 - ASUS HD 4350 - $37.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125250 - GIGABYTE HD 4550 - $49.99

I would not recommend going for a GFX card anything more powerful than what I've suggested; 910GL Chipsets do not support Core 2 or any of the newer processors and support only Pentium 4/Ds which will literally bottleneck any mid-range graphics card.

If you definitely have a PCI slot, you'll be hard-pressed find a GFX card less than $70 based on that 15-year old tech.
In that case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130499 - EVGA PCI 9400GT - $69.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130451 - EVGA PCI 8400 GS - $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161238 - HIS ATI Radeon HD 2400 PRO PCI - $72.99

Generally
9400GT > 8400 GS < 2400 PRO

All these cards are extremely power-efficient and idle at 10W and in CrossFire barely 20W. Most pre-configured, OEM machines (Dell, Lenovo) offer PSUs that have low wattage but have just enough headroom for low-power PCI devices.

Hope this helps.

so will these cards work with my computer how can i find out the motherboard and serial number, i bought this computer off a college that was selling a bunch of computers for 80 dollars, so no manual or what not

crossfireXPS

Other than opening up your case to look for the model number on your motherboard, you can download the utility CPU-Z (free) and it identifies all your core system components, like CPU, RAM, Motherboard etc.

http://www.cpuid.com/cpuz.php

Open the program, then click on the tab 'Motherboard'. There should be a list of technical stuff, but just look for model number and write it down and post it here.

As for the Power Supply problem, that you would need to open up your case. There will be a sticker on the Power Supply that lists all the voltages and watts. Look for how many watts the PSU can output.