Which video card?

[ratherGroggy]

Well guys, I just bought a new heatsink/fan for my CPU and two more case fans and I successfully lowered my CPU temperature 25+C.. So I'm pretty happy about that.

In relation to my other thread "Random Freezing?", my computer still has problems running games solidly without any 'hiccups'. So, since I just massively cooled my CPU I have no other option than to believe that it is my video card which is causing the problems. (no, it's not the soundcard, because the games have freezed without one even installed)

So now to my question...

What video card (reasonably priced) should I go for, in relation to my computer specs?

WinXP SP2
AMD Athlon Processor 1.8GHz
80GIG HDD
60GIG HDD
1GIG DDR SDRAM PC2100
Phillips Soundcard (don't know the model offhand)
nForce Motherboard

Currently I have a GeForce4 ti4600 128MB, but I don't have to stick with nVidia.

Thanks for the help!

 

[The Merlin]

I would say either a 5700 Ultra, 9600 Pro/XT or 9800 Pro

 

[ratherGroggy]

My processor speed won't bottle neck those cards?

 

[Legion2005]

I would say probably not.... you would notice a great difference in your frams per second. Thats what I think anyways... the card you have isnt that bad... but these are all the better.

 

[jblaze725]

9800 pro unless you can spend more for a top og the line card.

 

[The Merlin]

No, it wouldn't because all those cards except the 9800 Pro are mid range cards that are meant for budget systems like yours.......Games are also more Video card reliant then CPU

 

[ratherGroggy]

I would say probably not.... you would notice a great difference in your frams per second. Thats what I think anyways... the card you have isnt that bad... but these are all the better.

Well, it's not the fact that my card "isn't that bad" but the fact that is overheats fairly easily. (or so says people)

Will I have the same overheating problems with other cards? Or could it just be my GeForce4?

Thanks for all the help, guys.

 

[KorKwin]

Well, if you say it overheats, get one of those case fan blower thingys that go like right under your video card... That may help with the heat and the "hiccups". It might not be how bad your card is just the temps are too high.

 

[Legion2005]

Thats not a bad idea...

Its more dangerious... but you could put a custom heatsink and fan on it if you wanted. If I were you and had some money to spend I would get the 9800 pro though. You would notice a tremendous difference in the way games run on your computer.

 

[pcflea]

Get the 5900xt 128 from msi or gainward. A little cheaper than ati 9800pro and in some cases a little faster. the 5900xt is a lot faster than the 5700ultra and is like $10 more. so if your thinking bout the 5700ultra or even the 9700or 9600xt just get the 5900xt for just a few more bucks. I have it on my intel 2.6 machine and it plays doom 3 and farcry at a consistent 60 fps. And if you get a 5900xt with hynix memory you can over clock it to over 800MHz in some cases, thats a great performance game from the stock 700MHz and the GPU overclocks great eitherway 390MHz to 450MHz. I get 5607 stock and 6005 overclocked. and no overhead problems.
Anyways i think the 5900xt is your best bet.