Do I need a graphics card & which one?

[Keithfarrell]

I have a jetway V2mdmp motherboard with Sempron 2400 cpu and 512Mb +
256MB DDR333 PC2700 RAM and am using the on board graphics which hand
book says operates at AGP x8 and uses 64MB of memory. The AGP socket
only supports AGP 2.0 x4. Would I get better performance if I fit a
separate graphics card? If so, which one? I would probably be looking
for something budget priced, say 128MB DDR - FX5200, 9200SE or
similar? What would you recommend.

 

[Guest]

I have a jetway V2mdmp motherboard with Sempron 2400 cpu and 512Mb +
256MB DDR333 PC2700 RAM and am using the on board graphics which hand
book says operates at AGP x8 and uses 64MB of memory. The AGP socket
only supports AGP 2.0 x4. Would I get better performance if I fit a
separate graphics card? If so, which one? I would probably be looking
for something budget priced, say 128MB DDR - FX5200, 9200SE or
similar? What would you recommend.

The onboard video controller steals its memory from the system memory.
System memory is much slower than video memory (on a video card).
Whether you need the extra speed depends entirely on what applications
you run - which you never mentioned. A word processor sits around
mostly idle waiting between keypresses to do anything so even a low-end,
slow, old PC with an old PCI video card can handle that. If you already
have a game, see if you notice any artifacts when playing it, like
jerkiness, missing frames, freeze ups, poor resolution, etc. We have
LOTS of desktops using onboard video because it is sufficient for the
tasks that run on those boxes. They aren't excellent gaming hosts
because that is not what they are used for, but then there are still a
lot of games that don't push the hardware much.

 

[Derek Baker]

I have a jetway V2mdmp motherboard with Sempron 2400 cpu and 512Mb +
256MB DDR333 PC2700 RAM and am using the on board graphics which hand
book says operates at AGP x8 and uses 64MB of memory. The AGP socket
only supports AGP 2.0 x4. Would I get better performance if I fit a
separate graphics card? If so, which one? I would probably be looking
for something budget priced, say 128MB DDR - FX5200, 9200SE or
similar? What would you recommend.

What do you use the machine for?

 

[kony]

I have a jetway V2mdmp motherboard with Sempron 2400 cpu and 512Mb +
256MB DDR333 PC2700 RAM and am using the on board graphics which hand
book says operates at AGP x8 and uses 64MB of memory. The AGP socket
only supports AGP 2.0 x4. Would I get better performance if I fit a
separate graphics card?

Yes. The onboard video uses a minor amount of memory and
memory bus bandwidth so it would be a minor (perhaps ~ 8%)
performance increase in very demanding apps that make a lot
of use of the memory.

For typical office, email, DVD watching, etc- No, the
onboard video is sufficient.

2D games- usually not, depends on the game.

3D games - insignificant benefit for several-years-old
games, but very large benefit for any semi-modern.

If so, which one? I would probably be looking
for something budget priced, say 128MB DDR - FX5200, 9200SE or
similar? What would you recommend.

yes either of those would be a large benefit within the
contexts mentioned above, but they won't be fast enough for
the most demanding newer games either. If the budget allows
~ $85 then I suggest finding a good deal on the 'net for a
Radeon 9600 Pro. It will be significantly faster than
either card you mentioned, and buying too cheap a video card
is a bit self-defeating because if the new card still
doesn't run the things you need ran, fast enough, it will
simply need replaced again. Not that Radeon 9600 Pro is a
blazing fast card by modern standards but it is a definite
step up in performance for modern games.

If your needs are something other than 3D gaming, specify
them.

 

[DaveW]

Yes you would get better computer performance. You would remove the video
load off of the CPU and your system RAM, and transfer it to the video card.
That would speed up your system.

 

[Keithfarrell]

Thanks for the advice. At the moment the onboard graphics are
sufficient for my present usage - mainly office programmes and some
of the older games. However, I would like the facility to run some of
the newer games, do some video editing and SVCD/DVD recording at some
point , and would like to upgrade the graphics as far as possible BUT
there doesn't seem to be much point in buying an expensive graphics
card if my present system can't match it. I thought perhaps being
limited to AGP x4 would limit the performance of a new graphics card.
As I won't be upgrading further for some years (by which time I'll
probably need a whole new system) there doesn't seem to be any point
in buying a graphics card beyond the capabilies my
motherboard/processor can support. What do you suggest?

 

[kony]

Thanks for the advice. At the moment the onboard graphics are
sufficient for my present usage - mainly office programmes and some
of the older games. However, I would like the facility to run some of
the newer games, do some video editing and SVCD/DVD recording at some
point ,

Can't say how well your integrated video would do for
watching or editing SVCD at VERY high resolutions but at
those typically used it should be fine- that is still a 2D
use.

...and would like to upgrade the graphics as far as possible BUT
there doesn't seem to be much point in buying an expensive graphics
card if my present system can't match it. I thought perhaps being
limited to AGP x4 would limit the performance of a new graphics card.

The Sempron 2400 will be more of a limit, AGP4X is still
quite sufficient for modern games with decent cards. It
does loose a very few % these days but that difference might
be almost completely erased by the Sempron and it's meager
DDR333 FSB & memory. It's still a good value upgrade to get
a median cost "gamers" card and it would be multiple times
faster than the onboard video.

As I won't be upgrading further for some years (by which time I'll
probably need a whole new system) there doesn't seem to be any point
in buying a graphics card beyond the capabilies my
motherboard/processor can support. What do you suggest?

nVidia 6600, the version with 128-bit, not 64-bit memory
interface (avoid anything with 64-bit memory interface,
aka-bus width in any make/model of card you choose). That
can be had online for roughly $130, IIRC. Moving towards
slower and lower-cost, there's some fair Radeon 9600 series
at around $60-90. Seek some online benchmarks and even
though your system might be a little slower than some used
for the benchmarks, the faster cards will still have benefit
on your system.