Anyone know what's the best deal on a Video Card? And can that card be OCed? Thanks.

Take care and always try to have fun,
Because life is too short not to.
And you never know when any day could be your last,
So never take anything, and especially anyone for granted!

Prolly the FX5900xt good overclocker..great driver support from Nvidia

or the ATI 9800pro.

AMD Athlon XP 3000+
512 DDR PC2700
BFGtech Geforce 5900XT (OC)
Core 470mhz
Memory 795mhz
160 gig HD
DVD+/-RW
CD/RW

no change to the answer to this question for about two years now.

Ti4200

GeForce 4 Ti 4200/4600? Any particular brand that I should look for or avoid? Is that better than the GeForce FX 5200 Ultra that I have?

Sorry for asking what might be silly questions, but I haven't kept up on Video Cards that much since the days when Voodoo and Matrox were fighting it out for the crown. I just know what's in the mags that I read.

Take care and always try to have fun,
Because life is too short not to.
And you never know when any day could be your last,
So never take anything, and especially anyone for granted!

I found this at PriceWatch....

Chaintech A-GX20 GeForce 4 Ti 4200 128MB DDR 8X AGP w/TV-Out & DVI Video Card Retail Box! Part - 2453-ARS Price $71
Shipping - $4 - 4.95 Basic, FedEx available online! TotalCost $75.95

Arsenal Computers 866-277-3627
440-516-4200 Willoughby , OH

Is this a good deal? Thanks again.

Take care and always try to have fun,
Because life is too short not to.
And you never know when any day could be your last,
So never take anything, and especially anyone for granted!

I think he was kidding. Yes that overclocks good and yes its cheap but, the card itself SUCKS!! Im a ATI Radeon Fan but I think Nvidia can be overclocked more. Try and look for one with a better fan on it if you want to overclock. Also what is your price limit? I could recommend a 1mb video card that can overclock to 50mb with a fan but doesent mean its good lol. Good luck!

NO, he was NOT kidding! The Ti4200 has held it's own since it was introduced. You asked for the "best bang for your buck" that's overclockable...the answer is the Ti4200.

The FX5200 Ultra may be a better card depending on which benchtest you look at, but in your original question, you didn't mention that was the card your currently have. Have a look at these bench comparisons & decide for yourself:

http://www20.graphics.tomshardware.com/graphic/20031229/index.html

"I could recommend a 1mb video card that can overclock to 50mb with a fan"

Really? How do you increase the amount of RAM a card has by installing a fan?

jonoh has a question in the topic "wat to set vcore to" in response to his response

but i'll ask it here anyway and contribute to this topic aswell.

jonho, is it tru that as long as the cpu is suffiecently cooled i can set the vcore to maximum?

the fx5700's r at the sweet spot stage, ok performance & cheap

"is it tru that as long as the cpu is suffiecently cooled i can set the vcore to maximum?"

What would be the point of setting the vcore to it's max? You wanna strive for the lowest possible vcore that will allow your system to run & remain stable. Only raise the vcore if it's absolutely necessary to stablize your overclocked system, & you should go in increments...0.025v, 0.050v, 0.10v at a time (depending on what your BIOS allows). If your overclocked system is stable at 1.75v, there's no reason to crank it up to 1.9v (or higher)

I'm sure johnoh will tackle this if he happens to recheck the thread...

9800 non pro definatly. Just get any other brand besides the ATI one and you can overclock to or past pro speeds. Best bang for the buck card for sure. I have mine at 430/360 with some additional cooling, like $16 bucks for VGA silencer.

"johnoh, is it tru that as long as the cpu is suffiecently cooled i can set the vcore to maximum? "

Generally speaking yes, but that's only because most boards have a low maximum. lol.

And jam's points about the merits of high vcore should be heeded.

Only if you have extreme cooling does a vcore above 1.9v tend to buy you anything.

I wasn't kidding about the ti4200. It is like the Pentium III S. Good enough for a long time after its out-of-vogue, and under rated still.

First off I want to apologize to Jam for not making my statement about the 5200 Ultra clear. The card that I want to get is not going to replace that card, it is for another system. I just wanted a comparison to that card as a reference point.

Second, I want to thank everyone here for their responses. I really appreciate the input that I have gotten on this board.

Lastly, the original question on this thread might no longer be the one that I should be asking, because I may no longer be changing out the mobo, cpu and ram on this system, but making a whole new one anchored by an Athlon 2600+ Barton, ESC mobo VIA KT600 chipset (which Johnoh and Sabertooth said not to get, but it came in the combo deal), Corsair 1gb 3200, and an ATA133 7200rpm 160gb HD with 8mb buffer.
So what video card would you get for the above? Price range would be up to around 250. Thanks again.

Take care and always try to have fun,
Because life is too short not to.
And you never know when any day could be your last,
So never take anything, and especially anyone for granted!

so the biggest danger when dealing with vcores is heat not the fact that it is providing more voltage.

and the biggest danger in cpu overclocking is heat not the fact that the cpu is running at a higher frequency.

btw.. does anyone know at what cpu temp the Asus a7n8x-x shuts of power using its cop feature (cpu overheating protection)

For "THAT" mobo/cpu, I wouldnt go above an FX5700 because the newest and most expensive video cards still depend to a very good extent on your cpu and mobo combo. Check the prices at neww-egg for the 5700's as they are about $100 less than the Best-Buy prices.
Fx5800 might not get you anything more for your current setup!

P.S.
I've always been an ATI dude untill I've seen what the FX-series can actually do!

808

"I've always been an ATI dude untill I've seen what the FX-series can actually do!"

wat can the fx's do? Why does the ati 9800XT blitz every benchmark? anyway i can't afford it.

I want to overclock my crummy fx5200 (250, 400) what would be the maximum overclock with the stock passive hs. I've gathered the only way to check my gpu overclock is not temp (cos its not possible) but look for problems on screen

"so the biggest danger when dealing with vcores is heat not the fact that it is providing more voltage."

that's basically true, although this situation is a little like having a bowling ball fall on your head. What was the bigger problem, the weight of the ball or the height it fell from? Both are problematic.

"and the biggest danger in cpu overclocking is heat not the fact that the cpu is running at a higher frequency."

That is true.