Recommended Graphics Card

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Guest

Afternoon Everyone,

Ive tried posting here before without much success but I hope someone will
take the time to help me out here. Im trying to find a recommdended, good
value graphics card for my PC.

Im Running Windows Vista Ultimate and my current graphics rating according
to the advisor in Vista is 2.1 for my graphics card.

I have 2GB of RAM
250GB HDD
An Asus M2N32-SLI Delux Motherboard
With an AMD Athlon 64X2 5000+ processor (2.6GHz)

I mainly use the PC for graphics and web design, I dont play games.

I dont know where to start or which cards to choose, if someone could help
me out I would appreciate it.

If you need more info, please ask.
 
Ross,

The following website is by Powercolor, which specializes in ATI based video
cards, but the reference will provide you with the types of cards (focus on
X1650 or X1950) you need for good Areo performance, here:

http://www.powercolor.com/eng/products_layer_2.asp?SeriesID=109

You can use nVidia cards as well. The point to note is the level of
performance, e.g., graphics processor speed and memory speed in MHz. From
that guidance, you can peruse products available and make your choice. A
good place to look is www.newegg.com. That site has as good choices and
prices as you can find.
 
The score of 2.1 means that it is not the all time greatest ever, BUT does
it do the job?

If it is doing all that you expect of a video card, why change it?


Ross Brunton said:
Afternoon Everyone,

Ive tried posting here before without much success but I hope someone will
take the time to help me out here. Im trying to find a recommdended, good
value graphics card for my PC.

Im Running Windows Vista Ultimate and my current graphics rating according
to the advisor in Vista is 2.1 for my graphics card.

I have 2GB of RAM
250GB HDD
An Asus M2N32-SLI Delux Motherboard
With an AMD Athlon 64X2 5000+ processor (2.6GHz)

I mainly use the PC for graphics and web design, I dont play games.

I dont know where to start or which cards to choose, if someone could help
me out I would appreciate it.

If you need more info, please ask.
Click to expand...

--


Mike Hall
MS MVP Windows Shell/User
http://msmvps.com/blogs/mikehall/
 
Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for the help so far. In asnwer to the question why change it,
Its a low score and according tot he VIsta diagnositics, its slowing the
performance of the PC down.

Im not in an urgent hurry for a new card but this one is a few years old. I
think its an ATI Radeo X300. I got it when I built my old PC a couple of
years ago, its the only thing, along with my optical drives which I didnt
replace when I built this PC.

Keep the info coming and Ill let you know if I get a new one or not.

Ross
 
Ross,

It also depends on how deep your pocket is. Professional graphics cards make
the high end gaming cards look really cheap!

You have the choice of 3 manufacturers that I know of:
Matrox - all cards are "professional" see parhelia range
ATI Fire GL range - http://ati.amd.com/products/firegl.html
Nvidia Quadro range - http://www.nvidia.com/page/quadrofx_family.html

I'm running a Quadro FX 4400 (just been superceeded by the 4500) which I
bought on eBay fo over £500 ($1000) 6 months ago, when it was retailing for
£1200 in the UK.

There are a lot cheaper cards than this, but don't expect to find them at
bargain basement prices.

As you know, the Vista overall rating is the lowest (not average) of all
ratings, so if you improve your card, then the next worst aspect of your PC
becomes the overall rating.
 
Ross said:
Hi Guys,

Thanks so much for the help so far. In asnwer to the question why change it,
Its a low score and according tot he VIsta diagnositics, its slowing the
performance of the PC down.

Im not in an urgent hurry for a new card but this one is a few years old. I
think its an ATI Radeo X300. I got it when I built my old PC a couple of
years ago, its the only thing, along with my optical drives which I didnt
replace when I built this PC.

Keep the info coming and Ill let you know if I get a new one or not.

Ross
Click to expand...


I have the same board in a machine here and it has an NVidia GeForce
7900 which works very well. This is a PCI Express card which differs
from the older style AGP cards and can use the SLI technology.

With two identical cards you can potentially have 4 displays or 2 with
vastly accelerated graphics.

With XP the 4 displays works but the acceleration isn't worth the extra
cost and with Vista in SLI mode nothing works properly so there's no
point at all in going for 2 video cards.

If you wanted to play games and get the best possible frames per second
rate then XP is better, but Vista is certainly acceptable if you don't
want to boast about frame rates.

PCI Express is faster than AGP but you don't have to aim for the most
expensive card.
 
I gotta go with Charlie here and run the Nvidia Geforce 7900...I have had no
problems with the drivers and graphically it does well....IT DOES NOT
SUPPORT DX10 THOUGH....excuse the caps just wanted you to remember
this...Just my 3 cents...
 
Hey,

Thanks fella... I have to say, I dont think I will be stretching to £500! I
think the most I would be willing to pay for a card is £150 at a push. I dont
need the frame rate for gaming because I dont use the PC for gaming.

The next lowest rating is my HDD which is rated at 5.2 I think which I can
live with. I didnt know whether or not it would be worth my while upgrading
the card or what I would gain from it. I suppose I was hoping for crisper
graphics which took some burden off of the main system to improve speed a
little but I dont think I will gain much to be honest.

Ill have a think but what has become evident is that the NVidia cards are
popular and reliable. I was thinking of getting one when I built the new PC
so maybe I will get on of those, thats something which has come out of this
discussion. im glad you guys have had good experience with them.

Thanks again,

Ross
 
Ross said:
Hey,

Thanks fella... I have to say, I dont think I will be stretching to £500! I
think the most I would be willing to pay for a card is £150 at a push. I dont
need the frame rate for gaming because I dont use the PC for gaming.

The next lowest rating is my HDD which is rated at 5.2 I think which I can
live with. I didnt know whether or not it would be worth my while upgrading
the card or what I would gain from it. I suppose I was hoping for crisper
graphics which took some burden off of the main system to improve speed a
little but I dont think I will gain much to be honest.

Ill have a think but what has become evident is that the NVidia cards are
popular and reliable. I was thinking of getting one when I built the new PC
so maybe I will get on of those, thats something which has come out of this
discussion. im glad you guys have had good experience with them.

Thanks again,

Ross
Click to expand...

Maybe the GeForce 7600 range would be good, it's kinda top of the range
without being the "expensive for not much extra kind" :)

Comes both AGP and PCIE and PCIE is faster.


That's not to say NVidia are perfect, only that I have used it and no
experience of others.

You don't want to go real cheap because you may see no improvement
whatsoever :)
 
Afternoon Everyone,

Ive tried posting here before without much success but I hope someone will
take the time to help me out here. Im trying to find a recommdended, good
valuegraphicscard for my PC.

Im Running WindowsVistaUltimate and my currentgraphicsrating according
to the advisor inVistais 2.1 for mygraphicscard.

I have 2GB of RAM
250GB HDD
An Asus M2N32-SLI Delux Motherboard
With an AMD Athlon 64X2 5000+ processor (2.6GHz)

I mainly use the PC forgraphicsand web design, I dont play games.

I dont know where to start or which cards to choose, if someone could help
me out I would appreciate it.

If you need moreinfo, please ask.
Click to expand...

Hi: Have an older pc p4 with ht with agp & no PCIe slot. Upped memory
to 1.7 gb and bought GeForce 7600 gs oc 512 mb. Works real nice now
with many directx9 games & dreamweaver. Wasn't too expensive
considering not in market for Vista- right now (under $200) Saw good
site with basic graphics info for Vista www.vista-graphics.info ATB
 
Ross, your best bet is to choose a graphics card that is Directx 10 capable,
and thus preserve your investment.
 
Hi Ross:

My system is the same as yours for CPU and mother board, there is 4 gig of
DDR2 memory. My video card is an NVIDIA GForce 7300 GT [PCI Express]. I
bought it because it has 512 mbytes of DDR and NO FAN, just a nice big heat
sync and a reasonable price. Vista Home Premium runs very well with this
card. I recently decided to try Flight Simulator X and after some setup
problems, FSX now runs very well. I also run AutoCad 2000 with no problems.


George
 
i use vista Home premium and the nVidia 8600 video card. no problems with the
card at all It also has support for DX10 games. Very happy with it. I have 4
GB Ram only 3 of which shows as being used because i's running the 32 bit
version of Vista.
The nVidea 9600 is a much better card of course but it costs quite a lot
more. Value for money , go for the 8600
KY
 
Ross - I have just completed a Vista Home Premium Build and spent alot of
time with Graphics cards issues - this was a problem with my own desktop and
may not translate (as windy george had more success below) but after
experimenting with three different nVidia 7500GT and GS series cards
(including the card with 512 mb and no fan) - all of which were seriously
short on performance I have settled on a ATI 1650 model with 256 on board
that has raised my windows experience subscore from 3.1 to 4.8. No other card
that i tested (my budget was $100) got me past 4.1 in my configuration.

I am operating a 32 bit OS on a 64X2 500+ cpu and 4 gb RAM.
 
Hey Ross:

If your looking for top quality at an affordable price, backed up by a
company that I regard as the best in the business for graphics software and
support, then the ATI X1650 graphics card is your answer. I'm getting a
rating of 5.9 for graphics and 5.3 for gaming graphics. And, if you trade-in
your old graphics card, you will get a $50.00 rebate as well, provided you
follow the instructions at their site. www.ati.com or www.amdati.com. Or just
type "ati" in a search engine, you'll find it.

Seriously,
M.McGuire
 
Hi Ross, I am NOT an Expert but I have built my own computers. and what ever
anyone says stay away from ATI cards. I have always had a problem with ATI.
NVIDIA is the way to go. What ever card you want go Nvidia. it doen't
matter. I had a few of them and NEVER had a problem.
But I have had 3 ATI and all of them caused me a head ache. Stay away.
Joe
go to nvidia.com and you can read about what you need there. I am not a
sales man just a guy who likes computers.
 
I have had a ATI Radion 1950 Pro graphics card from day one with Vista and
have never ever had a problem with it.
 
Ross Brunton said:
Afternoon Everyone,

Ive tried posting here before without much success but I hope someone will
take the time to help me out here. Im trying to find a recommdended, good
value graphics card for my PC.

Im Running Windows Vista Ultimate and my current graphics rating according
to the advisor in Vista is 2.1 for my graphics card.

I have 2GB of RAM
250GB HDD
An Asus M2N32-SLI Delux Motherboard
With an AMD Athlon 64X2 5000+ processor (2.6GHz)

I mainly use the PC for graphics and web design, I dont play games.

I dont know where to start or which cards to choose, if someone could help
me out I would appreciate it.

If you need more info, please ask. "
Click to expand...

You should actually pick nVidia(R) GeFORCE 8800 GTX with 768MB DDR3 VRAM it
actually has alot of features and it's the best graphics card.It's the only
one that has 768MB of VRAM and is better than HD it's XD(Xtreme-Definition)
but it cost alot of- money and I think it's around $300 to $400
 
i have some problem with my notebook...
im using acer aspire 583wxmi.... it come with nvidia 7300 hybrid graphic
card...
the problem is sometimes the screen brightnes fading suddenly and there is
also alert on the tasktbar saying that the graphic card did not working...
can anyone help me.....
 
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