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Best video card for my old system

post #1 of 9
12/4/07 at 7:13pm
Thread Starter 
Hello

Here is my Computer description, I don't call it a HTPC because I only use it for DVD and music playback:

Hardware:

Asus A7V rev. 1.02 motherboard (max. AGP 4x, not compatible with PCIe)
AMD Athlon 1.4 Ghz
1 Gb PC-133 RAM
Liteon LT122 DVD drive
Nvidia Geforce 4 4600ti - AGP 4x
Turtle Beach Audio Advantage Micro

Software:
Windows Vista
Media Player Classic Cinema with Essentials Codec Pack

I was told that it is not a good idea to use Nvidia cards from the 7 line. Taking in consideration the hardware components of the computer What's the best video card that I can use in the system? So will it be ok to get a 6800 ultra for example?. What about ATI cards? What ATI card is equivalent to the 6800 ultra.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 9
12/4/07 at 7:22pm
any series 6,7 or 8 nvidea cards will work fine. the question is what you want it for. I would go for midend or low end gpu because your cpu will be the main bottleneck of the system no matter which card you pick. if there is no problem with your grapics card you have now, i would say save the money and get a new card when you upgrade the cpu. my 2 cents.
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post #3 of 9
12/5/07 at 5:57am
Thread Starter 
Well there are no Vista drivers for the 4600 card. It is actually the lowest score component in the Windows experience index list. The card does not support DirectX 9 (I know that it is 10 now). I can not run Windows Movie Maker. Among other reasons.

I was told that putting a card from the Geoforce 7 series is going to create stability problems in the system and it was recommended to me to use the 6600 but the 6800 seems to be the same with more memory.

What you think?
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post #4 of 9
12/5/07 at 6:37am
The 4600ti does support DirectX 9.

The next logical question would have to be, why upgrade this computer to Vista?

Are you going through all this just for Windows Movie Maker compatibility? If so, what are you actually doing with Windows Movie Maker, as I bet there are a lot of better (and cheaper) solutions for what you are trying to do than WMM.

-Suntan
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post #5 of 9
12/5/07 at 9:48am
Thread Starter 
The Microsoft licensing from my previous job allows me to have Windows XP installed on this computer. I'm no longer working there so I had to remove the XP license. I got the chance to buy Vista Ultimate for $78.00 instead of XP for $100, so I took the Vista deal.

The computer is playing DVD just fine (of course without FDDshow and all that fancy but nice stuff), but I'm having some problems running few old games like the Medal of Honor series and Star Wars Jedi Knight series among others plus the other issues that I already mentioned. As I said there is no official driver support for Vista with the 4600.

There are very good deals for used 6800 cards on ebay sometimes even better than the 6600. Or if you can please tell me a comparable option with ATI I will also consider that.

So again what you think?

Regards.

Edil
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post #6 of 9
12/6/07 at 7:37am
Thread Starter 
Bumpdity bump
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post #7 of 9
12/6/07 at 7:58pm
I *had* a GeForce TI4600 videocard, running Xp Pro with Sp2. I just replaced my motherboard, my video card, my soundcard and gotten 2 new hard drives (previous hd lasted me 4-5 months and started to go). I did some research last year into getting a new AGP video card, and the highest you could go at the time as the 7600GT (now they have 7800 and 7900/7950 AGPs). The only 7600GT AGP that has 2 DVI ports (that I could find) is the XFX one. The last Nvidia Forceware driver that I know that supported the 4600 was 93.71. With the new 7600GT card, I'm now using 163.75.

If you wanted to upgrade your AGP videocard, I wouldn't go with the 6000 series, I'll go with the 7000 series, it's more current. (There was talk a few months ago about releasing a 8400 and 8600 AGP card, I haven't heard of anything about it since.)
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post #8 of 9
12/7/07 at 2:31am
http://www.guru3d.com/article/Videocards/440/7/

If your going to be gaming I highly recommend ATI HD 2600 AGP!
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post #9 of 9
1/3/08 at 11:48am
Thread Starter 
Well I ended with an old radeon x850 pro that I get for a good deal over e-bay. At least it is better than the Geforce 4600ti.
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