Video Cards!

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ghosstt
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Video Cards!

Post by ghosstt » Mon May 18, 2009 5:10 pm

Well, my crappy computer can only run PCI cards, and I was thinking of picking up this card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131082" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

would that let me do TF2, CS, Portal, WoW, etc. on good settings? (Running a P4, with 512 RAM)

To keep this in F42:
What types of video cards/PC/Mac Setups are you guys running? I'm sure someone here has a nice gaming rig.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by lifeisbetterwithketchup » Mon May 18, 2009 5:18 pm

That would certainly run all that stuff; I don't know how high of settings you'll be able to use with that P4 though, and especially the 512MB of RAM.

I have an NVidia 9600GT (fanless with a gi-huge-ic heatsink set-up) in my main PC (2.5Ghz E5200). My server (2.53Ghz P4) has an AGP Nvidia GeForce4 MX 440 in it (utter junk, can't do DX8). My Dell (2.4Ghz P4) has an AGP GeForce4 MX 420 in it (even more junky than the 440). When hosting a TF2 LAN party, the server gets a quite loud Radeon X1600 that makes the PSU consider suicide, and the Dell gets a NVidia FX 5500 that isn't mine.

Oh, and my laptop has Rage Mobility graphics. 8)
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Re: Video Cards!

Post by vskid » Mon May 18, 2009 5:38 pm

Our desktop has a Radeon All-in-Wonder 8500 with 64MB of memory (1.6GHz Athlon XP, 512MB ram). It is made of fail. Any drivers besides the ones that came with the card make it run super slow, so not much worse than the good drivers. It fails at N64 emulation, my laptop with a 1.1GHz P3, 256MB ram, and Intel GPU runs Project 64 faster. I'm probably gonna make a laptop I have (1.6GHz P-M, 512MB ram, Intel GPU) into a desktop to replace it.
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Re: Video Cards!

Post by bicostp » Mon May 18, 2009 5:49 pm

Meh. It will probably run around 20 FPS. I have a Radeon HD 2600 Pro (AGP) and it runs TF2 and L4D like crap. (Then again you have a P4 and that PC's a Celery.)

Here's a much better card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130451" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EVGA GeForce 8400 GS 512 MB - $50

It's from a real company (not some no-name place like ValU-Power), has twice as much VRAM as the card you linked to, and it's cheaper after the $10 rebate.

How fast is that P4? Why don't you add more RAM (at least a gig, maybe 2)?

Here's a video of it running Left 4 Dead though unfortunately they don't say what CPU they have.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKCO3LODlO8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And here's one of a 3.0 ghz P4 with a 7300gt (older than this card), apparently running at 40-60 FPS.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7yaPZ6YNAo8" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You definitely need more RAM. It's cheap. Get some. :P

Remember, Left 4 Dead and TF2 are both very CPU-intensive. If your P4 is slower than 2 ghz or so, you might not be able to comfortably play them. (I know it's rough on my single-core Turion 64 laptop, even with 'dsp_slow_cpu 1' set and a special FPS config.)

What make and model PC is this going into? Can you throw a new Socket 775 CPU in? Even an older Pentium D or 65nm C2D would be an improvement over the Pentium 4.

Since everyone's posting their comp specs:
Main: 3.0 ghz P4 / 1.0 GB RAM / ATI Radeon 9200 128 MB
HTPC: 3.2 ghz Celeron D 351 (crap) / 1.0 GB RAM / Radeon HD 2600 Pro 256 MB (chokes on everything)
Lappy: 2.0 ghz Turion 64 / 1.0 GB RAM / Mobility Radeon M200 (milked a solid 20 FPS in 16v16 TF2 out of it)
Old main: 550mhz P3 / 512 MB RAM / RIVA TNT2 64 MB
Old lappy: 500mhz P3 / 384 MB RAM / Some really old garbage that can barely run Half-Life 1 at 30 FPS in 640x480

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by ghosstt » Mon May 18, 2009 5:58 pm

I'm throwing this into an old Dell Dimension 3000. :lol: It's got a 2.79 GHz P4, so it's not THAT crappy. :roll: Sadly, it can only handle 1 gig of ram at MAX, so I don't think it's really worth it to upgrade, considering I'll be buying a laptop at the end of next year.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by Harshboy » Mon May 18, 2009 6:02 pm

To the "keep it in F42" part of this thread:

NZXT Hush Case (Black with Blue Cold Cathode Lighting and custom side panel)
Coolmax 950W Power Supply (4 12V rails, Modified with silent fan)
Biostar TForce TP45HP Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 @ 4.0 Ghz (OC)
OCZ 8GB of DDR2 @ 1066 Mhz Ram (Fatal1ty)
ATI Radeon HD 4870 512MB GDDR5 Graphics Card (Saphire)
Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card
250GB Western Digital Hard Drive (SATA II 8MB Cache)

Picture
Last edited by Harshboy on Mon May 18, 2009 6:24 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by bicostp » Mon May 18, 2009 6:10 pm

2.8 ghz isn't bad. It should do fine.

Are you sure you can't go over 1 GB? According to Dell it can handle 2, as long as you get the right speed.

http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/s ... #wp1075776" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You really should have at least a gig if you plan on doing any gaming with it. Matching pairs of DDR together is best, so if you're only using one slot at the moment, get an additional stick that matches the capacity and speed of your current one. If you have 2 256 MB sticks, get 2 512 MB sticks to replace them. If you're only using 1 512 MB stick, get an additional one. Unfortunately, DDR RAM is a bit more expensive than DDR2 now, so a full 2 gig upgrade (2 1 gig sticks) will be $60 or so. :( But, that price is for 2 matching 1 gig sticks running at 400 mhz, which matches the bus speed. You might see a little improvement if you're running the old 333mhz stuff right now.

Oh and here's the compy I want:
Core 2 Quad Q9550
4 GB RAM (2x 2gig DDR2)
GeForce GTX 260 Core 216
P45 motherboard (pref. an Asus with ExpressGate)
650w PSU

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by AfroLH » Mon May 18, 2009 6:17 pm

Well I have a really crappy computer:

Sony VAIO
512 mb of RAM
NVIDA RIVA TNT2 Model 64/Model 64 Pro

And IDK anything other than that.

Its really slow and can only play DOOM and Quake. :/

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by XCVG » Mon May 18, 2009 6:19 pm

I wouldn't funnel a lot of money into that rig. So a $50 videocard should do fine (good luck finding anything better). Anyway do what bic says. And Harshboy- awesome rig. Wish I had a sucker like that. And AfroLH- upgrade time for you! Actually just get a new computer. There was this one article in MaxPC where they spend a ridiculous amount of money "upgrading" junk computers. If you put a new motherboard, videocard, CPU, and HDD in, why not just get a new rig?

My AWSOME (not really) gaming rig.

Core 2 Quad Q8200
Gigabyte GA-PS-ES3G (I think) Motherboard, Intel P43 chipset ('cause I can't afford a P45)
2GB HyperX RAM, PC2-6400 (I think I got this by mistake)
Sapphire Radeon HD 4670 Videocard
Seagate 7200.10 320GB HDD
ASUS (forget the model) DVD burner
ASUS TA-863 (?) Case, black
Cooler Master 500W PSU

It runs all the games I play at 1280x768 or 1680X1050 with the settings mostly maxed out (I take it easy on the AA). Only time it chokes is when I blow up a Super Reactor in RA3 (fun).

I'll post a pic of my rig later if I get around to it.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by xtrmgam3r360 » Mon May 18, 2009 8:23 pm

My PC sucks :( but all the upgrades I got for free from salvaging broken computers :)

Manufacturer: Dell Computer Corporation
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 CPU 3.00GHz
Memory: 1.75 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 330 GB Total
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5600
Monitor: Dell 19" 4:3 LCD
Sound Card: SB Audigy Audio [DF20]
Speakers/Headphones: Sound MAX SuperBeam Mic/ Altec Lansing Speakers
Keyboard: Dell PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech MX 1000 Laser Mouse
Mouse Surface: Upside Down Mousepad (LOL)
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3, v.5657 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.080814-1236)
Motherboard: Dell Dimension 4600
Computer Case: Dell Dimension 4600

(Copied from Xfire Page)
Last edited by xtrmgam3r360 on Tue May 19, 2009 3:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by XCVG » Mon May 18, 2009 9:33 pm

Nice mouse! Where'd the soundcard come from? And how do you get the 1.75GB of memory?

Any case, Harshboy still has the most epic rig.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by Harshboy » Tue May 19, 2009 1:21 pm

XCVG wrote:Any case, Harshboy still has the most epic rig.
Why thank you sir :)

I plan on upgrading my hard drive to a new WD 1TB Cavier Black Hard Drive soon for even more beastliness.

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by nevermind1534 » Tue May 19, 2009 1:26 pm

XCVG wrote:Any case, Harshboy still has the most epic rig.
I, no doubt, have the most epic NIC.
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Re: Video Cards!

Post by xtrmgam3r360 » Tue May 19, 2009 3:47 pm

XCVG wrote:Nice mouse! Where'd the soundcard come from? And how do you get the 1.75GB of memory?


Sound card, CPU, 512 MB of RAM, CPU Heatsink/Fan, and video card are all from an old Sony Vaio I got for free :D, for the RAM I have 3- 512 MB sticks and 1- 256 MB stick. yes I know its running in single channel but it works better than just 1GB in dual channel, and Im not spending money to upgrade when I'll be getting a new PC at the end of the summer (Better than Harshboy's :lol: )
Oh, and the mouse I got for $3 at a garage sale because the previous owner lost the power cord for the charging dock (I have one that fits and works perfectly :lol:)

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Re: Video Cards!

Post by lazer_174300 » Wed May 20, 2009 11:30 pm

Well I have a P4 3.0 GHz, Which isn't half bad for a single core processor, a Nvidia 7700 256 Mb, and I USED to have 512 Mb of ram, and it couldn't really run much while still having fun. So to answer your question, yes your computer will meet the minimum requirements for most games, but half of them wont be fun with all the lag you get. I suggest: that card; and a 512 Mb x 2 set for RAM.
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