Upgrading My 256mb Card, Need Input!

MrTRiotMrTRiot Northern Ontario Icrontian
edited January 2009 in Hardware
I've finally got the cash to consider upgrading my old 256 Radeon x1300 Crossfire.

Surprisingly this card can actually play Fallout 3, EQ2, WoW...shall I go on? I'm looking for reliability above all else. This card is about 3 years old and has not failed me once, even when overclocked.

My big issue is should I go for an amazing 512 or should I aim for something closer to 1 gig?


This is where I plan on buying it so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Comments

  • mas0nmas0n howdy Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    What resolution do you game at? What is your price range? What are the system specs for the box this will be going into?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    First and foremost, memory has nothing to do with the performance of the card. I can show you some 512MB cards that won't even run games that some 256MB cards will eat for breakfast.

    With that out of the way, I have two questions:
    What is your budget?
    What do you intend to play?
  • MrTRiotMrTRiot Northern Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    mas0n wrote:
    What resolution do you game at? What is your price range? What are the system specs for the box this will be going into?

    1024x768 :-(

    Intel Pentium 4
    3.0 Ghz (not overclocked atm)
    2 gigs of Ram
    ~9 gigs of virtual ram
    Thrax wrote:
    With that out of the way, I have two questions:
    What is your budget?
    What do you intend to play?

    1) Budget? I'm looking at about 150-200 for now, although if I find a nice card that could possibly go as high as 350

    2) Eve online, Fallout 3, whatever other games I can find lol. I also plan to hook it up to a TV at some point and use the TV as a duel monitor.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Do you have a PCI Express slot on your motherboard?

    And is your budget in Canadian or USD?
  • MrTRiotMrTRiot Northern Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Thrax wrote:
    Do you have a PCI Express slot on your motherboard?

    And is your budget in Canadian or USD?


    PCI-E, and Canadian...

    check the site I linked in my first post, it's where I plan on buying it :p
  • MrTRiotMrTRiot Northern Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I hate to do this but....

    TTT...[To The Top]

    I was hoping for more of an input by now :(
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    That old CPU is gonna hold you back in performance...

    I have a 3GHz P4 and an X1950... (Getting hard to play the new games...)
  • rolleggrollrolleggroll Next to a bowl of rice
    edited November 2008
    Mr TRiot wrote:
    1024x768 :-(

    Intel Pentium 4
    3.0 Ghz (not overclocked atm)
    2 gigs of Ram
    ~9 gigs of virtual ram

    2) Eve online, Fallout 3, whatever other games I can find lol. I also plan to hook it up to a TV at some point and use the TV as a duel monitor.

    ATI 4850. Either by asus, or Saphire Toxic edition.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    After you get your upgrade, lets us know how it goes. Also, get that new card in production for the Icrontic Folding@Home team. You are invited to join. Use your new video card for scientific research and have a blast with our team.

    Good luck with your upgrade. New video card purchases are usually quite fun.
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    for that budget you can't beat a 4850.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    I agree. The 4850 is a solid card and a great choice.
  • MrTRiotMrTRiot Northern Ontario Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Leonardo wrote:
    After you get your upgrade, lets us know how it goes. Also, get that new card in production for the Icrontic Folding@Home team. You are invited to join. Use your new video card for scientific research and have a blast with our team.

    Good luck with your upgrade. New video card purchases are usually quite fun.

    That would be pretty cool. I haven't really folded too much since Short Media :tongue:

    rolleggroll wrote:
    ATI 4850. Either by asus, or Saphire Toxic edition

    I was looking that up and it's definitely what I was looking for. Now to find a place other then the typical "big box" stores to buy it ;D
  • rolleggrollrolleggroll Next to a bowl of rice
    edited November 2008
    Mr TRiot wrote:
    That would be pretty cool. I haven't really folded too much since Short Media :tongue:




    I was looking that up and it's definitely what I was looking for. Now to find a place other then the typical "big box" stores to buy it ;D

    newegg.com or tigerdirect.com
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    http://icrontic.pgpartner.com/
  • BuddyJBuddyJ Dept. of Propaganda OKC Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Try Newegg Canada and NCIX. :canflag:
  • muddocktormuddocktor
    edited November 2008
    If you are an Nvidia fan and want a little cheaper card, the 9800GT would also be a good choice and BTW, those card also fold like nobody's business too.
  • siruspernotsiruspernot TN
    edited January 2009
    I second the opinion about the 4850, I saw the 4870 today for 212 dollars on google somewhere. I have the powercolor HD 4830 512MB. It's clock is 575Mhz GPU 900x2 GDDR3. I OC mine to 600MHz and 920x2 GDDR3. I spent about 120 dollars for the card from Directron.

    I can play crysis warhead on Gamer settings at 1600x1200 with no hiccups. STALKER clear sky also plays pretty well. DX10 games look amazing (vista only). In STALKER i have all settings maxed except for the sun ray and SSAO features are disabled. With this I never go below about 32 FPS using DX10 dynamic lighting at 1600x1200. For me this is perfectly playable. I do wish I would have spent the extra 15 dollars for the 4850 though. ATI HD 4x00 series are very very nice cards.
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