eber Posted February 25, 2006 Share Posted February 25, 2006 I saw this deal and thought I'd share it. I've always suggested buying these used from eBay since they're pretty old cards and hard to find, but these are new-in-box. 128MB GF4 Ti4200 w/DVI & TV-out $47.50 64MB GF4 Ti4200 w/DVI & TV-out - $35.50 64MB GF4 Ti4200 w/TV-out only $34.50 These cards will pretty much outperform the "budget" GeForce FX5200, FX5500, and even the 6200 (the cheap 64-bit version). Check out benchmarks comparing the 4200's to the 5200 here. The 5500 is pretty much a slighty better 5200. These cards were champs back in the days and still run newer games pretty good. I don't have personal experience playing MVP with these cards, but I'm sure at least one person out there (I remember reading a post confirming it) can confirm it still runs the game pretty well--i.e., it should get you off the "low detail" setting and run at 1024x768 no problem. Edit: Forgot to add, 10% Coupon Code: TECHBARGAINS. It's not much but it's better than nothing and it'll knock off some of the shipping cost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 4, 2006 Author Share Posted March 4, 2006 Another decent deal for a new card (DX9): ATI Radeon 9800 128MB DDR AGP Video Card w/DVI, TV-Out $84 Apply the 10% off code to make it ~$76 + shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laloosh Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 So the FX5500 I just got could be the reason I'm having so many issues with MVP 06? I can exchange the card for an "upgrade" and get a 6200 for $10 more. But it sounds like that card isn't much better. Here's what I have to choose from ... what would you recommend if I want to stay below $100? I've got a Pentium 4 2 GHz processor 1.25GB RAM 4X AGP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 So the FX5500 I just got could be the reason I'm having so many issues with MVP 06? I can exchange the card for an "upgrade" and get a 6200 for $10 more. But it sounds like that card isn't much better. Here's what I have to choose from ... what would you recommend if I want to stay below $100? I've got a Pentium 4 2 GHz processor 1.25GB RAM 4X AGP I don't necessarily think the FX5500 is the cause of all your problems (I'm assuming the problems are what you've posted in that other thread). Out of those cards, I think I might choose the 9600XT. If you look at benchmarks here: http://www.tomshardware.com/2004/10/04/vga...s_iv/page5.html You'll see the 9600XT is a lot better than the FX5600 and FX5700--which are probably better than a FX5500. From what I've read the FX5500 is just a beefed up FX5200. So if you look at those benchmarks you can assume the 5500 lies somewhere between the 5200 and 5600--probably closer to the 5200 side of the scale. I have a 9500 Pro (pretty similar to the 9600XT) and it runs 2X textures pretty good. And yeah, I'll agree that the 6200 (64-bit version) isn't very good. A lot of manufacturers throw in extra memory on cards that won't really take advantage of it--it's pretty much a gimmick to raise the price on cards for people who would only see the name 6200 (the newer generation cards) and see 256 MB memory (not noting it's 64-bit). You could put 512 MB or more memory on that card and it probably won't help much in real-world performance. So yeah, after all that, I think for $10 more the 9600XT would be a nice upgrade--but I don't think it'll necesssarily solve your issues you've had with the FX5500. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laloosh Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 Thanks for the info, eber. That's very helpful. I got the sense that all my problems were being caused by some kind of conflict. Here's some backstory: I inherited this PC from a buddy, and it didn't have a video card. I got a 9700 All-in-Wonder Pro (128MB) and installed it. But I started getting weird checkerboard ghosting and other glitches. After a few days I realized my 160-watt PSU wasn't nearly enough power (it needs 300W I think). So I got a 400-watt PSU and tried the card again. Same result (I think ... can't even remember at this point). That's when I went with the FX5500. Would it even be possible to try and salvage the 9700, or do you think it's toast? Also, my motherboard only supports 4X AGP ... would the 9600XT (and it's 8X) just "slow down" to 4X, like RAM would do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 Thanks for the info, eber. That's very helpful. I got the sense that all my problems were being caused by some kind of conflict. Here's some backstory: I inherited this PC from a buddy, and it didn't have a video card. I got a 9700 All-in-Wonder Pro (128MB) and installed it. But I started getting weird checkerboard ghosting and other glitches. After a few days I realized my 160-watt PSU wasn't nearly enough power (it needs 300W I think). So I got a 400-watt PSU and tried the card again. Same result (I think ... can't even remember at this point). That's when I went with the FX5500. Would it even be possible to try and salvage the 9700, or do you think it's toast? First reaction--wow, you tried to run the 9700 Pro with a 160W power supply? Yeah, you probably had no idea or overlooked it, but that is nowhere near enough to run that card with the rest of your system. Doesn't that card require a direct power connection? But anway, I really have no idea if running that card underpowered would've caused any damage to it. I'm no expert, but I guess it may be possible to resalvage it...I might even try testing it in another system (if that's possible). As far as getting all those conflicts, the route I might take (although maybe not the least time consuming and maybe not possible if you don't have all the install discs of the OS and your apps) would be to reformat the computer (if you didn't already) and start clean--especially since you inherited the system and probably have no idea what was done with it and re-install all the cards and drivers one at a time for the system. Again it's not the slickest way to deal with it, but it'll probablky rid you of IRQ conflicts (if that's what you have?)--I have no idea but I know those conflicts can be a pain in the... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 Also, my motherboard only supports 4X AGP ... would the 9600XT (and it's 8X) just "slow down" to 4X, like RAM would do?Yeah, it's backwards compatible. And yeah, most cards aren't even capable of fully utilizing 8X...more marketing gimmicks from what I've read. :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmariner Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 I have a 9500 Pro You are lucky if you have a 9500 pro, they are hard to find these days. You know you can get the Omega drivers and software and turn that puppy from 4 pipelines to 8 pipelines turning it into a 9700 pro. The Omega Man is a driver tester/modder for ATI, he puts out great drivers for ATI cards, check it out. Just so this does not get locked, this info was published in PC Gamer along time ago. In the article this is how the Omega Man got his job with ATI, by coming up with better drivers than ATI had to offer. This is why the 9500 pro was not on the shelf for very long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laloosh Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 First reaction--wow, you tried to run the 9700 Pro with a 160W power supply? Yeah, you probably had no idea or overlooked it, but that is nowhere near enough to run that card with the rest of your system. Doesn't that card require a direct power connection? But anway, I really have no idea if running that card underpowered would've caused any damage to it. I'm no expert, but I guess it may be possible to resalvage it...I might even try testing it in another system (if that's possible). As far as getting all those conflicts, the route I might take (although maybe not the least time consuming and maybe not possible if you don't have all the install discs of the OS and your apps) would be to reformat the computer (if you didn't already) and start clean--especially since you inherited the system and probably have no idea what was done with it and re-install all the cards and drivers one at a time for the system. Again it's not the slickest way to deal with it, but it'll probablky rid you of IRQ conflicts (if that's what you have?)--I have no idea but I know those conflicts can be a pain in the... Yeah, running the 9700 on 160 watts wasn't exactly my shining moment. My buddy did a fresh install before he sent it to me (and he works in IT, so I feel confident he wiped it clean before reinstalling), so I don't think that would help. I just don't really know WHAT to do at this point. I could try the 9700 again, and run the risk of frying my motherboard if there's a short in the video card. Or I could trade the FX5500 in, pay $15 more and try the 9600XT. But I don't even know if that would solve the problem. That's actually the problem: I don't know what the problem is! I posted some error messages from my Event Log in this thread trying to figure it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 You are lucky if you have a 9500 pro, they are hard to find these days. You know you can get the Omega drivers and software and turn that puppy from 4 pipelines to 8 pipelines turning it into a 9700 pro. The Omega Man is a driver tester/modder for ATI, he puts out great drivers for ATI cards, check it out.I may be mistaken but I believe you're referring to the 9500 and not the Pro version. I believe the 9500 Pro is standard with 8 pipelines and it is the 9500 with only the "L-shaped" memory instead of the "I-shaped" that is unlockable. But anyway, in case I am mistaken, I'll look into it eventually. From what I've read, the 9500 Pro has great overclocking ability but I'm satisfied with it enough to not mess with it yet...maybe when I feel it's time to upgrade I'll mess around with it and see what it can do. :twisted: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrmariner Posted March 24, 2006 Share Posted March 24, 2006 No, its the 9500 pro. read my above post. I made a edit to shine some light, its all but a driver upgrade. I guess when you are better than the so called pros and come up with a better product in this case a driver, they hire you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eber Posted March 24, 2006 Author Share Posted March 24, 2006 No, its the 9500 pro. read my above post. I made a edit to shine some light, its all but a driver upgrade. I guess when you are better than the so called pros and come up with a better product in this case a driver, they hire you.I did some Google'ing and all I could find in terms of unlocking pipes was this: http://www.driverheaven.net/showthread.php?t=21747. And I'm pretty sure there aren't any 9500 Pros with only 4 pipelines. The difference I believe is that the 9500 is the 9500 Pro but with 4 locked pipelines. I think what you may be refering to is the Omega Drivers can allow you to unlock the bios of the 9500 Pro so that you could overclock it to 9700 Pro levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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