Graphics Cards, whats the best, how easy are they to fit?

[situhill]

Hi!

Currently I have a NVidea GEFORCE 5600XT graphics card in my PC, but it seems a bit slow to me, and when playing games like Half Life 2 and GTA its not that great.

I want to upgrade, but there seems to be a vast array of cards with hundreds of different names ect. What would be a decent card (for around 200quid), how on earth do you know which ones to buy, and are they all just 'plug n play'?

Every site I look up seems to get very technical about it all, are there reiew sites that give simple info? Why is it all so complex???!!!!!

[bobjim1705]

There's quite a few things you need to be on the lookout for when buying a new graphics card.
1) That it will actually fit into your motherboard. The two main types are AGP8x and PCI-E 16x - one won't fit into the other. I'd recommend PCI-E 16x. Your motherboard manual will say which one you have.
2) The more RAM, the better. There are 1 or 2 cards around that have 512MB, but that's overkill - 256MB will eat up Half Life 2 no problem.
3) High processor speed.
4) That you'll be able to plug your existing monitor into it. There are 2 types of monitor outputs - DVI and VGA. You can't plug a VGA monitor into a DVI slot (and vice versa) but most graphics cards come with adaptors.

There's two main graphics cards 'camps'. Nvidia, and ATI. Personally, I prefer ATI, so I'd recommend something like a Radeon X800XL, which is around �200-250 (which I'm currently running) up to a Radeon X850XT, from �250 upwards.
On the NVidia side of things, you'd probably be looking at something like a 6800GT. They have just released a 7800GTX, but that's around the �400/500 mark.

As for fitting, as long as your confident poking around the inside of your computer, they're relatively easy to fit. Just push it into the available graphics card slot. Once that's done, you'll have to install the drivers.

If you need any more advice, just shout.

[MargeB]

PCI over AGP???

[situhill]

Hey, Thanks Bobjim! Thats a great little review!

Ive had a little browse around, and I think you may be right about the Radeon X800XL, it seems to be good all round value, with decent performance. Am I right in thinking it will be miles better than my current card? All I need to know is which type of connector I have, since my PC is around 2 years old, im assuming it will probably be the AGP?

Next, there seem to be several types of the X800's. Am I right in thinking these all same chipsets, but packaged up by different companies? Are some better than others?

Do the cards come with instructions and also the drivers on cd?

Finally (i hope!) is there any use for the old card? Can i be left in situ, or is it basically fit only for the bin?!

Cheers for your help, im starting to get my head around all the numbers and makers! Its a minefield!

[fo3nix]

personally I prefer NVidia (the 6800GT would do what you're wanting very well). They do regularly out-perform ATI cards in games.

However, ATI often outperforms NVidia cards for other types of processing, such as DV type stuff.

MargeB: not standard PCI, PCI-E 16x.
situhill: make sure your mobo can take whatever you choose.

[bobjim1705]

I also forgot to add that you should make sure your power supply is adequate.
Some specify a minimum wattage, as they can eat into your Power Supply Unit's output quite significantly.

[bobjim1705]

To answer your other questions, yes, it'd run circles around your other card.
There's not too much difference between an X800XL (for example) and an X800PRO, apart from price. The PRO has a higher clock speed, but not by much, and only uses 12 out of 16 pixel pipelines, compared the XL which uses all 16.

With regards to the different manufacturers, they are all much the same, to be honest.
The main differences (providing the model is the same) will be in the software bundled, etc.
Personally, if you're buying a ATI Radeon card, I'd recommend PowerColor, as they were the first company that ATI allowed to manufacture their chipsets.

All the drivers will be supplied, and there may also be some cables thrown in for good measure too (S-Video cable, HDTV, etc.)

As for your old card, I'd hold onto it. If your new card should ever experience any problems (god forbid!) and has to be sent back, you'll need the old one while you're waiting for a replacement.

[mikeyp]

On the subject PCI Express, I can't remember the exact speeds, but transfer to and from AGP is something like 500Mb/s-1Gb/s but in only one direction at once. PCI Express x16 (x4, 8x etc exist too) is something like 4.5Gb/s in both directions simultaneously.