Best PCI card

[tylerdurDAN]

I have been blessed with a motherboard without a AGP slot. I have the Geforce FX 5200 PCI 128mb card but its not running as well as I owuld like. I need a card that works best for games. Does any one had a suggestion on what PCI video card would be the best? price does not matter

P4 3.06 HT
768 ram
GeForce FX 5200 PCI - need an upgrade

Thanks

 

[rclarke250]

If price does not matter, get a new motherboard with PCIe. And buy a geforce 7800GTX. about 800 usd. Thats if you are serious about gaming, and serious about money being no problem...as there are no top end video cards for the PCI bus, it is too slow for todays demanding gpu's. There are pci 5700's but hard to find...most are the lower end LE type. these go for 100 usd or so. but are better then the 5200's. At least you could play BF2 and such.

 

[paparazi]

rclarke250
Whilst I completely agree with the main points of your post what you are saying does have further implications.

PCI-e with a 7800GTX effectively means:

Differant Ram (DDR2)

P4 3.06 is a 533fsb socket 478 processor, are there PCI-e boards that support this?

The 7800GTX will also need a much bigger power supply!

In effect too many changes, you might as well just suggest a new tower complete.

Mine would be a more moddest and realistic suggestion:
Yes! a new motherboard but an intel 865PE socket 478
example:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p800-x/overview.htm

Or if you are restricted to a mini ATX motherboard:

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p800-vm/overview.htm

And perhaps an Nvidia 6800GT or ATI X800XL AGP for the graphics

As long as your ram is DDR type you will likely only need these two upgrade parts but check your PSU for sufficient power (min 350watts)

Clean install your O/S
Martin


We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[tf1]

The choice of PCI graphics is pretty much limited to a Radeon 9250, an FX5200 or (for CAD) a Quadro4. I guess that the Radeon 9250 is probably best for general purpose use, but don't expect blistering games perfomance!


Regards: tf1

 

[cdogg]

Paparazi is right on as usual!

If it were me (and it's not I realize!), I would scrap the current system for parts to sell on EBay, get what you can, then build yourself a newer system. The 133MHz FSB is aging and is a pretty significant bottleneck.

For the price, the Athlon 64 Venice cores are among the most attractive upgrades around at the moment. Plus, the Socket 939 chipset leaves a lot of room for upgrading 2-3 years down the road.

Upgrading your motherboard, however, is a must regardless of what you decide to do with the rest of your system. Without AGP or PCIe, you're not going to even come close to what you need in 3D performance.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884