Page 1 of Need a new graphics card - what to buy???

Basically I`m having major problems with my GeForce Ti4400 128mb, and so was considering an upgrade. I can pay up to a maximum of around £200 (exl. VAT) for a new card, but really don`t know where to start to be honest.

I had a Novatech E-mail today which had a Leadtek GeForceFX 5600 256mb DDR for £146 - which I assume is better than what I have now. I considered a move to a 256mb GFX card would be the way to go, but a majority of them are still 128mb DDR??

To be honest I`m getting really confused - I want a top card, but really not sure on the way to go. Would really really appreciate any advice guys...

Thanks!!!

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"The Internet is a communication device that allows people the world over to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another."

Quote:
I had a Novatech E-mail today which had a Leadtek GeForceFX 5600 256mb DDR for £146 - which I assume is better than what I have now.

Never assume ;-) The FX 5600 is `mid market` technology and isn`t nearly as good as the Ti4400 you have now.

I think you`d have to go for at least a GeforceFX 5800 or a Radeon 9700 Pro to get significantly better performance than your current card - if you can`t afford those, you`re better off keeping what you have and waiting for prices to come down (as they always do...)

Quote:
I considered a move to a 256mb GFX card would be the way to go, but a majority of them are still 128mb DDR??

Nah. With today`s games, there`s practically no advantage in having the extra 128MB unless you use stupidly high resolutions, which explains why most current gaming-oriented cards are still 128MB rather than 256MB. I think the only reason the 256MB cards exist in the first place is because of the Homer Simpson tendency among hardware buyers - `oooh! 256MB!` I`m not criticising, by the way - I`ve been guilty of it myself ;-)

Mike

yup look for a 9700pro, best bang for buck, steer clear of the gffxs unless you can go to the top of the range (which £200 wont cover) crucial do a 9800 for £243.99 excl VAT and this will own anything else out there for the price range! http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/listmfgr.asp?cat=Video+Card

What problems are you experiencing with your current card. The only reason I ask is that sometimes problems with video cards can actually be down to the BIOS on the motherboard.
A good example is a Jetway ???, sorry I cannot remember the name.
Unless you updated the BIOS sequentially , ie 05.bin then 06.bin then XXX.bin, then the board may not recognise the board and thus restrict the performance of the card.
Maybe not the cause of the problem but TBH rather than spend another £XXX I would check out your board manufacturer and the card manufacturer for any relevant BIOS updates for both the card and the motherboard.

HTH

Choagy :-)

Thanks for all the help guys.

@Choagy... The problem is, is that when I turn on my PC I get big white dots or thick white lines on the screen, and the PC will not load up any further than the first Windows XP loading screen; it just stops sending a signal to the monitor. But if I take off the side of my PC and lift up the card a little as the PC boots up - it works fine. Being that this is the second MB I`ve had and the problem is still there I know its down the GFX card; it must be something to do with how it is fitted into the motherboard. I`ve had the card out and put it in many times, and it couldn`t be fitted in any tighter. Any ideas?

I really don`t want to buy a new card, considering the one I have now is only 1 yr old and cost me £235. Perhaps I will contact Sparkle technical support to see if they can do a replacement card for me.

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"The Internet is a communication device that allows people the world over to bitch about movies and share pornography with one another."

Only thing I can suggest is to remove the screw locking/ securing the card to the slot. This might work as you have said that if you raise the card a little it works. I had to do this with both my Pace 56k or Conexant 56K modems as the case was not very well made.
If the card is an AGP type then leaving the locking screw off the case will not be a great problem as the AGP has a locking device on the AGP slot I think :-)
If however it is a PCI card then try to make sure that after removing the locking screw and raising the card until the PC boots completely that you place something temporarily in the gap between the underside of the end plate and the cases slot. After that shutdown and place something more permanent in the space . I used a couple of those self adhesive felt pads you stick to ornaments bases etc, as they are reasonably secure when stuck down and are easy to apply.

HTH

Choagy :-)

Ben, have you tried using the vid card in a mates PC ? Its sounds like you`ve got a ropey connection, which I`d have thought would have been a problem with the motherboard. Might not be, but maybe worth a try.

Ive got a ATi Radeon 9500 pro with a 2ghz processor 512 megs ram it runs everything i throw at it around about £150 with 128 onboard ram the new fx cards are ok but very noisy