Advice on graphics card please...

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lunamystry

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i am new to the pc world and bought a p4 intel last year around july with 512mb ram, 160gb hard drive. thats all i know about it. i run ubuntu and recently installed windows on a 80g hard drive with bad blocks for games. i played need for speed underground and it sucked big time. i thus would like a graphics card and possibly a motherboard and it must be an nvidia graphics card. i am not a big gamer maybe that will change if it does i will get the wii. what card should i get? any advice would be welcome i want to put a request in the classifieds.Thank you
 
i have a nvidia 8800gt 320mb which runs most games at good quality just fine. It depends on the games you are playing tho. i can run nfs pro street at full graphics, all on high. But i have to put it on medium (which is still damn good) for crysis.
I think it goes for roughly R2200, this is an estimate as my source only has the larger stock.
As for the motherboard... just ask the shops for one that is compatible with your components, they should all be, but some are better than others with data transfer (no use being lance armstrong if you are racing on a 25kg mountain goat):D:D
 
You'll need to post some more info regarding your computer, you can get most important info easily by running CPU-Z (google it, it's small & free), for all the info except your graphics card, that info you can get by simply clicking right on My Computer -> Properties -> Hardware -> Device Manager then in the tree expand display adapters and post the graphics card name as listed there.

Anyway your first issue is Pentium 4 (right piece of shyt and it will be a bottleneck for any modern graphics card), your second is RAM and finally graphics card. Graphics card can be bumped to no.1 if it's a piece of crap...
 
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NFSU works just fine on a p4 512m but you need a decent "GT" card, I recommend anywhere between the 7600 to 7900 GT if your graphics card sits in an AGP 8x slot. IF PCI-x then you can look at the 8600 GT. Of course it all depends on how much you want to spend and if you want to run more recent games. Also, get another 512m or more, RAM is cheap.
 
I wanna change my intel-p4. nfsu was my introduction to gaming (Played my first ps2 game a couple of weeks ago) i will probably play fifa08 nfs-most wanted-i hear the newer versions suck-call of juarez and some strategy game and i will be fine with gaming i hope. whats the minimum i should expect to pay for a processor, motherboard and graphics card for a good time with the above games?
 
I can tell you nfs-mw, fif08 and any strategy game will work just fine with the following: p4, 1G RAM and 7800GT or 7900GS, because that's what I have and I've played nfs-mw, civilization, warcraft3, etc. with maximum settings (1280x1024). You can build this for about R3000 to R4000 depending on what kind of monitor you want. If you want to spend up to about R5500, buy a Core2 duo, 2G RAM (1Gx2), decent LCD and 8600 GT. And YES you're right, NFS ProStreet SUX - NFS MW is the best one out there. Try Test Drive Unlimited as well - my favourite car game so far.
 
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You can try:

For motherboard:
GIGABYTE® "S Series" GA-P35-DS3L Motherboard R1298.30

For Graphics Card:
Chaintech 8800GT 512MB PCI-E R2500.00
OR
Gecube HD3850 512mb PCI-E Graphics Card R1999.00

Memory:
2x CHAINTECH APOGEE 1GB DDRII 800 PC-6400 @ R258.62 each

And finally for the CPU:
Intel Core2 Duo E6550 R1532.07
OR
Intel Core2 Duo E4500 R1083.18
OR
Intel pentium E2180 R849.94

Even the cheapest selection of all will still give you a pretty good PC and you'll be able to upgrade to a better CPU at a later point if you so please.

EDIT: Oh yeah all prices are from The Prophecy Shop, you can try other retailers (PCInt) or dealers for cheaper prices.
This is just a quick quote so other users will be able to recommend better options...
 
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that means i only need a graphics card and extra ram then because i have the other stuff. i will just wait on the lcd i have a 17" crt and i think its decent. thank you.
 
that means i only need a graphics card and extra ram then because i have the other stuff. i will just wait on the lcd i have a 17" crt and i think its decent. thank you.
 
lunamystry said:
that means i only need a graphics card and extra ram then because i have the other stuff. i will just wait on the lcd i have a 17" crt and i think its decent. thank you.
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Erm Intel Pentium 4 CPU does not = Intel Core 2 or Intel Pentium Dual Core

Even the worst Pentium Dual Core is far better than a Pentium 4, even AMD XP 64 cpu's are better.

Anyway your Pentium 4 motherboard might be able to upgrade to Core 2 Cpu's.
 
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Gnome look at what he wants to play and what you are recommending. Overkill IMO. P4 is just fine. He doesn't even want a LCD so price is a factor. 8800 is just waaaay overkill for playing nfs or fifa08!
 
Sandman30s said:
I can tell you nfs-mw, fif08 and any strategy game will work just fine with the following: p4, 1G RAM and 7800GT or 7900GS, because that's what I have and I've played nfs-mw, civilization, warcraft3, etc. with maximum settings (1280x1024). You can build this for about R3000 to R4000 depending on what kind of monitor you want. If you want to spend up to about R5500, buy a Core2 duo, 2G RAM (1Gx2), decent LCD and 8600 GT. And YES you're right, NFS ProStreet SUX - NFS MW is the best one out there. Try Test Drive Unlimited as well - my favourite car game so far.
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i loved the realism, but it didn't really have a story line, or i just missed it completely??:confused:
 
W1LDF1RE said:
i loved the realism, but it didn't really have a story line, or i just missed it completely??:confused:
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I don't look for a storyline in car games :) What was awesome about TDU was one of islands of Hawaai mapped into the game - each road, each landmark, each hill, each tree. I also liked the variety and detail of the cars. Gameplay and "feel" of the driving is as good as any other unrealistic simulator. I especially liked the interior decor of the houses too - gave me some ideas for my house :D
 
Sandman30s said:
Gnome look at what he wants to play and what you are recommending. Overkill IMO. P4 is just fine. He doesn't even want a LCD so price is a factor. 8800 is just waaaay overkill for playing nfs or fifa08!
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I guess...
I'm a bit of a geek so for me the best bang for buck is always important :D
 
Sandman30s said:
I don't look for a storyline in car games :) What was awesome about TDU was one of islands of Hawaai mapped into the game - each road, each landmark, each hill, each tree. I also liked the variety and detail of the cars. Gameplay and "feel" of the driving is as good as any other unrealistic simulator. I especially liked the interior decor of the houses too - gave me some ideas for my house :D
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is it a replica of hawaai, i didn't even know:p
 
A 7600GT ought to be fine for anything! You can play Crysis at 1024x768 (he has a 17" CRT) and at low settings.
 
carderne said:
A 7600GT ought to be fine for anything! You can play Crysis at 1024x768 (he has a 17" CRT) and at low settings.
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A friend of mine plays it at medium settings at 1024x768 with his 7600GT. Guess it depends how much FPS you deem playable :)
 
some people call in at 15 as playable, i say doule that. Although crysis has a way about it that it make the lower frame rates look still fairly smooth. in some drops it wasn't that noticeable...
 
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