Need advice on GFX cards

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 06:41 PM

Hello ervybody

I'm new here, and I would like some advice on a neww GFX card. And this seems the forum to be

If it comes to hardware for my PC , I'm a complete N00b, so I realy need this advice quite badly.

here it goes :

1) Is there a big difrence between a 256MB and a 512MB card
2) What type of motherboard and what type of PC feeding do I need for , let us say, a radeon X800 series, and for a X1800XL ?
3) What's the difrence between a radeonX800 and a Radeon X850XT Platium?

(PS : I have currently a Radeon X740XL 128MB 3.2 Ghz PC Inel P4
Thanks John C

Necrosis · Feb 27, 2006, 06:46 PM

To answer your questions we need to ask one major question.

What are your current system specs?

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 06:49 PM

I don't know what type of motherboard I have , and I'll check my feeding tonight...(It should be a 400watt i believe )

As I said , I'm a complete n00b

anway all the spects I know are in the first thread

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 06:52 PM

Hey man and welcome.

Um you have a desktop right? And can you open it to see if you have a AGP slot (brown slot) or a PCI-Express (long white slot). 512MB of mem only matters in a few games (COD2/FEAR/BF2), as for what card to get, whats your price range?

O and:

X800Pro = 12pp 475Mhz core/ 900Mhz mem
X800XT = 16pp 500Mhz core/ 1000Mhz mem
X850XT = 16pp 520Mhz core/ 1080Mhz mem
X850XT:PE = 16pp 540Mhz core/ 1180Mhz mem

Edit: PP = Pixel Pipelines (more is better)

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 06:54 PM

hello

I have a PCI (atleast my card sais ) and I have a buget around 200€ to spent ...(ofcourse how cheaper , how better ! )

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 06:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

hello

I have a PCI (atleast my card sais ) and I have a buget around 200€ to spent ...(ofcourse how cheaper , how better ! )

Well open it up, and see if you have a brown slot, if you dont you might need a new motherboard for a good videocard. How much is that in american?

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 06:56 PM

yes you need to find out what kind of expansion slot your motherboard has....there are 2 kinds you want....pci-express and agp....if your motherboard dosent have any of these then you'll want a new motherboard.....some newer compaqs and dells and such dont have pci-express or agp,just pci which you dont want (no good pci cards-note pci-express and pci are different)for an x1800xl or xt,you will need a pci-express (pcie,pci-e) slot for an x800xl or xt or x850 you will need an agp (pci-e is newer then agp but agp is still okay for now)
and yes before we tell you what route to go will need you're current system specs (what processor/cpu how much ram etc etc)

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 06:57 PM

I don't see any slots at all

Where do I need to look ?

But I am quite sure I have an PCI (---> RADEON X740XL PCI-bus is currently installed

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 06:59 PM

well if you have a compaq or a dell or something you can give us the model number and we can look it up....if it's a custom built you'll need to look.....twards the bottom/back
every motherboard has pci because it's also for sound cards,tv tuner cards,modems etc etc but we need to know if it has an agp or pcie or not because pci videocards stink

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 07:03 PM

My PC isn't one of those either

Give me a second while I try to search things up

BTW my local comter dealer said that APG cards are obslete

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:04 PM

well it has to be made by someone-custom by a friend or has to be by some company lol
haha not obsolete but heading that way-belive me my x800xl agp performs fine for me

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

My PC isn't one of those either

Give me a second while I try to search things up

BTW my local comter dealer said that APG cards are obslete

Then why did nvidia just release a new AGP card.

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:06 PM

exactly lol

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 07:08 PM

well it is a medion-computer if that helps you out :S

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:11 PM

never heard of it....but aparently you're uk kuz of 200€ so that explains it

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 07:12 PM

ehh no I'm western European :/ (I'm from the Flanders , used to be a parth of the Netherlands

anyway I have ATI CATALYST if that can help :S

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:15 PM

well yeah sorry,i meant general europe area lol
catalyst is just the drivers for any ati card

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

ehh no I'm western European :/ (I'm from the Flanders , used to be a parth of the Netherlands

We still need to know if its AGP or not, as i dought u have PCI-E.

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 07:18 PM

ok i got to go now and these are the only spects i found

Naam MEDION RADEON X740XL
PNP-apparaat-id PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5E4B&SUBSYS_17801462&REV_00\4&367 BEAB0&0&0008
Adaptertype MEDION RADEON X740XL (0x5E4B), compatibel met ATI Technologies Inc.
Beschrijving MEDION RADEON X740XL
RAM-geheugen 128,00 MB (134.217.728 bytes)
Geïnstalleerde stuurprogramma's ati2dvag.dll
Versie van stuurprogramma 6.14.10.6587
INF-bestand oem22.inf (ati2mtag_RV410-gedeelte)
Kleurenvlakken 1
Vermeldingen in kleurentabel 4294967296
Resolutie 1152 x 864 x 60 Hz
Bits/Pixel 32
Geheugenadres 0xC8000000-0xD7FFFFFF
Geheugenadres 0xD0030000-0xD003FFFF
I/O-poort 0x0000C000-0x0000CFFF
IRQ-kanaal IRQ 16
I/O-poort 0x000003B0-0x000003BB
I/O-poort 0x000003C0-0x000003DF
Geheugenadres 0xA0000-0xBFFFF
Stuurprogramma c:\windows\system32\drivers\ati2mtag.sys (6.14.10.6587, 1,35 MB (1.414.656 bytes), 20/01/2005 15:02)

Naam MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary
PNP-apparaat-id PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5E6B&SUBSYS_17811462&REV_00\4&367 BEAB0&0&0108
Adaptertype MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary (0x5E6B), compatibel met ATI Technologies Inc.
Beschrijving MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary
RAM-geheugen 128,00 MB (134.217.728 bytes)
Geïnstalleerde stuurprogramma's ati2dvag.dll
Versie van stuurprogramma 6.14.10.6587
INF-bestand oem22.inf (ati2mtag_RV410-gedeelte)
Kleurenvlakken Niet beschikbaar
Vermeldingen in kleurentabel Niet beschikbaar
Resolutie Niet beschikbaar
Bits/Pixel Niet beschikbaar
Geheugenadres 0xD7FF0000-0xD7FFFFFF
Stuurprogramma c:\windows\system32\drivers\ati2mtag.sys (6.14.10.6587, 1,35 MB (1.414.656 bytes), 20/01/2005 15:02)

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:20 PM

yeah same here.....not sounding too good for him tho.....dells and compaqs have gone the cheap way by makeing pci only systems not sure if this european company is going to be the same story =/
uhm....what language is that in???? lol i can barely read any of it
i see 128mb ram and a radeon card lol (you will be needing more ram also,128 isnt enough if your going to be gameing)

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by g35x

yeah same here.....not sounding too good for him tho.....dells and compaqs have gone the cheap way by makeing pci only systems not sure if this european company is going to be the same story =/
uhm....what language is that in???? lol i can barely read any of it
i see 128mb ram and a radeon card lol (you will be needing more ram also,128 isnt enough if your going to be gameing)

LOL i cant read that. Hey john, you going to have to open the computer up, its ok if its still on, just look for where your videocard is placed. And look for a brown slot. If you cant find one then we know your screwed. j/k

g35x · Feb 27, 2006, 07:28 PM

lol,he has alrdy said his current card is pci its just a matter if the brown agp slot is there or not =)

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 07:40 PM

It's in Dutch if you're intrested in it . (it is just like English and German a Germanic language ) That's what we speak here in Belgium and in the Netherlands

I'm going to open my PC in a couple of min , and i'll look for the brown slot ...

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

It's in Dutch if you're intrested in it . (it is just like English and German a Germanic language ) That's what we speak here in Belgium and in the Netherlands

I'm going to open my PC in a couple of min , and i'll look for the brown slot ...

Ight man, thats all we need to know really, and try to read what your watts on your power supply (boxy looken thing at the top/back of the PC).

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 08:41 PM

ok i've checked things

feeding 320W
there are 2 videocard slots
1 brown one (where my card is currently installed
1 white empty slot

a couple of questions though

what is the difrence between an APG and a PCI ?
Is ATI actualy better then a Nivdia ?
what's the difrence between a "normal" ATI card an a Sapphire one ?
I realy wanna know wich card of the X800 series is best (I think X800 is a good choice price /quality and they all fit in my budget)

THX

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 09:22 PM

Awsome! You have a AGP, IMHO i would get:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102492

Its a X800XT but has TV in just in case you would ever do that. Its a great card, i had a X800XT:PE (just 20Mhz higher on the core, and 120Mhz on the mem) and it was great. Its $300US but its worth every penny.

to answer your Q:

what is the difrence between an APG and a PCI: AGP is just what cards addopted, has more memory bandwidth. As for the New standard PCI-Express, once again its the bandwidth. And compairing cards that are AGP 8x or PCI-Express 16x their isnt much of a difference. Just that most all Highend cards are PCI-E.
Is ATI actualy better then a Nivdia: IMHO yes, Nvidia lowers their imagequality for performance. Most all benchmarks you see, Nvidia is using a mode that is not suitable for most games.
what's the difrence between a "normal" ATI card an a Sapphire one: Same thing, sapphire is a part of ATi.
I realy wanna know wich card of the X800 series is best (I think X800 is a good choice price /quality and they all fit in my budget): The one i posted is the best for the price, and for AGP.

John C · Feb 27, 2006, 09:36 PM

ok thx for the advice (btw that card is cheaper in europe 170-200 €)

SSXeon · Feb 27, 2006, 10:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

ok thx for the advice (btw that card is cheaper in europe 170-200 €)

Nice, get it, i guess 200€ is around $300US?

John C · Feb 28, 2006, 12:54 AM

200€ is about 260 $

SSXeon · Feb 28, 2006, 03:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by John C

200€ is about 260 $

ah, so have you decided what to get?

Feb 27, 2006, 06:41 PM	#1
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	Need advice on GFX cards Hello ervybody I'm new here, and I would like some advice on a neww GFX card. And this seems the forum to be If it comes to hardware for my PC , I'm a complete N00b, so I realy need this advice quite badly. here it goes : 1) Is there a big difrence between a 256MB and a 512MB card 2) What type of motherboard and what type of PC feeding do I need for , let us say, a radeon X800 series, and for a X1800XL ? 3) What's the difrence between a radeonX800 and a Radeon X850XT Platium? (PS : I have currently a Radeon X740XL 128MB 3.2 Ghz PC Inel P4 Thanks John C

Feb 27, 2006, 06:52 PM	#4
SSXeon ATi Freak!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Virginia, US Posts: 501 Rep Power: 0	Hey man and welcome. Um you have a desktop right? And can you open it to see if you have a AGP slot (brown slot) or a PCI-Express (long white slot). 512MB of mem only matters in a few games (COD2/FEAR/BF2), as for what card to get, whats your price range? O and: X800Pro = 12pp 475Mhz core/ 900Mhz mem X800XT = 16pp 500Mhz core/ 1000Mhz mem X850XT = 16pp 520Mhz core/ 1080Mhz mem X850XT:PE = 16pp 540Mhz core/ 1180Mhz mem Edit: PP = Pixel Pipelines (more is better) __________________ XFX HD4890 1024MB @ 950/4400Mhz Have issues with your Catalyst driver? Please report it to ATi

Feb 27, 2006, 06:56 PM	#7
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	yes you need to find out what kind of expansion slot your motherboard has....there are 2 kinds you want....pci-express and agp....if your motherboard dosent have any of these then you'll want a new motherboard.....some newer compaqs and dells and such dont have pci-express or agp,just pci which you dont want (no good pci cards-note pci-express and pci are different)for an x1800xl or xt,you will need a pci-express (pcie,pci-e) slot for an x800xl or xt or x850 you will need an agp (pci-e is newer then agp but agp is still okay for now) and yes before we tell you what route to go will need you're current system specs (what processor/cpu how much ram etc etc) __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 06:59 PM	#9
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	well if you have a compaq or a dell or something you can give us the model number and we can look it up....if it's a custom built you'll need to look.....twards the bottom/back every motherboard has pci because it's also for sound cards,tv tuner cards,modems etc etc but we need to know if it has an agp or pcie or not because pci videocards stink __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:04 PM	#11
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	well it has to be made by someone-custom by a friend or has to be by some company lol haha not obsolete but heading that way-belive me my x800xl agp performs fine for me __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 06:46 PM	#2
Necrosis HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2002 Location: Ohio Posts: 8,838 Rep Power: 129 System Specs	To answer your questions we need to ask one major question. What are your current system specs?

Feb 27, 2006, 06:49 PM	Thread Starter #3
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	I don't know what type of motherboard I have , and I'll check my feeding tonight...(It should be a 400watt i believe ) As I said , I'm a complete n00b anway all the spects I know are in the first thread

Feb 27, 2006, 06:54 PM	Thread Starter #5
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	hello I have a PCI (atleast my card sais ) and I have a buget around 200€ to spent ...(ofcourse how cheaper , how better ! )

Feb 27, 2006, 06:57 PM	Thread Starter #8
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	I don't see any slots at all Where do I need to look ? But I am quite sure I have an PCI (---> RADEON X740XL PCI-bus is currently installed

Feb 27, 2006, 07:03 PM	Thread Starter #10
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	My PC isn't one of those either Give me a second while I try to search things up BTW my local comter dealer said that APG cards are obslete

Feb 27, 2006, 07:06 PM	#13
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	exactly lol __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:08 PM	Thread Starter #14
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	well it is a medion-computer if that helps you out :S

Feb 27, 2006, 07:11 PM	#15
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	never heard of it....but aparently you're uk kuz of 200€ so that explains it __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:12 PM	Thread Starter #16
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	ehh no I'm western European :/ (I'm from the Flanders , used to be a parth of the Netherlands anyway I have ATI CATALYST if that can help :S

Feb 27, 2006, 07:15 PM	#17
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	well yeah sorry,i meant general europe area lol catalyst is just the drivers for any ati card __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:18 PM	Thread Starter #19
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	ok i got to go now and these are the only spects i found Naam MEDION RADEON X740XL PNP-apparaat-id PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5E4B&SUBSYS_17801462&REV_00\4&367 BEAB0&0&0008 Adaptertype MEDION RADEON X740XL (0x5E4B), compatibel met ATI Technologies Inc. Beschrijving MEDION RADEON X740XL RAM-geheugen 128,00 MB (134.217.728 bytes) Geïnstalleerde stuurprogramma's ati2dvag.dll Versie van stuurprogramma 6.14.10.6587 INF-bestand oem22.inf (ati2mtag_RV410-gedeelte) Kleurenvlakken 1 Vermeldingen in kleurentabel 4294967296 Resolutie 1152 x 864 x 60 Hz Bits/Pixel 32 Geheugenadres 0xC8000000-0xD7FFFFFF Geheugenadres 0xD0030000-0xD003FFFF I/O-poort 0x0000C000-0x0000CFFF IRQ-kanaal IRQ 16 I/O-poort 0x000003B0-0x000003BB I/O-poort 0x000003C0-0x000003DF Geheugenadres 0xA0000-0xBFFFF Stuurprogramma c:\windows\system32\drivers\ati2mtag.sys (6.14.10.6587, 1,35 MB (1.414.656 bytes), 20/01/2005 15:02) Naam MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary PNP-apparaat-id PCI\VEN_1002&DEV_5E6B&SUBSYS_17811462&REV_00\4&367 BEAB0&0&0108 Adaptertype MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary (0x5E6B), compatibel met ATI Technologies Inc. Beschrijving MEDION RADEON X740XL Secondary RAM-geheugen 128,00 MB (134.217.728 bytes) Geïnstalleerde stuurprogramma's ati2dvag.dll Versie van stuurprogramma 6.14.10.6587 INF-bestand oem22.inf (ati2mtag_RV410-gedeelte) Kleurenvlakken Niet beschikbaar Vermeldingen in kleurentabel Niet beschikbaar Resolutie Niet beschikbaar Bits/Pixel Niet beschikbaar Geheugenadres 0xD7FF0000-0xD7FFFFFF Stuurprogramma c:\windows\system32\drivers\ati2mtag.sys (6.14.10.6587, 1,35 MB (1.414.656 bytes), 20/01/2005 15:02)

Feb 27, 2006, 07:20 PM	#20
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	yeah same here.....not sounding too good for him tho.....dells and compaqs have gone the cheap way by makeing pci only systems not sure if this european company is going to be the same story =/ uhm....what language is that in???? lol i can barely read any of it i see 128mb ram and a radeon card lol (you will be needing more ram also,128 isnt enough if your going to be gameing) __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:28 PM	#22
g35x Hellhound Pilot Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Deptford, New Jersey Posts: 1,100 Rep Power: 43 System Specs	lol,he has alrdy said his current card is pci its just a matter if the brown agp slot is there or not =) __________________

Feb 27, 2006, 07:40 PM	Thread Starter #23
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	It's in Dutch if you're intrested in it . (it is just like English and German a Germanic language ) That's what we speak here in Belgium and in the Netherlands I'm going to open my PC in a couple of min , and i'll look for the brown slot ...

Feb 27, 2006, 08:41 PM	Thread Starter #25
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	ok i've checked things feeding 320W there are 2 videocard slots 1 brown one (where my card is currently installed 1 white empty slot a couple of questions though what is the difrence between an APG and a PCI ? Is ATI actualy better then a Nivdia ? what's the difrence between a "normal" ATI card an a Sapphire one ? I realy wanna know wich card of the X800 series is best (I think X800 is a good choice price /quality and they all fit in my budget) THX Last edited by John C; Feb 27, 2006 at 08:49 PM.

Feb 27, 2006, 09:22 PM	#26
SSXeon ATi Freak!! Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Virginia, US Posts: 501 Rep Power: 0	Awsome! You have a AGP, IMHO i would get: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102492 Its a X800XT but has TV in just in case you would ever do that. Its a great card, i had a X800XT:PE (just 20Mhz higher on the core, and 120Mhz on the mem) and it was great. Its $300US but its worth every penny. to answer your Q: what is the difrence between an APG and a PCI: AGP is just what cards addopted, has more memory bandwidth. As for the New standard PCI-Express, once again its the bandwidth. And compairing cards that are AGP 8x or PCI-Express 16x their isnt much of a difference. Just that most all Highend cards are PCI-E. Is ATI actualy better then a Nivdia: IMHO yes, Nvidia lowers their imagequality for performance. Most all benchmarks you see, Nvidia is using a mode that is not suitable for most games. what's the difrence between a "normal" ATI card an a Sapphire one: Same thing, sapphire is a part of ATi. I realy wanna know wich card of the X800 series is best (I think X800 is a good choice price /quality and they all fit in my budget): The one i posted is the best for the price, and for AGP. __________________ XFX HD4890 1024MB @ 950/4400Mhz Have issues with your Catalyst driver? Please report it to ATi

Feb 27, 2006, 09:36 PM	Thread Starter #27
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	ok thx for the advice (btw that card is cheaper in europe 170-200 €)

Feb 28, 2006, 12:54 AM	Thread Starter #29
John C HardwareHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 77 Rep Power: 0	200€ is about 260 $