Hi guys, I was just wondering what type of nVadia or ATI chips are good to upgrade to play PE? (preferably with low cost and stability) I don’t need any fancy features like tv in/out nor dual monitor or such, I just want a nice graphics chip for my computer at a reasonable cost.
Since I have yet to determine if I have any AGP slots, I would like a list of chip AGP and PCI graphics chips (thanks in advance 
)
How much money you looking to spend or what’s the price range ?It will help to know
I know all my friends love the ATI Radeon 9800 pro, and it has gone down in price alot.
Well, price range… iono, anything under 250 for a video card is okay I suppose, of course the cheaper the better
Radeon AX800XT 256MB works like a charm for anything really…
but its quite expensive. paid almost 1000$ for mine when I bought it.
The FX5500 is a great card, my brother uses that and runs PE nicely. There is still a bit of lag but he also runs the 128mb version of the card, I think the 256mb would probably run this game pretty damn well. (The’re both around $100 or less)
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-170-050&depa=0
That’s a good deal on one. 
For the next step up the 6600GT and 9800 Pro are great choices. Right now you’ll find the 6600GT is better for the money(even ATI fiends more often than not will agree on that).
These video cards are around the $200 mark.
Here’s a great review comparing the two!
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2277&p=3
If you want to be insane… (which I saw you don’t but I like posting about a wide range of choices) then keep your eye on the new 512MB video card from ATI. 
Nvidia announced a 512MB card right before ATI’s also but I haven’t seen any pictures yet.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/video/display/20050224141431.html
Hmm, I think I pinpointed most of it
I think I will get a PCI 5200 geforce card and
184 pin pc2100 512mb ram
How much do you think that will cost?
Go for the midrange or higher cards, latest generation or up to two generations ago.
Why?
Midrange ones have decent performance (not crippled), are fairly cheap (for the masses) and being a recent generation they support all the current flashy-dashy effects.
On the Nvidia side this is the FX5600 or higher (it’s ageing now but still a strong card - the mobile version is used in my PE playing laptop, runs smooth!).
Definitely try to avoid the 5200 or similar, you’ll pay for it performance-wise 
Also aim for 128 or 256MB cards, preferably 256 of course.
I only have PCI.. I don’t think there are any 5800+ PCI cards
PCI? :scared:
I would suggest just simply waiting till you can upgrade with a new motherboard.
Go for PCI express guys. These things are putting AGP away from the market for nearest 10 years.
As for GeForce FX - ya go for it. That’s what I got. Runs great.
PCI-X doesn’t provide much of an improvement at all yet and we’re talking about a card for running PE.
Buying a new motherboard to run a PCI-X card right now is sort of pointless. Do it if you have the money to spend but let the technology evolve a bit before you spend tons on a PCI-X or SLI Mobo.
[QUOTE=ZarathustrA]
Buying a new motherboard to run a PCI-X card right now is sort of pointless. Do it if you have the money to spend but let the technology evolve a bit before you spend tons on a PCI-X or SLI Mobo.
[/QUOTE]
Agree on this one, older pc users remember when the vesa-local bus graphics came, hyped new graphics standard, the step in between ISA to PCI, but the vesa-local bus only lasted a year or two, then it was out of the marked and PCI was the standard.
Im waiting myself with any PCI-express, there might come something even better in a year or two.
I use a Sapphire Radeon 9600 XT 128mb and it runs PE like a dream. I have the occasional lag in heavily crowded areas, like Twin Peaks and Port Atlantis at times, but other than that its awesome. I bought mine for $100 cdn (used though). Brand new one costs like $150 I think.
argh, lol you guys, I don’t have any AGP slots, and I don’t need to get a new computer or change everything. All I need is a slight tweak to play PE lol, nothing fancy, just enough to darn this darn game
It never warned me of over-dependency on this game when I first signed up!!
Here’s a great forum topic going on in [H]ardOCP forums right now.
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=845296
Awesome list if you’re thinking about upgrading. Covers many ranges of prices and choices of slot types.
P.S. Bookmark HardOCP ! :wise:
Sweety!!! >_< you are posting on here to! :laugh: tell me when you order!
[QUOTE=Sweety]
argh, lol you guys, I don’t have any AGP slots, and I don’t need to get a new computer or change everything. All I need is a slight tweak to play PE lol, nothing fancy, just enough to darn this darn game
It never warned me of over-dependency on this game when I first signed up!!
[/QUOTE]
Radeon makes some pretty good PCI cards. Buddy of mine got an HP (those $500 specials) to play PE but after VU 6.1? I think his onboard card couldn’t handle it. And he could NOT play CoH at all.
Got a good card on Ebay for 70 bucks and it works like a champ.
In fact I just found the one like he bought:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=80184&item=5170894104&rd=1
This is what I got from HP after I asked them if I can use a kingston pc2100 184pin DDR ram chip
The Presario S4200NX is shipped with 512MB,2100 DDR RAM which can be
upgraded to a maximum of 512MB with the available two DIMM slots. The
maximum capacity of each slot is 512MB.
You can very well install the memory module and the PCI video card you
have mentioned. However, HP does not guarantee the functionality of the
third party memory cards with the Presario. Therefore, it is better to
install a Compaq recommended memory module.
So, you think that means it works.. or it doesn’t? Both the ram chip and the geforce 5500, I’m so anxious to play.. I know loot is messed up lately and that market is acting weird, but I just want to see my ped card and count my silver coins. I can’t stand PE-less, thats why I camp IRC all day and talk with everyone I find there
If you want to spend lot´s of money go for the GeForce 6800. It´s the best (i think) on the market today.