It is time to upgrade my graphics card so I need some advice. I have to stay under $200 and would prefer to stay under $150 but I'll understand if I can't. Please give me some suggestions. Thanks.
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BrockSampson "I see dead people..."
and once I see them, I make sweet, sweet love... -
Get a GeForce2 MX.
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i had a geforce 2 mx. it was nice. although it was far more powerful than the pos i put it in. i now have a geforce 2 ddr something or other. dont know the cost. its niceComment
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:)
Alrighty, here's Tbone's take on some video cards. Personally, I must say that I'm bias towards ATI, but that's just me. Anyways.....
If you want the top-of-the-line card, you can pickup a Radeon 8500 for about $190-200. This is probably the best card out right now. Yes, it's better than anything nVidia has out (GeForce 3 included), even the Ti500. Proof can be found here:
for all those in doubt.
If you're not looking to spend that much money on a graphics card, there are a bunch of other options. Probably the best "bang for your buck" would be the GeForce 2 MX 400 (not the 200) and just make sure you buy the 64MB version instead of the 32MB version; whichever the choice, choose the card with higher memory (i.e. 64MB is better than 32MB) There is also the option of a toned down version of the Radeon 8500 such as Radeon 7500 or the older, but still powerful Radeon 32MB DDR.
For a great list of prices (I check the prices almost daily, they change ever couple of minutes) use:
The video card page can be found here:
If you have any questions about certain cards, e-mail me and I'll do my best to get you spreadsheets and info on it.Comment
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First off, I think those benchies are biased. The only time I get that low of a score in Quake 3 is when Anti aliasing is turned on and eye candy turned up. Toms is a reputable site though but it could be a driver issue vs operating system. Who knows. My geforce 3 is a killer card. The FPS jumped by 20-25 when using the newest nVidia drivers.
Wait man, you can't compare those cards because they all run at different speeds dude. The radeon is the fastest in clock speed and memory speeds. Also they are using drivers that are optimized for winxp not win 98. That IS biased.Comment
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If you're interested I have an eVGA Geforce2 MX that I want to get rid of. Email or PM me if interested.Originally posted by Miscue
Get a GeForce2 MX.
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Thanks PotatoBoy but I need to buy one direct from HP so I don't violate my warranty.
BrockSampson "I see dead people..."
and once I see them, I make sweet, sweet love...Comment
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Those tests were done comparing several video cards. Of course the clock speeds are going to be different! If they were comparing the data transfer rate of the card, they would set the speeds the same to see which is the best, but they're comparing the cards themselves! Cards have been compared for years having different clock speeds, that's what makes the market competitive.Originally posted by Failure
First off, I think those benchies are biased. The only time I get that low of a score in Quake 3 is when Anti aliasing is turned on and eye candy turned up. Toms is a reputable site though but it could be a driver issue vs operating system. Who knows. My geforce 3 is a killer card. The FPS jumped by 20-25 when using the newest nVidia drivers.
Wait man, you can't compare those cards because they all run at different speeds dude. The radeon is the fastest in clock speed and memory speeds. Also they are using drivers that are optimized for winxp not win 98. That IS biased.
If it's a driver's vs. OS problem, then it's the companies' fault for not building better drivers. And it doesn't matter what system the cards are optimized for, they're all being used on the same system for the test; so it's not biased, it's a comparison on one particular computer setup.
It's nVidia's bad luck that they built a card with a lower clock speed. Tom's is a great site for reviews, but if you don't believe that the Radeon 8500 performs up to par with the GeForce3, you can look at:
There's a ton of more benchmark results on the internet...the one above was done on 3DMark and the Radeon blew the Ti500 out of the water.
I think nVidia should be a little worried about ATI's advances graphics card industry.....go Radeon!
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BAH! Void your warranty? Just take of the sticker, install the card, then put the sticker back on! lol...
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That's not only unethical but ILLEGAL !!!!Originally posted by FooTemps
BAH! Void your warranty? Just take of the sticker, install the card, then put the sticker back on! lol...
Tisk...tisk...tiskBrockSampson "I see dead people..."
and once I see them, I make sweet, sweet love...Comment
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SHHHH! Big Brother might be listening...Last edited by FooTemps; 12-06-2001, 09:40 PM.
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I'm always listening!! *in evil bad guy voice* HA HA HA HA HA HABrockSampson "I see dead people..."
and once I see them, I make sweet, sweet love...Comment
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NOOOOOOOOOOO-breathe-OOOOOOOOOO!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
::said in voice of small dog from 2 stupid dogs::
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Tunaman, K-villeplayer, Magman007, Mastersconi, Jon/xpm, Kenndogg
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You are correct but the overclocked geforce 3 performs probably better at the same MHZ. I do hear Radeons are good though. You should wait a little bit longer like after christmas to buy a card. Not too many of the games these days take full advantage of the better cards out there so even a geforce 2 ultra would be fine. Same clock speeds as a geforce 3 but not quite bechmarked as high. I am a firm believer of NVidia because they have new drivers out all of the time. I hear ATI never releases drivers and if the y do it few and far between.Comment
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Illegal? No...
You can't take the sticker off and put it back on, though. For years HP (and other companies) have been using stickers that changed colors when you peeled them up. Its very easy to tell when a sticker has been peeled :)
As for ordering through HP, bah, screw that. I've had an HP Pavilion for going on 4 years now (old Celeron 300) that I've pulled apart and worked on many times, and its still a truck. I doubt your warranty matters. (Unless you actually fell for the "Gold Plan" or whatever).
I used to work at CompUSA, as well as IT for my college, and one thing you learn is that 90% of "warranty work" could be solved by the user buying a book like PCs for Dummies and learning a little about his computer.
If you can get a used card for $75 when you'd pay $175 from HP, you probably just paid for half of some minute possiblity that HP would need to work on your computer.
That being said, OEM parts for HPs can be expensive. I remember one customer who needed to shell out $134 for a power supply because she needed to buy from HP, nothing else would work in her computer.
If you have the slightest bit of confidence in yourself with your computer, do it yourself. In the long run, its worth it to pay for a few new parts you may f' up to save yourself the aggrevation of not knowing how to fix your computer.
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