graphics cards = RIPOFF!

[satjome]

I can't believe it !! you might as well buy a new computor. A video card that supports hardware T&L (or supports directX 9.0 costs a MINIMUM of $150 and that cool ATI RADEON 9800 is the ONLY graphics card that supports half life 2 at full support and it costs a rediculus $600! I CANT BELIEVE IT! http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/mad.gif

[CCGR]

yeah not cheapget a 9600, good bang for the buck card, you'll be HL2 ready

[Dr. Tek]

uhmm, don't know where you do your shopping, but I can get dx 9 cards for 120, and te radeon 9800 xt I can get for 450ish. Anyways, HL2 will have very low sys specs, as in a gf2 32 mb with a p3 700mhz, but you will not get that good of quality of gfx, but buying a new system will not necessarily give you a full dx9 compatible machine, as in those cards will not be in any lower priced systems.

[Flashon]

I think 9600 does support HL2.. infact, most of the Radeon cards will support HL2.. if it was only supported by 9800, Half-life would barely be sold.

[satjome]

Oops http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/rock.gif any way radeon 9000 and up and a few other cards support it too i guess(but i still don't want HL2 because it probably will need like 10 GB HD space

[Flashon]

9000 supports it??? SWEET! http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif I'm a poor 9000 stucked guy who has to overclock it http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[MaxX]

I like my ti4200 http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif
but I'll probably get a 9800pro with my new system next year

[CCGR]

wait for PCI Express cards MaxX AGP will be replaced

[Dr. Tek]

naw, ive used pci gfx cards in the past, ugh, slow, even for back then, replaced it with the agp version, it was a gfx mx 200, not that good of a card, but the pci was much worse then the agp, sides, the 8x agp is pretty dang fast.

[drumguy763]

I have the ATI Radeon 9500 Pro...works great for games now.  The 9600 XT is supposed to be a little faster, and has the "built in" overclocking (correct me if I'm wrong, I think that's the new OverDrive feature of the drivers).  Benchmarks seem pretty good with that card, and I believe it is around $200 (used to come with a free HL2 coupon; not sure if it still does).

The 9600 Pro is also good.  It's not quite as fast as the 9500 Pro, unless it's overclocked, in which case it might be able to surpass it.

[MaxX]

Quote[/b] (CCGR @ Dec. 25 2003,9:37)]wait for PCI Express cards MaxX AGP will be replaced
I KNOW!!! >_<

lol http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[satjome]

Ebay has CHEAP video cards. i may get a radeon 9200 for $65,the retail is 213 BUCKS! (or a radeon 9600 for $85, retails at around $400 and a radeon 9800 for a mere $110, retail = a rediculus $512

[Dr. Tek]

uhm, a 9200 is not that expensive at retail, and a 9600 at most is 250, usually more like 200 tho, and the prices at ebay are usually just the current high bid, and the cards could be used or refurbished, and you will not always get everything that comes with the retail, usually no software package. Be leary when buying parts on ebay unless you research the sellers past reputation for what he/she has sold. do a froogle.google.com search for low prices, usually works.

[Drelin]

satjome, where on earth do you do your shopping?

Check out Bizrate (http://www.bizrate.com/buy/browse__cat_id--4.html). Even if you'd prefer not to buy online, it will give you a good idea of reasonable prices.

[Exo-Slayer]

I bought a 9600 Pro 2 months ago from newegg.com for $174 new and its a real ATI card not a power color.

[satjome]

A ati radeon 9200 for $47and bizrate doesn't sell 9200's and that is the highest and cheapest that is compatible with my computor :http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2780983804&category=37 62

[Hysterical]

I got a ti4200 128 for 150 quid ($200ish) over a year ago in the UK. And HL2 will not be 10gig try 3 at most. Reading through these post some of you guys really should brush up on you soft/hardware knowledge.

[CCGR]

welcome Hysterical!

[Fleck]

let me guess... my tnt2 probably wont run it? Right? ;_;
My PC isnt bad besides that... For the winter i borrowed a graphics card that was in my grandpa's computer because he's out of town... that gets me about 2x the fps. otherwise i have an AMD 1.3 for my processor which is nice. And then a Maxisound Muse from about when i got the TNT2. The soundcard is still nice though. Works well! when I used the intergrated mic slot on the MB it was all garbled but now the Mic works fine... a bit quiet though.

[ToJ | Dead_Aim]

I <3 my Fx5900

*huggles it*

Down with you ATI ppl http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[CCGR]

hey! my card runs nice just may smack yours dwn in HL2!

[Exo-Slayer]

Acctully Gabe Newell has stated the lowest card he thinks will be able to handle HL2 at the lowest settings is a tnt2 so looks like your in business.

[CCGR]

my 9800 will do just fine http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif

[Fleck]

w0w!!!! that rocks.... now I just have to get enough money to buy hl2...

[ToJ | Dead_Aim]

Im so old school...just can't leave cs...not until CS 2 (no CZ nub stuff)

[Flashon]

Dunno, my Radeon 9000 pro seems to run fine. i will proly upgrade it (if i save enuf) to 9600 pro. I don't like XT since i've been hearing complaints and problems... 9600 pro is good for me

[satjome]

NOOOOOOOO CCGR HAS A 9800 WAAAAAH! anyways, i put out a list of my crappy system specs :
700 MHz amd processor
ATI rage 128 (ooooooooollllllld card i will probably try to upgrade to nvidia geforce fx 5200 or higher or an ati radeon 9200)
9 GB hard drive (TINY DINKY stupid little hard drive which i must update to atleast 20 GB
128 MB ram
speakers
broadband internet (the only fast thing on my comp. http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif 3.4 MBS megabits per second 180 mb dl in 35 min on fast server)

[ToJ | Dead_Aim]

9gb hs? how do you survive.

[CCGR]

wow a couple of my games take 4GB

[Dr. Tek]

Same here, KoTOR, XIII, my overly modified version of half-life, my even more overly modified version of wolf et (got about every custom map out there, lol), and i think morrowind is up there somewhere in size. how can you live with those specs, i can barely live with mine

amd athalon xp 2100+ oced to a 2500
gf4 mx 440 64mb 8x agp
512 ddr pc2700
60gig hd at 7200 rpm
sb audigy xg
52x24x52 cd-rw and a 16x dvd rom
500watt ps

lol, your comp satjome is like my bros old comp, which surprisingly can run any q3 game with the gfx otptions maxed out, but then againm the q3 engine is showing its age, and only a few games using it will live past its use, rtcw and CoD, but thats proabably about it.

[satjome]

A. almost all new games from now and the past couple of months on won't run unless i upgrade, and
B. i can't find a cheap nvidia geforce 5200 or higher that supports direcx 9.0 and T&l and pixel shading or a radeon 9200 or higher and am also looking for an under 35 dollar hd update, maybe 20 10 or 40 GB

[Dr. Tek]

You can get a 80 gig hd form best buy for about 70 bucks almost every week when they put the western digital drives on sale, and I would saty away from the gf fx 5200, go for either a 5700 or a gf4 ti4600, or radeon 9600 or higher. the gf4's will run dx 9, i run halo no problem at all on my gf4 mx 440, but you will not get the newer advanced features that up and coming dx 9 games, doom 3 and such, will have to offer. also, having 512 or more of ram for all of todays newer games is almost a must.

[satjome]

those are WAY out of my price range, me = $50 max and i don't want doom 3

[Fleck]

I just want a card that runs open gl

[ToJ | Dead_Aim]

I say 40-80gb is enough space....why would you need more on comps IN this day and age (not counting future)

[Dr. Tek]

first off, a card with open gl support, go get the old tnt riva, that runs the q3 engine no prob.

$50 or less for a card, nothing out there worth investing in now, save up for a better one, as the $50 cards may not run everything and have already outlived their lives.

more then 80 gigs? well, i own about 60 games all the way form wolf 3d to KoTOR, witho about 15-20 over a gig and a half in themselves, add that to microsoft office and visual studio, countless web sites and graphics for them, a lot of music (since my pc is my cd player, i put all my cds on there), and a partial completed game engine project, 80 is no where near enough, and since i only have 60, i only have about 15 games in rite now, and most of my data and graphics i have on cd-rw instead of the HD, lol

[satjome]

No, not new vid cards, USED ones that are cheaper, otherwise i'd probably have to spend atleast $150 on a hd and good vid card

[Dr. Tek]

if you are buying used one, make sure it is not refurbished, meaning a faulty card was returned to the manufatcurer and "fixed". ive had a refurbished HD before, and it lasted about a week. If you want something that will work and work well that is not obsoleted, you will have to spend money, and there really isnt away around that, unless you want to take the risk of getting a card that doesnt work, or one that is obsoleted and useless for everything less then a year old. If what you have now works, might as well keep using it til you can afford someting worth buying, rite now, Im saving up for a amd 64 bit 3200 and a radeon 9800 xt (unless nvidia releases dome decent drivers for the 5950 by the time I buy), but cant afford them comfortably right now, Im holding off a few months til I can afford to build a new system with those in it. I could build a decent system now, better then what I have, but it would last me no more then a year before I would have to build again, so waiting to buy a card may be a better idea, that way you will be able to buy a decent card that will last you longer then some cheap one you could get now.

[Exo-Slayer]

Until a few months ago I was still running a 500mhz p3 with 256mb of ram and a Radeon 7500, I had upgraded that from 96mb of ram and a enslaved voodoo 2 and a tnt 2 which was orignaly a 4mb on board card.

[satjome]

YEEEEESSSSSS!!! i got a radeon 9200 for 49.99 (and a free copy of will rock, which i don't wan't, i wanted rainbow six 3 instead, so am selling will rock, if anybody wants it

[CCGR]

cool http://www.cgalliance.org/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif