I need this:

[trueflipmode]

I need a cheap PCI-E card with pixel and vertex shading of ATLEAST 2.0

any suggestions?

 

[PC eye]

I think you are referring to OpenGL 2.0 there. You can look at a pair of Radeon X1600 Pro cards at http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...68109604+1068309611&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48 Both are open box for the price range seen there. Even with NVidia cards the prices run about the same as the Sapphire and MSI models seen there.

 

[ADE]

No, he's not talking about OpenGL 2.0 Every graphics card has a rating system of how well it fills in shaders (Better Shaders = more realistic) the levels (1, 2, 3 , and 4) tell you how fast and good the card is when filling in theses shaders. For the most part it has to do with gaming and DirectX 1-10. As each number goes up in the DirectX line, the better and more complex Shaders are used. So in order to obtain this feature to the max a card with a hi rating does good. If you were to look at the difference of DirectX 8 and 9 you will see a HUGE difference just because of shaders. Level 2 will not get you far at all, but if its what you need then look at the FX 5200 from nVidea. Cheap, level 2 shaders (I believe) but not that great of a card at all.

Edit- sorry, FX 5200 are AGP. Go with the 6200 Cards, not LE or any letter like that after the name. Just "6200" only. Those are good budget cards, I used to own one. does really well and I'm sure has level 2 shaders.