my video card

[DooMMooD]

ok, i know a lot about computer hardware seeing as how i put my computer together. but if there is one thing i am totally lost about, its video cards. my computer only has 16mb onboard graphics and supports OpenGL believe it or not. but the computer my mom just got from Dell has this video card:

9700 ATI Radeon
400 MHz DAC
128 MB DDR RAM

how good is this video card? and what video card should i get for my computer? im kinda tight on money, so something below the $150-$100 range would be preferable.

[Nomad]

Tonight, after your mom goes to sleep, switch the videocards in yours and her computer. She won't know the difference, I guarantee. And you'll be kickin all kind of Demon ass with the souped up new card. ;)

[DooMMooD]

i would, but like i said, mine is onboard. its fused onto the motherboard. but what videocard should i get for my computer, cheaply?

[Nomad]

Oh, shit. I didn't notice that.

Um. I'm not all that hip on video cards either, so I'll leave that up to someone else.

[The Undertaker]

Buy her a GF4MX for around $40. Thats if you have an AGP slot, if you don't your gonne be stuck with a 5200 or 9200.

[Tyberious]

any card really, depends on what she does, if she is into gaming or uses 3d applications or anything that requires a fast vid card then you better replace it with something better, if she surfs the web and isn't that smart in computers then anything that is decient (low to mid range) should do good. Make sure when you take out the card you one, replace the card with the other one you bought (duh) uninstall the drivers (least there be compatability problems, and do this before taking out the card) and three install the new drivers the came with the cd or from the manufactors site, then there should be no problems and you wont get cought, hopefully if you pull it off right.

[Doom_Dude]

Id like to think you'll ask her for a card swappage instead of doing the sneaking. :p

[The Undertaker]

Thats no fun.

[Doom2Hell]

i would definitly ask, especially since dell has a WARRANTY, and tampering with the guts can void her warranty, completely. id hate one day for her to have an issue and call dell, and while on the phone report she has a different card installed by reading something the tech asks her to, bye bye warranty. I would buy yerself your own, recently i bought a ATI 9600 256MB for $149 - $10 instant rebate, -$30 mail in = $109, and thats real good for this card. It SCREAMS on Enemy Territory, runs Far Cry like a dream, and i would imagine any game out now would run on it if Far Cry can.

[GoldEyes]

Amen to the Warranty deal. Why the hell anyone would want to void their warranty is beyond me. I dont think the mother would be too pleased either, if something happened to her computer, she called Dell and they told her she is SOL because of a video card replacment killing her warranty.

[The Undertaker]

If it doesn't break down within a month odds are it won't break down in years (unless your not doing intensive enough stuff or like to play with stuff). The exception being anything with moving parts like hard drives and those motherboards with exploding capitors.

[GoldEyes]

Yeah but still, its Murpheys Law...you change out a part yourself, void your warranty, something will break the next day. Why would anyone want to chance that?

[Tyberious]

Yeah but still, its Murpheys Law...you change out a part yourself, void your warranty, something will break the next day. Why would anyone want to chance that?

she got you there, personally I would ask her but if you want to play it safe then buy your own.

i would definitly ask, especially since dell has a WARRANTY, and tampering with the guts can void her warranty, completely. id hate one day for her to have an issue and call dell, and while on the phone report she has a different card installed by reading something the tech asks her to, bye bye warranty. I would buy yerself your own, recently i bought a ATI 9600 256MB for $149 - $10 instant rebate, -$30 mail in = $109, and thats real good for this card. It SCREAMS on Enemy Territory, runs Far Cry like a dream, and i would imagine any game out now would run on it if Far Cry can.

amen on farcry! If anything runs with farcry then your card should play any game flawlessly. I may be an overclocker,modder etc. but I understand the value of warrenty and when my $200+ card has a warrenty, that is invaluable. That is the reason why I didn't modify anything on it.

[Abrax]

That 9700 was probably an SE anyway. As what was printed in this months PC format over here, it said that Radeon SE cards are so cheap because 'they are factory rejects with half the core disabled so they run treacle slow'.

[The Undertaker]

There wasn't an SE for the 9700. All the stuff came after that (except for the Ti4800SE which is a 4400). But you got the descrition right. Its either a 64 bit bus like the 9200 and 9600 or half the pipes disabled like the 9800 (but those can be turned on half the time).

[Tyberious]

you know that isn't isn't entirely true abrax. there is a process called "speed binning" and those chips did nto pass all the tests so they disable the pipes int he factory and resell them to make up for the loss hince the SE name for SECOND EDITION. there are no 9700 SE cards. and no 9500 SE cards either. Just thought I should clear that up.

[Abrax]

I don't know anything about the 9700, apart from the fact that you can't get it over here. I do know that it isnt entirely true, Tyb, I was quoting from PC Format.

[Tyberious]

I wasn't railing on you and It was a simple mistake because they have so many SE cards floating around. I was jsut giving the definition of why they released the SE versions, when I originally posted this I thought you bought the magazine's word as gosphel but I thought about it again in a more logical form and I assume you to be a hell of a lot smarter then that but I did not correct my post so you caught me in that sense.

I appreciate your input none of the less.

[Abrax]

Thats OK, thats why I'm here, to keep you on your toes...