 This Video Card Any Good? |
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 Jul 29 2006, 10:15 PM
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#1
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Member  Group: Members Posts: 64 Joined: 23-April 05 Member No.: 17,929  |
Currently I got a ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series (ATI RADEON XPRESS 200 Series (0x5954)) and it's a SHARED videocard so it's really annoying.... I think the price is pretty good for the above deal, but being a newbie I am in computers I have no clue if it's direct/shared or if that video card is any good... can someone advice me? |
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Jul 29 2006, 10:44 PM
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#2
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 Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 1,121 Joined: 19-February 05 From: NCSU Member No.: 12,503 |
Wow...... can you say "overkill"? It looks like an awesome card, although i personally have never heard of "Diamond".
I also have an ATI radeon xpress in my eMachines, and it's... mediocre. I do agree that integrated cards are usually worthless, and PCI-E are the new wave of technology, so that is the best path to go. Whether you need the amount of power that card offers is questionable. There are some very good 256mb cards out there for around $70/80 that'll run a lot of the newer games. What are you going to be mainly using the card for? Games, video editting, general visuals? For the value, the 512mb card is pretty good, but i'm not sure about the quality. I don't own or know anyone that has a diamond card, so i can't speak personally. On a personal note, FFX is easily the 3rd best FF game.... 
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Jul 29 2006, 10:52 PM
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#3
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 5,898 Joined: 10-March 05 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 14,085 |
You have to make sure your motherboard and power supply will support whatever kind of card you get.
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Jul 30 2006, 12:54 AM
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#4
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 Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 443 Joined: 19-June 05 From: Quebec, Canada, Member No.: 24,080 |
The "512MB" won't really increase performance that much opposed to the 256MB model. Since you gave a link to Futureshop.CA. I'll assume you're in Canada as am I. You might like this video card instead of that X1300. Make sure you have a good power supply to power those cards. They say they need a 350Watt minimum but I'd suggest a 400Watt or higher so you don't strain it and Watts aren't everything. On the label of every power supply it shows the Amps for the +12V rail. You want around 18-20Amps at least.
Oh, and I've personaly have had no problem with Tigerdirect.ca. Although other online retailers may sell a bit cheaper, they don't sell to Canada ( sucks, doesn't it?) When I orderd a motherboard+CPU+512MB combo it came in a few days and all the items were un-damage. This post has been edited by protozero: Jul 30 2006, 12:59 AM -------------------- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
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Jul 30 2006, 01:05 AM
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#5
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Member Group: Members Posts: 64 Joined: 23-April 05 Member No.: 17,929 |
The computer I have I bought on February so it's relatively new (so I'm hoping the power supply is good enough).... now I'm not sure what you mean by "The "512MB" won't really increase performance that much opposed to the 256MB model"
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Jul 30 2006, 03:55 AM
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#6
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 Forum Addict Group: BC Advisor Posts: 1,875 Joined: 25-November 04 From: Finland Member No.: 5,870 |
For a stand-alone graphics card that is the low-end possibility. It is a cheap low-performance graphics card with a lot of extra memory that it will never use to make it seem much better than it is. They are trying to make it seem like a good deal with lots of memory to fool people who doesn't read the fine print and believes the amount of memory is everything.
-------------------- "Anyone who cannot form a community with others, or who does not need to because he is self-sufficient [...] is either a beast or a god." Aristotle
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ | ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe | 2GB Corsair TWINX2048-3500LLPRO | Gigabyte GeForce 8800GTX | Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS | ASUS PhysX P1 | Logitech G15 | Logitech MX Revolution | LG Flatron L2000C | Logitech Z-5500 Digital Stubborn attempts to think clearly |
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Jul 30 2006, 03:55 PM
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#7
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 443 Joined: 19-June 05 From: Quebec, Canada, Member No.: 24,080 |
Yes. I meant that the 512MB on the video card won't really add any performance boost. Retailers slap on some extra memory and hope that people think "Oh, 512MB, it must be a g ood card!"
Oh, and Yunalesca. Just because your computer is new doesn't mean it has a good power supplies. If you have the basic computer from a retailer such as Dell, Compaq, ect. With the basic things, it could easily have a 300Watt power supply. That X1300 is not shared. It would say something about "Hyper memory", and it's actually pretty good if you have enough RAM. I don't think there's an add in card that has to share memory with the computer. A little advice when looking at video cards. Look at the clock speed of the memory/core. Also look at how many pixel/vertex pipelines it has. And always read reviews of it and look at benchmark test so you know how well they perform. That's just a brief little piece of advice. -------------------- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
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Jul 30 2006, 07:31 PM
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#8
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Member Group: Members Posts: 64 Joined: 23-April 05 Member No.: 17,929 |
Yeah I just called HP it's got 300 watt.... <.< shoot
How about these? their prices are relatively the same... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...82E16814131422R http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...acture=SAPPHIRE http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...=2&NoMapp=0 I found a site with a few power supplies http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Cat...c.asp?CatId=106 which one of these would you recommend> >.< Sry I'm a big newbie >.< This post has been edited by Yunalesca: Jul 30 2006, 08:10 PM |
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Jul 31 2006, 03:51 AM
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#9
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Member Group: Members Posts: 48 Joined: 4-June 06 Member No.: 70,640 |
In response to protozero, there are add-on cards that share memory. The Turbo-cache series from Nvidia, and ATI has its version as well (I forgot the name).
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Jul 31 2006, 06:36 AM
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#10
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 5,898 Joined: 10-March 05 From: Florida, USA Member No.: 14,085 |
I assume you want the video card for gaming.
What model HP do you have? What processor and how much RAM? Does it have a PCI-e slot or an AGP slot or none? (That depends on the motherboard.) Gaming or high graphics usage depends on a lot more than just the video card. |
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Jul 31 2006, 09:54 PM
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#11
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Member Group: Members Posts: 64 Joined: 23-April 05 Member No.: 17,929 |
1.0 GB RAM
4200+ dual core amd athlon 64 250 GB harddrive space PCI express model number m7330n This post has been edited by Yunalesca: Jul 31 2006, 09:55 PM |
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Jul 31 2006, 10:41 PM
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#12
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 Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 1,137 Joined: 20-February 05 From: Quebec, Canada Member No.: 12,556 |
Damn... Nice graphics card... but here is a rule of thumb when the video card is more powerfull then the computer then it might be a little overkill
 I highly suggest what protozero suggested. It is good for gaming, good price and hopefully you won't need one of those 600-Watt powersupplies to run the machine, Huhh I mean card
-------------------- "A kiss is just a kiss until you find the one you love. A hug is just a hug until you find the one your always thinking of. A dream is just a dream until it comes true. Love is just a word until its proven to you."
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Aug 1 2006, 01:38 AM
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#13
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Senior Member Group: Members Posts: 443 Joined: 19-June 05 From: Quebec, Canada, Member No.: 24,080 |
Yunalesca, sorry. But the links you gave won't work with your current power supply. Same with the other links to the X1600 and X800 GTO.
And the X1300 needs at least 350Watts. If you really don't want to buy a new one ( They can range up to 100$CDN for like a 400-450Watt one at a local Futureshop or Bestbuy, last time I was there? ) I did however find you two video cards that should just work with your power supply, but you'd be stretching it thin. ( Sorry, I'm not to familiar with nVidia products. But if you find a GeForce 7300 or 6200 they should work with your power supply, but I've noticed that 6600 and up needs 350watts) X800 XL. A little pricey from your what you were looking at. X700 "Super" It's in your price range and should work with your power supply. The 512MB is mostly eye candy. Nonetheless still a good price for a X700. This post has been edited by protozero: Aug 1 2006, 01:38 AM -------------------- Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
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Aug 1 2006, 07:10 AM
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#14
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Member Group: Members Posts: 64 Joined: 23-April 05 Member No.: 17,929 |
I need something with more pipe pixil and the one you listed has 8 check this one out http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=3019316 it has 16 pixils and its same price.
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Aug 1 2006, 11:04 AM
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#15
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Forum Addict Group: Members Posts: 1,137 Joined: 20-February 05 From: Quebec, Canada Member No.: 12,556 |
Well that is a nice graphics card but you have to make sure you have a PCI-Express X16 slot on your motherboard and you need a dedicated videocard power connector coming from your powersupply and the specs say a 500W or greater PSU.
-------------------- "A kiss is just a kiss until you find the one you love. A hug is just a hug until you find the one your always thinking of. A dream is just a dream until it comes true. Love is just a word until its proven to you."
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