Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums Branches California *Computer* Video Card Question

Does this video card look like it would be worth the $133?
Video Card on eBay

My computer at home is a Compaq with lots of memory but is still at a slow 533MHz, and I am running Windows ME. I want to get back into gaming and want to buy a new processor and video card, not a whole computer. Does anyone know of any good cards that would be in this price range?
Thanks in advance for the help!

yeah
it's worth it

i finally got my setup and i've got a geforce 4. ain't nothin better for the prices they're at now. I paid $154 a month ago for pretty much the same thing except I've got video in.
www.gameve.com is where i got mine. free shipping on a lot of things.

chances are you won't be able to upgrade much more than your video card if you have a compaq. you can build a new system for around $600 if you keep your current monitor.

if you want some help and suggestions lemme know.

-jason

Get yo ass to Frys and pick up a new case w/ power supply for $30, grab the ECS K7S5A mainboard and Athlon XP2000+ for $119 and use your existing CD and Floppy. Grab a stick or 256MB PC133 for $20 while your at it and plug your AGP card in.

You should be in a new machine for under $300!

Hmmm... the price is nice for the specs including 128M DDR... but for only ~$15-$20 more, you can get a known name brand card from http://www.newegg.com . I'd do that just in case that nice little geforce4 chip has been mounted to a low-quality circuit board... which can ruin performance.

I have to agree with Pranqster on this one. Here's what I would do.. Go to www.tomshardware.com, and read their reviews to find the EXACT card you want... Them, go to www.pricewatch.com, and find the cheapest place online for said card.

Video cards are very important for game performance.. However, if you have a slow processor, then you will be left in the dust by those with a fast processor... Having a video card that is half as fast as the rest of your system is a sign that you need to upgrade your system...


Cheers,
Tom

go for it... most of the GF4 cards are reference boards anyways with different fans...

i got the VisionTek Xtasy Ti4600 128MB card for $199 last month from computergeeks.com - kickass card!!!

oh - and those Athlon recommendations will get you banned (just kidding!)

LOL and if you do follow the Athlon recommendations, at least get a good motherboard, else you will regret it... I will not say much about the K7S5A reccomendation as I have seen 2 (out of 2 ordered) of these boards D.O.A. ... BUT I have heard decent reviews from those who get a working one ... you cannot overclock it in case you were wondering... I am using an Asus A7V333 motherboard and like it very much... it is very configurable as well as overclockable, if you're into that.

Oh yeah... and Toadster, yes, most cards are reference design, but not all companies use the same quality boards and circuitry, solder etc., even if they use the exact reference design set by nvidia... why I recommend cards with a known reputation, even if they cost a few $$ more.
Some companies have expensive cards for no reason, others are expensive but worth the increased cost because of their high-quality manufacturing (can anyone say "Canopus"?).
I'm currently using Gainward/CardExpert Geforce3 64M at 240/540MHz clocked in the cards' BIOS (no need to overclock the graphics card in Windows) Prolly gonna wait for Geforce5 before I upgrade.
PS... a riddle...
When is a Geforce4 not a Geforce4? When it is a Geforce4 MX (can you say overclocked Geforce2??)
For those looking for a Geforce4... do not buy MX, get TI... Geforce4-MX uses a Geforce2 core and cannot do advanced pixel-shading which even the Geforece3 can do (try running all game tests in 3DMark with GF4MX)... just a few words of advice.

Originally posted by PranQster:

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you cannot overclock it in case you were wondering...

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Wrong answer, The K7S5A is easy to Overclock with. Might want to check OC.com for discussion on the board.

I have been using mine for about 9 months and am very satisfied with my purchase, works great, runs flawlessly!