Best Card for my System...

[Quint]

Remember, I only have a 250 Watt power Supply...
Price isnt an issue...
Out of all Nvidia Cards currently out. From the GF4 Ti's...to the FX's.
(Can my System handle an FX? Which one would be best? Which ones are the LOUD ones again?)
Thanks!

~Q~

[EMunEeE]

nVIDIA GeForce FX 5600 Ultra seems the way to go

-or-

ATi Radeon 9600 Pro/9500 Pro

I prefer the ATi card, but the FX 5600 Ultra will probaly perform on the same level as the 9500 Pro/9600 Pro.

The FX 5800 Ultra was the loud one. The 5900 Ultra is supposed to be quieter and probaly is.

:)

[Tsunami]

i would suggest a 5900 ultra but with a 250 watt i would go for a 5600 ultra 256mb good luck with that

[Dazz]

The Radeon 9600Pro doesn't need to draw power so thats a good thing but from the Radeon 9500Pro, 9600Pro & the GeforceFX 5600Ultra the Radeon 9500Pro is the better buy.

[PenguinJim]

Yeah I agree about the Radeon 9500 Pro (Make sure it's a PRO), but good luck finding one!

[Quint]

OK< well, If I'm probably not gonna find a 9500 I certainly wont look for one...and I want NVIDIA.
The Power Supply may not be as big of a deal as I thought....
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
""""Quint

You got the same computer I do bro. Dell's power supplies are rated at 250W by Dell, not the manufacturer of the power supply. If you read at the Dell forums, the Peak Rate for the 4300, 4400, 8100, and 8200 machines is 345-350 Watts. Thats plenty. You don't need a new power supply unless you plug inyour new FX card and it wont boot up, or it crashes when 3D apps are started.

My 9800Pro and new 2.6Ghz P4 suck alot of juice when I'm gaming and I don't have a single power problem. You'll be good to go man. Enjoy that 4400, they are darn good computers.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

this man is correct. on the overclockers.com forums, user tests have shown the 250w dell psu to be very heavilyunder-rated. you can probably run 6 wd raptors, a burner, dvd-rom, 9800 all-in-wonder pro (when it comes out ), 3gb of ram, and a p4 2.4c at 3.2ghz w/o any problems. you should be OK.


__________________
"""""

See?
It's from here:
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=628693


~Q~

[PenguinJim]

Originally posted by Quint
OK< well, If I'm probably not gonna find a 9500 I certainly wont look for one...and I want NVIDIA.

~Q~

Look for one! The 9500Pros are the best things to come out of Ati so far, IMO. I haven't been impressed with any new products since the original GeForce4 Titaniums were released, but the 9500Pro has probably been the best all-round card since then. And remember: it's faster than a 9600Pro. SERIOUSLY!!! And can be modded to a 9700Pro! Look for a cheap one!

Woah. Exclamation mark overload. Sorry.

If you want nVidia.... perhaps you should consider getting yourself a nice cheap Ti4200 for now... not much to spend, and should put you on until the right nVidia card comes out at the right price. You say money's no object, though, so maybe a GeForceFX 5900?

[bkswaney]

Going from what u have now.... get a 5900 128mb.
It's all u need and cost 100 bucks less than the ultra. :)

[Quint]

Going from what u have now.... get a 5900 128mb.
&
so maybe a GeForceFX 5900?

I'd like to,...but what about the Power Supply Fiasco?????????
I only have a 250!!! Do you think I have enough Power with my 250???
This other guy, seems to think so.

~Q~

[yoladude]

i would trust the power supply in ur comp, judgin from what i heard about it.....like others have said, if ur comp doesnt start up or experiences problems, then u should swap the card for another one.
if u wanna be absolutely safe, 5600 ultra or 9600 pro. im positive that the 9600 pro doesnt need an external power connector. not sure about the 5600 tho.

[prodikal]

I believe all FX cards need additional power. B/c i think i saw a 5200 Ultra that needed it.

[Quint]

OK< I got an evga FX 5200 128, For $100.00 @ Best Buy.
What do you think?
I got it because on the box, it said it only needs 300 Watts.

...remember, I'm upgrading from a GeForce2 MX 400. :P

~Q~

[muzz]

GL with that card Quint :)

[yoladude]

Originally posted by Quint
OK< I got an evga FX 5200 128, For $100.00 @ Best Buy.
What do you think?
I got it because on the box, it said it only needs 300 Watts.

...remember, I'm upgrading from a GeForce2 MX 400. :P

~Q~

im sorry, but i would take it back. the 5200 barely outperforms an mx440, which shouldnt be too far ahead of ur geforce2. if u want a bigger upgrade, spend the extra eighty bucks or so and get a 9600 pro. HUGE upgrade, and doesnt require external power, so should work with ur system fine.
o, and btw, i had an mx440 until recently, and it runs newer games like crap. dont get ur hopes up with that 5200.

[EMunEeE]

Originally posted by Quint
Going from what u have now.... get a 5900 128mb.
&
so maybe a GeForceFX 5900?

I'd like to,...but what about the Power Supply Fiasco?????????
I only have a 250!!! Do you think I have enough Power with my 250???
This other guy, seems to think so.

~Q~

Quint, the power supply in your rig is a 345W PSU (fo shizzle). Get the 5900. If it runs, keep it, if it doesnt (but most likely will) take it back. Its that easy.

Im summary
1) Take the FX 5200 back first thing
2) Get a GFFX 5900
3) Works -- Happy Gaming
4) No no -- take it back and get a 5600 Ultra or 9500 Pro or better yet a 9700 non pro

[bkswaney]

Why not get a new PS?
U can get one for 30 bucks. :confused:

[yoladude]

Originally posted by bkswaney
Why not get a new PS?
U can get one for 30 bucks. :confused:

good suggestion, but he might have a proprietary psu. if not,....yea. personally, im sticking with my bestec 250w crap until i really need a new one. my comp's running fine with it right now.

[b00bie]

Well, so you got the card... See how it works, but I doubt it will outperform the 9500PRO or the 9600PRO. If you don't like it, take it back and exchange it. If I'm not mistaken, Best Buy usually have a few 9500PROs in stock. ;)

In any case, good luck and I hope you get the results you want!:D

[Gator]

Originally posted by yoladude
good suggestion, but he might have a proprietary psu. if not,....yea. personally, im sticking with my bestec 250w crap until i really need a new one. my comp's running fine with it right now.

PROBLEM SOLVED!

http://store5.yimg.com/I/siliconacoustics_1743_805011

http://www.siliconacoustics.com/atxtodelad.html

that adapter will allow you to use any standard ATX PSU on yoru dell system. Buy yourself a nice 350watt or more, and then you can buy any video card on the market you like! The adapter is only $15us

[Quint]

ok, I dont know where to start...lol...

I got the eVGA FX 5200, 128 and I like it for Battlefield, but in Star Wars Galaxies...it's not the best.
It was 100.00 at Best Buy...now I think I know why...:(

I was playing Battlefield with NO AA or Atiscoperic filtering, (sp?), and Texture Sharpening off. Battlefields settings were on HIGH, as high as they could be...50FPS, and hardly any stutters....very nice!!!
(it stinks I have to turn down the VC settings, to turn up the Ingame Graphics...:()

SWG even on the lowest settings were not al that great.

I believe I have updated the Drivers for everything...

There was a GeForce ti4600, 128 for 219.00, on Clearance...hmm..
Maybe I should have gotten that one...

There was a 400 Watt PS there too, for 70 Bucks...thinking about it, but still waiting for a call back from DELL...
If I can get that, and its successfully upgraded in the PS Dept., then I may get a 5900. 128 Non Ultra...

~Q~

[ragejg]

"Call back from Dell"?


...what, regarding warranty circumvention?

...hmm, best buy, ... 5200 ... a hundred clams...

poo...

You prolly got a 64 bit memory 5200, too...

they really don't perfom too well if you game @ 10x7 or above... bleh...

...good as *tv-only* htpc vid-card, tho!

... Although my oc'ed Hercules GF2ti beat it fair and square, punch for punch... and it was only $35...


Dude, I'd go with your current PSU... I believe thems who sez dell PSU's are conservatively rated...;)


If I were you, I'd ditch the whole *Best Buy* experience... all those prices are way too high!!

Ever consider purchasing @ a for sale/for trade section of a hardware forums? Seriously, some nice deals can be found... and sometimes you can pick up a whole load of stuff from one guy and save a bunch! Plus many hardware forum traders use *heatware* heavily and rely on it to keep teh trollz away...

I'm just trying to explain a possibly more cost efficient way of purchasing your hardware...

Like:

400W PSU: $15 shipped
GF3: $50
Radeon 8500: $55
GF4ti4200 64mb: $70
GF4ti 128mb: $100
R9500NP: $110

Good luck on your endeavor. You have many options.

:)

[Quint]

...no I'm sure it's a 128. :)

~Q~

[aapo]

Originally posted by Quint
SWG even on the lowest settings were not al that great.

I believe I have updated the Drivers for everything...


If I remember right, there are some DX9 class shader effects in SWG, and a lot of DX8 class shader effects anyway. These effects slow the FX5200 down a lot. GeForce MX400 is DX7-class, so it doesn't show these effects at all and therefore gains some speed compared to FX5200. However, FX5200 is also so slow that it might not be able to show DX9 class shader effects in that game with 2-number FPS. Go see some water in the game, and you see the difference, if any, when you compare to the screenshots in fan sites.

[PenguinJim]

Hey Quint, what SWG server are you on??? Big Sarlacc Pit parties tomorrow!!! co-ords (-6183, -3371) (on Tatooine, blatantly :))

Bring Fireworks!!!

Oh, and $219 seems excessive for a Ti4600... get a Ti4200!! 128megs will make a difference to SWG, if you don't mind the extra 30 bucks (ragejg's prices! I'm from the UK), and $100 is a steal for a nice Ti4200.

Or did I mention that Radeon 9500Pros are ace? Skip the non-pro, though, a Ti4200 offers more bang-per-buck.

Oh, my big fat Greek Wookiee musician is on the Ahazi server. His name is PenguinJim (funny that...).

[Quint]

awwww, I'm on Bria!

~Q~