how bad is this video card: NVIDIA GeForce4 Ti4200?

G

Goethe

Guest
That's the video card I bought exactly 2 years ago for $150. Most of the HL2 video settings are set to medium by default and the game works fast enough to be enjoyable.

So what's the best video card $150 could get me and would I see any significant improvement?
 
Radeon 9600 is a good one. If you try really hard, you might run into a 9800 for around $200, or less (IIRC).
 
If you can spend $50 more, I would get a Geforce 6600 GT (AGP). GREAT mid-range card that approaches 6800 speed for half the price. I wouldn't spend more unless you upgrade the PC. You will see (Directx 9) and feel improvement.
 
Your card is still good but a 9800pro (or 6600gt) would let you see games in full DX 9 glory! You will get much better water effects, normal mapping instead of bump mapping and more realistic lighting. Plus you would get better frame rates at higher resolution with AA and AF. I would advise you to get something better than a 9600 as you would get better graphics but it would become quickly obsolete (unless you want a temporary card then the 9600 is great)
 
if you can fork out an extra $50 or so... a 6600gt is the way to go..
 
if you get the 9800pro 256mb version you are sorted! Very nice card, you do have the 6600 gt option too, does out perform it, but depends how much $$$ or £££ you got.
 
6600GT > 9800 series. Links upon request. Personally, I would not spend $130 on a 9600XT. Nice cards and all, but really not worth it imo. It would be a bit faster, and look a little nicer, but they are not power cards. If you were running a GF MX/2 I would say go for it, but a Ti4200 is not that far behind, so you would be paying a lot for a little.

If you are locked in at $150 find a REPUTABLE seller on Ebay and get a Radeon 9700 Pro. Not too much slower than the 9800Pro, and just a ROCK SOLID card. Sold mine to my cousin (I have a 6800GT), and he plays HL2 at 1024x768 2xAA 4xAF and runs GREAT. He is over right now playing CS:S and it is nice and smooth and looks just as good as my 6800GT feature wise (just lower res).

Another option is to wait. The X800/X850 series is getting a BIG shuffle here shortly, so prices may adjust, especially as quanities become more available.

The Ti4200 was a great card when it came out (best bang:buck ratio for the time). While it may be missing features, from a pure speed perspective it is SOLID. Unfortunately some new games coming down the pipes, like BF2, require PS 1.4. Sadly, the Ti4200 only has PS 1.3. This kind of stinks because FX5200 and Radeon 8500s and 9100/9200 will run the game--allbeit slowly--while the Ti4200 WONT. Which is sad because from a speed aspect it is a lot better.
 
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