can anyone recommend me a <£40 graphics card?

barginboyrob

hi, i'm not that knowledgeable about graphics card, and i was wondering if someone could reccommend me a graphics card for under £40 (like of aria, ebuyer etc)

Also, is a 256mb card always better than a 128mb card?

and what is the difference between PCI, and AGP?

and are they easy to install?

and when the game is jerky, is that to do with the ram or the graphic card?

Sorry about all those questions!!

Thanks for your help, i can't wait until i can start playing pc games again with no trouble

muddyfox470

ok graphics cards.

with a £40 budget you will be looking at 64mb or 128mb cards if you are lucky.

and on this budget may i ask what you are hoping to use the pc / gfx card for?

as for one thing you wont be able to play any most recent games well or at all!

they are easy to install, yes, so there are no real problems, you just have to be careful with how you install and uninstall the drivers for the existing cards, as it can get complicated.

Just looking through google this is the best guide i could find : http://www.mysuperpc.com/vcu/steps.shtml

Also a thing to bear in mind is that some PC's will only accept certain types of graphics cards. I.e. Dell PCs dont normally have AGP slots so you will be limited to a PCI card. Also you may need to disable any onboard graphics card (if they exist) before installing your graphics card to avoid any conflicts etc.

WIth your budget AGP and PCI will make no difference whatsoever. So go for whatever, however PCI graphics cards do tend to be a lot more expensive than their similarily specced AGP counterparts.

Both Ati and Nvidia are the main players, and at this budget there is nothing really to seperate them.

Have a look on ebuyer,. aria etc, but also have a look at https://www.overclockers.co.uk (altho their customer support isnt too good - have a look in their b-grade and sale section (after clicking on products) and they may have some good deals!) also microdirect, pcnextday also come to mind,altho https://www.retekdirect.co.uk have some great bargains from time to time, so maybe thats worth a look. but once you have found a suitable graphics card have a look in https://www.kelkoo.co.uk and https://www.froogle.co.uk to compare prices and see what is happening!

SOme Graphics Cards i would Have a look at.

MX4000 (Nvidia)
MX400 (NVidia)
Radeon 7000 (ATi)
Radeon 7500 (ATi)
Radeon 8500 (ATi)
Radeon 9250 (ATi)

The 9250 prob will be the best performing in the bunch. altho have a look in google to see what the review sites say about it, but as you dont have a budget that some strange people have, dont worry about it when they say, 'it wont play the latest games etc'

Also another thing to note is that you are looking at AGP and PCI graphics cards, and don't get mixed up with the newer technology (PCI-E or PCI-X) as these most likely wont work in your pc as it is brand new technology! And that is what the majority of people are selling now.

Ok, i won't be online again (i have hardly any time to myself atm), however post your needs etc, and i am sure someone else (anothe techie junkie) will be able to point you in the right directions and give you some good advice!

One last place of call is https://www.kustompcs.co.uk they are the best PC firm i have come across and have absolutely superb customer service; give them an email @ sales@kustompcs.co.uk and specify your budget and they should be able to help!

Ok well i hope that has sorted you out a bit, i better go and get some sleep, from what i have been missing out on.

Good luck (not that you will need it)

Ian

PS. Also it may be worth jinging a PC forums, such as http://forums.kustompcs.co.uk which is dedicated to PC stuff and is full of friendly people who could help you further there, i am part of the forums as well with the same name, muddyfox470. Have a look around, and try and get a few peoples opinions!

EDIT: OOps sorry admin i clicked the thanks button by mistake, as i was just trying to get a bit of info etc.

wolfman

You should be able to get an ATI 9550 for around £40, maybe just under.

muddyfox470

Or you could look into the second hand market, you could probably pick up a 9600pro for £40 2nd hand, and that will beat everything mentioned before.

But if you want the warranty and newness, the 9550 should do you fine!

Ian

barginboyrob

cool, i was looking at http://www.retekdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Video_Cards.html

i was wondering if, when buying radeon cards, if the higer the number, the better the card, e.g Radeon 9700 is better than Radeon 9600 etc

cheer
p.s. i don't suppose anyone could recommend me a graphics card on http://www.retekdirect.co.uk/acatalog/Video_Cards.html


thankyou!!!

cougar_3

muddyfox470 wrote:

with a £40 budget you will be looking at 64mb or 128mb cards if you are lucky.

I disagree completely. I bought a 256mb card from ebay for £36 i think. It is the cheapest of the 256 cards, but it's better than my mid priced 128mb.

blinky

For the same graphics chip a 128Mb card would be faster than a 256Mb card as the 256Mb card would use slower RAM. It is also highly doubtful that a card in that price range would be able to use the extra memory...

Joe_Bloggs

@bargainboyrob
You have not mentioned whether you have an AGP slot or not. This is an important factor as without AGP the range of cards is restricted to PCI in your case.
J_B.

barginboyrob

at the moment i have a radeon 7500, if i take that out, then i can use that slot?
is there any software which can tell you if you have a spare slot as i don't want to open my computer up for that! my computer is about 2 years old.

thanks for your help!

blinky

barginboyrob wrote:

at the moment i have a radeon 7500, if i take that out, then i can use that slot?
is there any software which can tell you if you have a spare slot as i don't want to open my computer up for that! my computer is about 2 years old.

thanks for your help!

Yes you can use the same slot

I've never seen a board with more than one AGP slot.

Try Belarc Advisor or Sisoft Sandra Lite to get the system details. CPU-Z might help you as well

Please feel free to post the information generated back here

tr3mor

truscott_uk wrote:

I disagree completely. I bought a 256mb card from ebay for £36 i think. It is the cheapest of the 256 cards, but it's better than my mid priced 128mb.

i'm sorry, you're speaking absolute crap. even in top end graphics card most of the time it doesn't make much difference. in cheap cards like yours, it will make no difference to the performance whatsoever.