Upgrading graphics card, recommendations?

Sat Jan 14, 2006 9:27 pm by Killa

I don't have that much money I can spend on it right now, but I'm looking for a new graphics card. The one I have in my new computer is only a 128 MB, which isn't bad, but games like Half-Life 2 and Prince of Persia are running slow. I DLed the demo of POP Warrior Within and it's playable, but the framerate isn't all that great. I also got the Half-Life 2 demo and the first level ran fine, but the second demo level (sixth in the game) where I got my machine and gravity gun and actually had enemies to fight, the game ran like crap. I am pretty sure that this can be solved by a new graphics card because the processor in this comp is a 3.06 GHz. (Over twice the recommended specs for POP Warrior Within.)

Now that that's all out of the way, I really don't know that much when it comes to looking for computer parts, and the main reason I got this computer was for gaming after my PS2 busted down and I didn't want to have any part in the Console Wars (at least until PS3 comes out.) So, I've turned to you, my friends at TLR to give me some good recommendations. I've had my eye on the Radeon 9550 256 MB but I'm not sure if I want to spend my money on it. Can anyone tell me if it is worth it or not? My budget, well, sadly I don't think I'll be able to go above 120 dollars (or somewhere in that range) so the main one I was looking for was a 256 MB. But, I don't really know what to look for when buying parts, so any advise and recommendations are appreciated.

Sat Jan 14, 2006 10:12 pm by 5i1

Well if you got PCI-E i'd go for something like the SAPPHIRE 100141L Radeon X1300 256MB 128-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card

I Haven't tried it but it looks pretty good for it's price expcily(Spelling?) because it's PCI-E

But if all you got is AGP i donno i've never had AGP sorry

Have you triedWinampif not you don't know what you missing

EDIT 1 : BIG typo lol

Edited by - 5i1 on 1/14/2006 10:12:16 PM

Edited by - 5i1 on 1/14/2006 10:13:15 PM

Sun Jan 15, 2006 1:45 am by Hahukum Konn

AGP? The best cards for that slot spec are probably the following:

Radeon X800 series

Geforce 6800 series

In Canada, the Radeon X800 cards tend to cost about $350, and the Geforce 6600s, between $150-$200 while the 6800s tend to run about $250.

The X800 Platinum runs $700 Canadian-ish, and the 6800 Ultra costs almost $900, and those two are probably the highest you'll ever get in AGP

If you're spending money in US dollars, and are limited in your choice of graphics card, I would suggest looking into these from newegg:

Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro - costs $79 US

Jetway Radeon 9600XT - costs $83 US

Edited by - Hahukum Konn on 1/15/2006 1:51:06 AM

Wed Jan 18, 2006 1:23 pm by [steel]

when you say the game ran like crap can you give more detail
as it could be its not the graphics card
better make sure before you splash the cash as a 128meg card although not cutting edge i doubt would slow or muck up the game to that extent
system memory is there enough of that ?

Important Message

You are browsing the archived Lancers Reactor forums. You cannot register or login.
The content may be outdated and links may not be functional.

To get the latest in Freelancer news, mods, modding and downloads, go to
The-Starport