Which (cheap) DX9 card?

[joshwa]

I'm after a new graphics card for maybe GTA san andreas, etc

Anyway need it to be dx9 - and preferably without a fan - are these dx9 cards?

FX5200 128mb link

Radeon 9250 128mb link

Radeon 9550SE 128mb link

as you can tell i'm after something cheap, as my main reason is that my current pc (and laptop) won't play colin mcrae rally 3, but being able to play GTA would be cool as well...

What else should I consider? (from nvidia for example?)

Thanks a lot

Josh

[Speed]

I'd steer well clear of the FX series, it's quite a joke tbh. Go for the Radeon 9550, get the standard version. It's well worth the few pounds extra over the SE and if you shop about (ebuyer, savastore) then it can be had pretty cheap.

[jon bda]

Secondhand 9700/9800 Pro with an Artic Cooler?. Would wipe the floor with the cards mentioned...

[Speed]

Ah yes good point, if your budget can stretch to £60 odd then you can buy a decent 9800Pro on the various forsale forums. I did that for my sisters rig, runs Sims 2 pretty well .

[Nick F]

I have a 9800 pro and it can run GTA SA with no problems, prices are always coming down so you are bound to find a good deal somewhere.

[joshwa]

Cool i'll see if i can stretch to the 9800pro sounds lovely jubbly especially for the price

[Speed]

Yeah it's amazing value, even by 6600GT standards.

[menthel]

They are by no means silent though, unless you get an arctic cooler for it.

[exAndrzej]

Overclockers have the 9800 Pro at £69 + vat

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatal...00_Series.html

Not bad :~)

[jon bda]

Not bad :~)

Unless it goes wrong and you have to return it.

[SilentDeath]

Get one from retek

They are refurbished, and its a good idea to swap the cooler for an arctic silencer one esp. as the stock one isnt always on that well. Ive got 3 of their 9500np's from when they were 35 quid ages ago...

Retek have good support and someone on these forums, so lot better than ocuk who dont even have phone support half the time.

Hercules Radeon 9700 128MB Video Card - Blue Board
Ref: Herc9700Blue
£34.08 inc vat

The 9700np for £35 is the best value, peforming not that much worse than a 9800pro for half the price. With the artic silencer "rev4 ati 1" the core should be capable of 9800pro speeds without a vmod. Memory will max out around 310 for infineon chips.



ATI Radeon 9500 128MB Video Card
Ref: ATI9500
£23.50 inc vat

These are ok and very cheap, I had one of these for doom3 and hl2, so should be more than enough for that console port

[mike_w]

I have to say that those 9700s, plain or Pro versions, are fantastic value for money. They can still play the latest games, and should be able to for a while yet so long as you don't mind turning the settings down a bit - not bad for under £50!

[Atomic]

Gotta be a Retek 9700Pro!

[joshwa]

where do i get an arctic cooler from? thanks

[Speed]

Some 9800Pro's on the forums are supplied with ready installed Arctic Cooleras as some people chuck out the stock coolers once they've been removed. Just look out for one forsale with it on really, inless of course you haven't got a PCI slot to spare, as it will make it a two slot card.

Personally I wouldn't pay extra for one, as I'm not a lover of the build quality etc. They do however expell the heat right out of the case, so I guess that's good.

[SilentDeath]

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=74576

Was a shop with same version for £8 but cant remember which

This is the one you would want. Theres also the rev3 which should eb cheaper but ebuyer dont have them anymore. Pc world had them for ~£8 when I last went in there..