ATI Radeon 9550?

[sgreen7]

Hey, sorry about adding to yet another one of the graphics card threads in here, but I'm pretty stumped with this stuff. As the title suggests, I'm looking into an ATI Radeon 9550 graphics card model, as seen here (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6832751&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat34000050006&id=1093468058401).

I'm not too worried about extreme performance, but I just want to upgrade from my ridiculous Intel Integrated chipset. It will (hopefully) be used to set my system up so that it is capable of handling games such as Swat 4, the newer Thief game, Hitman Contracts etc. Is this a decent card for the price, will it handle what I need it to do, and is there better for the money?

[Rats!]

it's definitely better than the intel integrated, but it's still crap and overpriced

[sgreen7]

it's crap

Then what would be better?

[REINER]

6600GT, little more expensive but can kill the 9550. Plus it is the best value card out on the market right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220

[REINER]

6600GT, little more expensive but can kill the 9550. Plus it is the best value card out on the market right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220


Also don't buy from BestBuy, their prices suck. See...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=GO&Range=1&bop=and&description=ATI+9550&InnerCata=48

Use Newegg for all PC parts.

[sgreen7]

6600GT, little more expensive but can kill the 9550. Plus it is the best value card out on the market right now.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220
Will that keep me current for longer?

It's a bit more than I was looking to spend, but if it will get me an extra year or two in comparison to the other one, then it's money well spent to me.

EDIT: Thanks for the site, that is a lot cheaper.

[REINER]

That card can play current generation games on high settings, so yes it will be able to support you a year or two down the line.

[sgreen7]

That card can play current generation games on high settings, so yes it will be able to support you a year or two down the line.
That's good to hear, I'll definitely be looking around for one of these now.

One last question: How hard would these be to set up? My Dad and I have managed to install hard drives, CD drives, and RAM before, but we're certainly no computer whizzes, and we've never really dealt with audio or video cards before.

[Rats!]

turn off and unplug **** from computer, pop open computer case, insert card, close computer case, turn computer on, install drivers

[sgreen7]

turn off and unplug **** from computer, pop open computer case, insert card, close computer case, turn computer on, install drivers
Good stuff.


Thanks for all the help.

[Rats!]

Good stuff.


Thanks for all the help.
before you order the card you might wanna check and make sure you have an agp port. some mobos with intel integrated cards dont have one.

[REINER]

AGP/PCI cards are the second easiest thing to install next to RAM. Simply pop it into place then install the drivers.

[FlyingPaul_83]

do you need a pci express port for that 6600gt?

[sgreen7]

Well ****, my crappy Dell does not have an AGP port built into it. Are there any decent PCI cards out there that will do what I want?

EDIT: Okay, there's 6600gt PCI slot cards. Are those just as good?

Double edit: Actually, they're PCI Express x16 cards. . .

[The Buttloaves]

I have a Radeon 9550 Pro. It sucks. But it runs BF2. But it looks like crap.

[REINER]

PCIE and PCI are big difference. PCI is older. I don't think they even make PCI cards anymore. Not sure on what the last decent one made was.

[sgreen7]

PCIE and PCI are big difference. PCI is older. I don't think they even make PCI cards anymore. Not sure on what the last decent one made was.
Yep.

Well, thanks for the help. The Radeon 9200s seem to be the most current thing on there. Nothing that supports Dx9.

Oh well. This thing's a piece of ****, so I suppose it's just one more in a long list of reasons to junk it. ****ing budget Dells. I knew I'd need a new one eventually.

[Rats!]

i think nvidia fx5700 is the newest pci card available. i also have one in my dell.

[ragingrob]

Yo can these graphics card be put into laptops?

[FlyingPaul_83]

can you install a pci express port?

or is that a dumb question :(

[REINER]

Haha, you need a new motherboard. Can't just install PCIe

[FlyingPaul_83]

thats what I thought :upset:

[The Buttloaves]

I plan on getting a 6800 GT with 256 MB of memory. Oh man, will I pwn noobs.

[john123]

Hey, sorry about adding to yet another one of the graphics card threads in here, but I'm pretty stumped with this stuff. As the title suggests, I'm looking into an ATI Radeon 9550 graphics card model, as seen here (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6832751&type=product&productCategoryId=pcmcat34000050006&id=1093468058401).

I'm not too worried about extreme performance, but I just want to upgrade from my ridiculous Intel Integrated chipset. It will (hopefully) be used to set my system up so that it is capable of handling games such as Swat 4, the newer Thief game, Hitman Contracts etc. Is this a decent card for the price, will it handle what I need it to do, and is there better for the money?

if you live in canada, in futureshop, they have the geforce 6600 for $199 canadian

[FlyingPaul_83]

is this card good for a computer without PCI-e or agp?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814140027

[REINER]

I suppose so.

Raedon 9200 > Geforce 5200 though.

[FlyingPaul_83]

Is a Raedon 9200 a PCI card?

[REINER]

Should be.

[FlyingPaul_83]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103155

is that it?

[Rats!]

9250 is PCI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102527&CMP=OTC-pr1c3watch&ATT=14-102-527

[john123]

i have a radeon 9250 pci and it works fine with watever i throw at it

[eatmyshorts]

i have a radeon 9250 pci and it works fine with watever i throw at it

That's what I says so I do! I have a 9200 and it's fine. This thread reminded me of the game "thief" :). Before I even started to consider gaming I picked it up and it piqued my interest. That adds another game to my list of games I want.

1.Half Life 2
2.Pain Killer
3.Call of duty 2
4.Thief

[sgreen7]

Cool. I'll give the 9200 a shot then.

As I said, I'm no performance gamer, I just need it to work, I can deal with lower rendering settings and stuff.

That's what I says so I do! I have a 9200 and it's fine. This thread reminded me of the game "thief" :). Before I even started to consider gaming I picked it up and it piqued my interest. That adds another game to my list of games I want.

1.Half Life 2
2.Pain Killer
3.Call of duty 2
4.Thief
Haha, the first game that started my video card troubles was the new Thief. I bought it about six months ago, and nearly had a heart attack trying to figure out why it wouldn't work. So I returned it. And now I'm ready to go at it again. :lol:

[FlyingPaul_83]

Haha, you need a new motherboard. Can't just install PCIe


how much do new motherboards with a PCI-e cost?

[john123]

depends what quality it is

[standard]

9250 = bad
9550 = bad

6600GT FTW.

[Phalanx]

Don't even waste your money on a 9200 you naive idiot. If people say the 9550 is bad, then logic would occur that the 9200 (i smaller number) would only be worse. You should upgrade your motherboard as you're not going to get good performance from a PCI graphics card

[Rats!]

Don't even waste your money on a 9200 you naive idiot. If people say the 9550 is bad, then logic would occur that the 9200 (i smaller number) would only be worse. You should upgrade your motherboard as you're not going to get good performance from a PCI graphics card
i don't think standard motherboards fit dell cases.

[REINER]

Time for a new PC me thinks.

[FlyingPaul_83]

how much do new motherboards with a PCI-e cost?


anyone?

[Phalanx]

anyone?

£50-200 roughly

[DJ Ducksauce]

Time for a new PC me thinks.
Me too. I've been newegging, but unfortunately, I won't be able to get a new PC till after Christmas. :(

/impatient