Member Avatar for Bhstickman

Hi, I'll start with my system specs:
CPU: AMD Athlon 2.2 GHz rated at 3.1 GHz
RAM: 1024 mb
Vid Card: ATI Radeon 9200SE 128mb AGP

I am looking to buy a new video card in order to play the newest games such as Oblivion, FEAR, etc. My video card is the only thing holding me back. I do not want to spend more than $150 and I really want some sort of Nvidia 6800. I was looking at the 256mb BFG overclocked one, and i saw one for cheap on ebay, but in case the bid goes up, does anybody have any suggestions for what i should buy that would ensure me the highest quality in most games? A 7800 is too expensive, but a 6200 is a little low. I am a looking for an agp. Also, I only have a 250w power supply, so i am looking to upgrade for about $20 to a 400w supply. Any suggetions on the power would be appreciated as well.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by Chaky
Member Avatar for nizzy1115

Not all psu's are created equal. If you want the cheapest quality one you can buy, newegg has a $40 430 watt thermaltake psu with $15 off through today. It is not a cheap psu nor a super quality one, but it will be capable of your graphics upgrades. DO NOT JUST BUY THE CHEAPEST PSU YOU CAN.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153023

You can get a 512 mb nvidia 6800 for 168. I think its the best bang for the buck.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121216

Member Avatar for Bhstickman

The card sounds like a great deal, and has all of the features i want, lol including a 512 mb memory. Thats crazy. Anyway, the only thing i kinda wanna stay away from is the 128 - bit memory with only gddr2. I was kinda hoping for a 256 - bit with gddr3. But if it can run Oblivion on high (which i heard it can) then its probably worth it. Im waiting till the beginning of july to get any upgrades because Ill be getting back from my trip to Europe, and with whatever money i have left from that ill make some upgrades. Hopefully itll only be like $140 by then. Ill check ebay in the meantime. Oh, also, the power supply. I really dont know how to tell if it will be a quality PSU so maybe you can help me. THere were a few on tigerdirect.com that are like $25. Ill give you the link so you can check them out. Oh and one more thing, i know this might not be the appropriate place, but what is the purpose of those PhysX cards? Cant GPU's and CPU's handle the physics? I really dont understand the purpose of those. Maybe somebody can help me with that. Thanks in advance.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Lprice=0.01&Hprice=24.99&Nav=|c:1078|&Sort=3&Recs=10

Member Avatar for nizzy1115

well currently graphics cards can not perform physics tasks persay, but they will in the future, so getting one is a waste. Actually, people with really high end gaming rigs notice a significant decrease in performance when using them and some have gotten rid of them because of this. Really, right now all they are is a niche product, something to brag that you have, but its not really useful.

Member Avatar for Bhstickman

They jacked the price of the 6800 on newegg.com to $172.99. What gives? i thought things got cheaper as time went by, not more expensive. I just hope it comes down this summer. Oh, did you look at any of those power supplies on tigerdirect?

Member Avatar for Chaky

If you want f.e.a.r. you'll have to go pci-e (read: mobo and mo'$$$)

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