Choosing
the Right Video Card...
Wouldn't it be great if there was one video card out there that
was the best choice for everyone? We could just name it, and
this tech tip would be done. However, there is no magical
solution that is best for everyone. There are a number of
different factors that enter into the decision, including the
speed and type of your processor, your budget, and most
importantly, what you like to do on your computer. And here we
are talking about games, because if you use your computer mostly
to send e-mail and type an occasional letter, the quality of
your video card matters not at all.
Let's assume you play the more recent 3D games and you want
to enhance the experience as much as your budget will allow.
Before you even visit the video-card isle in your local
computer store, let's take a good look at the rest of the
system, starting with the CPU. We recommend a Pentium IV or
Athlon XP running at 2GHz or more. Don't try to scrimp with a
Celeron or Duron regardless of speed, because these lower-end
processors were not designed for the intensive computing
requirements of 3D video processing. The high-end games will
probably run on a lower-end processor, but will not give the
best results. Since a good video card these days could cost
twice as much as your processor, saving money on a processor
that won't use the full capabilities of the card just doesn't
make sense.
Another area where you don't want to cut corners is memory.
If your system has less that 512 MB of high-speed RAM, adding or
upgrading memory will give you more ‘bang for the buck' than
just about anything else. Are you using RIMM or DDR, and can
your system support a 333 MHz FSB or higher? Refer to our
earlier tech tips (posted on the website) about choosing correct
memory, and get the best RAM you can afford. Save some money for
the video card of course, but you also want the system to
squeeze the maximum performance from whatever video card you do
get. OK, now that your system is ready to make use of a good
one, let's focus on the video card itself. It's time to name
names.
NVidia is one popular maker of video chipsets. If you're
leaning that way, make sure you get the Ultra edition. And if
the system has ATI, then we suggest the Pro model. However, if
you've upgraded in the last couple of years and already have an
NVidia GeForce4 like the 4600, or an ATI 9500-9700 series, you
should probably keep it. Going to something newer won't give
enough improvement to justify the cost. Yet, a few months from
now that could change.
If these prices are giving you sticker shock but you still
need to upgrade from that old 2D 8MB PCI video adapter, don't
despair. There are still some decent cards to choose from. One
is the NVidia GeForce FX 5200 for a little more than £70. An ATI
equivalent to this is the Radeon 9500 Pro, which had great
reviews last year in 3D Gaming World. For just a little more you
can step up to the Radeon 9600 Pro, which is basically the low
end for hard-core gamers today.
One last note, you may have heard of the new 8X AGP standard
as being the latest and greatest thing. First, its benefits
require support by both your AGP port and the 3D card, which
sometimes means a motherboard upgrade. Second, we tried it and
honestly couldn't see any noticeable difference between 4X AGP
and 8X AGP. So there you have it. Happy spending.
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