WTB/T for a PCI Graphics Card (Need help choosing)

spyhunterk19

spyhunterk19

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Im in the market for a PCI graphics card. Dosn't have to be top of the line...just so i can run doom 3...far cry...call of duty...and such at decent preformence.

My Comp Specs
3.0 Ghz P4
160Gig HD
1024 Megs of RAM
Crappy Integrated gaphics card

I opened it up and i ...believe...that i have a pci slot...since my old nvidia AGP wouldn't fit.

Id be open to trades, or possibly buy...depending ont he price. If you dont have one for sale....could you also leave suggestions here? Thanks.
 
damn that computer has great potential....what price range are you looking for?

you should have an agp 8x slot since your comp looks modern

if you have money to spend id suggest the 6800 from compusa...that will turn your machine in to a monster..or the 6600 as well
 
[quote name='guyver2077']damn that computer has great potential....what price range are you looking for?

you should have an agp 8x slot since your comp looks modern

if you have money to spend id suggest the 6800 from compusa...that will turn your machine in to a monster..or the 6600 as well[/quote]

Just because his system looks modern doesn't mean he has an AGP slot. If he's running a 845G or 865G chipset, he doesn't have one.

Cards you're most likely going to find in PCI flavor that are modern-ish:

NVIDIA GeForce FX 5700LE
ATI Radeon 9200
ATI Radeon 9250

Probably the best card is the FX 5700LE. Having no AGP slot is a real problem, since none of the current modern cards are PCI, they're either AGP or PCI Express.
 
A decent motherboard with an AGP slot will cost you around $35 if you don't get anything fancy. Get that and tell me your price range for a graphics card: I'll help ya out.
 
Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...
 
[quote name='guyver2077']well are you sure that your mobo doesnt have a agp slot???[/quote]

Almost positive....i had an AGP Nvidia(no clue what model though) on my old computer, which i removed before i gave to good will for the rest of the parts....when i opened up this one..there wasn't a single slot it would fit in. Its a gateway 503GR i believe...
 
Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...
Click to expand...

PCI cards are cheaper, the difference is amazing, and I can pretty much guarentee that any PCI card you find will not run Doom 3 or Far Cry.

I thought they stopped making PCI cards a long time ago.

But.. yeah, with a PCI card, it'll make Half-Life (one) look really pretty :) You just won't be able to play anything recent. Hell, my top-of-the-line PCI card couldn't even run Black and White.. and most computers these days with onboard graphics chips can run that.
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...[/quote]

AGP has a huge bandwidth compared to PCI. PCI goes 133MB/sec, AGP 8x is 2.1GB/sec, though between 4x and 8x AGP isn't much of a difference.

If it's a pre-built machine (with a WARRANTY, that is), then putting in a different motherboard might be easy or impossible, depending on the case. You could either swap the pieces into a different case/power supply/motherboard, or just drop in the PCI video card.

PCI graphics cards are getting harder and harder to find these days, especially with PCI Express out there. Making a high-end graphics card in a PCI version is like having a 16 lane highway with a 15MPH speed limit. You get there, but it's not quick at all. Especially with the amount of throughput these cards have these days.
 
[quote name='Scorch']
Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...
Click to expand...

PCI cards are cheaper, the difference is amazing, and I can pretty much guarentee that any PCI card you find will not run Doom 3 or Far Cry.

I thought they stopped making PCI cards a long time ago.

But.. yeah, with a PCI card, it'll make Half-Life (one) look really pretty :) You just won't be able to play anything recent. Hell, my top-of-the-line PCI card couldn't even run Black and White.. and most computers these days with onboard graphics chips can run that.[/quote]

A Nvidia 5700LE PCI should run Doom 3 or Far Cry in 800 x 600 with most of the eyecandy turned on, and 1024 x 768 with less eye candy. Beyond that, nope, won't happen. You can do recent games, as long as you get the latest drivers available for the card, though it won't blow the doors off the game.
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...[/quote]

Hey, what's the manufacturer and model # of the PC?
 
[quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...[/quote]

Hey, what's the manufacturer and model # of the PC?[/quote]

Ok Manufacturer is Gateway, model is 530 GR...


I cracked open the case again...and this is what I see as far as video card slots goes.

2 white ones

one longer black one with this wierd hook thing on the end.
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19'][quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...[/quote]

Hey, what's the manufacturer and model # of the PC?[/quote]

Ok Manufacturer is Gateway, model is 530 GR...


I cracked open the case again...and this is what I see as far as video card slots goes.

2 white ones

one longer black one with this wierd hook thing on the end.[/quote]

that black one with hook should be the agp one..
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19'][quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']Yah...i got the comp today, black friday, for like 850 bucks...so i thought i did pretty ok myself :)

But...im no computer person....the most i could ever do is swap out a video or sound card, dvd player or such. The new mother board woudl be just to much for me...

Is AGP much of an advantage over PCI? I mostly see that PCI cards are more expenseive...[/quote]

Hey, what's the manufacturer and model # of the PC?[/quote]

Ok Manufacturer is Gateway, model is 530 GR...


I cracked open the case again...and this is what I see as far as video card slots goes.

2 white ones

one longer black one with this wierd hook thing on the end.[/quote]

That sounds like an AGP slot with an AGP lock on the end of it. You may have an AGP slot after all.

If you do have an AGP slot, like I think, a Nvidia 6600GT card will be the best bang-for-the-buck card you can find. $200 or less.
 
503GR* not 530,and i tried putting my card in...but it looked like the lock was breaking...and i didn't wanna force it...does anyone have any pics of what it should look like?
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']503GR* not 530,and i tried putting my card in...but it looked like the lock was breaking...and i didn't wanna force it...does anyone have any pics of what it should look like?[/quote]

Check your PM's for the link to the Gateway support site I sent to you, toss in your SN and it'll show you what you have.
 
I looked on gateway.com...and although the serial number thing didn't work for me...i think i found what i need

This is what it said for expansion options

Two PCI Conventional bus connectors
One PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']I looked on gateway.com...and although the serial number thing didn't work for me...i think i found what i need

This is what it said for expansion options

Two PCI Conventional bus connectors
One PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector[/quote]

Wow, you have a really new PC with PCI Express. :D Explains why your AGP card doesn't fit. New chipset, new slots, and don't try to force it, won't fit in there.

You'll need a PCI Express card instead of a PCI card, and I go back to my recommendation of a Nvidia 6600GT.
 
[quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']I looked on gateway.com...and although the serial number thing didn't work for me...i think i found what i need

This is what it said for expansion options

Two PCI Conventional bus connectors
One PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector[/quote]

Wow, you have a really new PC with PCI Express. :D Explains why your AGP card doesn't fit. New chipset, new slots, and don't try to force it, won't fit in there.

You'll need a PCI Express card instead of a PCI card, and I go back to my recommendation of a Nvidia 6600GT.[/quote]

Wow, you have a really new PC with PCI Express. :D It says Manufacturing date: September04
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19'][quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']I looked on gateway.com...and although the serial number thing didn't work for me...i think i found what i need

This is what it said for expansion options

Two PCI Conventional bus connectors
One PCI Express x1 bus add-in card connector
One PCI Express x16 bus add-in card connector[/quote]

Wow, you have a really new PC with PCI Express. :D Explains why your AGP card doesn't fit. New chipset, new slots, and don't try to force it, won't fit in there.

You'll need a PCI Express card instead of a PCI card, and I go back to my recommendation of a Nvidia 6600GT.[/quote]

Wow, you have a really new PC with PCI Express. :D It says Manufacturing date: September04[/quote]

With the integrated graphics, it could have been a 865G, which would have been no AGP and PCI only, or 915G, with PCI Express x16 slot for graphics.

Never know with some of these cheap PC's, which is why all the questions flew back and forth.
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']Ok so now we know its pc express...what do i do now?[/quote]

First thing, figure out how much money you want to spend on the card.
Second, read some reviews for cards in the price range you have set out.
Third, look at the reviews for the games you want to play and see how it compares to the competition.
Fourth, check brands for warranty length, since a few bucks saved might get you a card that's not warrantied after a year.
Fifth, be a CAG and find the card for the cheapest you can find it for. :D
 
[quote name='shrike4242'][quote name='spyhunterk19']Ok so now we know its pc express...what do i do now?[/quote]

First thing, figure out how much money you want to spend on the card.
Second, read some reviews for cards in the price range you have set out.
Third, look at the reviews for the games you want to play and see how it compares to the competition.
Fourth, check brands for warranty length, since a few bucks saved might get you a card that's not warrantied after a year.
Fifth, be a CAG and find the card for the cheapest you can find it for. :D[/quote]

Thanks for all your help....now im off on avery long adventure...which i dont know where to start :whistle2:d to nvidia.com i go!
 
[quote name='spyhunterk19']Oh, and as far as price range goes...100-150 preferably...200 max[/quote]

Some ones to look at:

ATI Radeon X300
ATI Radeon X600
Nvidia Geforce 6600
Nvidia Geforce 6600GT

The 6600GT is normally around the $200 mark, but it's a heck of a card for the price, and Tech Report (http://www.techreport.com) and Anandtech (http://www.anandtech.com) both raved about it. Read reviews from different sites and see how they compare.
 
Ok so I looked it up, and it seems teh going rates of 6600GT and 6600 are 199 and 150, respectivly.

Given my setup mentioned earlier
3.0 Gig Pentium 4
1024 Ram

Lets say I put in the 6600/6600/GT

What kind of performence would I get out of a game like doom 3, half-life 2, or far cry. I just downloaded the Far Cry Demo....and as of now...it is un-freaking playable...so what kind of preformence would I get for 6600, then 6600 GT?
 
Im kinda torn between the 6600 and 6600 GT....does anyone have any first hand experience....or could tell me the preformenced id get from it if tis hooked up to my rig?
 
I purchased a Gateway 503GR package at Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving for $799 including Monitor and Printer at their “6 Hour Only Sales” and I'm very glad I did. It’s an extremely powerful machine with all new technology. The only difference between the Gateway 503GR and the 505GR is the size of the hard drive. The 503GR has a 160GB drive and the 505GR has a 200GB drive.

The onboard graphics chip isn't intended for 3D accelerated gaming and is only good as a stop gap until you unitized the onboard PCI Express 16X slot. I purchased a ATI Radeon X700 Pro from Best Buy for $199 the same day I purchased the 503GR package and I’m very satisfied with the graphics performance.

I had hoped to expand the Disk space with a second 160GB drive that Best Buy was selling for $30 (6 Hour Only Sales Price) but could not use it. The 503GR uses the new Serial ATA drives and Best Buy didn’t have any for sale at that price.
 
As shrike said, go with the 6600GT. I just went through this same process you did and made a similar choice. I only have AGP and ended up going with a 6800 that I then unlocked to a 6800GT. I actually posted a deal about it in "other deals". As far as bang for your buck, the PCI Express 6600GT is the way to go.

For a little performance comparision (at least in my case), my 3DMark scores jumped from 1141 up to 8970 with this new card.
 
[quote name='darkover']I purchased a Gateway 503GR package at Best Buy the day after Thanksgiving for $799 including Monitor and Printer at their “6 Hour Only Sales” and I'm very glad I did. It’s an extremely powerful machine with all new technology. The only difference between the Gateway 503GR and the 505GR is the size of the hard drive. The 503GR has a 160GB drive and the 505GR has a 200GB drive.

The onboard graphics chip isn't intended for 3D accelerated gaming and is only good as a stop gap until you unitized the onboard PCI Express 16X slot. I purchased a ATI Radeon X700 Pro from Best Buy for $199 the same day I purchased the 503GR package and I’m very satisfied with the graphics performance.

I had hoped to expand the Disk space with a second 160GB drive that Best Buy was selling for $30 (6 Hour Only Sales Price) but could not use it. The 503GR uses the new Serial ATA drives and Best Buy didn’t have any for sale at that price.[/quote]

The 915 chipset used in that PC has one ATA/100 controller, but it's attached to the two optical drives in the system.

You could get a Serial ATA-to-ATA bridge adapter for a regular ATA drive, and they tend not to drop performence very much. Maybe $15-30, depending on where you look.
 
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