Inexpensive Vid Card For Sis' College Pc?

[Sasage]

Hey Fellas,

I'm gonna pretty much use the same setup as my comp but she doesn't need a 9800Pro. Whats a decent vid card that she could use? No gaming will be done or anything.

BTW.... do you think I should use the XMS Extreme memory as well or no?

Thanks.

Edit: Maybe the MX440 or something with 128?

[Arm]

If my old RADEON card wasent broke you could have it. Good hardware acceleration and overall decent video card, for 1999. But it is broke and hangs the computer.

[Spicker]

ATI Radeon 8500
ATI Radeon 7000
ATI Radeon 7500

Nvida MX-440

[tesco]

don't get the 7000 or 7500 those cards are shit. my friend has the 7000 (might be the 7500 not sure).

an mx440 is great for what u need. 5200 would be my next choice (or 8500, not sure though i've never seen one...)

[Virtualbody1234]

Absolutely no gaming?

Just get the lowest priced card you can.

Or even a used PCI card from an old PC.



You also don't say if you are building the whole PC. If so then you could use a motherboard with onboard graphics.

[Sasage]

Does the Abit NF7-S already have onboard graphics?

[tesco]

Originally posted by Sasage@13 August 2004 - 14:58
Does the Abit NF7-S already have onboard graphics?

no.

[Ariel_001]

I have a Nvida MX-440. It is good.. I even play Max Payne on it.

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[img]http://img12.exs.cx/img12/2893/NV440MX.png' width='200' height='120' border='0' alt='click for full size view'>

[peat moss]

As VB suggested onboard vid . Then use the savings for other goodies like more memory or a dvd rw. But get a mobo you can upgrade with 8x agp. People are so fickle , she may complain when her new roomie can't play his new game.

[3RA1N1AC]

Originally posted by Virtualbody1234@13 August 2004 - 11:43
Absolutely no gaming?

Just get the lowest priced card you can.

Or even a used PCI card from an old PC.



You also don't say if you are building the whole PC. If so then you could use a motherboard with onboard graphics.

the "no games" part makes it easy to go as cheap as possible, but there's still nothing wrong with spending a few bucks on a card with decent 2D quality and driver support, right? games aren't everything...

i'd suggest getting an original Radeon (or Radeon 7000, which is the same thing just with a different name). ATI's cards tend to be pretty reliable as far as desktop image quality goes. a Nvidia MX card would be comparable... but with so many companies manufacturing those, the image quality can be unpredictable (might be good, might be not-so-good). most importantly, just go with ATI or Nvidia at least for the driver support, to save your sister & yourself from unnecessary problems that might come with fishing a generic piece of junk out of the clearance bin.

if image fidelity is not a huge concern, a Nvidia motherboard with any onboard Geforce chip should be a safe choice.