Graphics card advice needed

[Trotterwatch]

The fan on this old Radeon 8500 128mb I've been using has finally become useless, 3 of the clips that hold the fan onto the heatsink have broken off completely. I don't really want to risk using it (the screws still hold the fan on - but if or when it comes lose, it will probably damage the whole system).

Using a Radeon 8500 it is obvious I'm not a power user, so some recommendations for some cards that fit into the following criteria:

* Matched to a P4 2ghz, so obviously going for a newer type of card would be both expensive and a waste of time

* Lowish power drain, preferably not much more than a 8500 would use. If needs be though I would gladly swap this PSU out - think it's a quite shoddy 250w one, but of course that adds more expense, d'oh

* Without fan would be ideal, but not 100% necessary

I'm not a massive gamer, in fact I was happy with the 8500 as it ran everything I wanted it to run at a level that suited me. I don't even try newer games (such as Oblivion or Far Cry, as well I know they weren't going to work well!) Titan Quest ran well though

Was looking at either a Radeon 9550 or 9600 XT or non XT

If anyone from Sweden or the surrounding areas wants to offer random cards for sale or exchange - then let me know.

 

[smcd]

The 9600 isn't bad (I had a 9600 All in Wonder Pro) and fairly cheap. It didn't perform as well as a 9800 or so but that's to be expected, but I finished Half-life 2 on it with reasonable performance

 

[BlueFalcon7]

Half life 2 can be beaten with fairly high settings on a 128 MB FX 5200

Get an x1300, it performs well, and its not to expensive. If you want Nvidia, get a 6600. They arent expensive.

 

[t0rek]

A radeon 9600 will do. Don't ever buy a FX5200 or 6200. A vanilla 6600 will be fine for you too.

 

[WhiteX]

My 9600 XT gave me much pleasure on the prey demo.

 

[BlueFalcon7]

Whats with the 2 radeon types?

theres the radeon x series, like radeon X1900, and then theres the radeon 9 series, like the radeon 9800

And which corresponds to which in both series'?

 

[WhiteX]

radeons go like this:

8xxx series, like 8500, 8600 etc...
9xxx series, like 9600, 9500 etc...
Xxxx series, like X300, X900 etc...
X1xxx series, like X1600, X1900 and so on.

each series replaces the previous one, being the bigger number, the most powerfull card.

 

[TerraPhantm]

In that price range a 6600GT is probably a good idea. idk what the prices in sweden are, but over here an X850XT can be had for $170ish, and is one of the most powerful cards for AGP.

 

[PsyMan]

I'd recommend either one of the GeForce 6600 variants or one of the Radeon X700 variants (6600GT, X700 XT, etc). Of course, the model you're going to get depends on your budget.

 

[arnalion]

How much power do you got on the PSU's 12V rail? 9600PRO/XT would probably fit your needs perfectly.

 

[Trotterwatch]

Bumping this thread as it's still relevant to me.

My PSU is:

Astec 250w
Max peak output = 250w
+12v = 10A (14A 10sec)
-12 = 0.5A

The P4 2ghz is a Northwood.

Looking to pick up a cheap graphics card still, nearly picked one up a while back but when I found out it was an SE.... so no thanks. Even though I'm not really a gamer (obviously) I found it hard contemplating buying something that performed worse than the last card I had!

So you think a 9600 Pro/XT would work on that sort of PSU?

Not going to be picking up a new computer until sometime next year (may just pick up a Wii/360 instead), don't even keep up to date with any of the news nowadays either.

 

[t0rek]

Well, dunno, you must google for the power consumption of the components you are looking for...

 

[Flash]

Bumping this thread as it's still relevant to me.
So you think a 9600 Pro/XT would work on that sort of PSU?

It will be better to get 350W PSU

 

[t0rek]

Indeed, considering you are upgrading next year, if you get a new PSU go for 450 or 500 watts one, because DX10 cards are very hungry

 

[Trotterwatch]

Well I'm not going to upgrade next year, moreover get a completely new computer. No point upgrading, as no component asides from my mouse and the 2 hard disks is worth keeping.

I think I'll just leave it, or pick up a decent PSU and then a 2nd hand card.

 

[t0rek]

Well, a decent PSU will work for building your new computer

 

[Trotterwatch]

True, but by that time I imagine I'll be wanting something like a quad core monster

I know what you mean though.

 

[t0rek]

I know, kentsfield are very power hungry, but the real AMD quad core are going to be released on 2H next year. However there's no warranty that the K8L will beat the core architecture you know

 

[Trotterwatch]

Just an update on this. Ended up picking up an HiS X700 128mb AGP extremely cheap. Works perfectly with the 250w PSU, ran a lot of burn in tests, 3D Mark, artifact tester, games. Performance is roughly 9800 levels, which isn't too bad to match up to a slow CPU.

For what it is, it's not a bad card at all. I know the 6600 would have been a better option in that range, but unfortunately that wasn't marked down - was 3 times the price! Happy with this though, the fan is very quiet (and self adjusts the speed), and it has a nice blue light on it