New video card

[saintj]

Hi , I am just getting started in games a little bit. I recently bought NHL 2004 and Madden 2004. What video card do you recommend to play these games. Sound card also. Direct x 8.1 for NHL and direct x 9.0a compatible for Madden. They won't seem to even work with my voodoo doo doo 3500. Thanks Sorry I am totally lame on video cards.

[fishybawb]

That would depend on a couple of things - 1.) what's your budget? and 2.) what your current hardware is. Tell us how much you want to spend and list your system specs :)

[saintj]

I have a k7s5a board. 512 Mb of ram. onboard sound. voodoo 3500 video card. Samsung 48-24-48 RW drive. 60 Gig Maxtor HD. Looking to spend $ 150 dollars or so.

[fishybawb]

There's a Sapphire Atlantis 9600 Pro 128MB at Newegg (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=Go&description=9600%2Cpro) for $149 - that's the best card in the price range :)

[saintj]

Actually thats the one I was looking at. The problem is it says minimum requirements 128mb or more 256mb for xp which is what I'm running. Will this work?

[fishybawb]

Originally posted by saintj
I have a k7s5a board. 512 Mb of ram

The system requirements refer to the amount of system RAM you have. Your 512MB is fine :)

[saintj]

Never mind. That was 256k system ram not video. I think I'll go with the card you mentioned. Thanks for the info.

[fishybawb]

You're welcome. I've got a 9600 Pro - trust me, you'll like it :cool:

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Yup the 9600 Pro is currently the sweet spot in terms of FPS/£ at present

--Jakk:t

[saintj]

I should be recieving new 9600 pro today or tomorrow. Can I just swap out video cards without having to reload windows. Whats the right way to go about it. Thanks in advance.

[Bigjakkstaffa]

Uninstall your existign drivers and then use something liek Detonator destroyer to clear out any remnants, then power down, swap out the cards, reboot and install the drivers for the r9600Pro

--Jakk:t