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What Card to buy?


Katran

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Well I just bought Star Trek: Legacy and I would love to make a nice post in the newgames area about it but my graphic card wont let me. :D It look like it is that time when I no matter how much I love it have top say good buy to it. I love strategy games but it looks like I cant play them any more I can just tjink of the troube I had with the new warhammer game so it is final I need a new card.

The problem is what to buy. I have had my MSI GeForce Ti4800SE for so long that I am complitly out of the loop. I ussally went for the best on on the market and use it in the new 4-5 years but I dont know if I can buy the most expencive one now.

So please can anyone give me any good advice on what to buy. One thing I know for sure is that I am going to be buying MSI for sure. I am loyal to them since I have never had any problems with there products.

 

One more thing what do the new letters mean now days? I know for sure that the Ti meant titanium and it was the best of its class but that was long time ago what about this days?

And I could use that help fast becase I want to go card buying next week to have a new one for the hollidays.

 

Thanks.

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Hi Katran,

Before we start helping out, we need to know little bit more about your mother board. Because you didn't change your graphic card for a while, I assume you have AGP interface on your board. So we can't really go for new PCI Express cards. Pick some AGP card with what ever speed your mother board supports.

 

Here is one of the best hardware compare web page and their newest graphic card update:

http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/12/12/the..._for_the_money/

 

That web page will give you enough guidance but if you have any more questions just shoot it here.

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A good page Yarasa and you make a realy good point about the mother board.

It is late and I hate looking around for my papers to see what type it is. I really dont know even were they are. :D So how can I see what type it is?

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Thanks Gogo that helps a lot. So here it is please say it is going to live please:

 

MS-6788

On the official MSI page there are 3 types of it and I cant get more info wich one is it so hope you guys can help anyway. :D

 

848P_Neo-LS (MS-6788)

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....LS&class=mb

 

848P_Neo-V (MS-6788)

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....-V&class=mb

 

865PE_Neo2-V (MS-6788)

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....-V&class=mb

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Guest gogoblender

wow, that was fast, kat

lol, and while I know how to get a dxdiag up fast I don't think I know enough to help you out with yer card selection. (yup, I'm jealous...can hardly wait to get me a new one as well :D)

Hopefully Yarsasa or someone else can come along who will with yer computer's specs up fer analysis.

Gluck!

:)

 

gogo

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Well Gogo at this stage I am looking for any type of help.

 

What you have what your friends have. What you have heard is bad good any info will help me get the best choise.

Man I have been to long depending on my Ti4800SE and I still hate to give up the old girl :D

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OK.

Your board (all three of them) supports following graphic card slot:

 

"One AGP slot supports 8X/4X at 0.8V (AGP 3.0) or 4X at 1.5V (3.3V is not supported)"

 

It means any 8x AGP port graphic card will work best for you.

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We determine your need. Now it is good to figure it out how much you are willing to spend on it. Because of the wide variety, you have to select price point for your self.

 

I would like you to heads up on one thing. Here is the comment from tomshardware editors:

 

Best AGP Card For $200+: None!

 

The reason this AGP price segment is listed as "NONE" is because right AGP cards are much more expensive then their PCI express brethren. If you upgrade your system to PCIe and sell your old components, you may actually spend a similar amount of money compared to buying an expensive AGP card alone. For example, it's safe to say that the fastest AGP card available for over $200 is the 7800 GS, but it is very difficult to recommend for over $240 because at stock clock speeds it performs similarly - and many times worse than - the ~$185 GeForce 7600 GT. In December, a new and powerful AGP card is scheduled to arrive: the X1950 PRO. Anticipated at about $240, it may be worth that price for some users as it should make AGP gaming viable for at least a year or two more.

 

If you are not planing to upgrade anything else near future, go with the MSI GeForce 7600 GS "MSI - NX7600GSTD256". That will be my choice.

 

Some US Prices

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Ooooh Kat... I don't know how to tell you this. :)

 

 

I think your computer has reached it limits. And beyond possibly. 8X/4X AGP cards are an extinct animal. In fact AGP itself is becoming extinct. I'm not sure how much about video cards you know but in all honesty... I would strongly advise that you not buy a new video card for that pc and instead save your money for a new computer. I know that you really really just want to play that game but I would hate to see your hard earned money go to waste so before you run off and buy a new video card you might want to do A LOT more research on the matter.

 

Good news is that if you haven't gone shopping for computers in a long time then you will find that computer prices have dropped hugely. I went to my local computer store about 3 months ago and asked him to quote my a price for the best computer he could give me. I was really shocked when he showed me the printout of his quote. Everything on the system was amazing. I won't go into details but I will say is it had 2 top line video cards built into it for about $1400 canadian.

 

I strongly suggest you consider waiting a while and try to buy a new computer. They are very cheap these days. I save a lot of money by going to a pc store that lets you pick out your parts and have them build it. I never buy brand name computers.

 

Sorry if this is bad news for you! :D

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Guest gogoblender

hmmm

8xgp is pretty afforadable cuz it's tech is so low.

And while Yarasa's news on what you can up end yer comp on may be a kinda sad news for you the good news, is you can probably afford to shell out money fer the best card available for the agp of yer comp cuz it's older.

Kat if you don't have the money to spend on a better mother board, just do a lot of check fer agp 8, probably best you can afford and I think you'll be really surprised how much a top end of that tech card will cost ya.

Since yer mother board is so old the best card still in stores for it won't cost you that much.

A super card, radeon 9800 pro, the card I just traded in on my card and it was super fast and I only traded it in cuz I got greedy for another deal is goin fer like 79 bux american.

gluc, and tell us how it goes

Cheers!

:D

 

gogo

 

p.s. hmmm, or if you really wanna make that old comp or your stretch another year out, how bout seeing if a friend of yers has an old video card like an 8x agp around they could maybe lend you?

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Thanks a lot guys for your help but I am still going to be asking for some more help :heart:

I just one some more cash on football betting and I have a bit more to spend so if I were to go fo a combo of a new greaphic card and motherboard what should I go for still going fo MSI.

Sorry to botther you with it but if you can help out on this one as well I would be very greatfull you get an IOU card. :hugs:

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He he

I have more questions to ask :hugs:

 

Before we suggest any thing, need to make sure your needs

- your old mobo supports DDR memories so looks like you don't need to buy any memories with your new board ( ok ok this wasn't a question)

- how many slots you are using right now on you mobo (except the graphic card). New mobos comes with limited pci extension slots, but they already have a lots of futures on board integrated.

- are you going to keep your cpu? If yes we need to check same cpu slot for your new mobo (Socket 478)

- do you have any space problem in your desktop case. it shouldn't be a problem, new mobos are pretty small but better to be secure than sorry. your old mobo's dimensions are 12 in.(L) x8.27 in.(W).

 

by the way, I was checking some boards on second tab while I was typing here time by time. I have not so good news for you (so far). I couldn't find any mobo with PCIexpress graphic slot + Socket 478 combination (yet). You might need to upgrade your cpu too :heart:

 

This work is going to be extreme make over. You start to search only video card and you might end up with total new computer. I wish you more luck on football betting :) and waiting for your next message on what is your decision. Go for mobo+cpu+pciexpress graphic card or agp graphic card only.

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Great questions Yarasa. You're good at this. :heart:

 

It seems more and more that your best option will be to buy a new system. You can get great advice here from the gang or on any other forum but for the absolute best info I would suggest finding a computer store near your home and talk with an expert there. Tell him about your system, your needs and ask for the best option. Normally in these stores they can offer a print out of a computer and its technical stats that will meet your needs. If you can do that then give us the print out of the computer and we can discuss if it is a good choice for you. That's one option.

 

Yarasa makes a very important point about your cpu so it would be good for us to know what you have as well. Another very good point Yarasa makes is if the new motherboard would fit in your present case. There are actually a great deal of things to consider when upgrading or buying a computer which is again why I suggest seeing an expert. Being able to see the computer makes finding a solution much much easier.

 

Oh and you'll need ram. Lots! haha. I think it's safe to suggest that you have *edit: 2GB! Thanx Crunchie. haha!* of ram.

 

What is your price limit Kat?

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Well the price limit havnt got one yet. It all depends on what I can get out of my parents for the last birthday and newyear :heart: so that is still up in the air.

As for getting an expert on it I will in monday. But I am traying to get myself ready and armed with info from all of you for the incounter :hugs:

The prices that we have here may be a bit or a lot higher then what you guys are used to. We dont have a real PC revolution here in pirce competition so we will see what I will come up with.

The problem with getting a new PC is that I am used to when getting one is to get the very best that is out there at the moment and more or less run it for 4 years. The sad thing is that I cant do that now not that much cash and when I go on a PC hunt I allways come empty home allways spend somewere around a 100euros.

 

P.S.: Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 2.40GHz [not a celeron I dont like them]

Memory: 512MB RAM

 

P.S.S.:Yarasa is the one you sugested a SLI card or what ever they are called I mean the ones that work in 2 to get better graphics. MSI GeForce 7600 GS "MSI - NX7600GSTD256

 

P.S.S.S.: And what about this one NX7600GS-T2D512EH I can get it for 149,3 euros

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....H&class=vga

Or I think I can get even this one NX7600GS-T2D256E for 169,3 euros

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_spec....E&class=vga

Keep in mind the prices are something that I can get access to. :)

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Ok so lets change this a bit here is a link with the prices of things that I can get here.

Can you tell me what to ask for from the list.

 

1.AGP card

 

2.The big change PCI graphic, motherboard and processor(go for the lowest procesor and as cheaply for the motherboard but not to low lets say somewere around 300-400 euros in all if posible and if you can save the board or procesor so much the better.)

 

http://www.riversoft.com.mk/cenovnici/Ceno...iver%20Soft.pdf

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Now you have 2 options to do:

 

1- Keep your old pc and just get AGP graphic card (MSI GeForce 7600 GS "MSI - NX7600GSTD256)

2- Buy Mid range mother board with cheapest CPU you can get, than find how much left for the new PCI-E graphic card :heart:

 

Mid range mother board will take you 4 years with no problems. CPU prices are always drops when the higher speeds are available. It is really easy to upgrade you CPU with low cost if you have patience.

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I dont know we look to be on the same page but I didnt know if to ask you if you so my post since I feal like I am puting all my problems on you. :hugs:

On thing I could really use some help with the mother board two can you pick one from the list or even a good advice about what a mid range MB would be for me.

Thanks a lot Yarasa I would be even more lost then I am now if it wasnt for you. :heart:

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I am really happy doing this. Ask how many questions you want. As long as I know I will answer it right away or we can research together to find a solution.

 

Right now I am looking for boards.It might take quite bit to find one, because of to many different chipsets and options on them.

 

My wife would like to watch movie (right behind me now), after that I will jump on the MSI page and try to find some options for you.

 

I am sure there are other hardware peps around in this forum but because of xmas they are not around. After our discussion done, better to wait for their opinion on this too to get the best for the money.

 

I will be back in 2 hours or so

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Well the price limit havnt got one yet. It all depends on what I can get out of my parents for the last birthday and newyear :heart: so that is still up in the air.

As for getting an expert on it I will in monday. But I am traying to get myself ready and armed with info from all of you for the incounter :hugs:

 

Ah ok. I get yah now. :)

 

Well yet another thing came to mind after looking at the link to the video card you put. Power supply. You might have to buy a new one of those too, lol. I have a feeling your power supply is 350 watt and if so you will probably need a higher power supply to support a new motherboard and new video card.

 

p.s.

An idea just occured to me... Increasing ram can make a very big difference. If it's possible here is what I suggest. Buy two 1GB ram sticks that will work with your present motherboard and will also work in your future motherboard. Buy the best AGP video card for your present motherboard but don't spend too much. When the day comes to get a new pc you can maybe transfer the two 1GB ram sticks to your new pc. You'll save some money that way. I think your cpu is ok. I'm using 2.6GHz and it's perfectly fine.

 

Ultimately... I've often been told that most people don't realize how much of a difference ram can make. I had no idea until I changed from 1GB to 2GB. Big time difference.

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