PCI Video Cards: Do you want one?
It seems every week at least this gets asked. Do you really
need a PCI video card? Do you meet the following criteria?
-No
-Using integrated graphics (Yuck)
-Don't want to upgrade to a new motherboard or new pc?
(Why so many people recommend the last option, I have no
clue, not everyone can afford to purchase a new pc, nor have the know-how to
replace a motherboard, come on, were serving casual gamers here)
So, you still want to buy a PCI video card? Keep in mind
that due to the nature of PCI, it won't be nearly as fast as the same model or
lower rated model AGP card. So expecting mega frame rates from new games is
pretty much out of the question. But for 1-2 year old games, you'll probably be
more than satisfied.
If you plan on buying a PCI card at this point in the
game... better get a 128mb model, that’s probably as good as it will get L any less, and its pretty much a waste, what
game uses less nowadays?
What are the top of the line PCI cards?
(All specs taken from newegg.com, tigerdirect.com)
ATI Radeon 9200se (GeXcube, Powercolor,Diamond,
VisionTek Xtasy)
ATI Radeon 9100 (VisionTek Xtasy)
ATI Radeon 9000 (Sapphire)
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200 (XFX,PNY,Jaton,Chaintech, Mad Dog
Multimedia)
Nvidia GeForce FX 5600 (Apparently
only available in
Which card is the best of these? Keep in mind that the only
Direct x 9 compliant card are the FX cards. However, this doesn’t mean much,
since dx9 performance will likely be quite poor compared to its AGP big
brothers.
Now you have your heart set on a model, but what
manufacturer? The only difference I can see is that each different manufacturer
has different clock speeds for their respective card.
(clock speed/memory speed, in MHZ)
ATI Radeon 9200se
-GeXcube (200/333)
-Powercolor (200/400)
-Diamond (200/333)
-VisionTek Xtasy
(200/166)
ATI Radeon 9100
-VisionTek Xtasy
(250/250)
ATI Radeon 9000
- Sapphire (250/400)
Nvidia GeForce FX 5200
-XFX (250/333)
-PNY (250/400)
-Jaton (250/400)
-Chaintech (250/332)
-Mad Dog Multimedia (250/450)
And last here is the only PCI graphic card benchmarks I have ever come across. I don’t know about the reliability of this site, but dig in: http://sudhian.com/showdocs.cfm?aid=445
Update: Daniel D., a reader,
submitted this link to a review of the Gainward GeForce FX 5200 PCI 64 megabyte
card.
http://www.themodfathers.jolt.co.uk/?page=&action=show&id=6223
I’d like to give him a
big thanks for helping me keep my page here up to date!
Remember you guys(gals), If I’m
missing something here feel free to let me know, I’ll update ASAP! :-D
Last off, if I’ve left off any information, or got something
wrong, tell me. And if you know of any other sites that have benchmarked PCI
cards, please tell me so I can add it to my little mini faq here J
Contact me
at jeffescobedo@hotmail.com
Or my name on IGN is darksim19, so you can pm me there as
well.
See ya, hope this helped!
Updated