What is the minimum card I need for HL2, Doom 3, BF2, Far Cry, etc...

[Jabba]

As the title reads, what would be the bare minimum Video card to play these games.

HL2
Doom III
Far Cry
BF2

Could this card do it? Is it a good deal for $137 Canadian?

http://mirror.ati.com/products/radeon9600/aiw9600/specs.html

Thanks for the info...

Mods, feel free to move this thread if not in the right place...

[Sephroth57]

if youre going radeon i wouldnt go less than a 9800pro 128MB

but im a geforce guy so i wouldnt reccomend that anyway. i have a GeForce 6600GT and its amazing. I think it was like 180$ US, thats prolly out of your range but try looking up geforce 6600 base model

[daveg2000]

i have a geforce 5600 - that is probably as low as you can go
and I can play all these fine.

[Jabba]

Hmm, the local guy has one of these,

http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/128-P2-N360.pdf

Would that do it?

[mr.Curmudgeon]

If you go with a nVidia GeForce card, let me recommend BFGTech OC models...they overclock them, so you'll get a better card for a decent price. They also provide 24/7 tech support and lifetime warranties on the cards.

Can't beat that.


mrC

[ChadTower]

Don't forget the LCD shutter glasses.

[Sephroth57]

Hmm, the local guy has one of these,

http://www.evga.com/products/pdf/128-P2-N360.pdf

Would that do it?

it would definately run it, as smooth and as nice looking as you want it? im not sure, this also depends on what kind of RAM you have and how much? I can tell you this card def wont run farcry on full graphics. but you can probably get away with medium graphics on most of those games you named asssuming you have decent RAM. decent meaning 512-1GB+ imo

[Jabba]

Thanks guys. I'll look into the cards suggested.

Cheers!

Jabba

[Jabba]

Hi guys,

I looked at my motherboard last night and unforetunately I wouldn't know a AGP slot if one cam up and bit me on the @ss. Could someone tell me if the current video card is sitting in a AGP slot?

The machine is a Dell Precision 350 and came pretty standard with a real crappy video card.

Thanks!

www.garry.ca/P1010115.JPG

www.garry.ca/P1010116.JPG

www.garry.ca/P1010117.JPG

[mr.Curmudgeon]

The machine is a Dell Precision 350 and came pretty standard with a real crappy video card.

Based on the part number showing on the card...it's a Radeon 8500 and is only available in AGP bus 2x/4x. So, I think it's safe to say it's an AGP slot.

For future reference, a PCI (PCIe) slot would be longer.


EDIT: Oh, and dust that case out ...beeeeyatch.   

mrC

[Jabba]

So if we think it is an AGP slot, why the heck can't this card even do OpenGL stuff? I hope that if I replace the card with one of the ones listed above, I will be able to play the games listed. Is this a safe assumption?

[Sephroth57]

8500 is just an old ass card, it has nothing to do with your slot. if you get one of the cards i listed you will have no problems

[AmericanDemon]

EDIT: Oh, and dust that case out ...beeeeyatch.   

Agreed!

[mr.Curmudgeon]

So if we think it is an AGP slot, why the heck can't this card even do OpenGL stuff?

Like Seph said, it's old.

Before you replace the card, you'll need to figure out if the AGP slot is 2X or 4X.

You need the motherboard part number to figure that out, then you'll need to buy the appropriate speed card.  Although you *can* put a 2X card in a 4X slot (I think), just not the other way around.

[Harry Potter]

Hi guys,

I looked at my motherboard last night and unforetunately I wouldn't know a AGP slot if one cam up and bit me on the @ss. Could someone tell me if the current video card is sitting in a AGP slot?

The machine is a Dell Precision 350 and came pretty standard with a real crappy video card.

Thanks!

www.garry.ca/P1010115.JPG

www.garry.ca/P1010116.JPG

www.garry.ca/P1010117.JPG

The AGP slot is usually brown, but the MB manufacturers are starting to get funky and use different colour schemes. It's usually the closest slot to the CPU.

[Sephroth57]

how much RAM you have btw and what speed? this will have a great effect on you being able to play those games also

[Jabba]

Thanks guys! I'll post more detailed specs of my machine when I get home from work. I will also post the P/N for the motherboard.

Jabba

[SirPoonga]

If you are looking for a card that is decent, but you arne't a hardcore game the 9600 is great.  I have the 9550 which is a slightly dumbed down 9600.  I've been playing BF2 fine along with other newer games.  But I'd get the 256meg version then, not the 128.

[Jabba]

Thanks guys for all the input so far...

OK, here are the specs.

(I downloaded a program called CPU-Z which was free and useful)

http://www.cpuid.org/cpuz.php

Machine Specs:

Intel P4, 2.26GHz, 512 MBytes, AGP version 2.0, Transfer Rate 4x

The card that sucks is in there is one of these

ATI R200 Fire GL E1, 64MB DDR, Dual DVI, 4XAGP  (Dell P/N 4Y905 )


With a new AGP card, will this machine play these games OK?

SirPoonga: The 9600 is an All-In-One, You can hook it up to your cable. Does your card have it? Is it useful?

[Sephroth57]

you will be able to play them on probably medium graphics with a 9600 with those specs, should be fine

[AceTKK]

BF2 stutters pretty badly with 512mb of ram.  You'll have to turn the effects and resolution way down to get playable frame rates.

[SirPoonga]

The 9550, as I understand it, is a watered down slightly slower version of the 9600.  The only features it had is VGA, DVI, and svideo out.  I heard you can flash the 9600 firmware on it and unlock some features....

[Jabba]

Thanks...

Another question: The guy is trying to sell me a $35 maintenance plan that would be good for 3 years. Anything happens to the card, I walk in and they replace it with equal or better card. He claims the fan's can go on them.

I'm typically not the type to buy this stuff, so my question is, has anyone here ever had a fan fry on them? Is this a common occurrence?

[LPZ]

Sorry to hijack this thread but, I need to know something.  Why do you have 4 sticks of Memory in your computer?  Usually two slots are for DDR(Double Data Rate) and usually two slots for SD RAM.  If you have all 4 filled up, when the computer boots, which ram does it select?  Or is it just me, and I am looking at the wrong thing?  Somebody else look at the pics and tell me what YOU think.

[RayB]

Sorry to hijack this thread but, I need to know something.

[Jabba]

RayB: Hmmmmm.......Futurshop.......Think they would replace it with th Radeon 10480 if hypothetically water was accidentally spilled on it and fried the fan?   

[Jabba]

Arghhh, looks like some of the cards need a minimum of 300 - 350 Watts on the Power Suply (Radeon 9800 Pro). Mine is only 250!!!

Question: If I plugged the card in to a 250 watt supply, would

a) it still work?
b) work, but slower?
c) Break something?

Jeeez, don't upgrade  for a couple of years and everything changes....technology!

[Setabs]

I would think you would have all kinds of wierd issues pop up relating to video.


If the plan lets you take a card back that doesnt work period.  I would take it wait 2 1/2 years stick my finger in the fan while running bf2 and hope that it burns up.  Then take it back and get a new (better) one.

[Sephroth57]

Arghhh, looks like some of the cards need a minimum of 300 - 350 Watts on the Power Suply (Radeon 9800 Pro). Mine is only 250!!!

Question: If I plugged the card in to a 250 watt supply, would

a) it still work?
b) work, but slower?
c) Break something?

Jeeez, don't upgrade

[Jabba]

Update:

Drool!

I installed the 9800 Pro into my machine last night.

Simply brilliant. It installed in less than 20 minutes, and was up and running Far Cry in an hour after that. Great Game, Great Graphics. I haven't even started thinking about the PVR capabilities of this thing.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I bought the $35 coverage which allows  me to replace the card anytime over the counter in the next three years with an equal or better card!

Now its time to open a can of whoop @ss 

[tommy]

Alittle late but i can tell you my ---smurfy--- Radeon 9200 128MB PCI card works surprisingly well for all those games except BF2.

[JB]

So if we think it is an AGP slot, why the heck can't this card even do OpenGL stuff?

Like Seph said, it's old.

Before you replace the card, you'll need to figure out if the AGP slot is 2X or 4X.

You need the motherboard part number to figure that out, then you'll need to buy the appropriate speed card.  Although you *can* put a 2X card in a 4X slot (I think), just not the other way around.

Other way around works. I've got an 8x card in a 2x slot.

QuadroFX 3000. 256MB RAM. Blowdryer heatsink.
QFX 3k is equivalent to the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra.


It was free, if you're wondering why this vidcard and that mobo.