Best card for BF2?

[t0m]

Alright guys. My system Video Card needs an update or it'll fry while I'm playing BF2. I have an nVidia Geforce Fx5200 overclocked. (Yes, I bothered to overclock it. ). 768 MBs of Ram and an Intel (Yes Intel) Cpu clocked at 2.66 Ghz; which fulfills my needs.

And now onto the dilemma: What video card to choose (Range of $150 to $250) is best for playing Battlefield 2 and will be used to the full potential (IE: Pixel Shaders 3.0, etc.). Thanks for helping me out.

[David M]

We need your system specs. AGP or PCI?

[t0m]

AGP 4/8 I think =/

[kram 2.0]

Consider looking into the Radeon X800 Pro or the GeForce 6800 - they should be within price range. To be sure, can you also list your power supply unit's wattage and brand?

768 MBs of Ram and an Intel (Yes Intel) Cpu clocked at 2.66 Ghz

What's wrong with having an Intel?

kram

[t0m]

Originally Posted by kram8806 Consider looking into the Radeon X800 Pro or the GeForce 6800 - they should be within price range. To be sure, can you also list your power supply unit's wattage and brand?What's wrong with having an Intel? kram

I'm using the generic power supply which came with the case (Dell Model 4600).
250 W I think but, I've heard that they are usually rated 100 W above what they say. I'm a bit worried over the 6800's lack of DDR3, so I'm at a loss as to what I should pick


Nothing wrong with Intel, just thinking that most people would choose AMD 64 over it.

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by t0m I'm using the generic power supply which came with the case (Dell Model 4600). 250 W I think but, I've heard that they are usually rated 100 W above what they say. I'm a bit worried over the 6800's lack of DDR3, so I'm at a loss as to what I should pick

No. You will be hard pressed to find an upgrade that will fit within the specs of a Dell proprietary 250W Power Supply Unit.

Originally Posted by t0m Nothing wrong with Intel, just thinking that most people would choose AMD 64 over it.

I didn't...at least.

kram

[Amazin Caucasian]

in order to get a 6800 gt you will have to spend around 265. that is a lower end 6800 gt tho.

[Mag00n]

In all honesty i would save up a little more and give yourself like a 350dollar limit. This is if you plan on having the system for some time. Reason being agp is only going to be able to support new games for maybe 2 more years. so why not get the best, or really high end, of whats out now, and have that be the final card you buy for this particular system.

[Yuanji]

have you tried looking at how much a dell PSU upgrade would be? Usually, newer cards should be paired at least with 350-400W of quality power.

[t0m]

Originally Posted by Yuanji have you tried looking at how much a dell PSU upgrade would be? Usually, newer cards should be paired at least with 350-400W of quality power.

I was thinking of that some time ago, actually. It might help. Not only that, I could buy a 6600GT (Which is still a good card except for the fact it only has 128 mbs of GDDR3 RAM)

[allburnintegrated]

The best thing to do, in my opinion, with a $US250 budget would be to get a 6600gt and a decent power supply.

Something like an Xclio power supply:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817189003

And a 6600gt:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130220

The 6600gt runs everything at medium, with 8x antialiasing and 31 bots (I modded the AI file) for me. You should get around that, too, with your specs.

[Darth Revan]

I don't have BF2 yet but I have the 9800Pro gpu and it works great so if you want the 250 usd max I'd go 9800 or 6600.

[t0m]

Is the X800 Pro any good?

[nocturnx]

The x800 Pro is a very good card and would be than the 6600gt, but i think the x800 Pros run around $220-$230.

[t0m]

Originally Posted by nocturnx The x800 Pro is a very good card and would be than the 6600gt, but i think the x800 Pros run around $220-$230.

I think I'll go for the x800 Pro with a new PSU. Thanks.

[wtcnbrwndo4u]

You don't need a new PSU. You have a 345W PSU. This is the peak wattage. However, the Dimension 4600 PSUs are a bit finicky. It may lose it's mojo. You don't need to have a new PSU, but it will work. The stock PSU will accept up to a 6800GT/X800XL. This has been tested by Dell Forum members.

I am a forum regular at the Dell Forums and have experience on Dells.

Any Dell questions may be forwarded to the forum.

http://forums.us.dell.com

[t0m]

Originally Posted by wtcnbrwndo4u You don't need a new PSU. You have a 345W PSU. This is the peak wattage. However, the Dimension 4600 PSUs are a bit finicky. It may lose it's mojo. You don't need to have a new PSU, but it will work. The stock PSU will accept up to a 6800GT/X800XL. This has been tested by Dell Forum members. I am a forum regular at the Dell Forums and have experience on Dells. Any Dell questions may be forwarded to the forum. http://forums.us.dell.com

Well thats a save of $50. Thanks for the help.

[nocturnx]

err its your call but if the strain on the psu causes it to crap itself, who knows what other components it will take with it. Better safe than sorry

[RazorDX]

From most of the benchmarks I've seen, the 6600GT and the X800 are pretty damn equal. On newegg the 6600GT tends to be a good deal cheaper, so I'd go with that.

[swampdonkey]

What about the X700s? how do they perform with BF2?

[Criz16v]

Im using a 6800GT and running BF2 on all the highest settings.

Superb card.

[ssahl]

that game is one of those games that, the better your video card, the bigger your advantage will be, higher quality further distance full detail lets you see the other guy as soon as possible, I play on my GeForce 6600GT and it runs fine, but not at full settings 1024 x 768 32bit like I would like, good enough for me, I got my 6600 not to long ago so Im not getting another card for a long time, (as long as I can hold out at least) for that game I would go with the 6800GT
yes your gonna pay more but I think you can probably get one for just under $300 and if you spend a large amount of time playing that game, you'll be glad you did. If price is a real big factor then go with a 6600GT or 9800 pro, I think you can almost find a radeon 9800 pro for under $100 now

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by swampdonkey What about the X700s? how do they perform with BF2?

nVIDIA developed BF2 alongside EA Games - I wouldn't be surprised if the GF6600GT does slightly better.

kram

[kstatefan40]

x700pro here - runs BF2 on high settings as well as 6x AA great. If only I had 2 gigs of RAM, I would run them at full high all the time.

[fljar]

probably too late but -----

ATI.com clearance center: refurbished X800 PRO for $179 (3 yr. warranty)

[HyperTF]

Originally Posted by Criz16v Im using a 6800GT and running BF2 on all the highest settings. Superb card.

I concur ...the 6800GT handles it well. I bought my card for $710AUD ($530USD) about a year ago and now it is down to $400AUD ($300USD)... brings a tear to the eye. I'd buy it again if I bought another AGP board.

I found that more so then anything BF2 doesn't seem to like processes running in the back ground and I have had to shut some apps down including Zone Alarm.

I also needed to update my drivers (I had left them for a bit too long) but yeah, the game works fine for me now.

[Techdec42]

Uhhh.....I would consider upgrading my power supply, I wouldnt go and spend $250 and put it in with a unstable PSU