Something good, something cheap.

[Nathan]

Hi, I bought a new computer and it's really great. But the video card in it stinks... It's a NVIDIA GeForce 6100. I kind of exausted my budget buying this new computer but really need a good video card. Any suggestions??

Thanks,
Nathan

[werty316]

Whats your budget? For gaming the nVidia 7600GT is the bare minimum I would go with. The ATI equivalent is the X1800GTO but I would go with the 7600GT as it is a bit faster. Also keep in mind these cards are PCI-E so you need to make sure your board has a 16x PCI-E slot.

[mousiness]

i agree with werty, i doubt that your pc has a very powerful power supple so you might not wanna go with those cards taht werty told you, if its a ready-built pc i suggest going for a lower priced card that doesnt need direct power from th PSU like the 6600 or 7300, they still need a pretty powerful PSU though...

[werty316]

Also maybe Nathan could post his specs or mention when pre-built system he has.

[mousiness]

yeah that would be a good idea too, otherwise you could be spending money on something that doesnt even work

[werty316]

I bet some people bought some thing and realized when they tried to install that it doens't fit like AGP and PCI-E.

[mousiness]

LOL thats what my neighbour did, he bought a pci-e card for a 10 year old system with ISAs still in it, people can be really stupid sometimes

[Nathan]

My computer specs are: 1 Gig RAM, 160 Gig HD, 2.2 GHz processor, and I think I have an empty PCI-Express slot, but I'm not sure how to find out?

[mousiness]

all you have to do is open up your pc, look for a long black express slot with a retaining latch and there it is a x16 port, if its a ready mad e pc the port should be black and thinner than the white and large pci slots :)

[werty316]

Check your motherboard manual if you still have it.

This should help you out:
AGP
http://img296.imageshack.us/img296/2323/agpslot4fl.jpg

PCI-E 1x, 4x, and 16x
http://img461.imageshack.us/img461/4067/pcie6ig.jpg

http://www.kids-online.net/learn/click/details/agp.html (http://www.kids-online.net/learn/click/details/agp.html)

[mousiness]

lol kids online, i saw that webiste before actually

[werty316]

I guess considering you are a kid.

[mousiness]

OII thats not very nice now is it? lol

[Kougar]

What sort of games are you interested in playing, and about what figure are you looking to spend?

The Geforce 6100 is an integrated graphics solution, so your motherboard might not have a PCIe x16 slot. The top white slot in this picture is a PCIe Express x16 slot. They are often also black. http://greyghost.dyndns.org/pci-express/pcie-slot-medium.jpg (http://greyghost.dyndns.org/pci-express/pcie-slot-medium.jpg)

Edit: Guess I'm getting slow... :p

[werty316]

What isn't nice? Calling you a kid considering you are one.

[mousiness]

oh it isnt a diss? ok then its over lets not go further :)

[Nathan]

I haven't opened my computer yet, I'll do that after I post this to make sure. But I typed in my emachines computer model number and got this: http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=337497&pfp=external&tabtype=ts#moreinfo
On the site it says my computer has:

PCI Slots: 2
PCI Express x1 Slots: 1
PCI Express x16 Slots: 1

So I guess I do have one...

[Scott]

Yup you should be fine, I just installed and XFX 7600GT in a customers computer and they love it. Playing lots of games just fine. They went for the lowest end model that I sold them for 200.00.

[werty316]

Yup the 7600GT is the lowest card I would go with for gaming.

[Nathan]

Are their any cards cheaper then that? As I said in my first post I used up all my money buying this new computer. As for which games I want to play, I would like to play on the highest settings, Halo, America's Army, Age of Empires III, Battlefield 2, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3 Takedown. Mostly first person shooters... I really can't spend that much though, is there a way to buy used cards or something?

[Nathan]

The card I have now is an NVidia GeForce 6100(which I guess isn't that good?), and I can play Halo on the highest settings but it's so choppy it's almost impossible to hit anyone. I was just hoping I could fix this without paying a lot...

[werty316]

Of course you have to spend $ if you want more performance and yes the 6100 isn't gonna cut it.

[Scott]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150145

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150153

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150146

Look at these.

[mousiness]

the 7600GT is an unbelievably good performing card for its range and price, and the PSU on your eMachines will support it too, i find it a wise choice for you, but you never know, prebuilt pcs always have some trick up their sleeves that prevent you from putting in a card, just be careful 8-)

[werty316]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150145

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150153

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150146

Look at these.

lol its funny that you choose XFX cards lol

[Kougar]

Ahh, so that is what a 6800"XT" is... a LE edition but overclocked!

I agree with Scott, both the 7600GS and 7600GT parts are about what you should aim for. :) They both have higher clocked cores and more pipes than the 6800 XTreme card.

[Nathan]

so to get a decent card I'm going to have to spend over $100?

[Kougar]

so to get a decent card I'm going to have to spend over $100?

If you want to play on the highest settings like you said then yes, you need a card more powerful than a x1600, and those are ~$100 already.

The 7600GT will give you a very good bit of performance that should last a decent while before it becomes to slow... And personally, I am not a fan of fanless silent graphics cards. Running temps of 90c all the time will only ensure it has a shorter lifespan.

[werty316]

so to get a decent card I'm going to have to spend over $100?

To get decent frames in todays games, yes you have to pay $100 or more. As more and more games are made they require faster video cards to play them.

[mousiness]

yes thats the truth, i know how you feel as my dad only gives me a few hundred dollars to spend on a decent video card, and to amke it even worse he wont let me sepend my money unless his permission, it sucks having such an opinionated father and it sucks not being able to spend my own money :???: at least this summer hes letting me have 2k to build any system i want thats good 8-)

[Nathan]

Ok, so is there a card that will at least run these games decently for under $100?

[werty316]

I would have to say nope not for under $100USD. The 6600GT is the bare bottom I think for gaming. Just click the link and see the prices which are above $100USD.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?N=2000380048+106710550&Submit=ENE&SubCategory=48

You need to under stand that if you want faster frames you are gonna have to pay more. You can't get high performance like a $400 card out of a $100 VGA card.

[Kougar]

I agree with Werty, it's just not going to happen ;)

For the $110 for a 6600GT, your money would go much farther with a 7600GT, which can be had for $150 shipped now if you browse around and don't mind rebates. The prices on these are still falling. If not a 7600GT, then a 7600GS... For the price of a x1600XT you'd get better performance out of a 7600GT.

[mousiness]

exacty, what kougar said is very true, even now my 6600GT OC is selling for 319.99CDN simply because its a BFG, just spend the extra $150 for a worthwhile product thatll not only last you longer but save you the headache of the lack of performance in older cards:mrgreen:

[Reyawn]

I agree, the 7600GT is probably the best bang/buck you can go with in your situation. I think the 7 series cards draw less power than the 6 series cards too, so in the end you should make out very well if you can afford it :).

I picked out a 7600gt for my brother's comp and it works great.

[werty316]

exacty, what kougar said is very true, even now my 6600GT OC is selling for 319.99CDN simply because its a BFG, just spend the extra $150 for a worthwhile product thatll not only last you longer but save you the headache of the lack of performance in older cards:mrgreen:

$320CAD for a 6600GT OC?!?!?! damn that is rip off :shock: Anyone who would pay that much is a big fool.

[mousiness]

shut up lol shut up i was young and naive

[werty316]

shut up lol shut up i was young and naive

Still are eh?

Did you mean you bought it for that much just recently or when you first bought it? I didn't think you meant you bought for that much. I don't think you can eve find a 6600GT for $320CAD.

[mousiness]

heres the store i bought it from http://www.staples.ca/ENG/Catalog/cat_sku.asp?webid=614287&AffixedCode=WW
they sell it at futureshop too for the exact same price...

http://www.futureshop.ca/catalog/proddetail.asp?logon=&langid=EN&sku_id=0665000FS10058987&catid=10524
uh nevermind theres a sale now and even now its too expensive lmao maybe ill buy one for SLI....:twisted: LOL JK haha 1) cant mobo dont have SLI 2) better for cheaper lol

BTW i bought it when it first came out yeah

[werty316]

Ah ok that $320 price tag makes more sense if you bought it when they first came out. I tend to only buy blank DVDs from either Bestbuy or Futureshop; their video cards are too expensive; NCIX is the best Canadian etailer I think.

[mousiness]

gess its so expensive, i go to futureshop nowadays only for pc peripherals ie. mice, webcams etc. and portable electronics and video game things

[darkorb]

ya i play games at high resoultion and high settings with my 6800gt. works so nicely, but the card is kinda bulky :P

[mousiness]

you should feel how meavy my puny card is, its so damn small but weights more than a 7800GTX

[werty316]

you should feel how meavy my puny card is, its so damn small but weights more than a 7800GTX
Seriously? your 6600GT OC? I figure a 7800GTX would weight more since its bigger and uses a larger HSF even if the BFG 6600GT OC uses a copper cooler.

[mousiness]

no it actiually DOES weigh more than a BFG 7800GTX, i even weighed it lol :( too bad its so hevy

[werty316]

I guess the copper coolers helps with its total weight but copper cooling is more efficient that aluminum.

[mousiness]

its still (the card) getting pretty hot at about 80 degrees full load

[ToXic_WaSTe]

Why does everyone like the 7600gt, I know its good but if you want to throw in some AA and HDR, the only thing i would suggest is a x1800. ATI is better when Effects are added.

[werty316]

The 7600GT is a good bang for the buck and it is also cheaper than a X1800.

[Kougar]

Why does everyone like the 7600gt, I know its good but if you want to throw in some AA and HDR, the only thing i would suggest is a x1800. ATI is better when Effects are added.

The 7900GT costs as little as $130 shipped if you look around. NewEgg has the eVGA model with a NON-reference cooler going for $140 and shipping.

The x1800XT is better yes, but it also costs $230. For that same $230 you could buy a 7900GT, which I think still wins in pure FPS numbers if nothing else.

[darkorb]

my 6800gt gets to like 85 fully loaded. i even added 1 extra intake fan and 2 fans just for my vid card. they go in a pci slot.