Which video card?

[jayhawker01]

First of all here is my story and specs.

7500 ATI

2.8 Oc Athlon Barton

soyo KT600 dragon plus MB

My story goes something like this. I mostly play two games. Americas Army and sim city and occasionally a baseball game. Americas Army stutters alot now with new maps so since I cant play the game its time to upgrade the card. I'm a starving fireman here in Kansas Ciy so I'm not going to buy an expensive card. I've done some research and have came up with a few cards:

Geforce FX 5500oc 256mb $149
Geforce FX 5900XT 128mb $223
Radeon 9800pro 128mb $249
Geforce FX5700LE 256mb $179
Comp usa prices

As you can see with my current video card I like to use my components to the very end. To me I can't see spending $400 on a video card every year. I just want the cheapest card that plays Americas Army without too much stutter if possible. Thanks for helping out. Go to www.compusa.com if u want to suggest another card. My price limit is about 250 but I rather spend 180 if possible.

 

[ShoobieRat]

The ATI 9800 will do just about anything you want in the world of sims and fps games. (It's a pretty good high-end card, and is good for fps games too.)

Your current card isn't that bad, either. Perhaps you need to explore other possible reasons why you're having problems. Such as RAM, drivers, monitor, etc. If you don't have a lot of RAM, you could probably see a nice boost (at a cheap price) by buying some more. Also, make sure ALL your drivers are up to date. An old g-card driver can cause problems, but also don't forget about your mobo's chipset drivers! They're important too! Lastly, if you can, try another (equal or better) monitor, and see if the results are the same. If not, then you possibly have a monitor that's on its last leg.

Lastly, when you say "stutter"....describe this stutter. More information on the symptoms may shine light on the real problem.

 

[jayhawker01]

Well its a 64 mb card. Pretty old I believe. I get about 20 FPS in Americas Army. It mostly lags not stutters. I appreciate you response. Can I get a link to a program that destroys my drivers so i can download the omegas?

 

[Northbridge]

Go to Newegg.com to get the cheapest prices . You can get a 128 MB 9800 Pro for around 190 .

 

[The Merlin]

Get the 9800 Pro

 

[horris1st]

Simply the best. Radeon 256MB 9200.... easy...Simple...it works well.