can i even upgrade my videocard ??

[Newbie's Journey]

I know hl2 is coming, and many other new games too. It's about time to upgrade my videocard. The one that i have now sucks and it's integrated on the motherboard. It's called "integrated intel extreme graphics, 64MB". Will I be able to upgrade my videocard, like simply installing a new one in in my computer or I have to change the motherboard first ??

 

[Shuzer]

Does your motherboard have an AGP slot?
Alot of motherboards with onboard AGP don't, but yours may.

To answer your question, you WILL be able to upgrade it atleast to a GeForce FX 5200 Ultra PCI. As you should have PCI slots available. However, that's as far as you'll be able to go with PCI slots.

Check your motherboard manual and find out if you have an AGP slot. If you do, you'll be able to get pretty much any graphics card you want (within reason, there are other factors, such as bottlenecking and power consumption).

 

[Asus]

You can install a new video card and disable the onboard grahpics.
If you have an AGP card then any graphics card is available for you to choose from.

9600 (non-pro, Pro or XT) would be recommended for a $100-150 budget.
9800pro for a 200$ budget and 6800GT or X800pro for a 400$ budget.

If you do not then you will have to pick between the Radeon 9200 and Geforce FX 5200 PCI cards which will still be a big improvement over what you have now.

 

[Newbie's Journey]

i think there is a 4x AGP slot

 

[Shuzer]

Refer to Asus' post. He's set some good suggestions for which cards to aim for.

 

[Newbie's Journey]

yeah, i just need something that runs hl2 and css at its full glory with 30 to 60 fps.

 

[Shuzer]

What are your other specs? CPU? RAM?

 

[Newbie's Journey]

thx for helping, i was just affraid of spending couple hundred dollars on a card that won't work with my computer

 

[Newbie's Journey]

p4 2,4 and 512 ram

 

[Shuzer]

The x800 Pro would be the best choice overall, but it comes at a high price ($400).
A 9800 Pro would be the ideal choice for a lesser budget ($200).
The 9600 Pro/XT would be the best bang for your buck ($100-150).

All these cards will run HL2/CSS beautifully. No one knows the numbers for sure, but any of those cards are good choices. I'd personally go with the Radeon 9800 Pro.

 

[Newbie's Journey]

30 to 60 fps is very playable, right ? I usually hear people who run some games at over 100 fps, but is it necessary ?? I mean do we notice the difference ??

 

[Newbie's Journey]

The x800 Pro would be the best choice overall, but it comes at a high price ($400).
A 9800 Pro would be the ideal choice for a lesser budget ($200).
The 9600 Pro/XT would be the best bang for your buck ($100-150).

All these cards will run HL2/CSS beautifully. No one knows the numbers for sure, but any of those cards are good choices. I'd personally go with the Radeon 9800 Pro.

yeah i'm thinking of getting 9800 pro, but hope it can keep up with games like doom3 or fear.

 

[Shuzer]

30 to 60 FPS is extremely playable.
Even a solid 30 FPS is extremely playable! The problem comes with framerates dipping below 30 (that's when you notice slow framerates the most, when it's not constant).

People boasting about 340FPS in Quake 3, don't worry about them. 60FPS is silky smooth, higher is better, but around 80 or so I start to not be able to notice a difference in higher framerates.

And make no mistake, the 9800 Pro will run current and future games great. As time moves on, you may have to turn some settings down (which would undoubtedly be the case with a game like FEAR, since it's still a ways away), all in all, however, the 9800 Pro should last atleast another year and a half in terms of solid performance with high settings.

 

[Dynasty]

lol, with my Geforce FX5600 256mb, im lucky to play new games with 30fps. getting my 9600xt had BETTER improve my frames like i was informed. does anyone think it will with my specs??? (i hope you're right Asus )

 

[Shuzer]

Yes. You'll see a large difference with the 9600XT.. enjoy

 

[Gajdycz]

um is anone else seeing this thread in pink?

 

[Asus]

It's a big difference if you are choosing between a 9600 and a 5600, especially in new games like FarCry. In older games they are about the same though.

If you had 5600 I would recommend a 9800 though.

 

[Dynasty]

omg i hope the 9600XT brings me better performance (for my sake in playin HL2), for now tho i say **ck Nvidia, bring on ATI (unless Nvidia pull their fingers out theire arses and develop better drivers lol).