First off i would like to say i am a big fan of this site, i have known this site for many years, even though i havnt posted much, i used to make alot of sigs and loved the renders you guys came out with. I have wrote quite an in depth problem, i did this so it would be easier to understand for those prepared to listen closely to what i have said and reply with something i can also understand. Need help getting a graphics card for my games. I dont play big shooters on PC, i like them on my 360, and mainly play strategy games, except for BF2, which is mainly what its for. My Graphics card is Nvidia GEFORCE 6150SE, i dont know what my motherboard is but if someone can tell me how to find out i will, aslong as it doesnt require downloading more programmes. Ok i have just got my pc upgraded, with new RAM, motherboard and sound and a spare graphics card from old PC, im going to get a better one now, not an amazing one, just a good one, im looking to be able to play games like BF2 on relatively high detail, and be able to play most strategy games on high detail with NO fuss iv only got around £50-£70 or $100-$140 to spend with, and restricted to uk SHOPS ( not internet stores, must be a website that has a shop, like currys comet and pc world ) I have basicly 2 problems 1. which graphics card is the best value for me (£50-£70) 2. If you cant answer that (or you can tell me if you can) can you give me the "run down" on graphics cards, and tell me: What makes a good graphics card (from the specs iv read, there is a MB memory spec, #x interface (like 8x or 16x) and usually a model number (like 6500 or 8300) these 3 seem to be in correlation with how expensive, and hopefully how good they are. Could you please tell me which of the 3 is most important to getting a good graphics card for the price? because on the websites i have checked, a x16 interface 256mb with a higher model number (in the 8000's) is is more expensive than a 8x 512 interface (in the 7000's) so could you please just basicly tell me how not to get ripped off.
1. What motherboard do you have 2. Whats the price range and i'd doubt youd be able to play crysis at a decent level with anythingllower than a 8800 3 go to contorl panel, click regional and language options click on the languages tab and hit the detal button then the add button and choose English (united kingdom) and united kingdom extended
Ok thanks for answering question 3. restarted the PC and it works its english setting now, For question 2, im looking for around £50 - £70 or $100to $140, not looking for top notch graphics, but im not going to be getting the best FPS, im more of a strategy guy when it comes to pc games, i would like to play BF2 on high graphics though, For question 1, can you tell me how i can find out what motherboard i have?
1.Assuming you have a PCI-e slot(you should seeing as the 6150 is an onboard solution), go for a GeForce 7600GT, an x1650GT/XT or if you can muster it an x1950pro 2. see above http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quick...NavigationKey=0 the x1950pro i basically the cheapest card that can run crysis reasonably well while still doing pretty well in others http://www.techspot.com/articles-info/73/b...9_Medium_00.png but since crysis is pretty much the most demanding game out there http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quick...NavigationKey=0 the 2600XT does pretty well in it and is fairly cheap. caveat emptor, the decision is yours. 3. look around in control panel for regional settings.
Thanks man that really helped, but i still need help, im gonna re-do the first post because i have diff question
x16 and x8 mean nothing. Ignore this. It's no real indication of the card's speed, merely describes whether it's SLi capable. As Xlink said, 7600GT/x1650. Not too sure about UK prices or market, but if you can find a second hand 7900GS and overclock it, you'll be sitting pretty.
thanks for that advise, and at the moment im putting the product number over the megabite capability, seen as they cost more :| There is a 7600 GS in currys for £70, is that it?
3 is most important to getting a good graphics card for the price? 1 the GPU on the card 2 the memory bandwidth and latency of the card 3 the amount of memory the most important is the processing unit on the card, it does all the calculations the next i the type of memory setup on the card, you want the memory to be as fast as possible as it transfers data to the GPU and if it's slow the GPU will be idle doing nothing while waiting for data the last thing to look at would be the amount of memory. Usually you don't need to worry about this as if you looked at the other two factors first, this will take care of itself for the most part. example of a good card GeForce 8800GT 512mb very fast GPU on it, decent memory setup and a moderate amount of memory example of a bad card GeForce Fx5200 512mb the GPU sucks, the memory is slow, and while it has plenty of video RAM, the card won't be able to play at settings where it's adequately utilized. let me rank a few cards by how powerful they are(these are pretty much the only cards worth considering FYI) I'm listing their US prices too highend 8800GTX $420 *8800GT $270 *HD3870 $220-240 HD3850 $170-210 mid-highend *x1950pro $100-130 *7900GS $100-130 8600GTS $90-130 *2600XT $80-130 8600GT $90-120 mainstream *x1650XT $70-80 x1650GT $60-80 7600GT $60-80 7600GS $60-80 you can get better cards for 70quid than a 7600GS. FYI it's roughly $2 for £1, and while things are a bit cheaper in the US, the pricing should be somewhat comparable. stars denote cards of particular interest(better bang/$ than some of the others in their price range)
thanks, ill take a look. ok that helped alot, but only the bottom one i can afford, which is a bit unfortunate,
i took a look on pc world THIS PAGE there is a 7600 GS AGP and a 7600 GS PCI-E, which is better? or am i stuck with one depending on my motherboard, also on page 2 the 8600 GT is £100, when you wrote $90+ so they must be alot cheaper in america, im probably going out to buy one 2morro so ill need a uk store, and im stuck with currys comet or pc world basicly....
it depends on your board. PCI-e i generally a bit better(mostly in theory not in practice) but it's not even worth thinking about. if you can order online this isn't too bad http://www.dabs.com/productview.aspx?Quick...NavigationKey=0 roughly 2-3 times more powerful than the 7600GS
Yes, it depends on whether you have an AGP or a PCI-E slot. Neither is a superior card, they just depend on your motherboard.
if i have a Nvidia GEforce 6150SE running on it now can you tell me which card is compatable? also, and probably the last (of a bible-long list of) question, can you tell me (if there isnt too many) different ways that they can be incompatable. Let me rephrase, things i have to look out for to make them compatable, im confidend that there is only like 2 things to look out for, but if im wrong and theres alot to explain then never mind i can ask 2moro..
