Well, basically, I am thinking of getting a new video card for my system, as the one I have right now, nVidia GeForce FX 5200 128Mb AGP, is rather killing appearance of various games.

The only thing, is I don't have much money. So really, I'd have to get a good card, but very cheap. And I have no money to get a new system either.

I'd usually go for nVidia cards, but I've observed that ATI cards are cheaper for some reason. The only thing is that I have no idea how the number hierarchy works with ATI. How to know what card is better than the other . Any comments on this?

Anyways, I'm open to any suggestions as to what card to get, at rather low cost. The card also has to be AGP, because, well, that's the only slot I have.

Pertinent rig info:
Motherboard: Asus K8V-X
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ @ 2GHz
Memory: 1536Mb DDR SDRAM (512Mb + 1Gb)
Current Video Card: nVidia GeForce FX 5200 128Mb AGP



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(PS: I saw this at the store... ATI Radeon X1300 Pro AGP 256MB... Any good?)

How much money do you have to spend?

Do you mind buying something online?

The X1300pro isn't really that good in the grand scheme of things, it's better than your FX5200 sure, but you still may want to reach higher.

6600gt's are pretty good... and dirt cheap.

the current models available for AGP are
6600/GT, 6800/GT, 7600/GT, & ATIX1950

ther 6600 gt is a fantastic low cost performer imo, so +1 to the above
it's a huge upgrade from the 5200

Quote from pik_d :

How much money do you have to spend?

Do you mind buying something online?

Well, I don't have much to spend, but I could afford something $100CAD-$150CAD (~$120USD no more). And I don't mind online.


I still haven't quite understood the Radeon hierarchy... But I found these two cards on newegg... Same price, yet the Radeon seems a bit better by numbers (yet I don't really know the meaning :tilt Link 1 Link 2 (people don't seem impressed on the second according to comments :P)
EDIT: I also found many different 7600GS on there... Are they any good?

When I go out to buy a new card (which I don't do very often, mind you) I usually go to a store where they offer a free full refund policy. Lame as it may sound, I 'buy' a card I'm genuinely interested in, put it in my machine, run some tests and see if I like it. If I do, I keep it and I'm happy. If I don't, I return it for the refund and check out what else is available for the same money.

If you're not interested in playing more recent games (2005+) I would suggest getting a budget card which is simply of a higher range than your current card. (sticking by NVidia, the 6600+ series)

If you are interested in recently released titles, I really suggest saving more money and upgrading the entire system, or at the very least buying a motherboard which supports PCI-e and a matching card. It would be a bad idea to spend any money on outdated technology if your plan is to play new games; it would be a bit like buying a VCR instead of a DVD player when you like to see movies in your own house.

I understand.

Well, I don't think any of the stores here actually offer that, so :scratchin:.

I am rather interested in playing games that are kinda new. I just bought C&C3 the other day. Right now, it runs good on lowest settings, but I kinda want a bit more graphics-wise through the card. And really, I don't have any money for a new system anytime soon. They are at least 1K, and I have no money, and have a car to maintain, and college-university to pay, so... I'm in a dilemic situation, haha.

Newegg doesn't ship to Canada unfortunately, but you can shop from www.tigerdirect.ca or www.zipzoomfly.com and they'll ship to Canada.

I'd say get a 7600 GS in that price range, the X1650pro isn't really that great.

Well, ZipZoonFly looks like a good place, with cheap products, and by times free-shipping. I saw a 7600GS on there. But when I tried to register an account, they said US-only ...

Hm, I know they're based in the USA, but I thought they shipped to Canada as well.

Anyway, my next suggestion (and maybe it should have been my first) is www.ncix.com

You could also look through www.pccanada.com

Hopefully you can find a 7600GS for about the price you want.

How does this look? XFX GeForce 7600 GS LINK... A little more pricey than I'd want, but I guess I can pay it off when I'll start working. I hope it'll work on my motherboard though... Yet it should :S.

No reason for it to not work, go for it.

what about these:

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ ... il.jsp?ProductCode=321083

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ ... il.jsp?ProductCode=321108

Well, first, both of these cards seem to be dual DVI, when I have a VGA LCD monitor. Secondly, both of them are on ZipZoomFly, and they don't ship to Canada.

Anyways, I bought the one I previously mentioned, and can't wait to receive it!

Quote from Knight_Atack :

Well, first, both of these cards seem to be dual DVI, when I have a VGA LCD monitor. Secondly, both of them are on ZipZoomFly, and they don't ship to Canada.

Anyways, I bought the one I previously mentioned, and can't wait to receive it!

dual dvi means nothing.. Nvidia sends DVI>VGA converters with there cards.