what Video card should i use? 3

[atim77]

ok.. i need a new video card because hl2 and cs source. hers my situation:
brand new comp for college 2.8ghz, 512 RAM, but no real video card. I think this is what my video card is : Intel 82845G/GL/GE/PE/GV Graphics. i cant really play counter-strike source(i get like 14 fps) so i want a vid card that i can run current games at max capcity(graphics wise) and yet still be able to play cool games in the future.

iv been considering really the ATI 9800 and the x700. whatever one i get i want it to have 256MB. I am leaning towards the x700 as it seems to be better suited for the future, in addition it poesses HD techonology i believe.

the problem is i don tknow if my computer can handel it, it requires PCI slots i think, and I am afraid i have AGP slots. is this correct? does anybody know if there is a way to check? and what do you all reccomend?

 

[mikker]

I have an ATI Radeon 9600 256mb. It is a great card. And the 9800 series are even better cards. My ATI is AGP. Not sure what the x700 is. If it is just regular PCI , then it should still work as long as you have an open PCI slot. If it is PCI Express, and you have AGP then it won't work. I would recommend the ATI.

 

[micker377]

Look inside the computer.

ISA slots (old - no longer used) are black.
PCI slots are normally white (4,5,6 slots).
AGP (normally one) is brown, set farther back from on the mother board and about the same length as PCI slots.
"Riser" slots are also brown, but only about 2 inches long.

PCI express is a whole different story. I doubt you have any as they are just coming out, and are expensive!

For comparisons on Vid boards, go to tomshardware.com. They check out and rate many different boards.

 

[paparazi]

With the side off, look for a single (usually brown) slot, above several white (PCI) slots, positioned slightly back and centre of the motherboard's rear edge.
This is, in your case (Intel chipset 845G)a 4X AGP slot and something like an ATI Radeon 9800 will work fine.
If on the other hand it turns out you havn't got this dedicated AGP connection, then I doubt any PCI card currently available, would be powerful enough to run HL2 or future releases.

Look also at plain vanilla Nvidia 6800 cards, very powerful for the price.
Martin

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Participate and help others.

 

[AcidScars]

The x700 is a PCI express card. Your board doesn't support PCI express. But it probably has an AGP slot. In my opinion NVIDIA makes a better card than ATI, but ATI's power requirement are less. If you have a 300 watt Power Supply or below buy and ATI, If you have a 350 watt or above buy an NVIDIA. The 6800 OC is about $220-$250 and produces decent graphics. If you but it online it will be a little cheaper, but if you buy it from Best Buy you can abuse their manufacturer warranty. Pretty much all ATI and NVIDIA cards have lifetime warranties which means when you get tired of your current card, short it out, return it to Best Buy and they are required to honor the warranty and in turn give you what you paid for the card towards a new one (different/newer/current model, but same Brand/Manufacturer).