GeForce 8400 GS
By
Call Me Awesome,
Posted on: 2009-07-02 15:42 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
You are limited to a PCI slot for a GPU upgrade?
Seriously, not even a little bit joking.
Don't bother.
Especially not if you're serious about that particular list of games.
[ QUOTE ]
You are limited to a PCI slot for a GPU upgrade?
Seriously, not even a little bit joking.
Don't bother.
Especially not if you're serious about that particular list of games.
[/ QUOTE ]
No, not limited to a PCI slot, as I've also got an AGP slot. I just can't use PCI Express cards on my current computer. If I could use PCI Express cards, this wouldn't be an issue. But I need something that'll work in either an AGP or PCI slot, and unfortunetly the pickings here are pretty slim.
.......I'm confused.....if you can use your AGP slot, why are you looking at a PCI card upgrades?
Why not just stick with AGP?
[ QUOTE ]
.......I'm confused.....if you can use your AGP slot, why are you looking at a PCI card upgrades?
Why not just stick with AGP?
[/ QUOTE ]
I would. But the problem is, all I have in the area to shop from are a Wal-Mart, Office Depot, and Office Max. Suffice to say, my pickings are limited, and the GeForce 8400 GS was on sale, which is why I'm asking. I suppose I can order something from Wal-Marts website and have it shipped to the local store, but I'm not sure what I should look into getting. (Ideally, something under 100 dollars)
Alright then, leaving aside the question of further upgrades, the 8400GS is not at all suitable for playing titles like DoW2, Fallout3, or Bioshock, at least not at anything better than slide-show frame rates and extremely downgraded visuals.
I apologize if this seems harsh, but I honestly believe it would be worse to tell you otherwise and have you feel deceived.
Yes, it is technically over the minimum spec for some of those titles, but having played all 3 of those games on my own rig, I can personally attest that they are not at all forgiving of lower-end hardware.
Have you checked Newegg? Fast shipping, good prices and they have almost anything currently on the market.
I'll second Gamma, you really don't want a PCI card. You're better off with the AGP card you already have. In the Nvidia line you want a x800 GT (7800GT, 8800GT etc.) or GTX, the GS are the low end cards. I don't know what's available for AGP right now or prices but stay far away from a PCI or a 8600GS.
COH has just been murdered by NCSoft. http://www.change.org/petitions/ncso...city-of-heroes
Nominally, 1x AGP is twice as fast as PCI. Most AGP slots are 4x or 8x, for a total of 8 times or 16 times the speed of PCI respectively. You're almost certain to get better performance from an AGP card than a PCI one.
Don't limit yourself to what is available locally; borderline gamer grade video cards using old busses are a niche market. On a very quick look, this GeForce 7600 GS from Newegg seems to be a starting point, although note that it needs a power supply of at least 350 watts (+12v rated 20A or better). You may be able to do better, or your system may not be able to run even this; I'm not an expert on older cards.
Miuramir, Windchime, Sariel the Golden, Scarlet Antinomist...
Casino Extortion #4031: Neutral, Council+Custom [SFMA/MLMA/SLMA/FHMA/CFMA]
Bad Candy #87938: Neutral, Custom [SFMA/MLMA/SLMA/FHMA/HFMA]
CoH Helper * HijackThis
Unless I'm mistaken, Geforce manufacturers stopped making AGP cards with the 7xxx generation cards (7900gs was the top NVidia AGP, I believe).
Radeon manufacturers are still making AGP cards, even as late at the newest HD4xxx series cards, but understand, as Miuramir points out, higher end cards need more power.
The Geforce 7600GS Miuramir links to would be a step or three above the Radeon 9600 you currently have.
I'd be curious to know what your Processor is (speed and single/dual core), power supply (output and amps on the +12v rail) and monitor resolution. Since you're already running a Radeon GPU, why not stick with one? If your system can handle it, the HD4650 is even within your budget range.
-Wolf sends
Currently, I have a Radeon 9600. However, due to an apparent bug in the latest (Now legacy) drivers for it (Plus the fact that some games like Fallout 3 and DoW2 use shaders not supported by the card), I've been having a few problems playing various games. So, at this point I've been looking at replacing the card. Unfortunetly, due to not having a PCI Express slot, I'm kind of stuck on trying to get a replacement.
Now, I did find a GeForce 8400 GS for relatively cheap, and it's a PCI card. Now, does anyone know if this will be a respectable card in comparison to the Radeon 9600? (Ideally, I'd really like to be able to play stuff like Dawn of War 2, Free Realms, Bioshock, and Fallout 3, which I can't with the Radeon) Or would I be better off spending my money elsewhere?