New graphics card...(Budget)

Following on from the thread i posted earlier this week i have been looking into some gfx cards i want to consider ordering...and i was hoping some people on here could pass judgement :)

Firstly, this is my PC to date:

Pentium 3 1 GhZ
384 MB RAM
30 GB Hard-Drive @ 7200rpm
Geforce 2 MX 32 MB

The motherboard model number is:
VIA 6VXC7-4X

The current graphics card is using AGP 2x, but, as said by this forum it can be run at 4x.

The graphics cards i am looking at:

1)
MSI GeForce FX 5200TD (MS-8911) 128MB (GX-008-MS)
Price: £56.50 (£66.39 Including VAT at 17.5%)

LINK
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...5200_128td.jpg
I have read a review about this, and seeing as it is only £66 on OcUK this is the one thats caught my eye! Will this work on my current system, without frying the PC + Would you reccomend this over the others?

2)
Leadtek Winfast A280LE TD GeForce4 Ti4200 64MB DDR TV-Out (GX-019-LT)
Price: £58.95 (£69.27 Including VAT at 17.5%)

LINK
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...80_letd_1s.jpg

Again i am impressed with the specs on this card, will it work straight away on PC? If not, why not? + Because my PC isn't exactly state-of-the-art anymore would this be better for me?

If there are anymore cards that i should be looking at, i am open to suggestions.

Cheers

Wilko

get the ti4200
the fx5200 is slower...
although i'd recommend a Ati Radeon 9700 non-pro and clock to pro speeds. if u can afford it (around 170 to 220)

Personally I'd get a nice Radeon 9800 Pro but i don't think it will work wid your PC Specs, might cause a melt down of summin

get the ti4200, it is indeed faster than the fx5200.

i can't see why any agp graphics card would be incompatible with your system, the agp standard is there for a reason (so everything's standard :p).

There is no point getting anything faster than an 4200ti, simple fact is that the processor and ram will not be able to shift enough stuff to the card to make it run at full potential.

I'd go with the 4200.

TiG

yeh go with the Ti4200. still very capable and in some benchmarks, mostly fill rate, still out performs the newer FX5600 cards. The FX5200 jus isnt up to scratch. It may be able to support DX9 effects but by the time games come out using these it will wont be powerful enough any way.

Personally i have a Radeon 9600Pro as it is probably the best card you can get for the money.

id get a 9200 or 9600

I recently bought a cheap ti4200 like the one you mentioned and it does the business, especially for the spec of system and price.
Bought along with a bargain bucket palamino AthlonXP 2000+ for my motherboard as a stop gap till I can rebuild my entire PC.

get the 4ti...

the 5200 is a JOKE

Ok, i think the opinion is strong to the ti4200! :) I will ignore the 5200 from now on. I have contacted OcUK, and unfortunately the Asus board is out of stock at the moment. Think i might search dabs and ebuyer for more ti4200...where can i look for some more??

What about this one??

LINK

lol, that's the one i suggested in your last thread :) still looks good to me :)

Quote:

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i can't see why any agp graphics card would be incompatible with your system, the agp standard is there for a reason (so everything's standard)

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i think you may need to look at that "standard". Some newer 8x cards will not work in 2x mainboards due to voltage requirements.

A 4x mainboard should be ok for any AGP card.

There are 2 types of slot,

xxx¦xxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxx¦xx

Where the ¦ represents a break in the slot one of the first two is the older 1x/2x slot @ 3.3V, the other is the newer 1.5V AGP for 4x and 8x.

Some cards are universal and have two notches, this seems to include most 2x 4x cards, but not 1x or 8x.

The Info in this post is not 100% correct for instance there may have been overlap between 2x and 4x voltages, the newer voltage may not be 1.5, there might be a third type of slot with no notches (universal?).

But the general gist is right, just because you have an AGP slot does not mean you can use any AGP card from a voodoo 3 to a radeon 9800 pro!

A simple google search will correct any wrong info I have given.

Quote:

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Originally posted by TomWilko
where can i look for some more??

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http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?threadid=126

Should keep you busy :)

I am gonna have to wait a couple of weeks yet before i place an order on a card. I have seen something on dabs.com that has caught my attention...it says it is 2x 4x 8x compatible. But its only available in 2 weeks :)

What are the opinions on THIS

Its a decent card, better than FX5200 anyway.

Only buy the fx5200 if ain't gonna upgrade your gfx card before Windows Longhorn as it'll require the use of a DX9 card.

oh yeah, and thats a good card for the price.

Does the manufacurer dabs.com are supplying under 'dabs value' have a web-site? I don't wanna buy some dodgy piece of kit that'll break within 10mins of owning! I doubt they would rip me off, but just outta interest.

Quote:

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Originally posted by TomWilko
Does the manufacurer dabs.com are supplying under 'dabs value' have a web-site? I don't wanna buy some dodgy piece of kit that'll break within 10mins of owning! I doubt they would rip me off, but just outta interest.

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Dabs value is usualy just ex banded stock, rebranded :)

A main one they use is creative, and just sell it under "dabs value". A bit silly really when you consider they would probably sell better under creatives name.

Cool, i thought i recognised the 'fan' as Creative on the picture. lol.