Looking to upgrade graphics card

[kobbie]

Alright so I currently have a GeForce 5700LE as my graphics card, and looking to upgrade to something newer to play games such as BF2 and Swat 4. Currently I'm thinking about the 6600GT....

6600GT

Is this a decent card to let me play these games at medium to high settings? I'm not looking into playing Doom3 at max settings or anything, just basic stuff. One question about power supply though...I'm not sure what I currently have, is there any way to check? I ran my 5700LE fine, which requires a 250W PSU, so I'm not sure if I will need to upgrade.

BTW my specs are...

1 gig RAM
Pentium 4 CPU 3.00Ghz
Windows XP
GeForce5700LE

Thanks in advance.

 

[FadingTheory]

Excellent choice. Get a eVGA (I have one, it rocks the house) or a leadtech (I HEAR their good).

Have fun.

 

[foreverxyoung]

yes the 6600gt should be great !! make shure to get a eVGA model or a PNY . Both wont stear you wrong. bout the psu... umm what do u have atm? its good have a 500watt+

 

[beedubaya]

Yeah, 6600 GT is an awesome card that should be able to totally max out BF2. You might need to upgrade your PSU though (i wouldn't recommend a 6600 GT on anything less than a 400W)...what kind of computer do you have? Is it a brand name or is it self-built? Most of the time brand names use proprietary power supplies that you cannot upgrade, therefore making upgrading to a high end graphics card undoable.

 

[MasterShazbot]

Mmmm. . .

I have a few selections from Pricegrabber.com that might interest you.

1. Chaintech GeForce 6600 - 128MB, AGP 8x - $119.99 (cheapest card of the entire 6600 lot, MEGA economy card)
2. eVGA e-GeForce 6600 GT - 128MB, AGP 8x, $159.00 (cheapest 6600 GT, 128MB)
3. Rosewill GeForce 6600 - 256MB, AGP 8x, $131.99
(cheapest 256MB 6600)
4. XFX GeForce 6600GT - 256MB, AGP 8x, $233.00
(cheapest of the 6600GT, 256MB)

I would choose number four. The GT is about 50Hz faster than the non-GT cards, but that 50 can help your FPS a lot.
If you do not want to spend that much, get the Rosewill. It's not a GT, but it does have 256MB.
The reason is because of my PNY 5900 - it has 128MB, and in benchmark scores, the 5900 256MB destroyed my video card. The extra memory really speeds your card up, so don't waste your time with 128MB.

 

[Trifid]

DO NOT GET THE NON GT!

There is no point in getting the 256mb GT, as there would be barely any performance increase in having the extra memory.


I would really recomend waiting a little while for the new GPU's to get to the shelves, than the price would be down quite a bit, and save you alot of money/you could get a better card.

 

[kobbie]

what kind of computer do you have? Is it a brand name or is it self-built? Most of the time brand names use proprietary power supplies that you cannot upgrade, therefore making upgrading to a high end graphics card undoable.

Well unfortunatly I have a stock Gateway PC that's a little over a year old, the only thing I have upgraded is added a 512 stick of RAM and added my 5700LE card. Is there anyway to check my PSU or find out if its possible to upgrade it? I'm not real familiar with that kind of stuf yet.

 

[idiotec]

Kobbie, the card you linked to is great, that or the Leadtek version is the one to get.

DO NOT get the non GT or a 256mb version!

As far as the PSU, you might need to contact Gateway or check their website to find out if an "off the shelf" PSU will work or if you need to order one directly from Gateway.

 

[woot7800GT]

If you wanna OC get the Leadtek, fatty heatsink.

 

[VelvetyAmoeba]

Like others have mentioned, wait 2 or 3 months.

When the new GPUs are released, you can expect some major price drops in the 6600 - 6800 GT cards.

If you can't wait at all, and want a card that's going to be with you and keep you ontop of the gaming platform for awhile to come (and are looking to splurge), pick up an X850XT Limited Edition. Similar performance ratings to two 6600 GTs SLI'd.

I know you said you wanted a basic card, but if you don't want to upgrade for another year or so, the X850XT LE is the way to go.