Video Card Recommendations - Ford Forums - Mustang Forum, Ford Trucks, Ford Focus and Ford Cars

XD 351 Ute · 11-22-2004, 03:51

My video card is on the way out after about 6 years of faithful service.
The drivers keep playing up, the screen freezes etc.
I've tried updating drivers, and have backed the graphics acceleration down, but she still hangs up occaisionally.
It is a Matrox G400 Millenium Dual head, so I am looking for something along the same lines, but with onboard memory of at least 128 meg.

I've looked at different web pages, but quite honestly I haven't got a clue what it all means.
The card I mentioned was fitted into my old PC by a computer shop, and he just said "It's a good one", and has proven to be the case.

If anyone has any recommendations, I'd be glad to hear them, and any links to improve on my limited education would be appreciated.

Oh, I'm running an Athlon 2200XP, 512 meg of ram, and Windows XP Pro.

Thanks,

Ed :)

Heritage · 11-22-2004, 04:14

A good alround card is the Radeon 9600XT.
Not too pricey and will play most games at a reasonable resolution.
Should only cost about $250.
Here's a review for you to look at.
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NTMz

Devil_Racer · 11-22-2004, 04:30

well that's a coincidence i've been looking up these bloody things for the last 5 days and there's a lot to learn about them.

It'd be handy to know you're budget because cards start from about $200 up to $980 new for a desent brand. Apart from the top of the range graphics cards (x800xt vs 9800 ultra) you can't really go wrong with the Ati's especially the 9600xt, 9800xt or the x600 which you can all get under $500. If you can try to buy a proper Nvida or Ati graphics card instead of a cheap version.

LuKeY · 11-22-2004, 04:32

I got a 128MB Radeon 9600SE, cost me $130 but its probably cheaper now. I'm not into games really, but i play a lot of movies / DVDs and the DVD quality is fantastic. Its also got a TV out so you can watch movies on your TV from your computer.

The way to go is Gigabyte Radeons or NVIDIA GeForce4s. Both are good.

EB-maen · 11-22-2004, 05:42

i've got an nvidia geforce4 ti4200 (svideo, etc for the tv deal) and it should be cheap as chips now. it runs games rather well (i have P4 2.4ghz, 512ddr, windows xp, so fairly similar to your setup) and i got like 30fps in doom3 on normal settings which is alright, lol, but as long as it plays half-life2 im a happy man. games like need for speed underground2 run in full detail with no framerate lag whatsoever, however, as devil said, you cant go wrong with the radeons; a friend has a 9800 and it performs exceptionally. happy hunting

pauljh74 · 11-22-2004, 06:05

From some of the stuff I've read, in terms of direct comparisons price-wise, the ATI graphics chips tend to focus a little more on image quality, and the Nvidia chips tend to be biased a little more towards frame rate (for games). Depending on your budget, the 9600XT is a good value for money card, and the new X600 looks to be good value as well.

The Matrox you currently have wasn't as fast generally as comparably priced ATI and Nvidia cards at the time, but image quality was 1st class. The 9600XT is good value, but some of the 9800 PRO cards now use the 9800XT core, with slower clock speeds, so if you overclock it slightly, you end up running a more expensive 9800XT for the more reasonable price of a 9800PRO!

XR8fella · 11-22-2004, 13:04

My mate last week picked up a 256Mb Albatron FX5700LEQ for $179 and is very happy with its performance

Casper · 11-22-2004, 17:23

I have just picked up an ATi 9800Pro recently. Great value for money and fantastic graphics. Its not the latest or best but I doubt it can be beat for value.

Fairmont99 · 11-22-2004, 17:57

What you want to use this card for will have a huge impact on what you should buy. Getting something 1 gen back will give you the best bang for buck, don't get anything less than 256Mb - there are too many cards with 256+ at very decent prices to pass it up. Just stay away from anything with SE or MX in the name

Ambrose_1 · 11-22-2004, 18:36

I got a ATi 9600XT and its a brilliant card, I'm really pleased with it. Some people will probably tell you ATi's are crap because you have massive driver problems with them but I have never had a problem with the ATi drivers and havnt heard of my friends having problems with their ATi's either.