Graphics Cards....

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Tue Sep 07, 2004 4:04 pm

I am looking to buy a Graphics Card for my computer. I have the game URU: Ages Beyond Myst but my computers graphics arent high enough or something....but i am wonder what is the best kind to get.

Post by **bio** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 12:21 am

There's two trains of thought there.

The major chipset manufacturers are Nvidia and ATI. First you have to choose between the two, then you have to decide on the chip itself. Personally... I'm an Nvidia person (and that's only because the rat bastards took out 3DFX!).

I have a Rosewill Gforce FX 5500 256mb DDR 8xAGP. It's got a 270mHz core speed and the ram is running at 400mHz.

I got that card because it was affordable (I paid $70 on sale, it's $90 now), fast, and played Doom3 like a mofo!

Of course, if you have stupid amounts of cash to spend, may I suggest the ASUS nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Ultra Video Card, 256MB DDR3, 256-Bit, TV-Out/DVI, 8X AGP. The core runs at 425mHz and the memory (DDR3) runs at a stupidly fast 11000mHz (I think I just filled my pants!). This isn't exactly cheap.... $579.

Of course, there's no comparison between the two cards (the ASUS rocks hardcore butt!).

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 4:59 pm

Thanks Bio.

If i were to get the Rosewill Gforce FX 5500 256mb DDR 8xAGP would i need to upgrade my RAM? i have 248 MB of RAM now.

Post by **bio** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 9:22 pm

Well... you'll need to insure that your motherboard will support a 1.5v 8x AGP card first.

As for memory... um... only 248mb?

What kind of processor do you have?

dribbles · Post by **dribbles** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 4:23 am

u can get good ACP 4X cards. AGP 8X doesn't offer much of a speed increase as your computer doesn't use the extra bandwidth offered.

try ebay for a ti4600 or something.

what are your system specs?

i use a geforce mx 32mb. it ran Far-Cry so meh. would cost you abbout $10

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 5:32 pm

I think i have a Intel(R) Celron(R) CPU 2.70 GHz proccessor...I am gonna get more ram any but i cant figure out if it is a DIM or a DDR DIMM.

Post by **bio** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 9:01 am

Look at the lable on the RAM. If you can't see it, look at any extra slots your motherboard has for memory or the chips themselves:

DDR RAM:
DDR has 1 notch, and the slot has 1 nock.

SDRAM:
SDRAM has 2 notchs, and the slot has 2 nocks.

That won't tell you the speed of your memory... just the type. If there is a lable on the ram, it will say something like PC100, PC133 (if it's SDRAM) or PC2100, PC2700, etc if it's DDR.

On the SDRAM, the number after "PC" is the speed.

If it's DDR, the number has different meanings:
PC2100 is 266mHz
PC2700 is 333mHz
PC3200 is 200mHz
PC3500 is 216mHz

Hope that helps

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Fri Sep 10, 2004 4:52 pm

It does thanks

dribbles · Post by **dribbles** » Wed Sep 15, 2004 12:53 am

celeron - ugh

=bio - speed of ram vs quantity whats more important / provides better performance?

dribbles · Post by **dribbles** » Tue Sep 21, 2004 3:18 am

anyone?

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 3:43 pm

I am in need of a fast computer. I am gonna buy 3d studio Max 7. i need a little more than a GB of ram. I am going to build my own computer but i need to know what type of mother board i need to get in order to push the type of RAM i need. Any Help would be appriciated!

Post by **bio** » Mon Dec 13, 2004 9:49 pm

If you're looking for a motherboard, one word comes to mind:

Asus

As for which one, well.... that depends on the processor you want.

Here's a fairly ecconomical setup that should cook with gas:

ASUS "A7N8X-X" nForce2 400 Chipset Motherboard
Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail (you'll need 2)
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton", 400MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor (retail + heatsink & cooling fan)

Of course, you'll still need video, drives, etc. This is better than my system (I have a ASUS A7V8X-X mb, AMD XP 3000+ "Barton" with a 333mHz FSB, a gig of Crucial PC-2700 RAM, and a Rosewill Geforce FX 5500 256mb DDR video card). I play Doom3 and Half-Life 2 at 1024x768 with everything cranked up and it works just fine.

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 3:37 am

Thanks Bio. I should have it all bought and put together by the end of january. i will send pics of the building proccess. Thanks Again!

ironpants · Post by **ironpants** » Tue Dec 14, 2004 11:01 am

If you're looking into 3D modeling, you may want to re-think your video card purchase. The GeForce stuff is definately for gamers, if you're looking to do some serious work, you may want to look at the Quadro line.

If you look around on ebay, you can find pretty awsome machines (lease returns) that come stock w/ the Quadro.

machines to look out for:
HP X4000
HP XW6000
Dell Precision 470
IBM Intelistation

CrazyAlabamianLlama · Post by **CrazyAlabamianLlama** » Thu Dec 16, 2004 2:41 am

I found this Video Card at newegg.com. Will it work for 3d modeling?

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV