Peotr
08-14-2008, 12:41 PM
I don't like starting threads on computer hardware, but I said I would give someone some choices to look at.
I avoid offering much PC purchasing advice; it's dangerous, because it's impossible to match the expectations of people who aren't educated about computers. Also, any time you offer advice about computer purchases on any (any) bulletin board, someone will jump in and say, "NOOO, THAT'S STOOPID!" These thread-jumpers aren't necessarily wrong but they are usually insistent to the point of zealotry, and they mostly just confuse the issue for others who will never understand the intricacies of computer performance.
However, a few people with low-framerate issues have picked my brain for solutions.
Everyone's computer is different. Some people buy good mail-order computers that came without enough RAM (memory); other people have computers that are burdened with cruft from years of surfing the web, their operating systems struggling against processor-slowing background tasks like a ship whose hull is covered with barnacles.
Some people's computers are just too old.
Another common problem is a good computer purchased from a large retailer or office supply store that came with a video card / onboard video solution that was never designed to play games. Windows Vista requires a modest amount of 3D graphics capability to run the Aero interface, but that doesn't mean that the video solution is meant for graphics-intensive games.
-----------------
Most people shudder at the price of computer components. Myself, I think nothing of dropping $300.00 on a new processor or video card (I just spent $650.00 on a video card last month), but for other people that kind of money is 3/4 of the price of the computer that they are still making payments on.
Occasionally, though, the computer parts Gods are kind, and good deals can be found. If you're suffering from poor graphics card performance, there are a couple of inexpensive offerings that can help your computer:
(NOTE: I ONLY RECOMMEND PURCHASES FROM NEWEGG. IF YOU FIND AN EXCELLENT DEAL SOMEWHERE ELSE, GREAT, BUT I ONLY DEAL WITH NEWEGG.)
1. PNY 8800 GT for $119.00. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133232)
This is a real gamer video card, and it's cheap. My friend has had one for a few months, and I've had one in my guest computer for a few weeks, and it runs fast and fine. Note: Elkwood hates PNY.
2. ASUS ATI 3850 video card for $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121219), and only $59.99 with a $30.00 mail-in rebate.
This is a good gamer card at a very good price. It's not as beefy as the 8800GT listed above, but it will still play most games with reasonable framerates (no, it won't play Crysis worth a crap. My $650.00 video card won't play Crysis worth a crap.)
3. Sapphire 2600XT for $29.99. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102755)
This is an odd-duck card. Sapphire originally built these for non-US sales (they come set-up for the PAL television standard - in the US we use NTSC) but they got hit with a major VAT tax as countries in Europe and Asia started forcing retailers to liquidate their older, non-digital, analog-television components. So they took the card out of it's pretty packaging, removed television-signal processing from its feature list, and dumped them in the US.
PAL, NTSC, none of that has anything to do with how a video card plays games, it's strictly for how a video card processes television signals, and if you don't use your computer to watch television it doesn't matter. I LOL at this card - I own two, even if you don't need them for gaming it's a good video card for servers, etc. I'm not saying it's a serious gamer card, because it's not - the memory used is only GDDR2, running at 100Mhz slower than standard (500Mhz vs 600Mhz), but it does have a full 256MB of video memory and I can honestly say that with a good basic computer it will play WoW at acceptable framerates (in my little E2200 system I can spin at the flight point in Shatt with 28-32 fps at 1280x1024 - which is fine).
If you're absolutely strapped for cash it's only $29.99, you're not gonna find a better card for the money.
-- Peotr
P.S. Let there be flammage.
P.P.S. If you don't have a basic understanding of computer components please don't buy one of these cards without asking if it's appropriate. I don't want anyone buying a cheapo Sapphire 2600XT to replace their 'aging' 7900GT, and I don't want anyone trying to stuff a PCIe graphics card into an AGP slot.
I avoid offering much PC purchasing advice; it's dangerous, because it's impossible to match the expectations of people who aren't educated about computers. Also, any time you offer advice about computer purchases on any (any) bulletin board, someone will jump in and say, "NOOO, THAT'S STOOPID!" These thread-jumpers aren't necessarily wrong but they are usually insistent to the point of zealotry, and they mostly just confuse the issue for others who will never understand the intricacies of computer performance.
However, a few people with low-framerate issues have picked my brain for solutions.
Everyone's computer is different. Some people buy good mail-order computers that came without enough RAM (memory); other people have computers that are burdened with cruft from years of surfing the web, their operating systems struggling against processor-slowing background tasks like a ship whose hull is covered with barnacles.
Some people's computers are just too old.
Another common problem is a good computer purchased from a large retailer or office supply store that came with a video card / onboard video solution that was never designed to play games. Windows Vista requires a modest amount of 3D graphics capability to run the Aero interface, but that doesn't mean that the video solution is meant for graphics-intensive games.
-----------------
Most people shudder at the price of computer components. Myself, I think nothing of dropping $300.00 on a new processor or video card (I just spent $650.00 on a video card last month), but for other people that kind of money is 3/4 of the price of the computer that they are still making payments on.
Occasionally, though, the computer parts Gods are kind, and good deals can be found. If you're suffering from poor graphics card performance, there are a couple of inexpensive offerings that can help your computer:
(NOTE: I ONLY RECOMMEND PURCHASES FROM NEWEGG. IF YOU FIND AN EXCELLENT DEAL SOMEWHERE ELSE, GREAT, BUT I ONLY DEAL WITH NEWEGG.)
1. PNY 8800 GT for $119.00. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133232)
This is a real gamer video card, and it's cheap. My friend has had one for a few months, and I've had one in my guest computer for a few weeks, and it runs fast and fine. Note: Elkwood hates PNY.
2. ASUS ATI 3850 video card for $89.99 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121219), and only $59.99 with a $30.00 mail-in rebate.
This is a good gamer card at a very good price. It's not as beefy as the 8800GT listed above, but it will still play most games with reasonable framerates (no, it won't play Crysis worth a crap. My $650.00 video card won't play Crysis worth a crap.)
3. Sapphire 2600XT for $29.99. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16814102755)
This is an odd-duck card. Sapphire originally built these for non-US sales (they come set-up for the PAL television standard - in the US we use NTSC) but they got hit with a major VAT tax as countries in Europe and Asia started forcing retailers to liquidate their older, non-digital, analog-television components. So they took the card out of it's pretty packaging, removed television-signal processing from its feature list, and dumped them in the US.
PAL, NTSC, none of that has anything to do with how a video card plays games, it's strictly for how a video card processes television signals, and if you don't use your computer to watch television it doesn't matter. I LOL at this card - I own two, even if you don't need them for gaming it's a good video card for servers, etc. I'm not saying it's a serious gamer card, because it's not - the memory used is only GDDR2, running at 100Mhz slower than standard (500Mhz vs 600Mhz), but it does have a full 256MB of video memory and I can honestly say that with a good basic computer it will play WoW at acceptable framerates (in my little E2200 system I can spin at the flight point in Shatt with 28-32 fps at 1280x1024 - which is fine).
If you're absolutely strapped for cash it's only $29.99, you're not gonna find a better card for the money.
-- Peotr
P.S. Let there be flammage.
P.P.S. If you don't have a basic understanding of computer components please don't buy one of these cards without asking if it's appropriate. I don't want anyone buying a cheapo Sapphire 2600XT to replace their 'aging' 7900GT, and I don't want anyone trying to stuff a PCIe graphics card into an AGP slot.