Video Cards

[Firefoxx]

I also upgrade in intervals. A major mainboard/cpu/ram/case upgrade, followed later by VGA, then DVD-R, then HDD, then PSU, then more ram. I'm still using the same 17" monitor I've been using since... errr... yes, I think 6 years (or more). But it's a top of the line monitor, and it's still much better than the typical 17" monitors available now. I remember when I was crazy about getting the best 3d during the Voodoo age... I got the original Voodoo1 for 12k baht, then I got the Voodoo2 for another 12k baht. Since then my enthusiasm has waned considerably.

I've also been interested in LAN parties, but so far I've seen only really small (5-10 people) parties, which are not held very often.

I use a modded aluminum case (a cheap chinese-made one, 2,000 baht, but much better and lighter than typical cases) which has 4 fan mounts. I use 4 Japanese-made fans (I buy them second-hand in Chinatown and do the connections myself) and so the case stays very cool (and Japanese fans are reliable, I've yet to see one fail), even with an overclocked CPU and plenty of 7200 rpm HDDs to cook everything.

Your new VGA card should support dual monitors. It's useful for when you want to play 3d games on the primary monitor and keep tabs on work on the secondary monitor.

[Chailen]

My new VGA card comes with plugs for 2 LCD monitors... I'm only using one plug with an adaptor to my "regular" monitor.

I would love an ASUS main board with another VGA outlet for 3 monitors. But, alas, I have neither room in my pocket nor on my desk.

Voodoo was the coolest thing! I was only 14 or 15 when Vodoo 1 came out, I think. That was my first real "wish I had the money" window-shopping experience. When the Nvidia Geforce series came out, I went through a phase of "any card will do"... until I saw Nalu on a Geforce 6800.

[Ian_B]

Wow Wolfie, you sure know how to make a girl blush!   

Pocket wise, Firefoxx, I don't have a very deep one either, but I upgrade at different intervals.  By the time I get a new VGA card, it would be time to get a new Mother board in about 6 months.  My 15" monitor is 6 years old! 

I keep the casing on my computer always open - it does get hot - but I am an Nvidia Gal so in addition to keeping my "skirt" up, I have 6 fans blowing mad... which reminds me, I think one is broken...  Ian_B, Is PCI-e much better than AGP?  You're the first guy I know with a PCI-e card.

AND speaking of LAN parties... do those exist in Thailand?  Where? Where??

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's hard to determine how much faster the PCI Express Cards are compared to AGP as I upgraded my CPU, Ram & MB at the same time. Will say I've not had a single crash whilst playing any 3d games and I've played a LOT of these since I got it

It's great being able to be able to rack everything up to max - shame it will only be 6 months or so till I have to start adjusting those graphics sliders

[Firefoxx]

From what I've read on PCI-E vs AGP, the two are pretty close for the current crop of VGA cards. In other words, the difference is not enough to make you switch mainboards, if you've already got a decent AGP board.

However, if you're going to buy a new mainboard, then of course you should buy one with PCI-E, since it's the standard that will eventually replace AGP, and it has more headroom for future cards. Too bad the boards I'm seeing now are quite pricey, many are twice the price of their AGP counterparts.

I just upgraded my mainboard a year ago, so it's going to be quite some time before I go the PCI-E route (unless I can get someone to buy my current board). Even so, I'm quite satisfied with what I have right now, as even the top of the line stuff is at most 10-20% faster.

[Chailen]

The only reason I might upgrade to PCIe is for the SLI feature (2 PCIe VGA cards on one main board). Imagine the possibiliities... 2x the speed of 8x AGP... PLUS 4 monitors!

But that's still a long way to go, I'm guessing I wouln't start looking at PCIe Main boards until 2006 (or 07)....

[Ian_B]

The only reason I might upgrade to PCIe is for the SLI feature (2 PCIe VGA cards on one main board).  Imagine the possibiliities... 2x the speed of 8x AGP... PLUS 4 monitors! 

But that's still a long way to go, I'm guessing I wouln't start looking at PCIe Main boards until 2006 (or 07).... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I forgot about SLI mode

I remember when Voodoo 2 first came out and I spent nearly half my monthly wages on 2 cards for SLI feature. It made a HUGE difference and I kept those 2 cards for nearly 2 years

Used to work a treat and would be amazing now with the latest cards... my golly you'd be able to play Doom 3 in the Ultra detail mode

Shame my HDTV monitor is limited to 1280x780

[Chailen]

The only reason I might upgrade to PCIe is for the SLI feature (2 PCIe VGA cards on one main board).  Imagine the possibiliities... 2x the speed of 8x AGP... PLUS 4 monitors! 

But that's still a long way to go, I'm guessing I wouln't start looking at PCIe Main boards until 2006 (or 07).... 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I forgot about SLI mode

I remember when Voodoo 2 first came out and I spent nearly half my monthly wages on 2 cards for SLI feature. It made a HUGE difference and I kept those 2 cards for nearly 2 years

Used to work a treat and would be amazing now with the latest cards... my golly you'd be able to play Doom 3 in the Ultra detail mode

Shame my HDTV monitor is limited to 1280x780

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

We are all limited by our monitors.... my monitor can do no better.. and it's not even HDTV... just your regluar XVGA or whatever was "standard" back in 1999.

[chanchao]

How important is a video card to me: Medium.

I play the occasional game, but don't feel that a state-of-the-art video card is worth the money, frankly. At the same time, I also don't like on-board gfx that shares system memory. So I got an Ati 9200 pretty cheap. It does the job for games, too, and doesn't break the bank.

I think right now what I need most is a quieter PSU fan. For a home PC what I have now is excruciatingly loud. Even worse right now in winter without noise from aircon or room-fans.. The case is a nice-ish CoolerMaster aluminium fronted case, but at the time I didn't shell out for a decent power supply and just got the basic 300 baht job. Good ones are way expensive it seems.. very little middle ground. Anyone know of something quiet that costs around 1000 baht or so?

Cheers,

Chanchao

[Chailen]

How important is a video card to me: Medium.

I play the occasional game, but don't feel that a state-of-the-art video card is worth the money, frankly.  At the same time, I also don't like on-board gfx that shares system memory.  So I got an Ati 9200 pretty cheap. It does the job for games, too, and doesn't break the bank.

I think right now what I need most is a quieter PSU fan.  For a home PC what I have now is excruciatingly loud.  Even worse right now in winter without noise from aircon or room-fans..  The case is a nice-ish CoolerMaster aluminium fronted case, but at the time I didn't shell out for a decent power supply and just got the basic 300 baht job.    Good ones are way expensive it seems.. very little middle ground.  Anyone know of something quiet that costs around 1000 baht or so?

Cheers,

Chanchao

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For Power Supplies, certain brands (Flower Power?? - something like that) are very quiet. I got my 500W for 3000 baht. If your requirements are less, ask around, even have the store turn on the fans for you to listen. They'll do it free of charge.

[Firefoxx]

The fans on typical 300 baht power supplies are pretty bad, mostly made in China. I've had three die year after purchase, subsequently killing the PSU. You pretty much get what you pay for. Problem is, like you said, you either will pay 300-500 baht for a cheap PSU, or jump to a 2000-4000 baht PSU. After the fan that came with my case PSU died, I just bought an enermax for 3,000. The fans are big and very quiet.

If it's only the noise you're concerned about, then you can take the PSU apart and replace the fan with a quieter one. Of course you'll void the warranty, but I've yet to have a chance to take advantage of a PSU warranty.

[yok yawng]

Have finally located a place that sells the Thermaltake gear. In Pantip on the ground floor - RH side (looking in). They also have a web site with some of thier gear.... Jedi. Now to plan that upgrade !!

[Upcountry]

Hi folks,

I wish I had thought to post a question here earlier.

I have three PC's that I'm attempting to upgrade so I can use them with my new LCD and DVI KVM switch.

My video needs are modest - most demanding needs are photo and movie editing on occasion, and maybe a DVD from time to time. Mostly it's software coding and email, that sort of thing. The card should work, ideally, under Windows or Linux.

Based on Internet research and tomshardware I thought is was a safe bet to pick up three ASUS Radeon 9200SE cards at Data IT in Phantip. A very nice manager there was willing to let me return if I had problems. So unusual here! I got her name on a business card.

I did due diligence on this card before coming back the next day to get them. It seemed like it would work on all my machines:

Dell 8250 2.4 ghz

Dell 4550 2.4 ghz

Micron Millennia PIII 550 mhz

... but then I saw a note on the installation guide saying that minimum speed is 800mhz! Oops.

The Dells are fine, but it looks like the Micron may not be able to handle it. Given the contradicting info I have seen, I wonder if you think it might be worth trying anyway.

What I really want to know, though, is what card would you recommend for the Micron to connect to a DVI LCD monitor with 1280x1024 resolution?

It's frustrating that I can't find a good graph to indicate what cards are minimally or maximally appropriate for given machine processors and speeds.

The box of the cards I bought does not incicate "800mhz or higher".

After looking through tomshardware, etc., it really seemed like the 9200SE would work!

Suggestions greatly appreciated.

[Shivek]

I have a GeForce 2 and i think i need to upgrade my card soon! It cant play many games but can play the games which i want it to. But i'm thinking of upgrading it at the end of this yr so which card shud i buy between 3,000-4,000 baht. Also will need to upgrade my RAM which is currently 512 DDR and also CPU which is 1.7 GHZ Celeron.

[Captain Haddock]

I too am in this boat now. I have a 1.7 GHz Celeron, 256 DDR and GeForce MX 440. I wanna play BIA, Psychonauts, Riddick, but my old VGA card ain't supported no more! (Bought the games before I realised, duh).

On the bright side, though, I can still play HL2, Doom 3, FarCry with no problems, albeit on the lower/middle settings! And I've just started with GTA SA, and while the frame rate is slower than Vice City it seems reasonably playable.

So I'm a-thinking that I'm looking at a whole new PC, really - motherboard, memory, VGA card, CPU. Would y'all agree with me, or is there (cheapish) hope?

Any advice? Or should I wait for the PS3 next Spring and keep playing Bedazzled in the mean time?!

Edited July 11, 2005 by Captain Haddock

[bonsaimax]

Captain Haddock and I have similar specs except for my 1.7 GHz P4.

Just a couple of questions if I may. Are there any compatibility issues between VGA cards and motherboards (mine is an ASUS P4-XPX)? And if I upgrade to a 128 MB VGA card, will I have to replace my 300-Watt power supply?

Cheers!

[Shivek]

How much is a GeForce 5900 FX in Bangkok also a ATi Radeon 9600? Thanks for replies!

[Firefoxx]

To bonsaimax and upcountry, regarding VGA compatibility issues with older systems:

Older systems use an older AGP slot, which does 3.3V. Most current AGP cards are 1.5V types, and will not work with these boards. You can check whether your mainboard supports these by looking at your mainboard manual (I doubt you've still got it) or by looking at the board itself. For more information:

http://www.ertyu.org/~steven_nikkel/agpcompatibility.html

You only need a new PSU for the high-end cards. Some of these require more voltage than the typical PSU can handle, and some even have a dedicated power plug to connect to the PSU. The amount of memory has nothing to do with it, only the model.

[khunAus]

Not sure if this has been said already or not.

For anyone upgrading or building a new computer system buy the best Video / Graphics card you can afford, and if possible try to stay away form "intergrated graphic chip sets" which tend to be slow and eat up memory.

The reason is that a decent GPU will unload work from your Cpu and you will see a very big difference in all application and not just games. This is true of things like word and excel, dvd and video playback and web browsing (which can have a lot of graphical content including video).

Even if you do not intend to play any games a 3d graphics card will make your normal 2d applications shine and you will see a large difference. Many applications will offload the graphical work 2d or 3d to the graphics card making your cpu less stresses and your pc faster.

By doing this you gain a lot of flex ability in the things you can do with your computer over time as well as prolonging the use you will get out of your pc.

HTH

Khun Aus