New Graphics Card

Gavin57

I am thinking of upgrading my existing graphics card a 6600GT. I have been looking at a XpertVision nVidia GeForce 9600GT 512MB here. Has any one got any other recommendations or suggestions.

Cat695

If its speed your after then this is faster though not cheaper

just because it has a 9 in it doesn't mean its faster than the older 88 series

http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/Graphics+Cards/PCI-E/nVIDIA+GeForce+8+Series/XFX+GeForce+8800GT+Alpha+Dog+512MB+PCI-E+?productId=31909

jaydeeuk1

Radeon 4670 for about £50. What CPU do you have? If its not a dual core, I'd spend some cash on upgrading that too.

Noticed this too (8800gt):

http://www.ebuyer.com/product/149370

Faster the 9600gt, and less than £50 to boot!

Blacksheep1979

What are you wanting to use it for?

Gavin57

I am looking for a all round graphics card. I do play games occasionally on the computer. My motherboard is an Asus A8NE with a 2.20 AMD Athlon 64 processor.

jaydeeuk1

The 8800GT for £47 is the best bang for buck, assuming your PSU is up to it (400w+).
As you only seem to play games occassionally, it wouldn't make much sense to blow hundreds on a system you might not fully use. However the 8800gt will still be an excellent card even when you upgrade in the future.

iviv

One very large point to be raised is the slot that the graphics card uses. Older computers have an AGP slot, while newer ones have a PCI-Express (PCI-E) slot.

Its important to check which one you have before ordering a new card, otherwise you'll find it won't fit!
The easiest way is going to involve opening up your PC and removing the graphics card (This will likely need a screwdriver to unscrew the backplate, though some cases just clip or slide them in).

An AGP slot is usually maroon in colour, looking like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:AGP_slot.jpg

PCI-E slots come in several different colours, but should look like this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:PCI-Express-Bus.jpg

However, the PCI-E slot is not to be confused with the normal PCI slots. Your computer will have 3-5 of these in a row either above or below the graphics card. You can't run a graphics card through these.


Further reading:
Each month, Toms Hardware has a rundown of the best graphics cards available at several different price points. However, they seem to have stopped doing these on the UK version of the site, though the latest US one can be found here. I should think that graphics cards will be roughly the same price relative to each other, you just need to convert from $ to £ and add VAT. They also have a page with AGP cards in case thats what you have, and finish with a handy table showing roughly how powerfull all the cards are in relation to each other.

Antispam

Some fo the modern pc cards also draw a lot of power around too especially pci-e cards so if you have a 300w psu you may need to upgrade that too

Gavin57

The motherboard has a PCI Express x16 slot. The psu is 550w.

Is there any difference between PCI Express and PCI-E or are they the same.

I am currently looking at XFX GeForce 8800GT 512MB or XFX GeForce 9600 GT though the 8800gt at ebuyer looks tempting.

Also found a XFX NVIDIA GeForce 8800GS 384MB at CCLonline.

iviv

PCI-E is just a shorthand way of writing PCI-Express.

And forget about the 9600, the 8800 is equal, if not better than it.
Essentially, the first number shows the level of technology in it. the 9xxx series has better tech in it. The second number shows how fast it is. So an 8800 is faster than a 9600, just it uses slightly older technology. Nothing serious, speed is better in this case.

Gavin57

I ended up buying a XFX 9800GT. Fun now starts uninstalled old card and drivers and fitted new graphics card (it was a bit of a squeeze), plugged in power to card. Switched on computer a bit of text on screen first showng type of card then m/b bios boot up screen comes up computer, beeps once, then reboots back to card text then loops. I cannot get past bios screen I cannot get into bios. I tried taking the card out and and putting it in the slot again.

I ended up removing card and reinstalling original card and all working as before.

It is a pci express 2.0 card are they compatible with pci x16 slots and a 550 watt psu should be enough to power card. Does anyone have any ideas what may be wrong and how I may try and get the new card working.