Which Graphics Card

[peterwalker]

Hi i am currently using a " nVidia GeForce 4MX 440" 64MB AGB (not quite sure if that makes sense?) !

The problem is i am hoping to purchase the new games such as Doom 3 and Half-Life 2 but im not sure that my graphics card will allow me to have a reasonable (certainly not the best) gaming experience.....I know about the ATI Radeon cards that are best for Half life but how does mine compare..im assuming not well !!

Your opinions and advice is much appreciated..thanks !!

peter

 

[McTimson]

The GF4 MX series was basically a slightly faster GeForce2....it'll still play new games, but not well. That card will give about the same performance as a Radeon 7500...I would recommend waiting until the summer, when HL2 and Doom III come out, and getting a Radeon 9800 Pro, they should be fairly cheap by then. They're around $215 now, and ATI and nVidia will be releasing their next generation of cards soon, which will drive down prices on their current cards. The 9800 Pro is an excellent card, pretty much the best out there.

 

[flyeater]

i am hoping to purchase the new games such as Doom 3 and Half-Life 2

You and everyone else. McTimson is right. Don't worry about the specs for either of those games. Heaven only knows when or if they'll ever be released.
Upgrade to what you can comfortably afford now. Save your self some heartache though & don't throw a 9800 into a Celeron or any other outdated gaming system.

 

[peterwalker]

You and everyone else. McTimson is right. Don't worry about the specs for either of those games. Heaven only knows when or if they'll ever be released.
Upgrade to what you can comfortably afford now. Save your self some heartache though & don't throw a 9800 into a Celeron or any other outdated gaming system.

A celeron !?? sorry i dont know what that is im afraid.....

This is the system information from a Dx Diag scan...does this tell you anything??

Machine name: EMACHINE
Operating System: Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 1 (2600.xpsp2.030422-1633)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: eMachines, Inc.
System Model: Imperial
BIOS: Revision 0.90
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.40GHz
Memory: 254MB RAM
Page File: 238MB used, 386MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 9.0b (4.09.0000.0902)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.0001.0902 32bit Unicode

thanks for your help!!

peter

 

[flyeater]

EMACHINE

You have an Emachine? That says a lot if you do. You may not have much in the way of expandability. The fact that you have an AGP slot is a boost though.

 

[peterwalker]

ok so what are the disadvantages of my Emachine and advantages of AGP slot in relation to my problem ??

thanks

 

[McTimson]

eMachines (and other computer manufacturers as well) typically build their systems assuming that the end user is not going to upgrade that much on it, that you'll buy everything you want right away, and not do anything else to it until you get a new computer. This is especially imprtant when you want to add something that consumes a lot of power, because those power supplies are usually barely enough for the system that it comes with, let alone something like nVidia's 6800 Ultra.

Now, the AGP slot is important because many manufacturers will give onboard graphics, and no AGP slot, which means that if you want better graphics, you need a PCI video card, which severly hampers performance. AGP offers double the bandwidth of PCI, so naturally, AGP video cards are much better than their PCI counterparts. This means you'll be able to upgrade your video card with relative ease.

For upgrades, I would wait until you're sure you want Doom III/Half-Life 2, and right before they come out, get a 512MB stick of RAM, and a new video card. That should be a pretty good upgrade, and you'll notice an improvement in games as well.

Oh, and make sure you have enough drive space, because those games will definitely be huge....right now, FarCry takes up 3GB, and Unreal Tournament 2004 takes up about 5GB. So if you don't have enough space, delete some stuff, or add another drive.

 

[peterwalker]

ok thanks i am looking into purchasing the RAM and video card but i have 2 more questions.....

1) After installing the RAM can this be removed and used on a new maachine which i may buy in the future?

2) If i am getting an AGP video card does this mean i have to shop for something completly different? (Radeon 9800 Pro) is not compatible ?? If not then which card would be best for me ?

thanks very much !

OH sorry and also...i am going to buy a new sound card soon (not an amazing one) just one that works...does my eMachine need anythiung special? or just a regular soundcard and do i need new drivers...if so how do i get hold of those or do they come with the card??
thankyou

 

[1394]

1) Yes, RAM is reusable if it is compatible with the new motherboard you buy. Example, if you buy PC2700 RAM, make sure your motherboard supports PC2700 RAM (google search your motherboard name, or see if eMachines will tell you), and if you purchase a new computer which also supports PC2700, then yes, you can use it on that machine too.

2) Just look at the box of the card you are buying. A radeon 9800 Pro will have in the top right corner (maybe its left, I forget) either an "AGP 8x/4x" or a "PCI" make sure to get the "AGP 8x/4x" one if you want an AGP video card. All ATi Radeon cards are packaged this way, just look in the corner for the type.

 

[McTimson]

Most video cards are AGP now, if it's PCI, then it will say somewhere on the box that it is. And yes, you can use the RAM in the future as long as it's the same type, you most likely have DDR memory, so if you buy a motherboard in the future that uses DDR memory, then you can use it.

 

[1394]

It is more than wether the memory is the same type or not. Just because your motherboard supports DDR does not mean all DDR memory will work on it. You need to get a similar speed DDR memory as your FSB. Basically I would just refer to what your motherboard's manufacturer says about what memory it supports.

 

[bkatz540]

Peterwalker...I havnt read any of the posts...so i dunno....but all I can say is the ATI Radeon 9600 XT is the best card 4 the money! I finally listened to Mctimson and got me that card....it shuld be a HUGE improvement over your GEforceMX card...I hate Nvidia!

PS sry again if this is a lil off topic/behind

 

[McTimson]

Damn straight

Anyway, you can pretty much use any DDR RAM now, P4 motherboards can have different DDR:FSB ratios, and new Athlon boards should all be implementing that as well...and if you have to, most RAM will work fine at higher speeds anyway...

 

[bkatz540]

Hey mC timson...dont you have the 9600XT?


Edit: This is My HUNDRETH POST GO ME!!!!!!

 

[McTimson]

Yup, I do...and FarCry looks amazing with it.