New Video Card Advice

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Anders

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Nov 13, 2007
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"Edge Gamers, we need your help!" [insert dramatic music here]

I currently have an NVIDIA GeForce 6100 Onboard video card. It's running fine with my games, but I'll probably need a new one for Left4Dead. With our new Newegg deal, I think this is a great time to get a new card. I'm not very computer savvy so I need the Edge Gamers help to find a new, good card.

Now, I also have a question, if I get a new one, and when it gets here, do I need to take out the 6100 in order for the new one to work?

I also need to know how to install the new card. If noone really wants to tell me that much detail I can just take it into a guy that has been doing my family's computers for years.

Thanks for your time guys.
 
If possible could you find out whether or not you have pci express x16 or agp on your motherboard, most likely agp is a brownish colored slot on top of all of your pci slots. Or if you could find your motherboard model number that would be helpful.

No if your 6100 is onboard video it is built into the motherboard so you do not have to take it out to use another card, but im certain you will have to disable it.

i would recommend if you had pci express x16

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130318

High reviews for a highly recommended brand, i have an evga myself and it is awesome.
 
I recommend the gtx 260. 896mb 446-bit archetecture. 279 bucks?...No brainer!!
 
that geforce chipset is integrated graphics...I think. What kind of computer/motherboard is it? If you know the model of the motherboard, post that, if you know the name of the computer post that.

Edit: I have to agree with Homie...that card is a good card at a great price.
 
MrQ said:
I recommend the gtx 260. 896mb 446-bit archetecture. 279 bucks?...No brainer!!
Click to expand...

It would be a no brainer, accept for the link I posted above: 9800 gx2 for only ~$285. It's the best card "single" card solution out there, beating the gtx 260 by a wide margin.

Still, though, this is all assuming he has PCI-E x16 and a PSU that can handle these cards (which is doubtful).

17129.png


This should give you a rough idea of the performance of today's top cards.
 
Last edited:
Homie Q said:
If possible could you find out whether or not you have pci express x16
Click to expand...

I checked my device manager under "Computer" and it says ACPI x86-based PC. Under "Processors" it says AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+. If that covered any motherboard thing, cool, if not, how should I find that out?
 
Well,

I would recommend an Nvidia card. But first you have to see if you have PCI e x16 or an AGP card. The stuff you listed doesn't give you enough information. Open your computer box and take a picture of the motherboard and post it on the website if you can. If you can't do that then see which one of these slots your slot looks like.

sata-pci-express-pci-card.jpg


Also a good processor would help you run Left4Dead Well. Right now I have a single 8800GT 512mb VRAM card, but I have a 2.0ghz single core processor, so that is really slowing me down. You seem to have a processor like mine, so if you get a new Graphics card only, you should be able to run Left4Dead at decent settings, just not maxed out.
 
Ma$termind said:
It would be a no brainer, accept for the link I posted above: 9800 gx2 for only ~$285. It's the best card "single" card solution out there, beating the gtx 260 by a wide margin.

Still, though, this is all assuming he has PCI-E x16 and a PSU that can handle these cards (which is doubtful).

17129.png


This should give you a rough idea of the performance of today's top cards.
Click to expand...
Crysis is not the only benchmark to look at.
 
Anders said:
I checked my device manager under "Computer" and it says ACPI x86-based PC. Under "Processors" it says AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3800+. If that covered any motherboard thing, cool, if not, how should I find that out?
Click to expand...

No the x86 thing is what the processor architecture it is and not the motherboard model, could you check under system, device manager, and then system devices, if your motherboard has a pci express slot it should show up somewhere there, if not it should show agp.
 
To know what motherboard you have, follow this link, it's a tool I use at a computer shop I intern at called Belarc Advisor. It will give you all the information we need: Download | Install the program and run it. It will create a profile of your computer. On the right hand side of the screen, look under Main Circuit Board, and it should say what board you have.

Google that board type and you should find the specs of the board you have.

Now, assuming it does have a PCI-Express slot, follow this link for a quick video tutorial on installing a graphics card:[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ILrq7lMe-0&feature=related"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ILrq7lMe-0&feature=related[/ame] There really isn't alot to be scared about. As far as the card itself, the 8800gt is a great upgrade, especially for the price. This card does require 1 six pin power connector, which your power supply may or may not have. If it doesn't, use a the dual 4 pin molex to 6 pin power adapter that comes with the EVGA brand 8800gt.

Remember, if you do install this on your own, it may not work properly until you disable the current graphics adapter you have installed. This can be done easily. Just go to the device manager (right-click on my computer->manage->device manager) go to the Display Adapters tab, right click on the Geforce 6100 and choose disable. Any questions? Feel free to PM me.
 
Also: Before you buy anything, you need to know if your PSU can support it. A new graphics card makes no difference if you don't have enough power to use it!
 
Ma$termind said:
It would be a no brainer, accept for the link I posted above: 9800 gx2 for only ~$285. It's the best card "single" card solution out there, beating the gtx 260 by a wide margin.

Still, though, this is all assuming he has PCI-E x16 and a PSU that can handle these cards (which is doubtful).

17129.png


This should give you a rough idea of the performance of today's top cards.
Click to expand...

OMG, mine isn't even listed!! Hmm, paycheck = new card? Best equation since E=MC?!!
 
My 9800 GTX's in SLI = Off the Chart. Better equation.
 
From the program that Spray has supplied, I got this: "2.40 gigahertz AMD Athlon 64", if it dosen't give you what you want, I'll just take a pic of the thing.
 
Well, that's your processor, thier's no info under "Main Circuit Board" under the board category? For instance mine says:

Main Circuit Board

Board: EVGA 132-CK-NF78 2
Serial Number: 1
Bus Clock: 400 megahertz
BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 6.00 PG 03/24/2008

Nothing like that? Sorry if I wasn't detailed enough.
 
Do some research dude. You might run out and grab those two 9800's but future games that you would want to play might support the GPU chipset better of a GTX 260 or 280.

I had the same problem with my CPU. I bought a 2.6 ghz Quad Core and found out that current games run better on core 2, but future games are gonna be mainly for quad.
 
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