Looking for better video card(s)...

[ramonhodges]

Hi, all! I'm a gamer and I'm looking for a better video card or cards than what I have now. I primarily play Star Wars Galaxies (HUGE video resource hog) and City of Heroes/City of Villains, and am hoping to play Star Wars: The Old Republic when it reaches beta, but I'd really like better hardware before it comes out.

Here's my current configuration:

mobo: ECS NF650iSLIT-A v1.0
processor: Pentium 4 641 (3.2ghz)
memory: 4gb (2x 2gb) Crucial PC2-6400 DDR2
video: 2x Geforce 6800 256mb in SLI
Windows 7 Ultimate RC x64 Edition
(generic sound, network, and 420w Thermaltake power supply)

What I'd like to trade for is one or two better video cards, and maybe some more matching memory (though that's totally optional). Here's what I have to offer:

ECS P4M900T-M motherboard
Corsair Memory 512 MB PC2-5300 DDR2 RAM
(VS512MB667D2 on the label)
Samsung Memory 512 MB PC2-4200 DDR2-533
(M378T6553EZS-CD5 on the label)
Geforce 6800 256mb PCIE video card
Geforce 7300 GS 256mb PCIE video card
Pentium E2140 Dual-Core 1.6ghz processor (no fan)

So if anybody out there has a spare Nvidia card or cards sitting around, and would like to make a trade, please let me know! :)

Thanks!

[zxor 2]

why are you still holding onto pent 4 procesors ?????

[ramonhodges]

Because it works and does everything I want/need it to.

[zxor 2]

ohh hey hgow are you fekllow techie
i didnt mean no offewnse thought you might want to try the new pentium d series

[ramonhodges]

None taken. :) I actually wouldn't mind trying something different, but haven't been able to get anything new in a long time.

[jbennet]

you might want to try the new pentium d series

the D series is till pretty poor though. The Core2 sare miles ahead.

Ive got a p4 myself (extreme edition, 3.8ghz - got off ebay) . Im still haning onto it because it works for me, and my motherboard doesnt support multi-core

Back to topic,

geforce upgrade equivilents guide:

midrange cards:
An 8600 is a better than a 7900
An 9500 is a better than a 8600

An 8600 is an okay card and is cheap. Runs , say, battlefield 2 on very high, FEAR on medium/high. Command & Conquer 3 on medium, COD4 on medium/low. Quite power efficient and easy to install and cool.

high end cards:
An 8800 is a very capable card still, but a bit of a pain as its large, and has high power requirements. Its roughly equivilent to the new 9600.

[zxor 2]

well let me bring you up to speed ....most video cards like XFX and ATI uses SLI technology (using two video card as one) however to use ati cards your mobo or motherboard needs to use crossfire technology ( ati cards basically ) AMD now for intel then you can use Nvidia ,xfx and look out for BFG there also gforce cards as well using physics technology

[zxor 2]

now for the d series is pretty good now keep in mind Bus Speeds play a major role in deciding the processor
dont settle for less get the best or second best
the top 2 bus speeds your mobo can do ...will do greatly

[mirandadnarmi]

do you still have that motherboard?? I';ll give you an Nvidia NVIDIA Geforce Graphics 9400 HDMI 512MB PCIE for all your stufff, i want that motherboard and the video cards you have...

[crunchie]

You got to be joking, yes? That card is only worth about US$50. I would be looking for a 9800GT at least for all on offer.

[jbennet]

Yeah. The 9400 is an entry/mid level card. Retail for £30 to £60 here. A bad deal.

The 9500 aint bad, marginally better than the old 8600. Good for midrange gaming. But the 9600 is better for gamers. 9800 should be able to run the games on max, but its a lot more expensive and hungry for power. IMHO a good upgrade from an old 8800 though.