need help picking the right graphics card for pc

[tpatt34]

I just bought one of those new dell 20" lcd monitors that are referenced in another post, and now I am looking to upgrade my video card. I have an outdated geforce fx5200 card right now and while the monitor looks great, I dont think I am getting the maximum pixel performance out of it. any suggestions?

 

[TexasOwnzYou]

if you're willing to shell out big bucks, wait a month for the 7800 series to be released (be sure your motherboard has a pci-x slot though)

Unconfirmed Specs

even if u're not gonna get one, I'd still reccomend waiting till the 7800 series are released cuz the prices of the 6800 series should tumble.

 

[ChazUTX]

What TexasOwnz said. If you can't wait, then dish out the money for a 6800. Otherwise you might want to wait for the 7800 series. But be prepared to pay big bucks when it comes out. Not sure what your price range is.

 

[Horn_Spanker]

Video Cards

 

[RiceHorn04]

If you're willing to not have the latest greatest thing, i've been very pleased with my ATI Radeon 9800 Pro. You can probably find one on the net for $150ish.

 

[HKemhorns]

I'm with RiceHorn.......

I have a 5200 too and am looking for something new.

I saw a 9800Pro for $115 last week and almost jumped on it. I am also considering a 6600GT, which can be had under $200. Both of those cards will run anything and do it as well or better than anything not costing $400.

 

[phage]

definitely get a 6600GT over a 9800 pro if you're looking for budget performance. Not much more, a whole generation of features added, and faster.

 

[EJC]

Another cool place to compare your current (& future) system + video card is....

The Link

Right now, my POS Nvidia 5600 is scoring a pathetic 2521 on the 3DMark03 (AMD XP2800+, 512 MB RAM)

Soon I plan on getting the Nvidia 6200 which should shoot me to the 6000+ range with my current system. Once the 7800 comes out, 6200 prices should plummet below $100.

 

[dustin_c1]

Be careful when choosing modern graphics cards - they have become uber power hogs. They now consume more power than CPUs.

If you upgrade from an FX5200 to something like the 6600GT, you'll look at soemthing like 20 watts vs 50-70 watts of power consumption. Your power supply might not be strong enough on the 12v rail to cover that....especially if you have a power hungry P4. A lot of folks are having to buy a new power supply when they upgrade their graphics card nowadays.

 

[tpatt34]

thanks for the input guys.....

I 'm altleast going to wait until the 7800 comes out to see how much it costs and how much the others drop. I dont really have a particular budget for this, I just want to make sure I get what I paid for.

 

[HKemhorns]

A little old, but good info......

www.extremetech.com