Best, Cheapest Video

[WestofLeft]

Trying to upgrade the The Sims 2 performance:

I have looked over the GINORMOUS number of video cards, from insanely, untrustworthily cheap to insanely, I-ain't-gonna-pay-that-much-to-play-games expensive. I want to keep it around $85-120.

What I believe. FWIW: GeForce used to be superior to ATI for TST, but no more. ATI are more expensive. AGP or PCIe is better, no idea which.

256 MB memory is a must, although when TST came out, people were talking abo ut 35MB. 256 memory throughput is also good.

Something else: I read somewhere that if you have a GeForce (?) mobo chipset, you need a GeForce video; if ATI, then an ATI. I have an SIS chipset, so no idea where that leaves me.

What to do, what to do?

 

[Addis]

The chipset thing isn't true so you don't need to worry about that. PCI-E is better than AGP, AGP is antiquated and nearly completely phased out. However it is likely that your mobo does not support PCI-E, so you have to either buy a new mobo (and possibly some other components with it) or buy an AGP version of a budget/mid range card.

maybe this card? Open Box: MSI Geforce 6600 NX6600-VTD256 Video Card - OEM at Newegg.com

Its not cutting edge, but its probably one of the few decent AGP cards in your budget.

 

[WestofLeft]

The chipset thing isn't true so you don't need to worry about that.

Good to know. Had me freaked to even think about it. Although some users reported system freezes when they had "conflicting" video/chipset hardware. Reported cures when they bought stuff from the same manufacturer as the mobo.

PCI-E is better than AGP, AGP is antiquated and nearly completely phased out. However it is likely that your mobo does not support PCI-E, so you have to either buy a new mobo (and possibly some other components with it) or buy an AGP version of a budget/mid range card.

I have a relatively new PC (14 mos. old), with three AGP slots and one PCI. Are you saying that a different PCI slot is needed to support PCIe?

BTW, apologies, for not including my hardware, see below:

maybe this card? Open Box: MSI Geforce 6600 NX6600-VTD256 Video Card - OEM at Newegg.com

Its not cutting edge, but its probably one of the few decent AGP cards in your budget.

I looked at that one, and it is on my short list. Maybe not a whitebox, though.

AMD 3400+
1GB Memory
SIS builtin video w/ (supposedly) Directx9.0 support
128MB video memory

 

[Warmonger41]

A PCIe video card is not going to be compatible with a PCI slot. Although you can get video cards for PCI slots I strongly do NOT recommend it.

Your best bet(unless you plan on getting a new motherboard) would to be to go for an AGP card like the 6600gt. This depends on what games you expect to be playing and if you find out if you have an AGP board or PCIe board.

 

[dell person 3000]

ATI Radeo 9250 AGP edition. I'm assuming you have AGP, right? I don't i got the PCI. Its 256mb and the maximum price is 99.99 when new. Anymore and you're being ripped off.

 

[Jeremiah16]

wow

 

[roy92]

go for the 6600GT, cost a little more than a standard 6600 but its performance is way better than its non-GT sibling. hav had it and it can handle any game including timeshift!

 

[Big B]

The GeForce 6600 or 6600GT or Radeon X700Pro run around $100 online at shops like Newegg and ZipZoomFly. For an all around card, those are your best bets. They both have AGP variants as well as PCIe.

The Radeon 9250 is a cut down version of the Radeon 8500, which is a couple years old. Yeah, it'd work, but that card might run $50 online. If that's your budget, get a GeForce 6200 or Radeon X300.