Upgrading Video Card - need input :\

[BadBrent]

Current setup:

XP Mobile Barton 2500 CPU @ 2201mhz, 1.65V, idle at 32C
EPoX 8RDA+ mobo
Geforce 4 MX 440 64MB Video Card (brand is AOpen)
(1GB) 2x512MB Corsair ValueSelect PC3200 RAM
120GB, 80GB, 40GB HDs
NEC 16x DVD Burner
Onboard sound (no, it's awesome...google nVidia Soundstorm - better than SB Audigy)
400W Antec PS

I'm looking for a better video card for this machine....one that's built around DX9 and that can of course play Quake2 like mad hell, and use the glass effects in the upcoming Vista OS.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814133135

This is the card I'm currently looking at...price after rebate is $20.99.  Upgrading from a 4 MX to FX5500 for 20.99 isn't that bad of a deal I don't think.  I only want to put about 60 down on a new card though, as I know I'll probably be upgrading to x64 technology before school starts back up for me in September.  I just want the most bang for my buck right now....so any suggestions?  TIA

[naymlis]

can you use openal with that sound card? if not i dont think you can say its better than audigy

[digency]

Dont get that FF5500 your only going to get like 10% increase in speed, if you can afford it get a geforce 6600 GT which is practically 300% faster.

Geforce 4 mx 4400 fillrate : 1080
Geforce 5 fx 5500 fillrate: 1300
Geforce 6600 GT fillrate: 4000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_NVIDIA_Graphics_Processing_Units

[BadBrent]

can you use openal with that sound card? if not i dont think you can say its better than audigy

Yes, OpenAL is supported with the Soundstorm...all of the drivers come with the 1.1 version if I'm not mistaken. 

[BadBrent]

Dont get that FF5500 your only going to get like 10% increase in speed, if you can afford it get a geforce 6600 GT which is practically 300% faster.

Geforce 4 mx 4400 fillrate : 1080
Geforce 5 fx 5500 fillrate: 1300
Geforce 6600 GT fillrate: 4000

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_NVIDIA_Graphics_Processing_Units

I understand all this, but I'm not going to spend more than 50 or 60 bucks for a new video card when I'm going x64 here around September...and i just want to be able to use the Glass subsystem in Vista, and have a card built around DX9...I think mine now is based around 6 or 7, probably 7.

That's why I think for 20.99, I can't go wrong switching from the 4 MX to FX5500....plus I could sell the 4 MX on ebay and get 10-15 bucks back out of it, so I would almost be breaking even.

[digency]

Try selling off Craigslist.com.. I bought a Radeon 9600 se from my friend for 40 bucks and sold it off Craigslist for 100 bucks, people are craigslist are litterally computer illiterate!

[BadBrent]

That wiki link is very handy, only problem is that it didn't have benchmark scores so you can't really compare two video cards by hardware alone without seeing what it can do visually.

Also, according to this website:

http://freestone-group.com/video-card-stability-test/benchmark-results-v1001.html

Benchmark score for Geforce 4 MX 440 = 111-226
Benchmark score for Geforce FX 5500 = 324-748

and if I decide to spurge the whole $60 and get a 6200
Benchmark score for Geforce 6200 = 503-891

[BadBrent]

lmao craigslist

I saw at bestbuy today some cunt actually made about that website called "24 Hours On Craigslist" or some bullshit...I was like WTF?

[ĄƦçɧąɳɠҾԼ]

There are cheaper versions of the 6200, http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=ENE&N=2000380048+1069609639+106790703&Subcategory=48&description=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

I'd definately go for something in the Geforce 6 family, I don't believe the DX9 implementation in the FX series was all that great.  With that system you have now, you will notice a big leap in performance just by getting one of those cards.

I got a 6800GS to replace my FX5200, and the perfomance is amazing.  Plus the Geforce 6 series has MPEG2 acceleration when using Nvidia's Purevideo decoders, it looks great.

[BadBrent]

Thank you Solo! 

You sold me on the 6200...I was looking at the 3D Fuzion for $45 with the 10 dolla rebate before I found the FX5500.  I'm gonna spend a few more hours looking around and making sure I can't find a better deal on the intarweb (though newegg seems to have the best prices 95 percent of the time) and I'll place the order tonight.

 

[BadBrent]

I ended up ordering the eVGA Geforce 6200 128MB AGP8X card from Newegg this morning...$39.99 with 10 dollar rebate and free shipping (coupon I got in my e-mail last week)....so 30 dolla for a Geforce 6200 card is a steal IMO. 

[digency]

let me know how it turns out!