Best PCI Graphics Card

roxbury

New Member
Hey all -

Just got a new computer and the motherboard only has PCI and PCI-X slots, so I can't get a PCI Express graphics card.

Does anyone have any experience with PCI graphics cards, and what is the best one available? Do they compare with PCI express graphics cards?

Thanks
 
the x1550 is better, i wouldnt say its crap it works pretty well, won't play crysis obviously but i played Guild Wars at 30 fps on med/high @ 1280x800.

The main issue the the price...
 
Yeah, I had PCI (Radeon 9200 SE) up until six months ago, pretty recently anyway. It was pretty bad, couldn't play HD video of course, but it could play old games decently, like Morrowind.
 
What a pain... Is there any chance of getting a decent usb/usb2.0 graphics card, or should I start looking at a different motherboard if I want nice graphics and the ability to play new games?
 
USB is bandwidth starved. No competent cards there. Unfortunately the new mobo, CPU, RAM, everything is the only route to go.

You can build yourself a very respectable gaming machine on the cheap, let us know if need some help. ;)
 
What a pain... Is there any chance of getting a decent usb/usb2.0 graphics card, or should I start looking at a different motherboard if I want nice graphics and the ability to play new games?
They don't make USB graphics cards that would allow you to play new games.
 
What about that external ATI graphics box for laptops? Is that thing any good?
 
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I don't know much about them tbh. The first iteration announced like a year ago was supposed to require a secondary monitor apart from the lappy LCD, IIRC. I don't think this version is so disabled.

Are they out yet? I assume they use an external PS.
 
What about that external ATI graphics box for laptops? Is that thing any good?
Yes it's good, when it's released. However your laptop needs to have a PCI-E expansion slot, which not many do at the moment. ATI is trying to make that standard on more laptops last I heard though.
 
Well, the computer is a Cisco MCS server, so I'm just gonna scrap the gaming idea and use it as a server.

Decided to go for a new build for gaming.. Made the purchase from Newegg yesterday... Let me know what you think:

#

* 1 x G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPK - Retail
* 1 x OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V Power Supply - Retail
* 1 x XCLIO Windtunnel Fully Black Finish 1.0 mm SECC Chassis ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
* 1 x GIGABYTE GA-MA78GPM-DS2H AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
* 1 x SAPPHIRE 100242L Radeon HD 4850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail
* 1 x AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor Model HD960ZWCGDBOX - Retail

-----

Came out to $797.xx after sihpping. Gonna try out the on-board sound and use my own HDD's and cd drive.
 
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