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Video Card Experts!!

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lordvader

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My question is for video card users and pros! I recently upgraded my Radeon X300 card to X1600 PRO PCI Express and added 1GB RAM (now total 2GB) on my computer for Vista . I do not do high end gaming, but I want a good Vista Aero experience! Was this a good choice to have some decent graphics? I don't have Vista yet! Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!!:(
 
lordvader said:
My question is for video card users and pros! I recently upgraded my Radeon X300 card to X1600 PRO PCI Express and added 1GB RAM (now total 2GB) on my computer for Vista . I do not do high end gaming, but I want a good Vista Aero experience! Was this a good choice to have some decent graphics? I don't have Vista yet! Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!!:(
Click to expand...

The only reason I can see to upgrade to Vista at all is for DirectX 10 gaming. And the only directX 10 video card series that I'm aware of is the 8800 series from Nvidia. I'm sure ATI will eventually release a directx 10 card, but the x1600 isn't it.
 
Agreed.... you can get the "Vista Experience" without Vista. See the Vista thread.

Vista is NOT an upgrade of any kind.

-W
 
The X1600 is definitely a higher end card and is a good upgrade. Personally, I prefer NVidia but to each his own. 1G of RAM was sufficient to get the "Vista Experience" but RAM increase will always yield better performance in general. As for Vista..........the money could be put to better use.
 
oldjoe said:
The X1600 is definitely a higher end card and is a good upgrade. Personally, I prefer NVidia but to each his own. 1G of RAM was sufficient to get the "Vista Experience" but RAM increase will always yield better performance in general. As for Vista..........the money could be put to better use.
Click to expand...
I have the ATI X1600 256mbs and am very happy with it, it works fine with AnyDVDhd.:clap:
 
oldjoe said:
The X1600 is definitely a higher end card and is a good upgrade. Personally, I prefer NVidia but to each his own. 1G of RAM was sufficient to get the "Vista Experience" but RAM increase will always yield better performance in general. As for Vista..........the money could be put to better use.
Click to expand...

@lordvader: I totally agree with oldjoe. Your x1600 is by far a good choice for Vista Aero, but adding 1 GB more ram total 2 GB will make a greater impact. With Windows XP the tradeoff performance vs. cost was 1 GB if you had average PC-Users needs. With Vista-32 bit that sweet spot is 2 GB.
 
Last edited:
khlb said:
@lordvader: I totally agree with oldjoe. Your x1600 is by far a good choice for Vista Aero, but adding 1 GB more ram total 2 GB will make a greater impact. With Windows XP the tradeoff performance vs. cost was 1 GB if you had average PC-Users needs. With Vista-32 bit that sweet spot is 2 GB.
Click to expand...
I use 1GB of DDR2 on Vista and have never had it lock up. Works great.
 
That is to be expected with fast DDR2 ram. Microsoft even states the requirements for Vista with Aero experience is
  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB of system memory
  • 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
  • WDDM Driver
  • 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
  • Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
  • 32 bits per pixel
  • DVD-ROM drive

But 2 GB of memory will leave room for more programs running at the same time without paging memory to the hard drive to often.
 
khlb said:
That is to be expected with fast DDR2 ram. Microsoft even states the requirements for Vista with Aero experience is
  • 1 GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor
  • 1 GB of system memory
  • 40 GB hard drive with at least 15 GB of available space
  • Support for DirectX 9 graphics with:
  • WDDM Driver
  • 128 MB of graphics memory (minimum)
  • Pixel Shader 2.0 in hardware
  • 32 bits per pixel
  • DVD-ROM drive

But 2 GB of memory will leave room for more programs running at the same time without paging memory to the hard drive to often.
Click to expand...
I meet all of those requirements. My 3.20 GHz processor helps a lot.
 
This seems like an appropriate thread to put this . How do I determine what is compatible to put into my PC for a new video card? Any help would be appreciated .
 
BudVugger said:
This seems like an appropriate thread to put this . How do I determine what is compatible to put into my PC for a new video card? Any help would be appreciated .
Click to expand...

We would need to know more about your PC hardware. Brand and model# of the Motherboard.... Size (watts) and brand of your Power Supply....What you use your PC for.(i.e. General use-Gaming-Video editing) What price range.
If you don't know this information, download Everest Home.
 
oldjoe said:
We would need to know more about your PC hardware. Brand and model# of the Motherboard.... Size (watts) and brand of your Power Supply....What you use your PC for.(i.e. General use-Gaming-Video editing) What price range.
If you don't know this information, download Everest Home.
Click to expand...


Dell Dimension 4600
Motherboard ID <DMI>

I did have a Nvidia card (5200 ? ) installed,and hooked my monitor up through its DVI port. The card went bad so I had to remove the card and hook the monitor into the standard blue cable port. I'm not sure where on Everest it tells me my power supply , but its definitely a cool program. No gaming really, I use it alot for dvd burning and dvd watching. So I would rather upgrade than get something that is just " good enough" Thanks .
 
BudVugger said:
Dell Dimension 4600
Motherboard ID <DMI>

I did have a Nvidia card (5200 ? ) installed,and hooked my monitor up through its DVI port. The card went bad so I had to remove the card and hook the monitor into the standard blue cable port. I'm not sure where on Everest it tells me my power supply , but its definitely a cool program. No gaming really, I use it alot for dvd burning and dvd watching. So I would rather upgrade than get something that is just " good enough" Thanks .
Click to expand...


I was running off a nVidia GeForce FX 5200 card.
 
250W is about standard for a Dell and the minimum requirement for a AGP card. That could have very easily been the downfall of your other 5200 card.
Have a look around Newegg and pay particular attention to the power requirements of the card.
 
I am looking around now , and may upgrade the power supply also . Thanks for the help guys .
 
BudVugger said:
I am looking around now , and may upgrade the power supply also . Thanks for the help guys .
Click to expand...

Dell Power supplies, as well as many other pre-buillt PC's, are "mostly" proprietary. Their wiring configuration is not the standard and installing the wrong one can cause irreparable damage to your Motherboard. There are several sites that sell PSU's for those types of PC's.
 
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