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Graphics Card Upgrade

Discussion in 'Techno-Magic' started by Sir Belisarius, Feb 21, 2006.

  1. Sir Belisarius

    Sir Belisarius Viconia's Boy Toy Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    Remove all ads!
    [​IMG] Hey all! I have a question about graphics cards. My pc (almost 3 years old) has an ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB and I'd like to upgrade it a bit in anticiaption of NWN2.

    I don't need the best thing out there, but I was wondering if anyone has suggestions on an upgrade. If so, please post them here. Thanks!
     
    Sir Belisarius, Feb 21, 2006
    #1
  2. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Eh? Last I heard from you on the subject was you didn't want to be screwed by Atari again, so you were maybe giving NWN2 a pass... How fickle :lol:

    I assume you have an AGP motherboard, so you can look here for comparisons of 2005 AGP boards: http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/07/05/vga_charts_vii/page4.html

    Natually the charts don't include the newest AGP Nvidia 7800 GS card. As you can see, you're current 9800 Pro isn't all that bad...
     
    Blackthorne TA, Feb 21, 2006
    #2
  3. Sir Belisarius

    Sir Belisarius Viconia's Boy Toy Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    I noticed that...I added a Gig of RAM to my pc and it's improved my pc a lot! I do have an AGP, which is nice because that seems to be the standard now. I was thinking about a pc upgrade, but I noticed processing power hasn't increased much in the last couple of years, but the front side bus speed has...Sadly, I have no idea what that means.

    I am fickle - most Geminis are. I suppose I'm pining for the old days of ALFA and my sense of nostalgia is pushing me to get NWN2. Although, I've logged into ALFA a few times in the past week. The servers look awesome, but there is almost no xp to be had just by venturing around on my current server, and DMs are few. Not a good mix.
     
    Sir Belisarius, Feb 21, 2006
    #3
  4. Blackthorne TA

    Blackthorne TA Master in his Own Mind Staff Member ★ SPS Account Holder Adored Veteran Pillars of Eternity SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!) New Server Contributor [2012] (for helping Sorcerer's Place lease a new, more powerful server!) Torment: Tides of Numenera SP Immortalizer (for helping immortalize Sorcerer's Place in the game!)

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    Actually, AGP is becoming old news; the new standard is PCI Express. All the new graphics cards are PCIe, but surprisingly an AGP version of the 7800 GS was developed. It likely will be the last.

    The front side bus connects the processor to the memory system, so in general the faster it is, the higher performance you will have.
     
    Blackthorne TA, Feb 21, 2006
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  5. Sir Belisarius

    Sir Belisarius Viconia's Boy Toy Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    Weird. I remember one of my first pcs had a pci graphics card and I tried to replace it...I couldn't find one anywhere! AGP was the "new" one. Now it's reverting back to PCI.

    Craziness.
     
    Sir Belisarius, Feb 21, 2006
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  6. teekc Gems: 23/31
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    No no, not PCI, PCI Express, PCIe, that's a different one. It's a whole new thing, whole new slot. Your motherboard probably don't have it. Also, crossfire (for Radeon) and SLI (for nvidia) falls under PCI Express too and you need a different motherboard than normal PCIe to handle that, i think.

    If you look at pricewatch.com all the good ones with resonable price are PCI Express. Same level AGP cards will cost more. If just want to change graphic card but not cpu and motherboard, then you will need to get an AGP card.

    i just changed my radeon 9800 recently, because i can't play Call of duty 2 or FEAR with that. I just changed my motherboard and cpu last year so i don't think i will go overhaul my pc again just for a graphic card. If that is what you want, changing graphic card but not motherboard, look for ATI x850 series, this is what i just switched to from radeon 9800.

    You really don't have much choice there regarding AGP card. Either go with $189 Radeon x1600 pro 512mb agp or $249 Radeon x850 pro agp 256mb.
    x1600 is the next generation chip with additional feature but lower speed. x850 is an older generation chip but highier speed with some overclocking capability.

    Yeah, buddy, i know, we are screwed.

    Or you can wait until NWN2 release, and see what is option then. Who knows, maybe NWN2 pulled a "Lionheart".
     
    teekc, Feb 21, 2006
    #6
  7. Sir Belisarius

    Sir Belisarius Viconia's Boy Toy Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    I'm going to keep my current pc. The new processors are not much faster, so I think I can get away with adding a graphics card upgrade and give my pc life for another year or two.

    Thanks for chiming in teekc!
     
    Sir Belisarius, Feb 21, 2006
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  8. Chandos the Red

    Chandos the Red This Wheel's on Fire

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    At this price, I would certainly give this one a hard look. It took quite a bit to get nVidia to release an updated video card for AGP. I understand that the gaming site "Firing Squad" helped into forcing nVidia with a huge letter-writing campaign.


    http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130264
     
    Chandos the Red, Feb 22, 2006
    #8
  9. Sir Belisarius

    Sir Belisarius Viconia's Boy Toy Distinguished Member ★ SPS Account Holder

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    That does sound like a nice one! I may pick it up! Now - all I need is to replace my Radiationmaster 3000 monitor and I'll be all set...Until my next upgrade :(
     
    Sir Belisarius, Feb 22, 2006
    #9
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