Video Card Upgrade For The Basic Gamer

dc157_1 · 02-03-2008, 12:57 AM

Well after 3yrs of using a VERY old and outdated PCI Radeon 9250 video card I think my PC is in dire need of an upgrade. First off I am not a huge desktop gamer but I do regularly play PC games such as World of Warcraft (play this a lot), Unreal Tournament, Gears of War, Half-Life and others. I want a good top of the line video card that will give me great performance to play the latest games without putting a huge hole in my wallet. Im talking between $100-$250. I have been looking around and here is a video card that looks good to me but im not an expert on video cards. Could someone please tell me if this card would suit me best or if you have any suggestions please feel free to tell me. My computer specs are listed below. Oh and what exactly does the "256MB" mean in the video card specs? They have cards that are 128MB, 256MB, 512Mb...and so on. Which is the best to get? Thanks!

XFX GeForce 8600 GTS XXX 256MB PCIe $149.00

Dazzeerr · 02-03-2008, 01:16 AM

256mb, 512mb etc is the onboard-RAM on the video card. If you are playing on large resolutions the extra RAM really helps.

This is slightly over your budget, at $259, but it will play everything like a dream.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130319

The XFX 8600GTS XXX is a good card, but it is getting old pretty fast. It really depends if your willing to spend another $100 or not. This card will perform quite a bit better but the XFX will still handle crysis well on medium-high settings.

oscaryu1 · 02-03-2008, 02:55 AM

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133215

And that card after the rebate would blow the GT outta the sky

ramodkk · 02-03-2008, 03:08 AM

^ I agree, that card is a great deal!!

Or if you cant afford the $330 right now, this one is also an excellent deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318

ThatGuy16 · 02-03-2008, 03:12 AM

Since you have a sli chipset, i would get the 512mb 8800GT

oscaryu1 · 02-03-2008, 03:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramodkk

^ I agree, that card is a great deal!!

Or if you cant afford the $330 right now, this one is also an excellent deal:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318

Hopefully he can get it, as after the rebate it's absolutely amazing

The GT is also another great choice at a great price. You won't be disappointed

02-03-2008, 12:57 AM	#1 (permalink)
dc157_1 Bronze Member Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 53	Video Card Upgrade For The Basic Gamer Well after 3yrs of using a VERY old and outdated PCI Radeon 9250 video card I think my PC is in dire need of an upgrade. First off I am not a huge desktop gamer but I do regularly play PC games such as World of Warcraft (play this a lot), Unreal Tournament, Gears of War, Half-Life and others. I want a good top of the line video card that will give me great performance to play the latest games without putting a huge hole in my wallet. Im talking between $100-$250. I have been looking around and here is a video card that looks good to me but im not an expert on video cards. Could someone please tell me if this card would suit me best or if you have any suggestions please feel free to tell me. My computer specs are listed below. Oh and what exactly does the "256MB" mean in the video card specs? They have cards that are 128MB, 256MB, 512Mb...and so on. Which is the best to get? Thanks! XFX GeForce 8600 GTS XXX 256MB PCIe $149.00 __________________ CPU Specs CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ MOBO - EVGA nForce590 sli RAM - 2.0GB DDR2 GPU - Radeon 9250 HDD - Maxtor 200GB SATA/300 & Maxtor 80GB SATA/300 OPS - Windows XP Home Edition

02-03-2008, 01:16 AM	#2 (permalink)
Dazzeerr Silver Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: England UK Posts: 221	256mb, 512mb etc is the onboard-RAM on the video card. If you are playing on large resolutions the extra RAM really helps. This is slightly over your budget, at $259, but it will play everything like a dream. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130319 The XFX 8600GTS XXX is a good card, but it is getting old pretty fast. It really depends if your willing to spend another $100 or not. This card will perform quite a bit better but the XFX will still handle crysis well on medium-high settings. __________________ Rig: Intel Core 2 Duo E4400 \| 2GB DDR2 Corsair \| 160GB & 250GB HDD \| GeForce 8500GT 256mb \| ASUS P5S-MX SE Mobo \| X-Fi Xtreme Audio ---------- Want a game of... : CoD4 / CS 1.6 / CSS / TF2 / BF2 / WC3 / UT2k4 ? ---------- Steam iD : Bieji Msn : daztruman@hotmail.com

02-03-2008, 02:55 AM	#3 (permalink)
oscaryu1 VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Houston, Texas Age: 13 Posts: 10,038	http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814133215 And that card after the rebate would blow the GT outta the sky __________________ Core 2 Duo E2140 1.6GHz @ 3.04GHz GA-P31-DS3L pqi Turbo CL4 DDR2-800 2GB Sapphire HD3850 256MB Sony Writemaster DVD Burner EIDE Seagate Barracuda 80GB 7200.9 8MB SATII

02-03-2008, 03:08 AM	#4 (permalink)
ramodkk Diamond Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: There > Age: 16 Posts: 4,445	^ I agree, that card is a great deal!! Or if you cant afford the $330 right now, this one is also an excellent deal: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130318 __________________ "If at first you don't succeed, you're not Chuck Norris" E2160 @ 2.7GHz AC Freezer 7 Pro Gigabyte P35-DS3L 2GB BallistiX Tracers DDR2-1000 Sapphire HD3870 Rosewill RD500 500W Rosewill Modded Case 3DMark06: 10,017 Winner of Photo Tourney: What were they thinking? & Grass

02-03-2008, 03:12 AM	#5 (permalink)
ThatGuy16 Diamond Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA Posts: 5,136	Since you have a sli chipset, i would get the 512mb 8800GT __________________ CPU: C2D E8400 @ 4Ghz 1.23v HSF: Apogee GTX MB: Gigabyte X38-DS4 Ram: 2x2GB G. Skill DDR2-1068 HDD: 320GB Seagate PSU: OCZ GameXStream 700w OS: Vista Home Premium 64bit GFX: HD3870 @ 837/1152 LCD: LG 22" L226WTQ My Old 3DMark06: 20008 =(

Thread Tools
Show Printable Version Email this Page
Display Modes
Linear Mode Switch to Hybrid Mode Switch to Threaded Mode

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
AGP Video Card Upgrade Advice	Wiens	Video Cards and Monitors	7	08-08-2007 03:18 AM
What is this video card?	da5176	Video Cards and Monitors	4	01-08-2007 09:52 PM
Installed Radeon 9250 Video Card and get "Please check signal cable" error.	EightBallz	Video Cards and Monitors	2	12-19-2006 01:06 PM
Video card upgrade.	Raditz	Video Cards and Monitors	13	02-09-2006 01:24 PM
Video Card Upgrade	Aukar	Video Cards and Monitors	8	08-27-2004 03:00 PM