Help! Video Cards!

Anarcho · Fri 29/12/2006 02:18:00

I received an unexpected present from my in-laws over Christmas in the form of a ATI Radeon 9550 256 mb graphics card. I've been meaning to upgrade my current card, which is a GeForce4 Mx 440. I really know nothing about graphics cards, and I've been trying to read up on it, but I still feel lost. Everyone names their products with "edgy" code words like Grafx Masterz 5939302mx and none of it makes sense to me.

From what I've read, this 9550 card is another budget card that my or may not be only slightly better than the one I've got. I kinda wanted something a bit better, hopefully between 100-200 bucks. Can anyone give me advice? Is there something out there in that price range that is way better than this 9550 thing?

I think they bought it from Best Buy for 60 bucks, and since I don't have a receipt my only option is to buy something from there as a replacement.

So, does anyone know if this card is worth holding onto? There's a BFG GeForce 6600 OC at Best Buy for 150 bucks that I'd buy, but is it worth it?

Thanks in advance,

logan

BOYD1981 · Fri 29/12/2006 03:24:20

compared to the GF4 MX440 (which i use in another pc and is basically a GeForce2...) that card is very powerful...
but it may not be any use to you. if you have an mx440 i'm guessing your pc is a bit old and may not support the AGP speed you have. i have a 9600XT in this pc and i'm pretty sure the minimum AGP speed for it is 4x.
but yeh, if your pc does support it then it'll be a great step up from your old card.

Anarcho · Fri 29/12/2006 03:34:12

well i just put together a new pc six months ago that i got off of tiger direct, i just plugged in my old graphics card. I don't know if it supports the AGP speed that i have, mainly because i don't know what that means...

Well, it's good to know that this is at least a step up, but maybe i'll still go for something slightly better.

BOYD1981 · Fri 29/12/2006 03:55:25

if the PC is only six months old then it will most definitely have support for 8x AGP (the fastest AGP speed available) and you'll notice a really great increase in performance, i believe the 9550 is also a DirectX 9 card whereas the MX440 does not support even DirectX 8 (John Carmack warned people off of buying the MX440 prior to the release of Doom 3). you should atleast try it out, it's not as if you're spoiled for choice when it comes to AGP cards these days, with the advent of PCI Express, top performance AGP cards are no longer made and the best performing ones are extremely expensive (i bought a GeForce 6800GT 256mb about 18 months ago on sale for Â£80, they now cost around Â£160 and are very hard to find, and it's bigger brother the 6800 Ultra is impossible to find and i hate to imagine how much it would cost brand new).

edit:
here are the specs for the 9550 http://ati.amd.com/products/radeon9550/specs.html
and here is the wikipedia article for the MX series GF4 cards http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_4MX#GeForce4_MX

Anarcho · Fri 29/12/2006 05:32:53

Thanks for the help Boyd, I was turned onto this thread by Matt: http://www.techspot.com/vb/all/windows/t-65381-Help-about-video-cards.html

which seems to be my question answered. I think I might go with this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102069

Spend a little bit more but have a better card in the long run. Do you know anything about the Radeon X1600PRO?

InCreator · Sat 30/12/2006 17:28:29

Why ATI?

I'm running on Geforce 7900GT/GTO and it's a dream came true.

To say a strong word against ATI card -- when technical differences between GF cards of same power are extremely tiny, the hell of installing ATI drivers values alot more than few extra FPS ATI might give you.

Now, some who claim that they had ATI cards for ages and never experienced any driver/detection trouble, you are simply LUCKY.

Sylpher · Sun 31/12/2006 01:07:55

I am on my second ATi card with no problems.

LimpingFish · Sun 31/12/2006 01:17:43

Nvidia for me. I've tried two ATI cards in my time, most recently a 9550 Powercolor, and I've had nothing but problems.

Never had any trouble with a Geforce, and I've had three (Geforce 2, an FX5200, and currently a N6200).

Anarcho · Sun 31/12/2006 01:54:10

I wish you had responded earlier! I ended up getting the Radeon X1600PRO 256MB, I hope it's ok...

LimpingFish · Sun 31/12/2006 02:02:54

Just make sure to erase all traces of Nvidia drivers from your PC before installing it.

I think switching from a Geforce to a Radeon is what usually causes system problems. That's what I put the problems I had down to. $:-\$

Anarcho · Sun 31/12/2006 02:07:51

will do, thanks for the advice!

InCreator · Sun 31/12/2006 13:43:48

By the power of X1600, you probably got a good deal. Let's just hope that everything goes ok.