Suggest me a new video card

[chimpmunk]

I play almost only half life 2, and I'm getting tired of my old geforce 5500 fx.
Graphics are nice for now, but i'd like it to be even better.
So i'm looking for a new video card, better than this one obviously, but somewhat cheap, being a photography student, i have very limited money when it comes to stuff that is not directly linked to photography/cameras.

By the way, my specs are(I was too lazy to check them all out so I used the steam "system information" option):
Processor Information:
Vendor: AuthenticAMD
Speed: 1808 Mhz
1 logical processor
1 physical processor
HyperThreading: Unsupported
RDTSC: Supported
CMOV: Supported
FCMOV: Supported
SSE: Supported
SSE2: Supported
3DNOW: Supported

Network Information:
Network Speed:
IP Address: 192.168.2.XXX

Windows Version:
XP Service Pack 2 (Build 2600) (32 bit)
NTFS: Supported

Video Card:
Driver: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500
DirectX Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.10.9147
DirectX Driver Version: 6.14.10.9147
Driver Date: 12 Aug 2006
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 60 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500
VendorID: 0x10de
DeviceID: 0x326
Number of Monitors: 1
Number of Video Cards: 1
No SLI or Crossfire Detected
Primary Display Resolution: 1024 x 768
Desktop Resolution: 1024 x 768
Primary Display Size: 12.60" x 9.45" (15.75" diag)
32.0cm x 24.0cm (40.0cm diag)
Primary Display Type: CRT
Primary Bus: AGP 8x
Primary AGP GART: 64 MB
Primary VRAM: 256 MB
Primary Monitor Vendor Not Detected
Primary Monitor Model: Analog Display
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x



Game Display Settings
GoldSrc Game Resolution: 1280 x 960 (Fullscreen)
GoldSrc Game Bit Depth: 32
Half-Life 2 Resolution: 1024 x 768 (Fullscreen)
Half-Life 2 MSAA Disabled
HL2DM Resolution: 800 x 600 (Fullscreen)
HL2DM MSAA Disabled


Sound card:
Audio device: Realtek AC97 Audio

Memory:
RAM: 1023 Mb

Miscellaneous:
UI Language: English
Microphone: Not set
Media Type: DVD
Total Hard Disk Space Available: 152612 Mb
Largest Free Hard Disk Block: 63287 Mb

 

[giant384]

go with a 6800gs or an x850xt. what is your budget exactly?

 

[chimpmunk]

I'd say around 150$ top. I know it's not a lot.

I was kinda hoping i could catch a 9800 xt, but what else is there to look after? I haven't kept up with this since... well, since HL2 came out.

 

[jondy]

Chimpmunk, you should post some photos in the art forum dude!

 

[chimpmunk]

Chimpmunk, you should post some photos in the art forum dude!

I'll get to that soon.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125039

 

[giant384]

i would recommend these
x800GTO:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102042
x1650pro:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057

i could find some others, but lots of agp cards look to be like they are being taken off the market.

 

[CyberPitz]

i would recommend these
x800GTO:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102042
x1650pro:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057

i could find some others, but lots of agp cards look to be like they are being taken off the market.

I second the X800 GTO. It was a pretty good card when I had it. Ran Half-Life 2 on max, and BF2 on all high but lighting/shadows.

I'd look to getting another 1 gig of ram sooner or later.

 

[chimpmunk]

I may go with a Radeon 9800 XT, I found someone willing to sell his for 70$ (he's on a ibook right now so he doesn't use it anymore).

What's your take on used cards? Any adivce, info, feedbacks or horror stories?

 

[jellydoughnut217]

don't get a 9800, those things are very prone to overheating problems, seriously, i've known upwards of 6 people who have had them, including myself, and while i had it it was apretty good card, but after a few months the thing goes to shit and overheats like a bitch, it was crazy, and it happened to everyone i know that's had one. I've even seen people post on this forum with the same problem. My recomendation is don't buy it.

 

[Uriel]

Geforce 2 mx
THAT CARD OWNS YOUR PANTS

 

[chimpmunk]

don't get a 9800, those things are very prone to overheating problems, seriously, i've known upwards of 6 people who have had them, including myself, and while i had it it was apretty good card, but after a few months the thing goes to shit and overheats like a bitch, it was crazy, and it happened to everyone i know that's had one. I've even seen people post on this forum with the same problem. My recomendation is don't buy it.

Wasn't the overheating issue a problem with some version of the driver?

(I may be wrong on this)

 

[The Brick]

No temp problems are not caused by drivers. And I would suggest the 7600GS or GT.

 

[phantomdesign]

don't get a 9800, those things are very prone to overheating problems, seriously, i've known upwards of 6 people who have had them, including myself, and while i had it it was apretty good card, but after a few months the thing goes to shit and overheats like a bitch, it was crazy, and it happened to everyone i know that's had one. I've even seen people post on this forum with the same problem. My recomendation is don't buy it.

Don't buy a 9800 pro.

I've bought one, my younger brother has bought one....both of them started having various problems after 5 months (no video on boot, slower perforamance, etc, magically becomming incompatable with various motherboards) and then eventually his died, and then mine died completly 5 months ago. I think they lasted about 18 months (he bought his about 8 months before I bought mine)

 

[phantomdesign]

Geforce 2 mx
THAT CARD OWNS YOUR PANTS

Ha ha - my Geforce 3 TI 200 was amazing - it played games GREAT for many years! It also seemed to vastly improve in performance over time (driver updates) and at the time I upgraded, it was still running most games and 3D apps smoothly - bought it for $99 used it for about 2.5 years.

 

[jellydoughnut217]

Don't buy a 9800 pro.

I've bought one, my younger brother has bought one....both of them started having various problems after 5 months (no video on boot, slower perforamance, etc, magically becomming incompatable with various motherboards) and then eventually his died, and then mine died completly 5 months ago. I think they lasted about 18 months (he bought his about 8 months before I bought mine)

seriously 9800 pro's are defective. There should be an official notice to everyone about how unstable those cards are.

 

[Vegeta897]

I'd like to second the 9800 pro opinion.

I had to buy a new cooling unit for mine and even then it just sucked. The card died soon after and I had to get a new computer.

 

[Combine Hybrid]

i would recommend these
x800GTO:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102042
x1650pro:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102057

i could find some others, but lots of agp cards look to be like they are being taken off the market.

Will those cards able to handle C&C3 and Supreme commander?

 

[Stigmata]

Will those cards able to handle C&C3 and Supreme commander?

They'll probably run on the low-mid settings, but probably closer to the low end considering your current specs. But getting a faster and bigger video card won't help all that much, since you'll quickly (possibly within about $50 of those cards) reach a point where your entire computer becomes a performance bottleneck for your video card.

But they'll tide you over until you get a chance to build a new system, I'm sure of it.