PCI-Express Upgrade

[reefkeeper]

Looking for some help here. My son has come accross a game {Rainbow 6 Vegas} that his current 256mb card will not allow him to play. So he has some $$$ that he wants to spend on a new PCI-e card. He is looking at several new 512mb cards. His current machine is an AMD 64 w/3GB RAM Windows XP.

He has been looking at the nvidia 8800 and the Radeon 2900 Pro. Should I be looking at a diferrent card? He doesn't want to spend much over $200.

I have also seen some discussion on direct x10 vs. 9 on XP... any clarification here would be great.

These games are above me as I do not play them... give me a good Itanium UNIX machine and we can talk :)

[darryl]

Looking for some help here. My son has come accross a game {Rainbow 6 Vegas} that his current 256mb card will not allow him to play. So he has some $$$ that he wants to spend on a new PCI-e card. He is looking at several new 512mb cards. His current machine is an AMD 64 w/3GB RAM Windows XP.

He has been looking at the nvidia 8800 and the Radeon 2900 Pro. Should I be looking at a diferrent card? He doesn't want to spend much over $200.

I have also seen some discussion on direct x10 vs. 9 on XP... any clarification here would be great.

These games are above me as I do not play them... give me a good Itanium UNIX machine and we can talk :)
Hey reefkeeper (bet you get flak about that one :D)
first off, the trendy-est card to get right now is the 8800GT as it has been shown to be the best bag for the buck, performing nearly as well as more expensive cards, etc. Check out www.tomshardware.com It's a good tech site for comparing such things. The only thing about the 8800GT is the price. It's going for about $280.00. It will support Dx10 which is a Vista thing. XP still uses Dx9. DX10 has some features that allow for very good-looking graphics. At Toms check out a sim called "Crysis". Toms has some articles on building a system to run it. It's a DX10 sim that can also be run under Dx9.
Good luck!
ps the newer ATi cards, 3850/3870 might fill your cost requirements. not as fast as the 8800gt, but good cards otherwise. the 3870 is the faster card of the two, a bit more expensive, but less so than the 8800gt.

[Radiator]

Buy a HD 3850 or a HD 3870 .. both around 200 dollars ( HD 3850 below 200 , HD 3870 above 200 ) .
Anyway , that's a single core CPU , so it'll bottleneck them badly .

[reefkeeper]

Excellent... Thanks for the advise. I think he is leaning towards the 3870 found here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814241067

I have seen a lot of reference to the ability of the PSU being able torun some of these cards. Getting ready to do some research in this area. Not certain what type of PSU his system has... never upgraded it. I am assuming 300w.

Anyhow... thanks again!:)

[darryl]

Excellent... Thanks for the advise. I think he is leaning towards the 3870 found here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814241067

I have seen a lot of reference to the ability of the PSU being able torun some of these cards. Getting ready to do some research in this area. Not certain what type of PSU his system has... never upgraded it. I am assuming 300w.

Anyhow... thanks again!:)
J/k about the name thing (am I giving something away here?). As for the power supply, I recommend that you go to Tom's Harware website, and check out the review of the ATi 3870. In the review you will see the test system used to check the card out. The power supply should be listed there. IIRC, the 3870 uses a bit of power, and is overall a good card, priced less than the 8800GT, but quite not as powerful. Usually most key components tested will have some reference to their power draw. With luck the big hitters in your son's new system will give hints as to what wattage of power supply is adequate (by which I mean it as a bit of reserve power to handle peaks). Generally speaking at 500 or 550 watt power supply would do well. The more power draw, more powerful psu needed.
It's really about doing your homework in trying to build a system that meets your goals. Online, go to www.pricewatch.com There you can search for your components, and it will list the onlise sites that have them, and the prices, along with website reputations, shipping costs, etc. You know about asking about restocking fees, etc.
Good luck, and have fun!
darryl
ps I just read a review of the 3870 here. note the graphon power usage. Iwas wrong about that: http://www.legionhardware.com/document.php?id=703&p=0

[reefkeeper]

RE: Darryl... thanks... and you are funny. Never thought of it that way... actually the name is relevant to saltwater aquariums.

Another question though as I do the research. Today my sons desktop has a AMD 64 3200+ processor. He currently has 256mb ATI Radeon x700 Pro card. The MoBO slot is PCI-e 16x... but I am not sure v1, v1.1, v2. The machine is 2 years old so I am guessing v1 or v1.1. The 3870 is a v2 card. will it be downward compatible for this. Will it then just throttle the card down so much that I would be better off with a lower quality card until he has a chance to upgrade his mobo and proc. He has 3 gb of RAM 2x1GB are Kingston HyperX PC3200.

[darryl]

RE: Darryl... thanks... and you are funny. Never thought of it that way... actually the name is relevant to saltwater aquariums.

Another question though as I do the research. Today my sons desktop has a AMD 64 3200+ processor. He currently has 256mb ATI Radeon x700 Pro card. The MoBO slot is PCI-e 16x... but I am not sure v1, v1.1, v2. The machine is 2 years old so I am guessing v1 or v1.1. The 3870 is a v2 card. will it be downward compatible for this. Will it then just throttle the card down so much that I would be better off with a lower quality card until he has a chance to upgrade his mobo and proc. He has 3 gb of RAM 2x1GB are Kingston HyperX PC3200.

No longer an AMD guy since a long ways back, but the 64-3200 seems a very good gaming processor. It really just depnds on the goal of your upgrades. Is there a particular game your son wants to run as fast as possible? Does he want to run in higher resolutions? As for the bios version, do you know how to check that at boot-up when turning the pc on? If the bios isn't the right version for the 3870 I can only advise that you: 1) see if the card is backwards compatible with your bios version-maybe check the ATi website. 2) simply see if there is a bios version update for your mobo. I'd think the card is backwards compatible, but always best to read the data, not opinions.
good luck!
darryl
ps hey! i was at teh Monterey aquarium many years ago.

[reefkeeper]

No longer an AMD guy since a long ways back, but the 64-3200 seems a very good gaming processor. It really just depnds on the goal of your upgrades. Is there a particular game your son wants to run as fast as possible? Does he want to run in higher resolutions? As for the bios version, do you know how to check that at boot-up when turning the pc on? If the bios isn't the right version for the 3870 I can only advise that you: 1) see if the card is backwards compatible with your bios version-maybe check the ATi website. 2) simply see if there is a bios version update for your mobo. I'd think the card is backwards compatible, but always best to read the data, not opinions.
good luck!
darryl
ps hey! i was at teh Monterey aquarium many years ago.

Hey this is reefkeepers son speaking now. Honestly i just wanted a video card that would run my new Rainbow Six Vegas game at decent settings. I ended up buying it off of the system requirements posted on Walmart's website and in the end it says on the box different requirements and states that select video cards are supported (mine not being one of them). I know there are a bunch of cards that i could buy and be able to run the game perfectly but i wanted to find me a card such as the 3870 that would last me a while. Should i be looking for a different card that will last me a while? or should i continue with the BIOS checking?

[darryl]

Hey this is reefkeepers son speaking now. Honestly i just wanted a video card that would run my new Rainbow Six Vegas game at decent settings. I ended up buying it off of the system requirements posted on Walmart's website and in the end it says on the box different requirements and states that select video cards are supported (mine not being one of them). I know there are a bunch of cards that i could buy and be able to run the game perfectly but i wanted to find me a card such as the 3870 that would last me a while. Should i be looking for a different card that will last me a while? or should i continue with the BIOS checking?
I joined this forum because I need to do a pc upgrade. You know. The usual stuff. When it comes to anything I buy it has to be as close to the best bang for the buck as I can manage it. I can't do top-end systems so the sims I fly now don't get to show all the goodies at decent frame rates. And I'm looking forward to some new sims due out sometime this year. I have to have a card that I will keep about four years. By that time nwere sims will require another video card upgrade at least.
Bottom line: give yourself a bit of breathing room, and get the 8800gt. You'll be glad you did the first time you play your next new favorite game in six months from now. This card is the recognized best bang for the buck. On the other hand, the 3870 costs less, but it will have a tougher time in the future.
There it is, imho.
darryl

[Radiator]

If you want a card that'll last you 4 years , you'd have to buy the absolute top-of-the-line card of the next generation of cards .

Anyway , both the 8800 GT and HD 3870 are very cheap , and perform quite nicely , but 4 years.. is a long time , so good luck .

[wyz135]

a card that can last u for 4 years..... like this get a 8800Ultra SLi, bet you can play all the latest games with no lag at all

[Radiator]

Certainly not for four years ... in 4 years , it'll play the newest games on low , if at all , I think .