what GFX card for 3.2gig celeron?

[pdug175]

What graphics card should I buy to replace my onboard graphics. No celeron jokes please, I want to spend around £50 to play a couple of games, not £500 for a new system



Is anything faster than a 9800pro likely to be hindered by my CPU?

cheers.

[MalcolmCarmen]

A 3.2GHz celeron isn't too bad for gaming. Also, the R9800 Pro will work pretty well for HL2 with playable/above-playable frame rates. Don't expect to turn on HDR, though

If you ever think you may try linux (like, the popular Ubuntu distro), you should go with an nvidia card instead. I love my R9800 Pro, but ATI's linux driver support is still not very good. Mostly any ATI card is accelerated correctly on linux now, but it is still pretty slow in comparison with nvidia!

I play BF2, Doom 3 (with sub-medium settings), and CS:S on my R9800 pro at 1280x1024, with more or less medium settings.

[pdug175]

Cheers Malcolm, I will keep my eyes out for a 9800, do you think I will see an performance increase if I where to get a hold of a 6600GT?

[Fabula]

You shouldn't be hindered by your cpu even up to the £100 mark.

Are you AGP or PCI-E?

You probably wouldn't see much performance increase if getting a 6600GT. A 7600 however would be a very good card, and still not cost too much.

[doddsy]

The 7300gt is a very good card too, not sure if it comes in AGP though but it's worth a check. It'll be a huge increase over your onboard graphics and with a little overlocking it'll put a 9800 to shame.

[maverick77_uk]

The 7300gt is a very good card too, not sure if it comes in AGP though

Yep, it does, for around £70. Not messed with one myself, but benchmarks and reviews seem favourable. Ensure it is the GT you buy though, the 7300GT is great, GS is questionable, and LE is is dire!

[sawyen]

There's like a shed loads of 7300GT versions.. the one you're really looking for are those that come with GDDR3 memories.. Those that still run DDR2 are just as dire as the GS..

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Do you have a PCI-E or AGP slot on your motherboard?? If I remember right the ATI 9800 series cards were AGP only. If you have PCI-E a Nvidia 7300GT DDR3 256mb will cost around 70 quid which is above your budget but has good perfomance for the price.It is better than a 7600GS. If you are willing to use Ebay you could probably be able to get 6600gt PCI-E for around 50 quid and the AGP version for a bit more. Another good card to buy would be a Nvidia 6800 which can also be had in PCI-E and AGP forms.I have seen them on Ebay from around 50 pounds upwards. Beware which ones you buy as some 6800 cards have issues thoough.