best pci graphics card

Dermot2468

im looking for the best pci graphics card avalable for a dell dim. 3000 with a 250w psu im looking at these
www.komplett.ie/k/kl.asp?bn=10415
thanks

Creamy Goodness

only difference is that one have 128mb as oppose to 256mb and one has DVI as os opposed to the other which doesn't.

i'd go for the cheaper one tbh because there's no need for 256mb ram on a pci card as the bus speed is too slow to play any games that would take advantage of 256mb ram.

Dermot2468

thanks for the reply do you know if anywhere in dublin stocks this (the 128mb 1)

K.O.Kiki

TBH you'd be better off buying online; normal store (eg Maplins) will still insist it's a "premium" product & charge you an extra €50:p

Or even buy a Radeon 9250SE for €50 here because, let's face it, PCI cards are sh!te.

Dermot2468

Would this be an upgrade from my onboard intel "extreme" grapics, and are any of these windows vista compatable?

conzy

Depending on what Intel integrated solution you have it may not be much of an upgrade...

I had a AGP FX5200 128mb card in my first rig and it played Source games ok at 800x600

K.O.Kiki

Dermot2468 wrote:

Would this be an upgrade from my onboard intel "extreme" grapics, and are any of these windows vista compatable?

Upgrade from onboard: Hell yes;
Vista compatible: The Geforce FX5200 you linked IS; the Radeon 9250 I linked IS NOT.

oRlyYaRly

Really? My understanding is virtually all graphics cards will be fine for Vista, and DX9 cards are only required for the fancy theme.

Dermot2468

its intel 82865G graphics with (i think) 96mb memory

TerrorFirmer

Pretty much any dedicated card, even an old one, would be better then your integrated. The best PCI card out is the Nvidia 6200, but make sure you get the dedicated memory version and not the Turbocache model if possible.

The 6200 can come in various turbocache models like 16Mb dedicated + 112MB system shared, 32Mb Dedicated and 96MB shared, and 64MB dedicated + 64MB shared. Obviously if you must get a turbocache model go for the 64+64 model, but its really best to go for the dedicated version. The difference between a 128mb 6200 and the 16MB turbocache model for example is absolutely astromonical, even though both are 6200 cards.

PC World stock the dedicated 6200 (for cheaper then kompletts inferior 5200 as well actually, about 80 quid I think and it comes with a free copy of Far Cry) but I've also seen the turbocache model around too, which one, I'm not sure. Again, while the 6200 dedicated is the best option for PCI, the turbocache models are not, so don't go on model number alone.

Anyway, an fx5200 or a 9250 would still be way better then Intel Integrated, especially if its the useless Intel Extreme range.

Anti

would probably be better to just upgrade the motherboard to agp or pci-e. if you have the money to spend

Dermot2468

anti wrote:

would probably be better to just upgrade the motherboard to agp or pci-e. if you have the money to spend

if i do this i think it would get very complicated ie. if i replace the motherboard and get a new graphics card then i will need a new psu and i dont want to spend too much on the pc,

does anyone know if a new pci graphics card would improve google earth as it gets very slow if i load the 3d building

ps havok do pc world stock this card in their online store, and is it vista compatable?

Anti

more ram really. a decent grpahics card would be a good idea. allbeit a pci one

Anti

and to answer the pcworld question, yes they do.

K.O.Kiki

Dermot2468 wrote:

if i do this i think it would get very complicated ie. if i replace the motherboard and get a new graphics card then i will need a new psu and i dont want to spend too much on the pc,

No you won't; a low-end card (ie, those under €111) should happily run on a 250W PSU as it won't drain much power -- so little that most are, in fact, passively cooled!

Also, why are you so concerned about Vista compatability?
TBH, you would be better off waiting for a bit & then upgrading your motherboard (and your CPU if you can) when it finally rolls around so you can have a decent(-ish) GPU...

Oh, and get more RAM.
All OS love more RAM!

TerrorFirmer

I can only assume a 6200 is Vista compatiable, I'm surprised a Radeon 9250 isn't actually.

Even Intels GMA line is Vista compatiable.

conzy

Once the card supports DX9 its Vista compatable...

TerrorFirmer

conzymaher wrote:

Once the card supports DX9 its Vista compatable...

Someone said the 9250 wasn't Vista compatiable though...why? That supports Dx9...

Anti

like he said any card that has native support for dx9 is 100% vista compatible.

Dermot2468

K.O.Kiki wrote:

No you won't; a low-end card (ie, those under €111) should happily run on a 250W PSU as it won't drain much power -- so little that most are, in fact, passively cooled!

Also, why are you so concerned about Vista compatability?
TBH, you would be better off waiting for a bit & then upgrading your motherboard (and your CPU if you can) when it finally rolls around so you can have a decent(-ish) GPU...

Oh, and get more RAM.
All OS love more RAM!

money money money F(uking money thats what this pc needs, ill post the specs and see what ye think would be the best place to upgrade.

Dell dim 3000
intel celeron 2.6GHZ
512mb ram
Standard dell psu and mother board
and the pile of crap that is intel extereme graphics:mad:
oh and an 80gb hard drive (want to upgrade or add to this)


Ps i hope ye dont mind me going of the graphics and on to the general pc

Anti

Would be cheaper and a better idea to jusy buy/build a new pc tbh. dell are doing some decentish pcs from 600€. or if your able do a self build for a bit cheaper.

christophicus

I looked into doing a cheap self build (i.e $600-700) and you arent really going to be able to make a comparible pc when comparing to dells with which you normally get a 17" flatpanel aswell.

christophicus

Its very hard to better dells cheaper computers when building them yourself. when you factor in the 17" falt panel you get with them and legal copy of XP it is it is quite hard to compete when building your own PC. That said , you can build a far suppior system then you will get from dell for about €800-900 if you dont need to get new moniter.

Anti

If you have amonitor already you can save a nice bit of money, and for 500 build a nice enough pc. komplett do great upgrade packs. where you get mobo ram cpu gfx card hdd.

K.O.Kiki

Dermot2468 wrote:

money money money F(uking money thats what this pc needs, ill post the specs and see what ye think would be the best place to upgrade.

Dell dim 3000
intel celeron 2.6GHZ
512mb ram
Standard dell psu and mother board
and the pile of crap that is intel extereme graphics:mad:
oh and an 80gb hard drive (want to upgrade or add to this)


Ps i hope ye dont mind me going of the graphics and on to the general pc

Well, 512mb extra RAM is €50-60; however, judging from specs, looks like there's only 1xIDE controller, and only 1 HDD drive bay, so no adding to this unless you buy an external (USB) one.
And the processor is skt478; don't know anyplace that sells new ones anymore.

Anti

or a ide pci card

K.O.Kiki

Yeah but there's no extra drive bay

*edit* Didn't think of 3.5"->5.25" mounting kits: €5 for basic brackets, €14.50 for dampened ones

Anti

Damn you. foiled again !

Dermot2468

So would it be best to buy a hd and a mounting bracket?

What upgrade fit would you recommend from komplett