Please help this novice

FuelCellTrainer

I have a mad dog geforce 2 video card that seems to lock up when I run anything that uses directx 8.1 or requires a 3D card. I replaced it with the cheap oem card that came with an older system, and the performance it a bit better, but it still won't run current games for my kids. Can someone give me the scoop on a decent, current, video card to replace these with that won't break the bank yet will stop my kids looking at me with the "you blew it, Dad" eyes?

MIG-31

does help a little to give us a budget to work with.

and do you want to stick with nvidia.

and also what system you have.

FuelCellTrainer

I have a Syntax 266A Motherboard, 1.67 GHz AMD. My wallet would like to stay <$100 if possible

Nacht

i assume you have agp? probably 4x?

you might want around the 64MB 4x AGP geforce4 ti series...or the equivalent of an ATi. getting the less amount of memory and slower agp bus will save you some money too.

Wiredzero

Best advice I can give for shopping for a new videocard:

http://www.pricewatch.com

FuelCellTrainer

Thanks for the info. I called the company I bought the PC from and he says he has had no compatibility problems with the same card. I'm wondering if I have something configured wrong. The reviews I have seen for the card aren't that stellar. I have uninstalled and re-run the installation to no avail. I will buy another if I need to, but if it's something I have configured incorrectly I would rather save the $$$.

FuelCellTrainer

I have found the following: What do you guys think?

1. Radeon 9250, AGP, 128MB, 8.0 G/Sec, 400 Mhz RAMDAC - $65.95
2. Apollo Bloody Monster 3 NVIDIA GeForce FX2500 4x AGP 128MB - $52.75

Wiredzero

The radeon's "okay"...although it won't be much of a gaming videocard, and you might be a little dissapointed with it's performance. The GeForce3's don't even do DirectX9 Support, do they? :P

I think these two (mentioned below) would probably be to your liking, although they'll probably cost a couple bucks more.

Rosewill ATi Radeon 9600
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...164-023&DEPA=0

ASUS nVidia GeForceFX 5200
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...121-150&depa=0

Both would seem like dreams compared to the performance of your old card. They both price around the same. While the nVidia would probably be more stable, the ATi would have the better performance of the two I've mentioned. (Just bein' fair n' givin' it to ya straight.)

FuelCellTrainer

Thanks again. My AGP is 1x/2x/4x. Are these both compatible? I thought I had seen something about Radeon having problems with the SYNTAX mb's

Wiredzero

It's very possible that the Radeon won't like that perticular motherboard because of it's chipset. I had a similar problem when I had my hands on a 9500 Pro and tried to plug it into a Shuttle AK31A Motherboard (has a VIA chipset)

Might be best to go with the nVidia one, considering you already know that nVidia cards work with your machine.

FuelCellTrainer

One more question then I'll quit ... any insight on what the problem might be with my Mad Dog Nvidia Geforce 2 might be? When I try to run some games, the screen goes black....

Wiredzero

My best guess would be...is that with as old as the GeForce2 is...that the drivers that will work with it are REALLY limited...and my best guess would be is that the GPU on it probably decided that it was just "it's time."

'Machines are built by humans. Humans are imperfect beings, why should we expect machines to be perfect?'

HawK

My mom got the same Mobo and she's runnin a 9700 with no problem.

If you do not want the 9600 or 9550, why not try and find a NV GF44(6)00
but my bet is you'd like the 9600