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PCI Graphic Card - How good are they?


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Ok since it appears that I am you know what in regards to playing CBM with my computer using the cruddy Integrated Graphics that came with it (No AGP SLOT!!!) :confused: my only other option appears to be to purchase a PCI card. Are they actually ok (doesn't have to be the top of the line performance but at least 'adequate') and if so, what are some decent cards to look at (also since I just spent $ on the computer, the lower the $ for the card the better).

Thanks!!!!

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GF3 and probably even GF4 have been out long enough that card makers are producing decent PCI versions

As i've suggested in other posts, one place i like to go to look for and buy vid cards is newegg.com

Might check it out and see what you find.

here's one for example:

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduct.asp?description=14-133-045&depa=0

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Ok, looks like I could go for ATI Radeon or Nvidia GF --- which would be the best choice (especially for Combat Mission)?

Noticed there are a wide variety of 64meg PCI cards out there ranging anywhere from $40 to $100 - I'm tempted to go as cheap as possible but what would I be missing?

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Originally posted by bwayne72:

Ok, looks like I could go for ATI Radeon or Nvidia GF --- which would be the best choice (especially for Combat Mission)?

Noticed there are a wide variety of 64meg PCI cards out there ranging anywhere from $40 to $100 - I'm tempted to go as cheap as possible but what would I be missing?

Go with the GeForce version, it recognises and supports the fog in CM games, the ATI does *not*.

As to price, it has been my experiance that I get what I pay for, in other words go with a known brand name, at least you should be able to get some support.

Good luck,

KC

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the vid card i put the link to in my above post may be in the upper range of your price range

but it has the following going for it:

1. it's an nvidia based card - that means drivers are available that are known to work with CM (in my case i'm specifically thinking of the 30.87's which not only work with fog, but also work with antialiasing and anistropic filtering - both of which make the game look better)

2. the card i referenced is by PNY - they are a known quantity over the last couple years in the vid card biz - although most know them for RAM)

3. newegg.com is a company that's safe to order from over the net - they offer 2nd day fed-ex for free - they are price competitive - while you may be able to find cards cheaper elsewhere - sometimes saving 5 or 10 bucks will buy you only headaches

4. outside of playing CM, i assume you may play other games as well - when it comes to drivers, ATI has routinely gotten it's proverbial ass handed to it by nvidia - nvidia releases more drivers in a month than ATI does in a year - this dramatically increases the possibility that you'll either have a faster performing card, or the opportunity to find drivers that work

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A PCI video card should be fine for Combat Mission games - the bus isn't really fast enough for first-person shooters, but this game doesn't have the same rendering demands.

I don't believe the newer model cards (like GeForce 4 and high-end Radeons) are available in PCI versions, but you should be able to find something like a GeForce 2 or even a GF3.

PNY is a decent brand - I bought a GeForce3 Ti200 from them last spring and the support was excellent.

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that's the cool part about the vid card i put the URL to above, it is a GF4 - admittedly it's the MX420, so it's the lowest end of the GF4's

but hey, it's still a GF4 - and even at the lowest end, this card would more than handle CMBO and CMBB

i run CMBO with as many mods as i like on maps as large as anyone has ever made on a GF3 Ti200 that is underclocked no less - no hesitation

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On piece of information.

Nvidia MX cards are way crappy compared to

non MX versions.

GeForce4MX is considerably less powerful card than any GF3 model!

GF3 was only made in Titanium flavours, backed up on

the low end by GF2MX cards.

GF4 is made in both Titanium and MX versions.

GF4MX is really only an improved GF2, not even close

to GF4Ti cards performance.

Having said that, GF4MX still has all the power CMBB needs.

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that you'd prefer a non-mx version goes w/o saying smile.gif don't know he has that many choices though for a PCI slot card

but even an MX version for a PCI slot beats the crap out of integrated video

and CM is hardly graphics card challenging - just for kicks i pulled out my old first generation geforce card to see how it would handle the game - smooth as glass

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like most things it's all about price and speed

you'll no doubt find straight sdram vid cards are quite cheap since they are running the older cheaper straight sdram

cards running ddr-sdram will be more expensive and also faster

if this is just about running CM, i'm not sure the cost difference would be worth it in terms of performance increase - i suppose it just depends on what the cost difference is - after just a cursory search on the net i found the PNY GF4 420 w/ 64mb sdram for as low as 49 bucks - that strikes me as a pretty good deal for what you're looking for

as i've mentioned elsewhere, i'd definitely stick to an nvidia chip set - beyond that, the memory speed between ddr and sdram is strictly a cost benefit calculation you'll have to make

since i've run CM on a GF1 and on a GF4 and seen little or no FPS difference, i'm pretty certain vid memory speed is not going to be that significant a factor in the over all performance and in either case it will be light years ahead of whatever you're running currently

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