Video card recommendations

**Bez625** · 3rd November 2002

OK my old 16mb Voodoo3 3500 with TV out is gettin a little out of date now and i think its about time i upgraded it. I dont know a lot about cards at the moment so i wanna know wat things i should look for in a new card and what cards you recommend that get the most for their money.

I am looking for sumthing fairly reliable, not neccesarily cheap but i dont wanna be payin too much. Bearing in mind i have a screen resolution of about 1024x860 and use win98 so i need sumthing that will take the burden off my memory. I also want sumthing fairly reliable that will not need replacing for a while and possibly the tv out option.

Thanx for your advice,

-Bez

**Hangman** · 3rd November 2002

This is a big question.

If money is no object then I would go for the ATI Radeon 9700 but at �250 - �300 it isn't cheap.

At realistic money I would look at the GeForce Ti4200

And at the budget end of the market the ATI Radeon 9000.

Hope that helps.

Cheers
paul

**Bez625** · 3rd November 2002

thanx paul, i definately cannot afford �250+ for a card so that is out of the question, i was looking for sumthing more midrange, i will checkout those two that you have recommended,

thanx for your help,

-Bez

**Bez625** · 3rd November 2002

ok i have had a quick flick through a computer trade mag an seen a couple of cards i'd like advice on.

Firstly are saphire cards any gud? i have never heard of them before and they luk suspiciously cheap.

As i said i fancy TV out so wat about the ATI radeon 8500LE with TV out.

My budget is about �50 - �100 but i REALLY should be staying near the �60 - �70 mark. I didnt mention but i want this for games as well as other things.

Also wat manufacturer would you recommend for the GeForce4 Ti4200 m8? Like i sed preferably within my budget but with TV out an a decent name

As an afterthought are there any retailers online that specifically have graphics cards or have good prices?

Thanx again,

-Bez

**DelTrotter** · 3rd November 2002

you wont get any Geforce 4 ti4200 for under �100

Geforce 4 mx 440 or 460 for the 70-80 quid range will play you all games very well .

Ati radeon 8500 is similar to the ti4200 in the 3d mark score range and what a card it is, I got one luckily for 65 quid off QXL normally around the 120 pound mark.

but the 8500le is a good buy and goes around the 80 quid mark.

www.ebuyer.com
www.Komplett.com
www.dabs.com

a few places for a good bargain

but Ebay or qxl have some good uns off there

**PeeWee-2k** · 3rd November 2002

u can buy a inno3d geforce4 ti4200 64mb from ebuyer for �106 and dabs do a dabsvalue version of the gf4ti4200 for �98 but im guessing you dont want to pay that much. u might want to go for a radeon or gf4 mx, but they wont be as good in games.

**Bez625** · 3rd November 2002

thanx for the replys guys, ok im gettin near a decision now the only things i wanna know now is wats the major difference i will notice in games between a gf4 mx or radeon 8500(le) and the ti4200? Also will all of these have a TV out version?

-Bez

**DelTrotter** · 3rd November 2002

geforce 4 mx 440/460 will play latest games really well with a decent spec PC.
so dont worry about that.

ATI Radeon 8500 and ti 4200 play top level games at the top level they play smooth and fast . both can be overclocked very easily making the ti4200 peform like a ti4400 and you can clock the 8500 to 275/275 in core and memory clock for even greater performance.

check www.madonion.com for how they perform at 3dmark.
most have TV out just take your pick

**Bez625** · 4th November 2002

ok ta m8 i think i will be on one of the cheaper ones, i prob wudnt have noticed the difference neway an there is no point wastin money on the ignorant,

-Bez

**PimpMasterT** · 4th November 2002

if you plan to upgrade your mobo to 8x agp support anytime soon they have release an 8x mx 440 GF4 card aaabout 130 CAN here so probably 50-60 quid there

**Blake77** · 4th November 2002

I have just bought a new PC - 2.5 GHZ 512MB RAM with a GeForce MX 440 . If you have a decent processor then this video card should be more than sufficent unless you are a die hard gamer. NVidia cards are flavour of the month (year ?) at the present time .Most new games are written with these cards in mind,drivere are regularly updated and the card should cost less than � 100. Im very satisfied !.

**DelTrotter** · 4th November 2002

exactly Blake more than good enuff these cards!!

**RhinoBanga** · 5th November 2002

Bez625,

Don't go for the GF4 MX if you want to play Doom3 ... John Carmack has specifically said these card will suck big time.

Try and get the extra �� together and get a 4200.

**Bez625** · 5th November 2002

i actually need it for UT, my system can run it now but it sucks ass big time, i have an xp1800 with bout 382mb ram so the system shud hangle the game with a cheapish gfx card

i have gone for this one

here

-Bez

**brainz2002** · 6th November 2002

128 mb radeon 9000 for �70 here
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=39927

**Bez625** · 6th November 2002

lol m8 i got the pro version from them

-Bez

**Odyssey** · 7th November 2002

I run a large mail order/online components department and for sub �100 whould have gone for the Radeon 8500LE over the 9000. The 9000 is a decent card, but its crap (comparatively) in games that use multitexturing (quake engine, probably UT aswell but I dont play it). It can be half the speed of the 8500LE. I would also stay clear of the GF4 MX cards as they are only DX 7.1 cards and dont handle all the new 8.1 stuff like pixel shading etc that new games are using. In an ideal world get a Ti 4200, but for sub �100 the 8500LE is a good card. The 9000 is too, just a shame it sucks in multitexture games.

**Bez625** · 9th November 2002

Originally posted by Odyssey
I run a large mail order/online components department and for sub �100 whould have gone for the Radeon 8500LE over the 9000. The 9000 is a decent card, but its crap (comparatively) in games that use multitexturing (quake engine, probably UT aswell but I dont play it). It can be half the speed of the 8500LE. I would also stay clear of the GF4 MX cards as they are only DX 7.1 cards and dont handle all the new 8.1 stuff like pixel shading etc that new games are using. In an ideal world get a Ti 4200, but for sub �100 the 8500LE is a good card. The 9000 is too, just a shame it sucks in multitexture games.

ok i dont even know wat multitexture is m8 so its probably not a gr8 loss, im just ****ed off atm ****in ebuyer have sent me, instead of my new sapphire 9000pro 128mb with tvout RETAIL, a ****in rage 128 32mb peice of anus that doesnt even have TV out, i am going to have to have words

-Bez