New Vid Card Advice

[NYTCRAWLER94]

OK, so here's the scoop...Mists of Pandaria is coming out soon, and I have been told already, that my current vid card (an Nvidia Geforce FX 5500) won't really cut it...Actually inclined to believe that it might be fried by the new xpac for WoW


So like any wise person would do, I did a little research on my comp, and I found out the motherboard (model number KTBC51G) can take PCIe x16 cards...With that information, I looked for some new cards on TigerDirect's website, and I found http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...44885&csid=_61



Now, my question is this: Is that card a good choice, for WoW gaming, or should I keep looking? I guess if I have to fork out the extra money for a better card, I will, but....I'd like to see what you guys have to say first


For anyone who's curious, the motherboard inside my comp's made by First International Computer

[CrazyCashierGuy]

To be honest, I believe that card was released in 2006. I honestly wouldn't touch it at $85, probably not at $50 either. I'd shop around a little, check Newegg, Frys, etc.

For a little more at TigerDirect, you can get this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...696&CatId=1558

It's not cutting edge, but it will blow that 2600 away.

And for reference:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/...ew,3107-7.html

[Chromatix]

Okay, two things here - what exactly *is* your existing card?

The Geforce FX series is downright *ancient* and is highly unlikely to be running on a PCI Express capable motherboard. Also, there was no FX 550 model - they were all four-digit numbers.

On the other hand, if what you have is a GT 550 or a GTX 550, then it's actually a fairly good card already - it should be able to run any new game (even if only at low settings), and a GTS 250 would be a *downgrade*.

The second thing is: what is your budget? If you can scrape together $100 or even $150, your choices will get a lot better, and you'll get more for your money out of proportion to the extra money you put in. There's a lot of overhead in assembling a card, so the components have to be much less than half as capable to fit it into half the budget.

[NYTCRAWLER94]

Also, there was no FX 550 model - they were all four-digit numbers.

LOL, yeah, I realize that now, that was a typo in the original post (will update it soon as I can)



My vid card is, in fact, a Geforce FX 5500, which CrazyCashierGuy said there was a better one than the upgrade I was wanting to get

[Chromatix]

Well, colour me extremely surprised to see a Geforce FX card and a PCI Express capable m/board in the same system.

But that means that the GTS 250 would actually be a solid upgrade for you - whether or not it's the best available in your budget is debatable, but it's definitely in the right direction. The Geforce FX series didn't have a good reputation even when they were new!