Best Card for less than $150

[plague]

Hi, im looking into playing some of the newer games like age of empires three and conter strike source, etc... and well i think i need a new graphics card becuase aoe3 tends to lag some on even the lowest settings, but im on a limited budget, so need the best card i can get for less than $150.

My current computer is a 2.5 year old SONY, with:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
512 MB RAM

Radeon 9200 AGP (0x5961)
Internal DAC(500MHz)
64.0 MB total memory

I know little about cards n stuff, but what woud you recomend, and should i get a larger RAM stick or not? Also would a sound card have any effect on performace?

Thanks,

[CompactNinja]

Getting RAM (maybe 512MB more in your case) would boost your performance, however a sound card really won't.

I would suggest getting an NVIDIA Geforce 6600GT, it's an awesome card for a good price.

[plague]

whats the difference in AGP and PCI cards/slots? which is better and how do i know if i have one? ( i know i have AGP becuase its what my card says (i think thats right, correct?))

Thanks for the suggestion Ninja, do you know if Walmart would keep those in stock, i will be running by there either tonight or tommorow, so i might could get one there intead of running to best buy.

[s p r a n k i k o]

Originally Posted by plague

whats the difference in AGP and PCI cards/slots? which is better and how do i know if i have one? ( i know i have AGP becuase its what my card says (i think thats right, correct?))

Thanks for the suggestion Ninja, do you know if Walmart would keep those in stock, i will be running by there either tonight or tommorow, so i might could get one there intead of running to best buy.

PCI-Express is faster than AGP because it has more bandwidth. If you plan on upgrading to PCI-E, you also have to upgrade your motherboard that has a PCI-E slot. If I remember right, Walmart has limited choices with regards to computer components. You should try CompUSA or better yet, www.newegg.com since they're mostly cheaper. Fry's is also a good place to go to. Welcome to ARP, by the way.

[plague]

is PNY GeForce 6600 256MB DDR AGP Card the same as the one you mentioned above? or is this a completly different one?

I dont have any of those stores around my area but walmart close, then best buy and circuit city 30 mins away. I cant order stuff online, so that cuts the other choices.

What part of the board do you have to upgrade to use PCI? Can you link me to a picture of it to see if my computer might already have a slot for it? Sorry, i know little of computers, basicaly.

Thanks

[CompactNinja]

Originally Posted by plague

is PNY GeForce 6600 256MB DDR AGP Card the same as the one you mentioned above? or is this a completly different one?

I dont have any of those stores around my area but walmart close, then best buy and circuit city 30 mins away. I cant order stuff online, so that cuts the other choices.

What part of the board do you have to upgrade to use PCI? Can you link me to a picture of it to see if my computer might already have a slot for it? Sorry, i know little of computers, basicaly.

Thanks

Does it say 6600GT or 6600? if it is just 6600 then no, they are not the exact same. I think a 6600GT is 30% faster than a 6600, or something like that.

As mentioned above, you cannot change your compatibility of using AGP/PCI-E cards unless you get a whole new motherboard.

[goldfries]

Originally Posted by s p r a n k i k o

PCI-Express is faster than AGP because it has more bandwidth. If you plan on upgrading to PCI-E, you also have to upgrade your motherboard that has a PCI-E slot. If I remember right, Walmart has limited choices with regards to computer components. You should try CompUSA or better yet, www.newegg.com since they're mostly cheaper. Fry's is also a good place to go to. Welcome to ARP, by the way.

supposedly faster. but take note than a 6600GT AGP version is still gonna beat the crap outta an X300SE PCI-E.

sure, PCI-E has theoretically greater bandwidth but ultimately it's still the GPU core that's most important.

[s p r a n k i k o]

Originally Posted by goldfries

supposedly faster. but take note than a 6600GT AGP version is still gonna beat the crap outta an X300SE PCI-E.

sure, PCI-E has theoretically greater bandwidth but ultimately it's still the GPU core that's most important.

That is true, though. I had a 9800pro that ran faster than an X700.

[Ishtim]

Originally Posted by plague

Hi, im looking into playing some of the newer games like age of empires three and conter strike source, etc... and well i think i need a new graphics card becuase aoe3 tends to lag some on even the lowest settings, but im on a limited budget, so need the best card i can get for less than $150.

My current computer is a 2.5 year old SONY, with:

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 2.80GHz (2 CPUs)
512 MB RAM

Radeon 9200 AGP (0x5961)
Internal DAC(500MHz)
64.0 MB total memory

I know little about cards n stuff, but what woud you recomend, and should i get a larger RAM stick or not? Also would a sound card have any effect on performace?

Thanks,

Whew... I hope you are not too confused with all the information!
FWIW... here is my $0.02

Better performance with your system should probably start with more RAM. More RAM helps just about everything.

Next, a video card upgrade will help too... and without going into too much detail you should have several types of choices to make.

AGP or PCI (NOT PCI-e, that requires a new motherboard)
The AGP standard will almost always performs better than PCI.

Whats available to you? (Can you only purchase at Wal-Mart)? You are NOT goint to see a HUGE performance gain by getting the 256MB 6600 card at WalMart.

My suggestion is that you find someone that can shop online, and purchase some RAM and a new video card from some place like newegg.com... It MUCH cheaper! A similar 6600 256MB card on newegg is selling for $96, I just put a 6800XT in a machine for less than $130.

For more details, you will need to open your case and get the motherboard model # and rev. info and post it here...

Good Luck!!!

[Echolac]

your 64MB of RAM seems very pitiful (in fact it really is) against today's games..just go for extra rams first.. forget bout the graphic card..i would recommend at least 512..later you can save so more extra budget for a decent graphic card..just go for GT or better..no point save those little penny by going for 6600..