Which graphics card? (<£60)

[ajbrun]

I've never built a computer before, but I'm trying anyway, and I'm stuck on the graphics card . I'd rather spend less than £60 on one, but I'd still want good graphics, but not dazellingly brilliant as I probably won't be playing many games/DVD's etc. Can you recomend a good graphics card for £50-60 (ish). If there's any other infomation you need to know about what other components there will be in the system are, just ask.

Thanks

(PS - I'll probably also put in another post soon with all the components on - I'll just want to know if it'll work and if I should make changes etc)

[Stoo]

erm.. Radeon 9000 pro or 2nd hand 9500 or Ti4600?

[Legin76]

You can have my Geforce 2 MX for £50 if you want

[streetster]

.. whats the rest of the spec of the computer? it might be worth saving up anothet £50 or so and getting a decent card (the new radeon/geforce cards will be out soon) - the radeon9800 is now around the £100 mark,

tho you should be able to pick up a 2nd hand geforce4ti4200 for about £35 like stoo says, which should be ok for a while, but wont be able to cope with many of the new games at a decent resolution/detail level.

hth

[kushtibari]

It's an awkward price range for a new card. You're pitching just above some average cards and just below some good ones. You would probably get a bottom end 9600 card new which is what I'd probably go for. Second hand you might get a 9500, but there's always a danger buying second hand as it's sometimes a false economy. It also depends how much you are spending on the rest of the system as theres no point in having fast processor, loads of ram and great mobo if the cards not up to scratch.

[Lexeus]

I have seen second hand Radeon 9700 Pro's for about £80inc P&P I would go for that, or otherwise if its got to be cheap then the Radeon 9000Pro is a good choice. Would be my first thought for a budget card. I had one before my 9800Se AIW

[Spud1]

i would say get a GF4 ti 4200 2nd hand for now if £60 is all your willing to spend. DONT get a 9600/pro/XT as they are a waste of cash imho. Buying med range cards always seems to be a waste of money :/ best to get a relativly low end one that can cope with most current games (eg the ti4200) then get a 9800pro when you can afford it

[marc_ellis]

Have a look on ebay, there are some pritty cheap 9700s on there.

[ajbrun]

So you all think that I would be best getting the best graphics card I can - even if I don't play many games etc. I suppose the future will catch up some time and I'll have to upgrade anyway. I'll probably go for a 9600 - I don't know what these Geforce ones are - are they better than radeon 9600?

Thanks

(I will post all other specs soon, but I can't do it right now )

[mike_w]

In my opinion, Radeons are generally better at the moment, especially at DirectX9.

[ajbrun]

OK, I've decided not to get what I think is the best card, but instead what I think is 2nd best (9600 PRO), but I've found 2 cards that are nearly the same:

* Mediamax Radeon 9600 PRO 256MB DDR ATI TV-Out DVI-I Retail Box
* Mediamax Radeon 9600 PRO 128MB DDR ATI TV-Out DVI-I Retail Box

One has 256 MB and one has 128 MB
- What's the difference?
- Why is 256 better than 128?

Also, just out of interest, I thought the human eye could only detect 25 fps, so above that why should fps matter?

[Lexeus]

Well 128mb and 258mb are the amounts of video memory on the card. I would say go for the 128 version as it probably wont make alot of difference, and the 128mb versionw ill probably have better ram on it.

As for the fps, I am not totally sure about what you say, but its not just fps, its texture quality and pixel shading that makes the more expensive cards look great

[Spud1]

128 versions will have faster memory on them normally, the 256 isnt needed yet anyway.

the FPS of a game will constantly change, so you want it to be as high as possible so that when it does go down, it stays above the 25fps mark.

I think that you will be dissapointed with a 9600pro card. I had one for a few weeks and then got a 9800pro - the difference is immense. Seriously you should save up for a 9800pro, a 9600 might have been worth it 6 months ago but right now it would be a waste of money

[Gunbuster]

Brand new Geforce4 Ti4200 128mb £59.75 http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=35480
Radeon 9600 128mb £52.88 http://www.aria.co.uk/ProductInfoComm.asp?ID=10140

Both within the suggested price range (no £80+ cards)
I'd go for the 9600 if it really is a proper 9600 and not an SE, I'm sure some of the experts can guide you on that point.

[mike_w]

Originally Posted by Gunbuster

I'd go for the 9600 if it really is a proper 9600 and not an SE, I'm sure some of the experts can guide you on that point.

Chipset
- RADEON 9600SE

I think it is a 9600SE

You can pick up a normal 9600 from komplett.co.uk for around £70.

[Gunbuster]

Originally Posted by mike_w

I think it is a 9600SE

You can pick up a normal 9600 from komplett.co.uk for around £70.

Crap how did I miss that? sorry guys.