New Graphics Card--Need advice

Hi,

I think I need to buy a new graphics card.
I'm a pretty heay gamer and I'm sure my current oone isn't up to the task anymore. As there are thousands to choose from and as I don't know a whole lot about computers can someone please help me spend my £200 wisely.

I currently have a 128mb PCI express ATI radeon X300 and it will just about run everything (including elder scrolls 4) but recently Im getting error messages like "failed to find a working full screen mode" and I'm guessing it's my graphics card.
The rest of the spec is as follows
P4 3ghz, 800 fsb 1mb cache
1mb dual channel memory (2x512mb)

Anyone got some good advice or do I need to put some more info?

TIA people!

Skinnyb0y

 

ok do u have agp or pci-e? how much do u wanna spend?

 

Thanks for the reply, sorry to be a total noob, how do I check that as I have no idea

 

PCI express is probably more likely, but to check you can load your Catalyst control center software (that's usually available on any right click).



If you can get one of these http://www.dabs.com/productview.asp...&SearchKey=All&SearchMode=All&NavigationKey=0
You'll be a very happy gamer.
If you can't quite stretch to that, get the second card on this page:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1900_Series.html

 

Thanks Sammorris, it is PCI-E. I'll have a look now at your recommendations.....

Below is the spec for my card, do you think this is the reason why some games are saying "failed to find a working full screen mode" or is this another problem?

Thanks again for your help people, really appreciate it.

Graphics Card Manufacturer Built by ATI
Graphics Chipset RADEON X300/X550 Series
Device ID 5B60
Vendor 1002
Subsystem ID 0302
Subsystem Vendor ID 1002
Bus Type PCI Express
Current Bus Setting PCI Express
BIOS Version 008.015.113.000
BIOS Part Number 113-A33406-100
BIOS Date 2004/05/12
Memory Size 128 MB
Memory Type DDR SGRAM / SDRAM
Core Clock in MHz 324 MHz
Memory Clock in MHz 196 MHz
Primary Display Yes

 

yeah the memory clock is 196*2=392mhz that is not good for gaming

 

It's not really all about the speeds, the X300 just isn't a good card. I'd recommend a newer card whether that's the problem or not.

 

Guys,

Thanks again for the help. Sam I just checked your recommendation on Dabs and only one thing concerned me;

"Optimized for performance at high display resolutions, including
widescreen HDTV resolutions - Crossfire compatible - Master Edition ATI
X1900 card required!!"

Does this mean I need another piece of kit in order for this to work properly?

Also, what does overclocking mean?

TIA...again

 

if you want to run them in crossfire you need a master card but if you only have one pci-e slot on your mobo you cant do that. if you can you could get another at a later date when the price drops and get a big performace boost quite cheaply.

sam do you want to explain ocing as your rig is

 

Thanks Marsey,

Unfortunately I don't have a clue what you are talking about, sorry man, I'm way out of my depth here....

What is crossfire and why would I want to run it in that?
I'm guessing crossfire is the ability to run two things at once? But as you say if my motherboard only has one slot, then I'm screwed. If that is the case will the above card still work?

Sorry for all the questions Marsey but I reckon if I'm spending £200 on this bad boy I'd better have an understanding of what it's going to do

 

bang on the money. it will work on its own but it means it needs to be told how to work together"in crossfire" with another card by the "master edition" card. if you take the side off your case you will see if you have two pcie slots as they are longer and look different to the other pci slots.

i guess sams out tonight overclocking is basicly making your componants, cpu, ram, gpu, work harder than they do out of the box by turning up the core frequencies and sometimes by giving them more power to keep them stable. but if you want to learn more on this here, http://forums.afterdawn.com/thread_view.cfm/83263
would be a better place to ask your questions.

and dont worry about it eveyone starts somewere

 

@skinnyboy

Whats your price range? How many PCI-e slots does your pc have? And keep in mind that if you get a very powerfull videocard you most likely will need a new psu.

 

That's right, Crossfire is the ability to run two ATi video cards together. Don't do it, it's expensive, uses lots of power, and makes lots of noise, and you don't get that much performance benefit, 70% at best, never 100. The option is there, but you can run one card on it's own fine. You will only need the master if youw ant to run two. Peainapod has a very good point though, X1900s command relatively powerful PSUs. If your PC is a standard one from Dell, gateway, HP etc. then it'll likely only have a 250-350W unit, which isn't enough. I'd recommend (almost whatever the case) also buying another PSU, such as a Hiper 580W Type-R like mine (which rock) and are about £55-£60, available from most suppliers such as http://www.ebuyer.com/UK/product/98562
Not dabs unfortunately...

Overclocking? There's a whole thread about it, what do you want to know?

 

Guys,
Me again needing more advice, Unfortunately my pay packet isn't going to stretch to this at the moment (especially if I also need a new psu), can you recommend a decent card for around £140? If not I'll hang back for a bit until I can afford the x1900.

Cheers

 

The sapphire X1900GT is £135 here.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/X1900_Series.html

 

What about this one?

512MB ATI Radeon X1600PRO PCI-Express Graphics Card

Or

512MB nVidia GeForce 7300LE PCI-E Graphics Video Card

Sorry for being a lazy arse guys but there is to much choice and I'm scared to throw cash away on something that will be poor, only to have ot buy another one a month later!

 

Which is exactly what you'll do if you buy either of those. See the link I posted. That card can sometimes pull three times the performance of those cards (five times in the case of the 7300).

 

sam as always, you the man, x1900gt here we come. Thanks again
Skinny

 

You're welcome. My friend has recently got a system with that card (and also my CPU (albeit on AM2) and case). It rocks.

 

Sorry Sam two more things, Will I need a new PSU for this card?,
and, is it worth buying another 512mb of memory (I currently run 1gb)