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General discussion

Need Help choosing a graphics card!

Dec 28, 2006 4:17PM PST

Hi im new here and i've been having troubles finding a good graphics card. My pc is an emachine >_< 2.06 ghz, 512mb ram, 120 gb HD and has onboard graphics. Well it really sucks because it cant play anything. So i need your help to find a good graphics card that will play battlefield 2, doom 3, half life 2, and all those other goodies. My budget is about 175$ and i've been looking at these two.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145139
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121216

And can someone tell me why a GeForce 6800 costs more than a 7300?

Discussion is locked

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why a GeForce 6800 costs more than a 7300?
Dec 30, 2006 4:35PM PST

The 6800 has 12 pixel pipelines to the 7300's 8, and a larger memory. Also I believe that Asus is a better brand name.

But I really don't know which is the better performer. Both are kind of low end. They should play all the games you listed and modest levels, but you won't be able to get higher settings with playable framerates. Plus it won't be very long before you'll have to upgrade, if you want to keep playing newer games as they come out.

I'd reccomend a 7600gs or above, or ATI 1650pro and up. You should ba ble to find those in your price range. Check tomshardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/graphics/index.html), each month they publish a list of the best graphics cards broken up by price range.

Also, check prices at Tigerdirect.com as well as the big chain stores websites. Newegg does have the best prices most of the time, but sometimes you can catch stuff on sale at the other sites.

Oh, one more thing, if go ahead and upgrade to a full gig of RAM that'll make your graphics (and everything else)run smoother too. (http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/12/13/how_much_ram_do_you_really_need/)

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Need a video card?
Jan 6, 2007 12:52AM PST

Yo man.

I know manythings about Video card (PC) i think i can help in.
Well the first thing that you have to know is that the Nvidia is the creator of OpenGL they are better with the games that used to have kind of things. and ATI is better at 3D System, but the OpenGL is the newer technology and all the new games are using the OpenGL 2.0... So Nvidia is better.

DOnt buy a 7300 Series cuz they are bad... U have to buy a 7600GT o 7600GS to play the lastes games in Midium, but the 6 Series i mean 6800 or 6800 Ultra is better than a 7300 but is almost the same that a 7600Series.

If you wanna play a Hi-D games u have to buy in my opinion a 6800Ultra or 7800GT or more if u can.

i'm using a 7800GS CO SuperClocked of 256MB AGP 8x. thats better than 7800GT SuperClocked PCI-e 16x. i already buy a 8800GTX cuz with this new generations of games like Crysis with the Crytek2 ( new engine ) we will need a video cards like 7800GT or more! thats the reallity.

I think you have to have a good Video card and try to get an extra money to buy one of this cuz u will need it, trust me u will.

I hope that this works for you ( be helpfull ) and enjoy what ever video card u want to buy.

Good luck and Peace!

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AGP?
Jan 7, 2007 4:17AM PST

your comment on how x8AGP is faster than x16 psi-e is WRONG and very incroect....

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7600gt
Jan 8, 2007 7:47AM PST

id go with a nvidia 7600gt best bang for your buck you can get them at around 200 canadian if you go to a computer store not a place like best buy so if your talking 175 american then its right in your price range

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Heres What you do...
Jan 9, 2007 2:23PM PST

Get an xbox 360! i got one and almost all pc games are in it plus u can use a controller plus headset.
i haven hl2, battlefield, fear soon, and oblivion all on xbox... why waste ur time on a computer paying tons of money for things that you'll have to upgrade??? big waste of time